Distractions, reflections

Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

Monthly Archives April 2008

2008/04/19 Speeches and Karaoke at the Lowkong Spring Festival dinner

April 19, 2008
The dishes served at the festival banquets changes little; the spoken languages have changed a bit faster.
The LowKong society had a good turnout for the spring festival dinner. The table for our immediate family was full, so Diana and I sat at the next table and met some cousins farther removed in the Ing clan. In a change of format from prior events, speeches were given both in Toisan dialect of Cantonese and in English for the first time. The number of attendees not fluent in Cantonese over 50 years old — including myself — is now so significant that the society has needs to change. The elders of the society came to the stage for a toast.

Karaoke is now a regular part of the dinners. An older couple makes regular appearances to sing Chinese opera . This time, Adam stepped up and looked through the catalog to find a tune that he knew. He then proceeded to sing a pop song in Mandarin. This is an irony, because the elders of the society would never have studied Mandarin in school as they were growing up.

We know that we have a large family when everyone shows up, and we take more than one table of ten. Continue reading “2008/04/19 Speeches and Karaoke at the Lowkong Spring Festival dinner“

2008/04/10 TDSB Spring Festival Concert, Massey Hall

April 10, 2008
My son performed in Massey Hall!
All of our sons have had private music lessons, but not all have been interested in studying music at high school. At Riverdale Collegiate, Noah decided that he wanted to sing, and signed up for vocals class. The Toronto District School Board has a Spring Festival Concert at Massey Hall, where choirs, orchestras and wind bands from across the city perform. The number of musicians is many times the capacity of the stage, so the performance started with the choir seated as the orchestra performed the first pieces.

The orchestras and bands aren’t all of the same size, so moving chairs, music stands and the podium takes a few minutes. Noah performed with the junior choir.

With the dozens of musicians, it’s hard to see faces. Here’s a closeup. Continue reading “2008/04/10 TDSB Spring Festival Concert, Massey Hall“

2008/04/01 Wartenfels ruins, above Fuschl am See, Austria

April 1, 2008
On a free afternoon at Fuschl am See, Gary led Allenna and myself for a walk up to the Wartenfels ruins.
I came to Fuschl am See, Austria — in the mountains east of Salzburg — Austria, for my third conversation hosted by the IFSR. The meeting traditionally reserves an afternoon for visitors to take the bus into town, or maybe walk around the lake. Gary likes to walk up the mountain to the Wartenfels ruins. Allenna and I have never been on the walk, so we joined him. We started the walk on the main road by the lake, behind the hotel.

Fuschlsee is a clear mountain lake, from which the village restaurants get the fresh fish daily.

The path starts modestly, in a right-of-way just off the road.

A 90-minute estimate of the walk to the ruins is conservative, and we wouldn’t take that long.

A carving in a tree stump serves to welcome hikers. Continue reading “2008/04/01 Wartenfels ruins, above Fuschl am See, Austria“

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