Canadian goose / Volunteerism

Just to share a short video of a Canadian goose that I took last week at Stanley Park.

Yes, I think the goose knew I was there, but it was nonplussed about it. IMHO, it helped that I walked up very slowly, calmly and steadily towards it; and also that I was "down-wind" (i.e. the wind was blowing from the goose towards me). Yes, at one point I laughed in my heart at the mental images that if I were not a vegetarian, this would be a good opportunity to spear* the goose and have roast goose! [*Note: I am not suggesting for anyone to do that, for the Canadians treasure their wildlife.]

Canadian Goose

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Last week, I visited various Metro Vancouver tourist attractions thanks to the free pass I received from volunteering with one of these attractions. IMHO, the free pass (for a fortnight) is such a good way to show appreciation to volunteers during BC's Volunteer Appreciation Week.

[2013 Volunteer Appreciation Week

- A fortnight's free pass]

The spirit of volunteerism is strong in Metro Vancouver. [Note: For an idea of how ingrained volunteerism is in the Canadian culture, see the news article below.] For many young Vancouverites, besides contributing to causes that they believe in, it is a way to get references and community experience for their future resumes and/or take a peek into potential careers.

Many newly-arrived immigrants do not instinctively understand the value of volunteering: 

• how it can open up new worlds/opportunities/careers for them, 
• how it can help them break out of their ethnic ghetto, 
• how it can be a part of their process of learning about the Canadian society and integrating with it, 
• how it may be useful to have some Canadian community contacts (especially since many in such social/charity/volunteer organizations are open-to and supportive-of immigrants), and 
• how it may possibly lead to the hard-to-acquire Canadian experience and/or references.

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[Extracted from Yahoo! Finance Insight, dated Wed 24-Apr-2013.]

Volunteering worth $50 billion to Canadian economy

By Brenda Bouw | Insight – Wed, 24 Apr, 2013 11:29 AM EDT

Volunteering not only makes you feel good, turns out it’s also good for the economy.

A new report from TD Bank has pegged the economic value of volunteering in Canada at $50 billion each year, or about three per cent of Canada’s GDP, which is the same size as the Manitoba economy.

“The economic value of volunteering demonstrates that it is possible to get more than what you pay for,” said the report’s authors, TD economists Craig Alexander and Sonya Gulati.

“Put simply, $50 billion represents a lot of value. It is too large to simply dismiss.”

The report marks National Volunteer Week in Canada, which runs from April 21 to 27, and celebrates the estimated 13.3 million volunteers across Canada.

While some might argue volunteering is just free labour, others see it as a way to advance skills or provide selfless acts that allow them to give back to the community.

TD argues volunteerism provides economic value that is “very real,” yet “seldom noticed and rarely discussed.”

For example, it cites opportunity cost for spending a limited resource, “in this case, time – on unpaid work as opposed to paid work.” An example is gaining a skill that better prepares someone for a paid job in the future. There is also value in the generation of social capital, or the “intangible benefits associated with volunteering,” the report says.

TD came up with the $50-billion figure by calculating the estimated 2.1 billion hours worked at average rate of $24 per hour. The data is based on the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, from Statistics Canada .

The $50-billion figure is “conservative,” TD says, because it doesn’t include capital investment, for example. The total is also said to be roughly half of the value of Canada’s non-profit sector, as estimated by Statistics Canada.

“If the value of volunteer work were a company, it would be in the league of the largest firms in Canada listed in the S&P/TSX Composite Index – on the basis of market capitalization – sandwiched between corporate giants like Suncor Energy and the Canadian National Railway,” the report says.

While TD sees the report as a fitting way to celebrate National Volunteer Week, the authors addressed the potential “passionate rebuttal” that putting a dollar figure on volunteerism may be considered “distasteful and/or disrespectful.”

“It is short-sighted not to appreciate this perspective and to flippantly ignore the passionate rebuttal to economic valuation,” the report says.

“Despite the skepticism attached to the exercise, putting numbers to volunteering does help to demonstrate the societal and economic importance … Comparison and context enable us to understand and protect volunteering which is generally overlooked and its importance dismissed at first glance. An economic lens fosters appreciation for a crucial element of the social fabric that binds the community together.”

National Volunteer Week began in 1943 as a way to draw attention to the contribution women made at home during the Second World War, according to Volunteer Canada www.volunteer.ca

Autumn scenes

Just to share some autumn scenes.

16-Oct-2012 Red autumn leaves at Langley

19-Oct-2012 Red autumn leaves at Richmond

19-Oct-2012 Elderly couple walking hand-in-hand, Richmond

24-Oct-2012 Migratory birds -- here, there, everywhere;

In the trees, in the sky, on the electrical lines!

Vancouver, heading towards Pacific Coliseum

De-natured city girl

What is the black arc in the following photo? Make a guess! [See the bottom of this blog entry for the answer.]

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I grew up in Chinatown, and then moving to HDB units in Bukit Ho Swee and subsequently to other HDB new towns. That is, all my life, I have lived in pretty much city environment. Hence, my knowledge of the animal kingdom is very limited.

On this trip to Banff, I hiked at EM's pace and looked out for wildlife together with her. Here are the photos of some rodents I saw along the way, identified with EM's help.

Red Squirrel

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

(same one as the photo above)

Yellow-pine Chipmunk

American Pika

Clark's Nutcracker (bird) flies

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"If you give a wild animal food, you take away the very thing that makes it special -- its wildness."

When a squirrel isn't "just another squirrel", a "rabbit" is actually a pika [somehow Pikachu comes to mind], a bird isn't "just another bird" but an osprey, and another bird a Clark's nutcracker, somehow the animal kingdom seems a lot more interesting. Somehow the need to retain a natural habitat for this huge variety of life that share this beautiful planet Earth with us seems more important. And given the conflict between human and wildlife needs, the need to consider alternatives to sustain wildlife existence seems a lot more relevant.

Wildlife-crossing (bridge)

The black arc in the 1st photo of this post is actually a tunnel formed by a wildlife-crossing (bridge). The bridge is created to allow wildlife to cross the highway safely (guiding wildlife to use the bridge by fencing the perimeter along the highway); i.e. to reduce road-kill.

Banff trip and thoughts

My long weekend trip to Banff National Park, Alberta, brought out many thoughts -- mostly about sustainability and a country's security. I am busy with the new school semester at the moment, so I will share some of my thoughts later. Meanwhile, here are some photos.

Highway on high grounds

Highway bridge on high grounds

Some of us felt our ears "popping" as we drove along the highway up in the mountains, heading east to Alberta. This gives me a new meaning/association to the phrase “山路” [mountain road]. IMHO, the fabulous scenery en-route is worth a road trip on its own. Do drive carefully for safety though. There are stretches where only one car can pass on each direction with the mountain wall on one side, a steep drop off the edge on the other side (the barrier/railing is missing or under construction/repair).

Johnston Canyon, Banff

We went to Lake Moraine and Johnston Canyon on the 1st day. Beautiful scenery again. Johnston Canyon has 2 trails. The lower one is suitable even for those on wheelchair. We completed the lower trail and did part of the upper one. We saw an osprey (bird) and a few other wildlife on the way up.

On the 2nd day, we did the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail at Lake Louise. Various wildlife viewing on the way up-and-down. We had to keep our eyes and ears open, paused on our hike every now-and-then to spot them. I even saw an avalanche on an opposite mountain and heard a total of 3 avalanches ("bang" like the thunder). There were a couple of stretches on the windy face of the mountain where "grab chains" are provided for safety, because there is no barrier on the narrow path between the hiker and a long, steep, drop-down. At the top, the winds blew on-and-off furiously (imagine driving at around 80km/hr with an open car window), especially towards the end -- at the non-maintained stretch of the trail. I did not dare to cross the path of loose avalanche rocks to the glacier plain. My friend EM did and she touched the glacier. This is a moderately difficult trail, mainly because of the long distance to hike (walk) up. That said, on our way down, we met a couple of elderly ladies, who looked like they were in their 80's, walking casually up the trail -- at an elevation where even EM (a fraction of their age) and I  were panting on our way up. It goes to show, physical fitness depends not on age! I joked with the group (especially EM) that we managed to create a 3rd miracle that day -- having me up and down the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail safely! [Click here for the other 2 hikes that my friends brought me on.]

View from top of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail, Banff

Windy path to the glaciers

Windy avalanche path of loose rocks at the top

Warning sign near the end of the trail

Rock climber on mountain wall

(spot for the light blue T-shirt)

The best place on earth! 

Driving west, back to "The best place on earth!" -- as the British Columbia signboard states.

Filipino party and Coquitlam river

The Filipinos in my GNIE sub-group decided to have a BBQ/party and invited me along. I am officially their "adopted Filipino". Cool! We also adopted a Filipino from the other sub-group as he fits better with my sub-group than with his own sub-group, given his easy-going attitude (see "neutral party in Group A" in my earlier blog entry).

At Practicum, we learnt from a Filipino RN there who was our senior from the GNEA program (predecessor of the GNIE program) that their class had a Polish who was "adopted" by the Filipinos in their sub-group too.

AA and I were sad that LP has left our sub-group for she was the "social glue" of the Filipino sub-group. With LP gone, I resolved to make more effort to befriend DL and JC. [Click here and here for my past experience with them.] Afterall, despite some of my negative experience with them, I recognize that their behaviour was more driven by insecurity than anything else. From private feedback (i.e. individuals telling/complaining to me his/her experience with them), I recognize that their behaviour was not personally directed at me. E.g. Even their fellow Filipinos suffered backstabbing from them. It is just who they are at this current point. 

In case you are wondering why I would increase my effort to befriend DL and JC despite their history of backstabbing, even of "their own kind". Here are some wise words borrowed from Dotseng, "This is how politics is conducted in business – there are never any true enemies or friends only merchants of convenience play this game."

Anyway, we had a really nice afternoon, with jovial people bringing food to the potluck. There was lots of yummy food. IJ baked some creamed potatoes (2 special bacon-free pieces for me) and roasted a pig's head for the first time. And I can tell from the colour and texture (by touch) that he did the pig's head excellently. [Albeit I did not eat the pig's head because I am vegetarian.] JC and DL prepared a lovely salad, with shrimp paste similar to Thai salad. [I ate a bit of that to "give face". Thankfully, I'm not so strictly vegetarian.] The desserts prepared by Mrs IT (egg custard flan) and Mrs WA (cassava flan) were excellent. I brought along perogi. Other food include beef spaghetti, Crispy Creme donuts, KFC nuggets (especially popular with the children), spring rolls (non-vegetarian), yam fries, and various items (including ice-cream sandwich) from IJ's well-stock fridge. IJ was a really great host -- stuffing us with so much food and drinks (soda, beer, wine, etc), and keeping us away from doing the dishes!

Coquitlam River

After we have gorged ourselves silly with food, we decided to take a walk down to Coquitlam river nearby. The summer air was warm, trees were shady, the river water was cool and clear, so clear that you can see each pebble on the riverbed. IJ warned us to watch out for bears as he had seen them before at the park. We did not meet any bear but JC incredibly caught a bird with her bare hands! As the bird flew and hopped by the group, various persons made failed attempts at catching it. Only JC was persistent enough to keep trying and finally caught the bird. She was so gentle with it -- stroking the initially-frightened and struggling bird, until it calmed down and started looking around as if nothing happened while it nestled in JC's hand. Once JC opened her hand to release the bird, it flew away to a nearby tree and looked at us from high-grounds. The children had an awesome time playing in the water and throwing pebbles/rocks into the river. IJ said that he would invite us back to watch the salmons run upstream when the salmon spawning season arrives. We are all looking forward to it.

JC with a bird in her hand, 

definitely worth more than 2 in the bush!

Note: Struggling bird (L or top), Calm bird (R or bottom)

After the walk, we returned to IJ's home and resumed feasting. DL took out a karaoke set with tons of pre-recorded song. According to JC, every Filipino household has such a set because all Filipinos love to sing. In fact, everyone in the group (including 2 of the children) took turns to sing, except for the 2 Mrs and IJ. IJ declined to sing, he said that he couldn't sing well. It was a running joke that whenever I sang, either solo or as a duet, the system kept giving high scores -- that the karaoke system was perhaps "made in China" and therefore "racist". I agreed with the joke because frankly I was off-key, missed timings and missed words, etc, but the others sang well (especially JC).

At one point in the evening, IJ's mom who lives in the storey above dropped by. I am glad that she welcomed us and did not mind the ruckus we were creating in our merry-making. 

Time flies when one is having fun. Before long, IT bade goodbye as it was bedtime for his 4 month-old baby girl. [We joked that her nickname is "Semester 2" as she was born at the start of this GNIE semester.] We all left together as it was already past 9pm!