im here!

hey all,

i arrived in Calgary bright and early Sunday morning and was greeted by a familiar face, Becky from Chilliwack. Thanks to my bro for driving me, and his wife, Cheryl, for making sure that he woke up! :)

It's been a crazy busy past two days, but i've accomplished a lot in that time. I've been able to somewhat orient myself with the city...Calgary is just awful for signage, and terribly uncreative streetnames. Example...i am temporarily living in an area known at Taradale. my street is Taradale Close. BUT, in my vicinity there exists Taradale Blvd, Taracove Close, Taracove Street, Taradale Lane, etc etc!! then there's the whole deal with Calgary being split into quadrants...NE, SE, SW, and NW! apparently once i know the city better, the quadrants come in handy, but every address here seems to be duplicated with slight changes...so needless to say, Beck and i have gotten lost more than a couple of times, a first for me, as im known back home as "asian navigation!"

i started work at The Seed yesterday and was given an extensive tour of the [3] buildings and its facilities. There is just so much info i could write about, but i also don't want to bore you to death, so i'll slowly share info as the opportunity rises for me to do so, instead of just bombarding you with a ton :) so, what do i do here? i work under the department of Community Relations, which hangs out under the larger umbrella of Development (which also consists of Volunteer Services, and Donor Relations). My job as the Fund Development Researcher is to write proposals seeking donations from major funders such as IBM, BMO, and other major donors in the community and all over Canada. throughout the year, The Seed has a number of projects and events that require funds, and so my job is to help raise those funds. from what i've observed so far, The Seed has a GREAT relationship with its community, and has definitely gained its respect thru the work we do. two projects that i am currently working on at the upcoming Partnership Banquet where i have to seek out gift certificates from restaurants that will be given away as door prizes, as well as a building project. this building project will be a multimillion $ endeavour where The Seed will construct a 28-storey building for low-income housing, with resident "staff" living within the community. this is such an exciting project, and im so excited to be a part of helping it come to fruition.

final thoughts for this post...well, i don't love Calgary...but i can confidently say that i love The Seed, and the work we are doing. i am soo thankful that i have this job as i honestly can't wait to bring back the knowledge and experience that i will gain over this summer back home to Vancouver.

interesting things:
- i saw an eggbeater the size of my leg...entire leg! The Seed has an industrial size kitchen! mmmm, can anyone say FOOD much?!
- The Seed has regular advertisements during the CBC's "The National" here in Calgary! i haven't seen it yet, but will be watching out for it tonite as i hang out with Peter Mansbridge.
i'm going to be helping out at a youth educational program for 3 weeks in July...more later.
- i'm living in a beautiful home of a friend of a sister of Becky's... sooo grateful to have this place. they are currently in Toronto so we are house-sitting!
- there are no mountains here....the Rockies are WAAAAAY a ways...but the skies are pretty cool. Beck seems to get a kick out of them whenever we drive.
- on my first day here hours after i landed and was in downtown on my own (Beck had to work) i stumbled upon an area that reminded me of Davie Street in Vancouver (ie: homosexual central)...then, i saw a police officer stopping traffic...then i realized i had found myself in a crowd of enthusiastic individuals cheering along a gay pride parade! it was complete with everything stereotypical about the gay culture, including men in nothing but their underwear, and Calgary cowboys! as my friend Vanessa said, "nothing says 'Welcome' like a rainbow!"
- i turned onto a one-way road in the wrong direction onto oncoming traffic! thankfully, my bro taught me way back when to drive standard well so i backed out in time, no problem! i have officially been initated into downtown Calgary culture.

much love,
dL