Twinette Kani, Porvoo, Finland

Delenna Posted Aug 5, 2007, 1:47 pm	I'm Kani, Twinette Kani, and I'm celebrating the First Day of my new life as a ToyVoyager!  I've known this to happen for long but now that it's real I'm also getting a bit nervous... I have a good family (mom, dad and 3 girls) who takes care of me and my twin brother Twister (and a "few" other furry toys). I will miss all of them very much. I'm not sure my brother will miss me as he'll get my share of attention from the girls  I get to see places! I'm told I'll visit Australia first - all I can say is "WHOA!". My first trip ever and so far right away... I've heard they have koalas and wombats and kangaroos - I wonder if they're dangerous...? I'm sure my host takes good care of me so I shouldn't worry.  I saw my host had written some "life missions" for me. I think they're very AU/NZ based - I want to see also Japan and Paris and Legoland and Disneyland/world (maybe I could meet Thumper, my idol...) and Rome and and and... Basically, I want to see A LOT  Twinette Kani's itinerary: 1. becka_kate (Australia) 2. Prowl_Worshipper (Australia) 3. yumi (Japan) *November 4. alleycat (Israel) *December/January 5. starbursidereus (Canada) *March/April 6. AbbyB (Canada) *May/June 7. USATVT2008 *July
Delenna Posted Aug 11, 2007, 8:49 pm	This is my neighbourhood. That white house behind the trees is a retirement home. My "mom" put these here so that I could come and see it online if I felt homesick on my travels... My host made me that "badge" which I call a necklace
Delenna Posted Aug 11, 2007, 8:55 pm	My "mom" and the girls threw me a goodbye-party in advance! The girls did most of the job, mom just wrote the sign. That's my family  Although the girls are my family too, I love them dearly! They threw a nice party, decorations and all... That's my twin brother Twister hugging me. I'm the one with the crown! And there's Lucky-Ducky, a toyvoyager who has been staying with us. He gave me some good advice for the future.
becka_kate Posted Aug 27, 2007, 10:35 am	Here I am - I'm in Sydney and have been promised a sightseeing trip very soon (hopefully)  (shhh, don't tell anyone - it's a surprise, but my host's mum is celebrating a special birthday very soon and they've booked a surprise joy flight over Sydney and I'll be able to go too!!) I've spent the afternoon getting to know everyone here. HoppyVanderHare is moving on tomorrow, but it was nice to be greeted by another rabbit when I got to this strange land - did I tell you the temperature got up to about 27deg celcius today (and its still winter!!) It was very hot and they're predicting more hot weather for tomorrow too. Another difference to winter at home was that it didn't get dark until almost 6pm and the sun will be up early in the morning. Anyway, Hoppy loves cheeses so we had a mini cheese tasting for him to celebrate that he the Voyager of the Week this week. Tomorrow I am going to school with Bec to meet her class and I'll send you photos of that too. I miss you! Twinette Kani
becka_kate Posted Aug 28, 2007, 1:36 pm	I visited Bec's class today. It was a very busy day as they have a student teacher visiting at the moment from the university. She is learning how to be a teacher and today she started teaching the children. The children taught me how to play hopscotch in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Look at the funny looking hopscotch they have in their playground - it's a dragonfly!!  I had a lot of fun! I like to play hopscotch because I'm good at hopping!  Tonight there was a lunar eclipse over Australia. The photos we took didn't work too well, so I can't show you right now what it looked like. The moon turned red because the earth's shadow was blocking it out. We will try to find a photo in the newspaper tomorrow to send to you to show you! We found this link for you to see from the Sydney Observatory. It was an amazing sight to see!
becka_kate Posted Sep 1, 2007, 6:22 am	I've had a fun day today. First I learned how to play snooker with Boone Racoon. You have to hit the white ball with this stick called a cue and try to hit the coloured balls into the holes on the side of the table. Bec's family play this a lot when they have visitors - like they had today. It is very tricky. Then Bec, her sister Stef, their cousin Justin and Stef's dog Angel took me to the park. I had a lot of fun playing with Boone and Beak on the equipment. I bounced in the train rocker, went up and down on the see-saw, climbed up the rope spider web wall, (It was very high, but my new friend Justin made sure that I wouldn't fall!) swung on the swings, and slid on the very tall slide!. There was a creek at the park too and there were ducks swimming in the creek. It was very funny -  Angel, the dog, fell in the creek and got all wet and smelly! She had to have a bath when we got home because that's how much she smelt! Then we walked down a path to the bridge over the creek and you should have seen all the ducks there! They swam right up to the bridge to see us, but they weren't happy because we forgot to bring some bread to feed them. On the way home from the park we saw these interesting flowers. They're called Bottle Brushes because that's what they look a bit like. They just grow in Australia and sometime you can see white ones or golden ones too, but most of them are red.
becka_kate Posted Sep 2, 2007, 1:08 pm	We went sightseeing in Sydney today! We started in Macquarie Street, home of New South Wales' state Parliament House, the State Library, Sydney Hospital, the High Court of New South Wales, the NSW mint and Hyde Park Barracks. Outside the hospital is this statue of a boar called Il Porcellino. If you rub his nose and make a donation to the hospital you get a wish, so that's what I did!   This is me at the Hyde Park Barracks. It used to be used 200 years ago for convicts to live in, but now it is a museum. I also saw the Sydney Tower. It is very tall - it is the tallest building in Sydney and the second tallest building in Australia. Next we went into Hyde Park. It was very nice to walk under the shady trees after being out in the warm sun. This is the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park. My host tells me it is a nice place to sit at lunchtime on a very hot summer day. There were lots of people here today too. On the other side of Hyde Park is St Mary's Cathedral. It is the largest church in Australia! Next we went into the Domain. This is where people go to see outdoor concerts, for festivals and other shows like Carols By Candlelight at Christmas. All around the Domain were these great trees, called Morton Bay Figs. They have big trunks and hug roots that make great places to hide in!
becka_kate Posted Sep 2, 2007, 1:38 pm	Then we went to the Botanical Gardens. We saw lots and lots of plants and flowers here from Australia and all over the world (and some other exciting things too!) Here I am with Boone & Beak and some beautiful tulips (did you know that it is spring here now?) These ones are my host's favourites. I think I like them too! Guess what else we saw! Cockatoos. These ones are called Sulphur-crested Cockatoos because they have the yellow crest on their heads. These ones let us get really close to them. We even saw one sitting on a lady's head and another on a man's arm! One of them even tried to bite Stef's finger! Bec has lots more photos of them on her flickr page (about page 5-6)! After we walked through the gardens a little bit more, we got to the waters edge, and look where I was - at Sydney Harbour. I also had a pretty good view of lots of the city skyscrapers. Also in the Botanical Gardens is a big duck pond with more fountains. This pond has ducks, water hens and lots of huge eels! Nearby was another pond with more huge eels and even bigger Koi fish. Another type of animal that lives in this part of the gardens are the fruit bats. Look at how many there were in this tree! Can you imagine sleeping like that? Hanging upside down? (Again, Bec has some close-up photos of them on her flickr page!) We were just walking through the gardens, on our way to do more sightseeing when Stef spotted some tall ships in the Harbour. How exciting! So we had to run down to the seawall to get a good look of them. Sadly, in my photo the ship is all blurry, but this is what it looked like: Can you believe that this is how the first European settlers of Australia travelled all the way here? It took months and months, often more than a year to get to Sydney from England! We also saw one of the tugs blowing the water (but again, my photo was all blurry!)
becka_kate Posted Sep 2, 2007, 1:52 pm	It was time then to start heading back to the station to come home. But on the way we got to go around the edge of the Harbour and there were lots more things I could see! I saw the Opera House A Banksia flower: and this is what a Banksia seed looks like. It's very unusual isn't it? (Bec's promised that one day she'll read me a story about Banksia men!) The Opera House steps: The Sydney Harbour Bridge: A large cruise ship docked in the Harbour. This ship goes all over the Pacific Ocean to places like Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Tonga. (I wonder if I'll get to visit any of those places?) We also saw lots of ferries and other boats coming into Circular Quay, including some Water Police boats. It was very busy walking around the foreshore, so I decided to hitch a ride in Bec's pocket! A very relaxing way to travel! As we got even closer to the station and ferry wharves it got even more crowded with people stopping to watch the buskers and going to the restaurants and kiosks. It was a very nice day to be out and about around the harbour! That's all for now! It's time to go to bed. Good night!
becka_kate Posted Sep 7, 2007, 8:17 am	We went to the Farm today! What a lot of fun (and we were lucky too - everytime it rained we were inside, so we didn't get wet!!) I saw lots of animals at the farm: There were chickens, and wallabies. (There were lots of other animals too - if you look at Boone & Beak's and Kalli's pages you'll see them. Bec also had 17 kindy kids to watch and photograph!!) I also got to see a sheep getting sheared (or as one of the kindy's called it "getting a haircut!"). There is a saying that 'Australia rode to prosperity on the sheep's back' meaning that wool was Australia's first major export to the world. And we watched the working dogs rounding up sheep. The dog we watched working the sheep is a Kelpie, which is an Australian sheep dog. He was called Bob and walked along the backs of the sheep once he had them in the shute. He could also do lots of tricks, and he is so well trained that if the farmer tells him to sit, he sits and stays until he is told to do something else. Even if the farmer goes away and eats his lunch, Bob still stays sitting! It was a very fun (but tiring day!)
becka_kate Posted Sep 9, 2007, 1:44 pm	We've had a very quiet weekend. The weather wasn't great, and Bec's having car trouble, so we stayed at home and entertained ourselves around the house. Bec finally read us the story about the Banksia Men. It was a book called "Nuttybub and Nittersing" written by May Gibbs. The story is very old - it was written about 100 years ago (which is old in Australia!) This is what the story was about: Nittersing was a gumnut baby. He's very cute! (That's him talking to the possum!) There are lots of dangerous creatures in the Australian bush, and something terrible happened to Nittersing when he was very small - he was kidnapped by Red Eye, the Banksia Man Chief and taken to live with the bad Banksia men tribe. (They're very scary looking, aren't they?) Luckily, even though all the little bush creatures were afraid of the Banksia Men a very brave young Nut called Nuttybub and his friend Mr Lizard rescued Nittersing (after all of them had lots and lots of adventures!!)
becka_kate Posted Sep 15, 2007, 9:29 am	We've been celebrating Bec's mum's birthday this weekend. Last night we had a small birthday party for her. We had a cake (with star sparklers!). The cake was a sponge with lots of cream, strawberries, kiwi fruit and passion fruit on it. Bec says that the top was like a special Australian cake called a "Pavlova" but usually a Pavlova has a meringue bottom instead of a sponge.                                             ~~~~~~~~~~ This morning we all helped Bec make her special pancakes for her mum to have for breakfast. We couldn't do it yesterday because Bec had to go to work! It was lots of fun cooking the pancakes. I took turns with Boone Racoonand Mei. My jobs were to carefully measure out the flour, and then help Bec mix in the eggs. Then Bec cooked them in the fry pan. You have to make sure that the fry pan is very hot  before you can put the batter in so us ToyVoyagers weren't allowed to help with the pan. But look, Bec even made ToyVoyager sized pancakes for our breakfast too! YUM!! The big surprise plane trip is tomorrow - as long as the weather is nice! and I'll tell you all about it as soon as I can!
becka_kate Posted Sep 20, 2007, 12:17 pm	We went to a Spring Fair today. It was held by the Lions Club to raise money for charity. It was a a lot of fun. They had rides and craft and food stalls as well as showbags, dance performances, vintage cars and the emergency services. It was such a warm day we just had to have Snow Cones. Have you seen these before? It's shaved ice with cordial poured on it. The green ones are lime and very yummy!! What was the most fun to watch though was the Bubble Man. He had a long rope that he put in a bucket of bubble mix and when he held the rope up in the air and pulled the two ends apart he made huge bubbles just from the wind blowing!! Look at how big they are!
becka_kate Posted Sep 20, 2007, 12:39 pm	We went flying today in the littlest plane I think I've ever seen! Remember we told you that Bec's mum was getting a plane ride for her birthday? We all went with her! It was a little bit scary at first. The plane was so tiny - it only had 4 seats. One for the pilot named Phillip, and 3 for the passengers. Look - its called a Piper Comanche. To get into the plane we all had to climb up on the wing and slide in the door. It was a bit tricky!! We got to see lots of Sydney from the plane. It was so cool! We flew all over Sydney Harbour and got to see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and all the tall skyscrapers from the air. (Boone Racoon and Mei have more photos on their pages, and Bec's uploaded them to her MySpace page.) We even flew right over the top of the zoo! Elephants look funny from the sky. We tried taking a photo, but the wing of the plane got in the way, so you'll just have to believe us! Here I am looking at one of the rivers called Pittwater. It was very pretty (sorry the wing's in the way!!) We were so excited on the flight. Do you know we could even hear the pilot talking to the air control tower because we were all wearing headphones, just like the pilot! It was very interesting! We were wondering though if this makes us (and Boone & Beak and Mei) the first ToyVoyagers to fly in a light plane??
becka_kate Posted Sep 24, 2007, 11:41 am	I went into the city today on a ToyVoyager expedition with (Playmo)Bill, Boone Racoon, Mei and Alpina- who is staying with Bec's sister at the moment! Our first stop was the city shops in the CBD so Alpina could check out the fashions. One of our first stops was Pitt Street Mall. It is Sydney's main shopping street and one of Australia's busiest and most cosmopolitan shopping areas. In it you see a mix of modern skyscrapers and heritage buildings. One of these heritage buildings is the Strand Arcade. It opened in 1892 and is the only Victorian arcade in Sydney that is in it's original form. Look at the beautiful stained glass windows in the stairwells! The flowers in the centre are called Waratahs - the floral emblem of New South Wales. We couldn't afford to buy anything from the stores in here, as they are mainly designer stores, so after a little look around and some window shopping for Alpina we moved on to get some lunch someplace else! After lunch we continued our sightseeing expedition and stopped to have a look at the flowers in Martin Place. Martin Place is surrounded by many heritage buildings and it is very popular at lunchtime, often crowded with office workers and bicycle couriers. Sydney's largest Christmas tree stands in Martin Place every year. A Christmas concert is held in late November, when the tree is decorated. Martin Place is also the home of The ANZAC Cenotaph, commemorating the soldiers ("Diggers" ) who fought in World War One and all wars since. An ANZAC Day dawn service is held at the cenotaph every year on 25 April. Continuing on our tour, we walked down George St towards the Harbour and Circular Quay, where we came across this interesting water feature (one our hosts / tour guides had never noticed before, seeing as they don't usually come to this side of Circular Quay station!) It marks where The Tank Stream once flowed. In the earliest days of White Settlement in Australia, the tank stream provided the colony with fresh water - until it was turned pretty much into an open sewer! To protect the settlers, Tank Stream was covered and now can't be seen at all. The sculpture included images of the many animals that might have once been found living here: lizards and a platypus and frilled neck lizards, snakes, an echidna, a gecko and a goanna (as well as ants - luckily they couldn't bite, seeing as I was sitting right on them!)
becka_kate Posted Sep 24, 2007, 11:48 am	Next stop: The Rocks was established shortly after the colony's formation in 1788. For most of it's history the area had a reputation as a slum, but was "refurbished" in the 1970's/1980's and is now a historical and tourist area full of little lanes containing mainly shops and restaurants. The Rocks Markets were on today, so our guides did a little bit of early Christmas shopping! This sculpture is called First Impressions and has three sides depicting a soldier, farmer and convict  which symbolise the beginnings of the colony of New South Wales. ((Playmo)Bill and Mei have the other parts in their logs). I have the convict part - you can see the irons (chains) on his legs! Almost the last stop on our tour of Sydney, Observatory Hill, which is the highest natural point around Sydney Cove. From the hill you get great views of the Harbour Bridge and west (?) side of the Harbour. An Observatory was built here in 1858 to provide accurate time readings for the colony and to observe stars in the then fairly unknown southern sky. This is where the pictures I sent you of the Solar Eclipse came from! End of tour expedition - time to go home and rest tired and sore legs and feet!
becka_kate Posted Sep 26, 2007, 10:00 am	Twinette Kani departed with Boone&Beak for some country air with Prowl_Worshipper this afternoon. Kani, I deeply apologise for the crammed travelling conditions! I've enjoyed hosting you!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Sep 29, 2007, 4:47 pm	Wow! I arrived on a special day! It's my host Nik's birthday, so her mum whisked me and another new arrival, Boone Racoon out to the garden to help her pick some flowers for Nik! I met Dilbert and Rangler too, but everyone was so busy today! It was so much fun I didn't really have time to feel awkward about being one of the new arrivals!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Sep 29, 2007, 4:50 pm	I really like this present Nik received! Blue Grass perfume. Nik promised to share it with me!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 9, 2007, 12:13 pm	I met Nik's gorgeous bunny Mario today, and isn't he friendly!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 14, 2007, 11:07 am	Kani got a taste of a real Aussie treat! Nik's mum made lamingtons (a rare event!) Plain butter cake is cut in squares and dipped in a thick chocolate mixture, made from cocoa, then rolled in coconut - yum!!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:11 am	Oh! A very pretty TV arrived today from Florida, America - Flora! We're the only two girls here at the moment, so we have to stick together!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:13 am	Nik took me out at dusk to watch the flying foxes! Wow! It was fun, even though it had started to sprinkle (the first time it has rained since I arrived!) We walked up this hill...
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:18 am	...and I saw the flying foxes landing in this huge Norfolk Pine! You can see them flying in, as soon as the sun sets, from these hills. Nik wasn't able to get a flying fox on camera, so I found one online to show everybody. Aren't they lovely? A lot of people hate these beautiful animals because they eat orchard fruit and can be a little bit noisy. Nik says all the ones that live on her property are safe; she would never let anyone hurt them.
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:21 am	I paused to say hello and help feed Nik's Mario after we watched the flying foxes. I think he's jealous because I'm loose and he's not!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 25, 2007, 8:40 am	I will be leaving tomorrow to visit Yumi in Japan. I'm a bit sad - I've made good friends here, especially Rangler but I'm really excited about seeing Japan!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 25, 2007, 8:41 am	Nik here - I have a surprise for Kani! She will be travelling to Japan with Rangler! Sssh...I won't tell her until tomorrow
yumi Posted Nov 4, 2007, 8:24 am	Rangler and I arrived at Yumi's home in Japan safely today. We were warmly welcomed by Mousy Mouse, FoxForce, and Tokio. They were nice toyvoyagers. We immediately became good friends.
yumi Posted Nov 14, 2007, 5:29 pm	Today, Yumi's granddad's birthday party was held at her house. He turned 87 years old. Yumi, her parents, her grandma, her uncle celebrated him. I also celebrated him. We had a lot of delicious food! We had a big cake with a lot of fruits and creams! I was full.
yumi Posted Nov 18, 2007, 4:09 am	Yumi took me Kanazawa where is the biggest city of Ishikawa. The weather wasn't very good though... I found a fountain at Kanazawa Station. The fountain had a clock with water and I saw 'Welcome to Kanazawa' in Japanese with water. It was very interesting! Then, I had lunch at a restaurant. I had an omlet with fried rice. It was tasty!
yumi Posted Nov 18, 2007, 4:19 pm	I visited Omi-cho market. The market is also called 'Kitchen of Kanazawa' Many shops such as fish shop, grocery, and clothes shop are lined. Many crabs are sold at a fish shop as the crab season opened on November 7th. Crab means 'Kani' in Japanese!
yumi Posted Nov 20, 2007, 5:07 pm	I went to a park. Red, yellow,orange and brown leaves were falling from the trees. It looked like a fallen leaves carpet. When a strong wind blew, leaves fell on the ground like rain It was beautiful.
yumi Posted Nov 22, 2007, 3:38 pm	It got dark there... I found an illuminated shrine, correctly the gate of the shrine  The gate was designed by two Dutch men and was completed in 1875.
yumi Posted Nov 22, 2007, 4:06 pm	Then, when I was walking I found a couple of gold tree illuminations for Christmas (Winter- we can enjoy the illuminations until the end of February) The illuminated tree was made with gold leaves. Most of gold leaves made in Japan are produced in Kanazawa. I also found 12 sidereal illuminations... I found the Crab-my name constellation! (Do you remember that crab means 'Kani' in Japanese?)
yumi Posted Nov 29, 2007, 1:17 am	I visited a few other places in Kanazawa today. I visited Ozaki shrine. The shrine was built at a different place in 1643 and was moved the present place in 1876 The trees with colorful leaves were beautiful.
yumi Posted Nov 29, 2007, 1:53 am	When I was walking, I found a few kinds of flowers. I liked the flower most as it was very pretty!
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 3:34 pm	I went to Kenrokuen garden where was a very famous place in Kanazawa. I found the trees were tied with ropes to protect breaking branches from wet snow. I also found colorful leaves. The leaves have changed colors- red, yellow, orange, and brown.
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 3:56 pm	I visited an old house where was built in 1928.
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 3:59 pm	When I was walking, I heard the sound of water... I found a waterfall.
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 4:31 pm	Stairs was next to the waterfall. I climbed the stairs and arrived at History Museum. The building was used as an army's armory and as university.
yumi Posted Dec 7, 2007, 2:40 pm	A teddy bear couple performed their marriage at yumi's house today. I celebrated their wedding with other toyvoyagers. I acted as a bridesmaid. ! Rangler acted as a priest. Mousy Mouse acted as a best man and Tippi acted a flower girl.
yumi Posted Dec 14, 2007, 5:54 pm	I was sad...because I had to leave Japan today. I was sent to alleycat in Israel. I'm looking forward to meeting her! It would be nice if I could arrive at her house by Christmas...
alleycat Posted Dec 24, 2007, 9:15 am	I'm happy to report that I've safely arrived to Jerusalem! Now resting from my travels!
alleycat Posted Jan 3, 2008, 4:06 pm	On the last day of the year, 31 Dec, I had a nice tour around the center of Jerusalem (together with another Toy Voyager - Ossa). Jaffa street - one of the oldest and longest streets in Jerusalem. Turning to Ben-Yehuda - a most popular pedestrian street, it's always crowded, there are many little shops, cafeterias and clubs. Couldn't resist some window-shopping!
alleycat Posted Jan 3, 2008, 4:07 pm	Turning to King George street - another big and busy street with many shops. The first sign of Christmas/New Year - a Christmas dog! Bank Hapoalim - one of the 4 biggest Israeli banks. New Year is celebrated only in Russian stores.
alleycat Posted Jan 3, 2008, 4:08 pm	Further on to King George street... This nice and peaceful park contains a public toilet. Bank Leumi - another one of the 4 biggest banks. Some street artwork...
alleycat Posted Jan 3, 2008, 4:08 pm	One of the many Jerusalem parks. It's nice and quiet in here.
alleycat Posted Jan 3, 2008, 4:09 pm	An abandoned cemetery in a center of the city - strange and melancholic sight...
alleycat Posted Jan 3, 2008, 4:09 pm	The municipal building, with the traditional lions - the symbol of Jerusalem. Preparing to go back home... And the New Year holiday dinner!
alleycat Posted Jan 24, 2008, 11:30 am	On the weekend, me and Ossa spent a day in a private garden/wineyard in the place called Sataf Gardens, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Unfortunately it's not a season for flowers or fruits - but it's a nice, quiet and peaceful place, away from the noise of the big city. There's a problem with alleycat's image hosting site (due to an upgrade) so we're posting the photos as attachments.
alleycat Posted Jan 24, 2008, 2:27 pm	Today me and a newly arrived voyager, TibiPanda, had a walk around the Hebrew University campus where the alleycat works. This place looks like a park, very green and spacey, and there's even a small forest!
alleycat Posted Jan 24, 2008, 2:29 pm	Some more alleys and Uni buildings (the round one is a synagogue), and the last one is a view out of the window.
alleycat Posted Feb 5, 2008, 11:54 am	Here are some long-due pictures of the snow in Jerusalem, from the end of last week! It doesn't happen often - maybe 1-2 days per year - so I was lucky to catch such an occasion! We didn't go anywhere special - just around the house - because it was too inconvenient to walk, everything is wet and slippery; but it was still enjoyed by the kids, and by all the workers who had an unexpected vacation because the traffic does not work.
alleycat Posted Feb 18, 2008, 3:49 pm	Goodbye Israel... it was fun, but now I'm on my way to Canada!
starbursidereus Posted Mar 4, 2008, 2:24 am	I have arrived safely! More to come soon! here I am with the other TV's!
starbursidereus Posted Mar 5, 2008, 4:10 pm	Hello!! I arrived safely and here are a few photos of what I've been up to!  The other TV's were waiting for me to come out of my luggage, and I visited the airport!
starbursidereus Posted Mar 29, 2008, 2:30 pm	Hello!! I'm writing to say that my host mom & dad took me to the Farmer's Market and here is a photo of me! We were upstairs where there are handcrafted goods, and downstairs is where the meats and fruits and vegetables are sold. It was a BUSY time at the market so we didn't get any other photos!
starbursidereus Posted Mar 29, 2008, 2:32 pm	There has been a record amount of snow falling in my host mom's area in Ontario! Here I am on top of a huge snowpile!
starbursidereus Posted Mar 31, 2008, 5:50 pm	This weekend was fun! On Saturday my host mom took me shopping. We had to find a gift for one of her friends who is getting married! Here I am looking through the flyer of one of the stores we went into: And then on Sunday afternoon we went to another friend's house and played games with a youth group! I wasn't allowed to play but I had fun watching them all run around!
starbursidereus Posted Apr 8, 2008, 5:35 pm	My host mom took me to work today! She told us to be quiet since she has a busy day but she was able to get a picture of us at her desk. Yay!!
starbursidereus Posted Apr 16, 2008, 2:25 pm	Spring is finally here in Canada and my host mom was very excited to get started gardening! Me and the other TVs helped to plant seeds in potting buckets!
starbursidereus Posted Apr 21, 2008, 6:31 pm	Hi! Over the weekend my host mom took me and the other TVs with her down to Buffalo, NY! We were dropping off someone at the airport and decided to stay the night! Here I am on the big comfy bed in the hotel room: And then we all wanted to hang out in the closet! haha Here is the Niagara Falls river.... we couldn't see the falls on the bridge but this is the river!
starbursidereus Posted Apr 29, 2008, 2:25 pm	My host mom took me to her tanning salon! Since summer is almost here, she wanted to get some "sun". Since I am white just like she is, she let me tan for a little while! Later on that day my host mom's brother had a floor hockey game. We went and watched them win 2-1!! After the game we were all pretty hungry so we grabbed a bite to eat at Burger King! And just this past Sunday my host mom had a photoshoot out in the country, at an Equestrian centre. I even got to pet one of the horses!
AbbyB Posted Dec 9, 2008, 6:41 am	Hi mom!  I've made it to Abby's house in beautiful British Columbia!  I just wanted to let you know that I am safe and in good hands. I have had a long trip and now it's off to bed for me!
AbbyB Posted Dec 14, 2008, 5:01 am	It snowed yesterday, so today Abby took me onto the roof of her school to look at the mountains. Abby goes to Simon Fraser University, which is on a mountain as well.  If I look a little blurry, that's because I was shivering.  It was cold up there! Look, the pond in the Academic Quadrangle is partially frozen! Brr!  Time to get inside.
AbbyB Posted Dec 17, 2008, 10:29 pm	Today I went for a walk, despite it being -15 degrees celcius (5 degrees fahrenheit). Today's walk was to the mouth of Kanaka Creek.  The area around Kanaka Creek is a protected wetland habitat, home to many different organisms.  It is also a very historical place, which I learned about as I walked. Kanaka Creek meets up with the Fraser River, the largest River in Western Canada. This is looking straight across the river: To the east: To the west: What a beautiful view! Walking along the path in the Dense Deciduous Forest, I saw a woodpecker. Erin came along because she was geocaching.  This is her at the first one we found: We came to a lookout with lots of information. This is the view down the Fraser, And here is the mouth of Kanaka Creek. Here you can see the log booms that were mentioned in the information plaques. Then, it was time to walk back.
AbbyB Posted Dec 22, 2008, 8:56 pm	This is the view down Abby's street.  If it wasn't snowing you would see mountains in the distance.  It snowed all day and it is supposed to snow two more times this week.
AbbyB Posted Dec 22, 2008, 9:11 pm	Abby's family went to see Santa today!  There was a lineup, else Abby would have asked Santa to pose with me.
AbbyB Posted Dec 25, 2008, 6:50 am	Things are nearly ready for Christmas at Abby's household; all we need now is Santa to come visit.  Abby's family didn't have room for a real tree this year, but they had this nice toyvoyager-sized one! Christmas isn't here yet, but it is back home, so Merry Christmas!
AbbyB Posted Jan 5, 2009, 7:36 am	It's Christmas!  We got chocolate as a gift! I also listened to the Queen's message at noon.
AbbyB Posted Jan 7, 2009, 12:52 am	Today Twinette Kani started her journey home to Finland with the help of a very nice woman at the post office.  Bye TK, we'll miss you!
Delenna Posted Jan 13, 2009, 11:59 am	I'm home!!! My twin brother Twister had thought we'd never see each other again so you can guess his suprise (mom hadn't told the news) when I climbed out from the envelope  It was soooooo good to see him again! I'm so relieved to be back home. I need to catch up as my family had moved since I left on my journey. And they want to hear everything about my travels. I have lots of good stories to tell, and some less good too - but that is travelling: suprises! Adventure! I want to thank my hosts for taking care of me - and those who have something to do with the miracle that I'm home again!
Delenna Posted Dec 29, 2011, 2:04 pm	Iloista joulua! Merry xmas! God jul! Buorrit juovllat! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! And so on!

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