Another year is coming to a close and it’s time to write another Christmas letter. 2011 will be a memorable year for a number of reasons.
For a start, it was my first year of “full retirement,” which turned into “semi-retirement,” which is what I hoped for anyway. A bit of paid work gave us a bit of spending money and has kept me engaged in the field of education. I began February with a part-time job at the Toronto Board’s NW Reception Centre for newcomer students from other countries entering our secondary schools. Then, in July, Peter and I flew to China to teach conversational English to teens in a summer camp type of program in Guangzhou, 100 km north west of Hong Kong. We got to tour this very modern city (3rd largest in China) and beautiful tropical area. On our way back, we visited family and friends in BC and Manitoba. Back in Toronto, I worked on a Re-Engagement project for the Toronto Board encouraging students to return to school to complete their secondary diploma. And then, I got a job in a provincial pilot project helping grade 12 students apply to Ontario colleges and universities. This took me to a number of secondary schools outside of Toronto. Add to that helping peer support groups with cardiac rehab and chairing an Association of Career Educators. With that said, I have not made much progress on the “honey do list” around the house. Good material for New Year’s resolutions.
Carol has continued her work in audiology, but as scaled back to 3 days a week so she could also be “semi-retired.” In her leisure time, she has become an expert photographer capturing amazing shots of nature, birds, butterflies, bees and flowers. She often posts her shots on the weather network and has photos that have had thousands of viewers. She continues to play harp daily and is taking advanced lessons. In fact, she now has 2 harps; she bought a smaller one last spring and enjoys taking it outdoors to play in the backyard.
As mentioned above, Peter taught and led a teaching team at the summer English program in China. Before leaving, he resigned from his corporate sales management job at Tiger Direct where he worked since last year. After China, he picked up a new product management job with Synnex, a fortune 500 company in Toronto. He loves this new advanced position along with the extra responsibly and perks such as a ticket to see the Leafs. Meantime his girlfriend, Teresa, has returned to full-time studies at Ryerson U. to complete a degree and to attend teacher’s college. She also continues to be very active in labour union work with the young workers committee.