This morning we drove over to Main Street to do some produce shopping. There is an Asian grocery store that always has an amazing selection of fruit and veggies at very good prices.
Enroute the skies opened so we stopped in at the Continental Coffee House. After a night of stomach distress, I opted for a pot of green tea with a delicious cranberry/lemon muffin, still hot from the oven. John experimented with a pot of Rooibus Surprise and a blueberry/passion muffin. The interior has a modern industrial feel but the chairs were super comfortable and the staff was very friendly.
During the downpour an Asian woman asked if she could join our table. From Beijing, she told us stories about her 12 year old daughter's education. Coming from a class size of 70 students in China to a class of less than 30 in Vancouver was quite an adjustment. She explained that the teachers in Beijing get "boners" when their students do well. I was trying to visualize this when I realized that she meant "bonuses"!! In China the students have no free time, here they have too much free time!!
She also told us that it was very difficult to make friends and become involved in the Kerrisdale community where she lives. That area was chosen because of the high quality schools but her daughter has found that cliques were formed long before they moved to Vancouver. Next year her daughter will attend Magee High School, taking academic subjects during the morning and studying ballet every day from 1-6pm.
They don't like the idea that their daughter wants to pursue a profession in the arts but this is a different generation. In China, they did what their parents told them to do. Their daughter has tasted life in Canada and is determined to follow her own dreams.
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