Denmark...



Little Mermaid(s)



Isabella getting introduced to
my favourite writer, Hans Christian Andersen



… the land of small cars, bicycles and people with big hearts; or at least that was our experience.



Now, that's bike park!



As you may know, we spent Spring Break 2012 in the land of the Vikings. The sights and sounds of Roskilde and Copenhagen were enough to keep any tourist engaged. From its cobblestone streets to water canals zigzagging through the city, and from the old castles to the new and beautifully built Opera House, Denmark has something to offer everyone.

However, this trip was not just about experiencing a new country; rather, it was about reconnecting families and introducing new members to the old ones. And I think we succeeded in accomplishing just that, thanks to my family’s wonderful hospitality.



Royal Plaza



I met my cousins’ spouses and children for the first time, while Karm (my wife) met most of her extended family only for the first or second time.

However, the highlight of the trip was the way Isabella, our 6 year-old world-traveller, was embraced and loved by everyone in Denmark. To watch Isabella review old pictures with her great uncle, to witness a bond being developed between Isabella and my cousins and their respective families, and to hear Isabella talk about her experiences in Denmark was an amazing experience.

Unfortunately, our 1 year-old world-traveller, will not remember much about this trip, however, rest assured that he had an impact on everyone around him through his mischievous behaviour, his devilish smile and baby-words, which in no way, shape or form make sense to anyone except himself. One such word was “Teekam”, which was repeated by everyone throughout most of the trip.

Finally, it was great to share this experience with my parents. I loved sitting on the sidelines to watch my mom and her brother (my Uncle Esi) disagree on things like two teenagers, or to listen to stories between my parents and Uncle Esi and Zohreh Joon (my Aunt (Uncle Esi’s wife)).

Another reunion must take place as every 20 years just doesn’t do it.

Thanks for reading and wish you a lovely reunion with your loved ones.

Armin

PS. Thanks to Hadis, Paritpal, Mahdis, Jacob, Sara, Payam, Daei Esi, Zohreh Joon, Elham, Jamshid, and their children for making this a memorable vacation. Love you all. Also, I wanted to thank all those that came to visit us, whether they travelled from within Denmark or as far away as Germany. Your presence made this trip that much more enjoyable.



PPS. As a bonus, we got to spend the Persian New Year together. This was a real treat in that the it had been about 30 years ago that we got to do that.

The New Begining...

It's hard to believe that I'm turning 40 in couple of months, while my son just turned one on February 22nd <touch wood :)>. I say it's hard to believe because few generations ago I would've been a grandfather at age 40. We're certainly living in amazing times.

I look forward to another 40 plus years of a wonderful life, while hoping that I'll be around to see my grandchildren. At this rate, my children won't be married until they have reached their late thirties and certainly won’t' have kids until their fifties, if they decide to have any at all! For my sake, I hope their generation will be more proactive in reproduction than tour generation.

Thanks for reading,
Armin

For your viewing pleasusre, here's the link to some pictures from Brayden's birthday party:

Wiggly & Wobbly

Isabella & Karm at the snow-tubing hills of Cypress Mountain

I’m starting to love winter… and I don’t mean the typical warm tropical type that we get in Vancouver. Rather, I am talking about the one with the punch; yup, the snowy type. May be it’s another one of those aging things.

In fact, I’m so in love with winter that for the second time in as many weeks I decided to hit the hills for a little wintry excitement. No, I didn’t go skiing; I went snow-tubing, which is just as fun, but with better speed control J.

Sun Peaks 2012 Family Trip!

This past week marked a couple of major milestones: Isabella’s tooth started to wiggle and Brayden took a wobbly unassisted step towards adulthood. I’m not sure if either of them are a good milestones as one may lead to thousands of dollars of dental work and braces until Isabella is 13 or something like that, and the other is going to possibly cost thousands of dollars for damages done to the house by breaking stuff; either way, I may have to start saving some money for the unknown, albeit I’m not sure where we’re going to have to cut back from… may be we won’t need the 200 plus TV channels after all!

Another interesting thing I have noticed is the unpredictability of children, especially 6 year-old daughters. There are times that I am the best father ever while being showered with love; suddenly, and only minutes later, I am one of those fathers that will “never understand” his daughter and “always” hurts her feelings. I take comfort in the fact that Isabella’s mom is also on the receiving end of such comments.

Finally, I’m starting to appreciate life with my families a lot more. This one, I am sure, is an aging thing. But, I’m constantly trying to figure out a way to spend more time with everybody, whether it’s a family trip or a house party. It’s amazing how time becomes a precious commodity as I age.  Nickleback said it best:

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late / Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Perhaps I don’t want to leave anything to chance and lose out on today.

Thanks for reading,

Armin

PS. Isabella, thanks for teaching me to love winter just as much as summer. I'm amazed at how you were able to find beauty in all four seasons.

What’s Old Is Not Necessarily New Again!

Clearly, some things need to stay in storage! Last week, my parents handed over something that was very special to me when I was a kid. This thing dates back to early 1980s. I was thrilled to have it back. My dad asked me to take it home and change the battery and have another go at it.

I couldn’t wait… I carefully placed it in my jacket pocket and protected it like my wallet. This thing has been with me through the good and the bad. On the way home, all I could think about was whether or not I could fire it up once again and listen to its sweet sound.

If you look closely,
you can see my fingerprints
from years of pushing on the
buttons!

Next morning, I put new batteries in my hand-held video game and it came alive. It was ready to go like it had never stopped. Excitedly, I called our daughter over to show her my childhood toy. She couldn’t wait to see what it could do. I turned it on and pop appeared the soldier on the screen. 7000 points later, which was accompanied by many compliments from my daughter, I lost and my last soldier succumbed to the attacks of the enemy.

I couldn’t wait to pass the video game to my daughter to play. I was sure she was going to love every minute of it.

Well, 3 minutes later and against my words of wisdom (trying really hard to convince her not to give up), she passed it over to me and asked for her Nintendo DS. I guess my generation’s video games just don’t do it anymore. L

With much sadness, I thank you for reading,

Armin

PS. My “Soldier Fighter” is sitting in the cupboard with Isabella’s Nintendo DS.

Are You Ready For The Three-Letter-Word Conversation?

I am a self-described open-minded person. I spent my early teen years in a country that one of its most important national icons was a cross-dressing singer: Zeki Muren… beautiful voice and a beautiful person (YouTube her name if you get a chance… you won’t be disappointed).

Upon arrival in Canada, we settled in the Westend, where it is internationally known as the gay and lesbian capital of British Columbia.

So it’s fair to say that I have been exposed to different lifestyles and hard to believe that I could ever feel uncomfortable about anything… until tonight!

Tonight, our daughter’s school had put together a seminar, which was “intended to provide parents with guidelines around what to teach their children and when”. The organization, Saleema Noon Sexual Health Educators, was going to talk to my baby girl about sexual health??? I don’t know why, but I was nervous and unsure. Although we have been trying to be as “open” as possible when it comes to talking about the topic of sexual health, I have to admit that it’s not an easy topic to participate in when children are involved.

Long story short, I am so glad that I attended the presentation because it reinforced what I had been saying all along: Best medication is prevention (fine, I have simply said what many others have said before me). I learned that my daughter’s class will learn (and I’m quoting here):

·         That they have ownership of their bodies

·         Scientific words related to sexual health

·         That reproduction usually happens when a man’s sperm joins a woman’s ovum by sexual intercourse, but that there are many different ways that families are formed. All families are unique.

·         That the baby grows in the uterus (not the stomach)

·         That the baby is usually born through the vagina

·         Not to pick up condoms or needles

What are listed above are hard topics of conversation but necessary ones… I am just glad that a real doctor will start the conversation and that my wife and I will have to simply follow the lead.

I don’t know about you but I wish I had a similar education when I was growing up... but that would’ve been unthinkable 30 years ago in a religiously driven and war-torn country of mine.

Thanks for reading,

Armin

PS. I think it was Sir Francis Bacon that said knowledge is power! Isn’t that the truth? Thank you Cambridge Elementary School and PAC for organizing tonight’s event.

As always, your comments are welcome! I hope you'll share your experiences with me.

First Brick

While sorting through some old stuff in the storage,
I came across a bunch of my old name-badges, which prompted the following question:

Looking back at years past, I began to wonder to whom I owe my professional progress.

Was it that little construction / development office in Istanbul, Turkey, that hired me as a “coffee boy”? I was working full-time (5 days per week) when I was about 13 years old and brought home about 4,000 Turkish Liras, which paid for our weekly household groceries… actually, I had a bit left over to treat my family to Lahmacun (famous Turkish pizza) every Friday and buy a little toy for my baby brother from a neighbouring pharmacy that displayed all sorts of shiny toys behind the shop window. Back in 1985, 4,000 Liras went a long way as if I remember correctly Ekmek (Turkish sourdough bread) was about 250 Liras.

That job lasted for a year or two but I am ever so grateful for having the chance to experience it. I learned how hard it was to make money, the difference between the “Wants” and “Needs”, prioritizing expenses, the importance of family members helping each other, self-discipline, and most importantly humility!

Thanks for reading,

Armin

PS. Take a chance on and give a chance to a teenager… you might just be the one that sets the first brick on his or her path to success!

The Apple & The Lady!

Macy's on 34th Street

About 3 months ago, someone of my age told me that although I am very wise “I am trying too hard to find the answer to life, which will come to me upon my ‘death-bed’; so I should stop searching so hard”. I simply nodded!!!

I was fortunate enough to “check” another item off of my “to-do” list: A wonderful trip to New York with my beautiful wife (a.k.a. “tour guide”), my lovely daughter who’d been dreaming of skating at the Rockefeller Centre for almost a year thanks to all the books that she read and the TV shows that she watched, and my handsome little terror named Brayden!

I’m not going to bore you with the details of the trip; however, I feel obligated to let you know that New York is a beautiful city where dreams are built just as tall as the buildings, where people are as resilient and kind as those immigrants that came to the shores many years ago, and where the culture is as brilliant and vibrant as it’s city lights. When in New York, it’s hard not to feel as part of a bigger and better world.

New York: Thank you for not disappointing… you were everything I had dreamed of, and more!

Along the way of my journey, of course, I learned some new lessons:

1. “Don’t imagine the worse unless there’s a good reason to do so”: To be honest, I was absolutely terrified to travel with Brayden, who does not like to be “tied-down” as he is a “free-roaming” individual that sees everything in his path as a climbing challenge. Well, I was wrong as he was a real trooper throughout the trip, including the 5+ hours he spent on the plane and in the airports. Just like his sister, he ended up being a great traveller (I’m touching wood as I don’t want to jinx it).
2. “Encourage children to live their dreams”: Watching Isabella and her mom on the ice at the Rockefeller Centre, under a giant Christmas tree, brought a certain unexplainable joy. Knowing that one of Isabella’s dreams had just come true was truly a magical moment. You won’t believe the number of people who told us that skating at the Rockefeller Centre was a childhood dream that was yet to be fulfilled. They had many excuses as to why they haven’t done it yet, but they couldn’t come up with one good reason why they should do it sooner than later, if at all.
3. “Dream the impossible”: Standing at Times Square, under giant digital billboards, I realized how large life can be so I’ll be taking some “baby” steps towards some big dreams; personal changes are coming and I’ll be sharing them with you along the way!
4. "It’s OK to get lost once in a while”: We lost our ways a couple of times, but our adventures took us to some amazing places including Harlem, which we would not have gone to otherwise. It’s funny how some of the most memorable moments in life are those that were not pre-planned, eh?
5. “Some things don’t have to be seen to be felt”: The attacks on New York took place four years before Isabella was born and yet she shed a tear for those that lost their lives at “Ground Zero” (Twin Towers). Isn’t it amazing how children can feel the pain solely based on those around them? I couldn’t have been prouder of my daughter for feeling that pain as I hope her generation will put an end to all types of violence (yes, I am dreaming of the impossible).
6. “Let kids plan some of the trip”: I had some of the best experiences when Isabella planned family events as they always end up being spontaneous and fun!!!  Isn’t that what vacations are all about?
7. “Realize and be thankful”: I thank God (Mother Earth; The Higher Power; Spirit; Humanity; Science; or whatever else you want to call it) every day for what I have as every dream met is another step towards being “complete”.

Thanks for reading and a very Happy 2012,

Armin

PS. To the person that gave me the advice three months ago: I have found the answer to life and it is to live life without regrets and to the fullest alongside of my family and friends. I am no longer searching for an answer, I am living it!

PPS. I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist; going forward, I’m going to call myself a “Dreaming Realist” :)



The Apple
(view from our hotel room)



& The Lady
(I couldn't stop thinking about the Godfather movies)



Related blog: Where were you when...

To see more pictures, visit YouTube!