We Remember

 Remembrance day, a day dedicated to honour sacrifice. 

The Netherlands doesn't celebrate Remembrance day. However I was reading on CBC News about the strong relationship Canada has with Holland from the WWII. 

 

The Canadian Army went on to play a significant part in the liberation of the Netherlands, which ended in 1945. The Dutch, having suffered through an extremely harsh winter, enthusiastically greeted the Canadians and forged a strong friendship between the two countries that lasts to this day. [CBC News]

In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, in the Second World War. The most noteworthy event during their time in Canada was the birth in 1943 of Princess Margriet to Princess Juliana at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The maternity ward was declared to be officially a temporary part of international territory, so that she would be born in no country and would inherit only her Dutch citizenship from her mother. In 1946, Juliana sent another 20,500 bulbs requesting that a display be created for the hospital, and promised to send 10,000 more bulbs each year. [Wikipedia]

On my grade 8 grad trip to Ottawa we visited the Parliament buildings and saw the tulips that Holland sends Canada every year and learned about the background behind that tradition. Amsterdam is nice, but I grew up in Canada, and am so proud to call myself Canadian. My mom emailed me this article a few weeks ago - I feel it sums up the Canadian spirit so well. 

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You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian - any Canadian.. 

An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one. 
    
A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,  Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican,  African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan. A Canadian may also be a Cree, Métis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians.  A Canadian's religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim,  Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. 
    
A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which recognize the right of each  person to the pursuit of happiness. 

A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds.  

But they also welcome the least -  the oppressed, the outcast and the rejected. 
    
These are the people who built Canada . You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place.  They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian. 

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I am so proud to be Canadian.

I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful... I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful... I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful... [Bob Wiley]

Today was a good day - I've started a proposal for signage design for a building and parking lot of a current project. It's a nice break from making models. I "watched" (listened to) two movies on youtube while I was working in photoshop today - What About Bob and Pretty Woman (Bob - the movie, not the hostel, thank goodness). I know both movies off by heart so I was able to listen to them without watching. I don't think my boss would be too happy if he walked by and saw me watching movies during work hours. I listen to movies all the time while working in studio at school. Helps me focus. It's all good - unless you burst out  laughing and draw attention from your co-workers. What About Bob is a funny movie. It's hard not to laugh!

Bob Wiley: What are we doing?

Dr. Leo Marvin: Death Therapy, Bob. It's a guaranteed cure.

=)

Tomorrow LAURA and ADRIENNE are hitting Amsterdam and we see Cirque du Soleil Saturday night!!!!!!