Congratulations to all of the volunteers who made this possible! With this new expansion, Link CC is not just a provincial organization, but a national one. Thanks to all who participated in this historic expansion! With every day there are more opportunities available to new immigrant students thanks to our hard-working volunteers and board of directors. Extra thanks to David, Linda, Roger, Kevin, Jane, and Tony for making this possible!
Congratulations to Emily Yuan, LinkCC’s Calgary President! She was presented with the award of “Outstanding Volunteer Contribution and Devoted Commitment” from the President of Ecssen Career School, Mr. Jilin Wang. Ecssen Career School is a registered Charity# 859245102RR001.
Congrats to LinkCC Calgary Chapter Leader Jerald Yuan and Emily Yuan for organising such a great event! LinkCC Calgary went out and handed out bread to the people that really needed it. An extremely successful event!
Link CC founder and president Matthew Lu was interviewed by World FM 101.7 on Aug 24,2018 . Matthew shared his passion and vision for LinkCC . He was very excited to tell about a new chapter, LinkCC Calgary! Thank you so much to World FM 101.7 for making this possible!
On behalf of the LinkCC community, we hosted another successful event to welcome international students. Trustee Nathan Ip delivered a message on behalf of the City of Edmonton education system, and Meguru Nakaya to come on behalf of the Edmonton Public School Board International Student Department gave a warm welcome and shared some important links and tips!
Thanks to Ella Wang, who presented on the Alberta high school system, and Kris Enders for presenting on self-studying and self training. Another big thanks to Rio Li who represented international students and discussed his own journey.
Last Saturday, August 18 3018 we went on a field trip to Fort Edmonton Park organized by Link CC. Being a history lover, I was overjoyed. The park was built near the original fort, which had been flooded. It is Canada’s largest living history park.
In the far west side of the park, was the reconstructed Fort Edmonton from the year 1846. It was used by the Hudson’s Bay Company to trade furs with the First Nations in the area. Beside the Fort was a cluster of Cree Teepees. Drums were beating, men were singing, a group of Fist Nations were doing the powwow dance. Sometimes they stood up, sometimes they bent down, they shook there heads and waved eagle feather fans. Their footsteps followed the rhythm of the drums. A commentator told us that the powwow dance was performed before hunting and other special events and that the dancers tres to imitate animals.
At the Buffalo Pound, we saw how the First Nations and Metis hunted buffalo. A few hunters wearing wolf pelts hid away in the tall grass and slowly crawled towards the buffalo herd. When they were close enough, they would jump out, the scared buffalo herd would run in all directions, the hunters would chase down a buffalo that had left the group. As the hunters tried to get the buffalo into the semi circle trap, however the buffalo ran the other way. The hunters cupped their hands and howled into the sky. The buffalo froze, thinking there was a wolf in front of him and ran towards the trap. From the bushes appeared a few hunters armed with guns and arrows, they shot the buffalo in the head, killing it instantly. The hunters danced and cheered”we have a weeks worth of food and fuel!”
After walking for a short while on a uneven path, we reached the year 1885. Standing beside a large covered wagon, a middle aged woman wearing a Victorian age dress told us that she and her husband had just come to Edmonton from Winnipeg. During their trip, they were caught in a snowstorm and came one month late, missing the planting season. Luckily, they took a years worth of food just in case they got into this situation.
Thousands of immigrants came to Edmonton by train and wagon to start a new life, they turned this little village to a bustling town. The sides of the streets were lined with stores and at the very end of the street is a family of Metis. They used glass and stone to make arrowheads, buffalo bones to make daily necessities, and wood to make the Red River Cart. The Red River Cart once was the most accessible transportation tool on the Prairies. When the wheels turned, however, it would squeak horribly.zMaking a turn to the left, we were on 1905 street. 1905 was the year that Edmonton became the provincial capital of Alberta, turning itself from a town to a centre of politics, economics, and culture. There was a bank, mail service, and a police station on the street.We visited the house of a famous seamstress. When we entered the home, we saw flowers of every colour and shape; when they dried, the flowers would be used as dye. In one corner was an ancient spindle that was used to turn sheep wool into thread for knitting.The seamstress’s neighbour was a toy museum. There were wooden horses, stilts, dolls, and other common toys, along with uncommon toys such as bow and arrows. On the sofa, a doll caught my eyes, it had strips of cloth as hair, two buttons for eyes, and a cotton stuffed leather for a body. She was wearing a green calico dress with uneven needle holes. The doll looked plain, but it gave its little owner a enjoyable childhood, and became a family heirloom.
After walking east for a few minutes, we were in 1920. There was Canada’s first airport and in the distance, the Midway amusement park. During this time period, women got the right to vote, electricity and cars entered the life of people, and Edmonton became a modern city.I fall into a chasm of thought: after fifty years, what would Edmonton look like? Would Fort Edmonton Park have the same attractions? Although I can’t answer those questions, what I can answer is that Edmonton will become better and better.
We thank Link CC for organizing this event, there was fifty kids in this event and together went through a time machine to learn about Edmonton’s history and culture. Playing games, making crafts, and leaving wonderful memories behind. Before we left, the three kids I was looking after came and thanked me for being their leader. They told me how much they liked the trip and said they were definitely coming back next time!
Last Friday, I participated in a summer camp organized by Link CC. Despite the heatwave, I was animated, and the moment I stepped onto the bus, I saw smiling faces and to my surprise, two of my great friends sitting in the back. I no longer felt lonely and for once, wondered what the camp would be like.
As we arrived at the Ranch, we were treated by the sight of a large, oval shaped lake, and as we turned a corner, we saw scores of tipis. Tipis were circular tents used by the Native Americans from the Plains region. On the tipi’s cover were drawings of the sky, the rainbow, the earth, and the mountains, there were also illustrations of bison; they were all part of Native American spiritual beliefs and way of life.
We rode a tractor pulled wagon for a journey around the Ranch. The seats were hay bales and smelled of dry grass. They were hard to seat on and felt prickly; when we got off, our bodies were covered in hay. The ground was uneven, sometimes we were lifted off our hay seats when we hit a pothole. It felt as if we were farmers returning home from a day in the fields.Then, we went to an extremely challenging ropes course. One of the courses there was called the rope bridge. In fact, it wasn’t even a “bridge”. It was two ropes about the size of bananas. One rope was tied between two poles, it was six meters in length and forty centimeters off the ground, and this was the deck of the “bridge”. The other rope was only tied to the top of one pole, and was the railings of the “bridge”. The deck of the “bridge” was exceedingly unstable, whenever someone stepped on it, it will rock violently. You had to pull the rope tightly, and then slowly inch towards the end. After many failed attempts, I managed to cross the “bridge”.
Next, we played a game of icebreakers. We were supposed to throw balls and hacky sacks at another person and tell them your name, in no time, we were all familiar with each other.
After lunch, we went canoeing and swimming in the lake; this was the high point of the summer camp. It was fun to explore the lake and splash other canoers with your paddle but it was scary because the canoes kept shaking, giving us an impression that we were going to fall off at any moment. Swimming in the deep, emerald water was an enjoyable thing. It protected us from the rathe of the heat wave and cleared our minds. When we were playing games, we discovered a muskrat in the nearby cattails; however, no one could get near because it was so fast.
At the end of the day, we played the games Samurai and Knights, Horses, Cavaliers. Everyone worked together cooperatively and had enjoyed every moment of the game.
During that day, we played together, we ate together, and chatted together. That day, we went from strangers to close friends. The summer camp let us experience ranch life, exercise and gain stamina, and meet new friends. That was such a memorable day, I can’t wait to go back!
On June 17 LinkCC President Matthew Lu and Timothy Lu were invited by Ivy Education Group to talk about Vernon Barford and the differences between IB and AP. Glad to see so many people interested in their future!
Link CC Youth Society partnered with LongJiang Association to hold a BBQ for the Refuge Temple Outreach Center. Over 300 people attended the event, and we raised over $147 cash and $280 dollars worth of food (weighing 81 kilograms). Thanks to Costco, Safeway, and Sobeys for generously donating gift cards. Thanks to all the Link CC volunteers that made this event possible!
January 7 th 2018, Today Link CC organized the first event in 2018 . Big thank you to Matthew Lu, Jerry Dang, and Wendi Yu for their help during this event. The weather was so nice and peaceful, we had so much fun snowshoeing in Rundle Park! See you in our next event, our Chinese New Year skii ng celebration!
