it's canada day, up canada way

Dear Ji,

Happy Canada Day!

I hear that you are up at the countryside house for the Canada Day weekend. You are so lucky. I am so jealous. I am still here in Bangkok finishing up work at school while you are on holiday, holi-holi-holi-holi holiday. Curses!

I hear that a bunch of our wicked, rotten relatives are getting together to celebrate Canada Day in Howdenvale at our house. How can they have fun when Pa and I aren't there? I'm suspicious...have you told everybody that YOU are the life of the party, not me and Pa? I wouldn't be surprised if you had had reference letters sent out from the folks you've partied with in Bangkok. You know you have a huge reputation with the UN staff here. Pa went to play badminton with a friend of Auntie Mod and all he could talk about was, "So when do I meet the amazing Ji who I've heard so much about?" Auntie Helen (the one who flings you up in the air and whizzes you upside down and who burned down her house with her siblings THREE times when she was a kid (well, full burning only once, but partial burning twice) in Australia) says a big hello to her favourite party dude as well. Anyways, I can't believe you're arranging a party when you don't even have your new suit yet! I think you should call everyone up and cancel and tell them to come back in August when your parents will be around. It really isn't responsible for a four-and-a-half year old to host parties without his parents' permission, you know.

Last Canada Day, where were we? I'm guessing KL, but I could definitely be wrong. The one before that I think we were in Toronto and you went to the parade up in East York with your Gramma. Then, the one before that must've been the one when you and I went to the Gurlitz rodeo with Grampa, Uncle Rob, and Uncle Jake. That was a fine Canada Day. Nothing like some bulls, big belt buckles, and large plastic buckets of beer to get a party started. One of my favourite Canada Days before you were born was when Pa and I were in Hanoi and we went to the party at the Canadian Embassy. We were living a little more economically back then and it had been a loooong time since we'd had salmon and steak and strawberries and fancy appetizers. We ate and ate for hours until we were stuffed. And then Audrey McLaughlin walked in the door of the embassy! She is a sort-of famous Canadian politician. Seeing her wasn't as incredible as seeing, say, Superman, but it was kind of exciting because we were way far away from Canada and all of a sudden there was someone in front of us who we'd seen on TV for years. Not only that, but there was salmon! Lots of salmon!

Today I think that Pa and I will go to see the new Superman. We are both really, really sorry that you're not here to join us for this epic adventure. I wonder if Grampa will take you to see it at the drive in. That'd be kind of close to watching it at the Bangkok IMAX if you drove the car RIGHT NEXT TO THE SCREEN and stuck your faces on the windshield and turned the aircon in the car up superhigh to make the interior temperature about 14' C and if you got a giant bucket of powdered cheese flavoured popcorn to munch on. Speaking of popcorn, I'm worried about Pa - without you here, he eats the whole bucket of cheese popcorn by himself! There are about three cups of salt in that! I'm afraid he's going to keel over one of these days. In the meantime I hope you are trying to cut back on YOUR salt addiction. And don't go stealing the butter at Gramma's like Uncle Jake used to do, ok? Gramma already knows that trick. But back to Superman, I hope it's good. Unlike you and Pa I haven't downloaded every version of the trailer so I might actually see something onscreen that comes as a surprise. We'll be sure to buy you a DVD of the movie before we come back to Canada so that you can memorize the entire movie as soon as possible.

Speaking of moving, things here are coming along with the moving plans. It looks like it will work out to have our things shipped from here to Delhi, so we won't have to burn all your books like we were planning. Ha ha. In the end we may end up joining the group of expats who ship stuff with them and don't just try to carry it all secretly onto the plane in their hand luggage. Pa's last day of work is on Wednesday (congratulations, Pa, but I'm sure everyone will miss you) and then he'll stay in Bangkok for a week and then go to Pakse to really relax for a couple of weeks. You know the plan, right Ji? No shoes, no shirt, no showers. That's the boy's life in Pakse. Well, actually, most of the boys shower, it's just Pa who gets yucky, isn't it?

Everyone at school still wants me to tell you hi every day. Yesterday your Chinese teacher from last year said she was so sad you left because you hadn't told her you were leaving! I guess it was confusing because your last day was on Teacher's Respect Day, and the gifts that I had thought the teachers would realize were I'm-going-away-gifts were seen as gifts for Teacher's Day. Oh well! Lao Shu says she and the other Chinese teachers are going to put together a gift for you, so that's lucky. I'll also check with her about getting you your Mandarin school books for the fall. Gotta keep up with that homework till we can find you a tutor in Delhi, right? For me, school has been fine lately. All the kids are pretty relaxed because it's the end of the year. Even though exams are coming, they know that they are just about finished with classes so they are all quite cheerful. And although you know I love having you at school with me, it has been nice to get lots of extra time to work after school without having to argue with you about which art supplies you can destroy and leave all over my classroom use.

I'm going to the doctor on Wednesday for my next check up. I'm sure she will ask where my brilliant boy is. She will be sorry not to see you I'm sure. But on the other hand, maybe Pa and I will be able to get a word in edgewise and ask her some questions unlike usual when you like to ask her everything! Your sister appears to be doing just fine. She rolls and roils and wiggles around in my tummy all the time. Yesterday she had hooked her toes up under my ribs and was going "ga-donk! ga-donk! ga-donk!" and playing the rib banjo. When she's quiet she's very very quiet, but when she's squirmy she's very very sproingy. It's interesting how I can tell the different movements she's making. I can feel when she's trying to stretch out and she pushes out her muscles slowly and presses against me, and then I can feel when she twitches and spriggles, and I can feel when she spins from one side to the other and her whole body seems to pass by the surface of my belly. It's pretty cool. Hey, I meant to tell you that Hugh's Mum said if I pass a flashlight across my tummy, the baby will move to follow the light. Doesn't that sound like a cool experiment? Maybe we can try it when I get back to Canada.

In the meantime, have a Happy Canada Day, but don't have too much fun without me!

Love Mum

PS: Next time I talk to you on the phone, turn off the TV you pork head! I can tell when you're not paying attention to me because you don't TALK you know! [Ji Hong-1-July-2006]