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| 2015 Festival of Lights - Niagara Falls, Canada |
One of the most exciting things for someone new to Canada is spending his/her first Christmas here!
I still remember vividly our first Christmas in Thunder Bay where we landed over forty five years ago!
The first snow fall, the smell and taste ( Yes! I did taste the white stuff when I first saw it falling from the sky!)
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| 2015 Festival of Lights - Niagara Falls, Canada |
The sights and sounds of Christmas fascinated me; the hospitality and warmth of our neighbors and church people overwhelmed us and warmed our hearts!
I have never forgotten my family’s first Christmas in Canada!
We would like to give back the same kindness and generosity that were given to us years ago to the newcomers.
This year, we have the
opportunity to do that as Jenny was spending her first Christmas here in Toronto!
We made sure that she got to experience as much as possible a Canadian Christmas. She landed in Toronto at the beginning of December, and we invited her to a number of Christmas events.
We made sure that she got to experience as much as possible a Canadian Christmas. She landed in Toronto at the beginning of December, and we invited her to a number of Christmas events.
1.
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1. The Christmas Lunch at 105 Gibson Centre, Markham – It was a lunch organized by the Centre staff for seniors in the community.
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| Volunteers prepared lunch and entertained guests at 105 Gibosn Centre Lunch |
Organized by the Centre and run by volunteers, the event was opened to all mature adults and charged a
nominal fee of $7.00 per person for a turkey
dinner.
T
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| Staff of 105 Gibson and T3C Church sang at the Senior Christmas lunch |
There were entertainment programs provided by some of the volunteers and staff of the Gibson Centre and the Toronto Christian Community Church.
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| Mom bought tickets and invited three of her friends to the lunch |
My mom also bought some tickets and invited three of her friends to come along.
I had not seen my mom laughing so hard for a long time since my father passed away.
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| Mom enjoyed herself tremendously at the lunch |
When I was nice to someone, I did
not expect that my mother could have so much
fun at this event too!
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| Jenny took part in our family's annual Christmas Dinner! |
2. Our big fat annual extended family dinner.
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| Our family Christmas dinner is a 45 year old tradition in Canada! |
It must be a shock for Jenny to attend a family dinner with an attendance of about forty people.
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| The 3rd and 4th generation are continuing the family Christmas tradition! |
The oldest attendee at our family gathering was 89, my mother, and the youngest, Harper, at almost two years old.
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| The Kids' Corner! |
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| M. and her family hosted this year's family dinner at the condo |
The potluck Christmas dinner was hosted by my brother, Dave and his family in their downtown condo's spacious party room.
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| Dave & his wife started planning the dinner in November! |
Dave and his wife, Sue started planning and organizing this annual event at the end of November.
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| Everyone brings a dish to the party |
Everyone brought a dish to share and a gift to exchange.
( Only if they wanted to. It was not compulsory to bring a gift if one didn't want to take part.)
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| The Gift Exchange game starts during dessert time |
The younger generation used to exchange their gifts by playing a gift stealing game after dinner.
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| Dave and Susan had a new idea for the gift exchange - a Bingo game! |
But last year, Dave suggested a bingo game for the gift exchange so that older people could take part.
It turned out to be a very popular game among most people.
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| Everyone has fun at the bingo game |
Everyone brought a gift for the gift exchange and Dave gathered them and put them on a gift trolley.
Whenever you bingo, you could go up and pick out a gift. But that didn't meant hat you could keep that gift!
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| We love the game! |
The next person who had a bingo could either pick a gift from the gift trolley or steal the gift you had in your hand.
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| Sometimes the noise and laughter could be too much for the little one! |
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| Harper to Luke " Are they driving you crazy too?" |
However, the same gift could only be stolen once so that the stealing game could come to an end.
( So that the little ones can go home afte the adults have their beer and fun!)
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| Jenny, George and Amanda were guests at our family dinner |
It was a fun game for everyone who participated!
Even for my friends, George ( and Amanda) whom we lost touch for over forty years and were reconnected that evening!
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| Jenny's first win at a Bingo game! |
It was double fun for Jenny when she yelled bingo and got to pick her first gift from the gift trolley!
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| A time for family to catch up with one another! |
Everyone always has tons of fun attending our annual big extended family party.
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| Relaxing after the big L's dinner party! It took a lot out of ya! |
I was glad that Jenny got to enjoy and see for herself what a family Christmas party is like for our family!
3.
3. Our Family Turkey Dinner on Christmas Day at our house .
This was Jenny’s first more intimate family gathering with just a few families.
Being in a smaller group setting and knowing a
person who could speak her language, Jenny was more at ease.
We had a traditional turkey dinner ( at lunch time) thanked God and toasted each other.
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| Christmas Lunch at our house on Christmas Day |
3. Our Family Turkey Dinner on Christmas Day at our house .
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| Paul and his family enjoying the turkey dinner |
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| A lot of food for the Christmas lunch! |
We had a traditional turkey dinner ( at lunch time) thanked God and toasted each other.
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| Opening the gifts! |
Another new experience for Jenny was the opening of gifts after dinner.
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| Jenny's first Christmas gift from us! |
She was very surprised that we prepared gifts and presented to her as she totally did not expect that at all.
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| E. opening his gifts after the guests were gone |
We explained to her about the custom of gift giving in Canada and that a gift did not have to be expensive, but one that had been chosen and given with thoughts and consideration for the recipient.
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| Showing off the gift she received! |
She opened her gift and exclaimed in sheer delight as she received a warm sweater in her favourtie colour!
She immediately tried it on and posted for a picture!
Jenny expressed to me later how special her first Christmas was for her that she spent at our house and how deeply she appreciated it.
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| Christmas is a time for family get together - old & young! |
My family and I were delighted! We only did a little bit and we have made four different families very happy!
We were happy that they had a great time and got to spend Christmas and experienced love and caring people during this special season!
Our church has applied to sponsor some Syrian refugees into Canada.
They should be arriving soon. It's our sincere hope that the new Syrian refugees entering into Canada would also experience warm hospitality and reception after their arrival!
R.T.
Toronto
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