Days 34-40: The end (Calgary and B.C.)
- adamsylvester55
- Oct 31
- 6 min read
Just like last year, I found myself enjoying my return home a little too much, resulting in me completely forgetting to finish the blog. Well, here it is now.
Our final days on the tour would be spent in Calgary and British Columbia. Our arrival in Calgary saw us go to The Big Box family entertainment center to take the kids bowling. In our rush, we neglected to check the location details, so we were somewhat alarmed to discover that it was 10-pin bowling instead of 5-pin. We stressed to the children that they would have to be more careful with the heavier balls and that they couldn't goof off like they normally do. All of the kids initially enjoyed it, but the smaller kids began to lose motivation around the halfway point as even the smallest balls were to big for them. I'm just thankful that nobody dropped a ball on their foot.
We then went to First Alliance Church, where the kids immediately wanted to run around the massive building. Our performance was located in one of the building's rooms on the second floor, which meant we had to make sure that people knew how to get to our performance. Ten minutes before the performance, we had not a single attendee arrive. We were nervous that it was going to be our smallest performance yet, but then a large amount of people arrived right at start time. We were happy to see several Cambodians from the cultural center show up, with many of them bringing food for the kids.
The next day saw us make the drive up to Banff where we would take the gondola up to the peak of Sulphur mountain. We were joined by Haley's father, who flew up from Minnesota the day before. The kids greatly enjoyed the summit, where they explored the walkway that led them around the peak. Many of them got very cold very fast, but they continued on regardless. We treated them all to hot chocolate once they finished exploring, before taking the gondola back down. We then took the kids to Bow Falls, where they quickly tried to get as close to the water as possible. Thankfully we didn't stay long enough for any of the kids to take a dip.
Our performance for the night was at Bethany Chapel, where the kids ended up sharing a dressing room with a divider down the middle. Once again we were gifted by the arrival of Cambodians from the cultural center performance, but this time we had two special guests: the Buddhist monks arrived with jackets over their orange robes. It was a very cool moment that none of us anticipated. The two monks gave more gifts to the children after the performance, once again going beyond the call of duty. The performance itself was another success, with the kids knowing they were in the homestretch of the tour.
We had an early morning the next day, as we returned to First Alliance Church to perform during a ticketed luncheon for seniors. In terms of audience size it was definitely in our top three. It was a rather humorous event for me to watch from behind the scenes, as the kids' changerooms were rather far from where they were performing, which led to several instances of the kids sprinting across the church foyer in their outfits, terrified that they would not make it in time. After the performance was finished, we were treated to a delicious chicken meal which the kids enjoyed (chicken is always a safe bet with them).
After the senior's luncheon, we made a long drive to Kamloops, British Columbia. We had a 1PM performance the next day there, so the lengthy one day trek was necessary. After spending the night at a hotel, we made our way Kamloops Alliance Church where we set up, ate lunch, performed, talked with those who attended, and packed up all within the span of a few hours. I mentioned to my parents that this was a surreal performance, as it truly felt like we were all operating as a machine and that it was genuinely difficult for me to recall what had just occurred. We then traveled to Abbotsford where we would be treated to a free meal at Crossroads Restaurant, whose owner, Paul, is a Cambodian Canadian. I really hope that the kids understood how grand of a gesture this was.
The busy day was still not over, as we then made the journey to Maple Ridge Alliance Church, where we would set up for the next day's 11AM performance. Maple Ridge Alliance was the starting location for last year's tour, so it felt fitting that it act as the closer for this year's. I was nervous that such an early start time would be problematic for attendance, but the Maple Ridge community proved my fears were unwarranted as we had a large and enthusiastic audience. The children seemed especially relieved that this was their last full performance.
The evening was very unique, as the kids would be performing two dances at the Taj Park Convention Centre as part of a major Cambodian cultural celebration. The atmosphere was extremely different than what we were used to, as this was a secular occasion targeted at young, successful Cambodian-Canadians, but the kids did not show any signs of intimidation. Instead of dancing on the stage, the kids danced in the middle of the floor, meaning I was not able to see what they were doing from the back, but based off the reactions of everyone around, I could tell they did an excellent job.
Sunday at Maple Ridge Alliance marked the final performance: a single dance during the church service. There was a general sense of relief for everyone on the team, as the constant setup, rehearsals, and takedowns were now over. This relief was undone once we realized the next task: preparing for the bags for the flight back to Cambodia, and finding out what would be brought back to the Calgary storage locker. This was an immensely exhausting task, that quickly became even more frustrating for the adults when we had to play the role of villains. The children thought that it was okay to fill up 3/4 of their carry on baggage with candy, and they were not happy when we had to reduce their hoard (Gabriel: "Papa Blaine took my chocolate and I want it back").
Before going to the airport, we treated the kids to one last treat. We took them to Fly Over Canada, the virtual flight amusement ride in Vancouver. Most of the kids were enthralled by the experience but at least one of the girls were rather scared, thankfully having chaperones beside them to calm them down. While the kids would only remember the flight portion, Sarah and I found the introduction portion equally memorable, as it gave a rather heartfelt message about what being a Canadian entails.
After Fly Over Canada, we went to the Vancouver airport to see the team off. After saying goodbye to Mike, we went inside for supper at the food court, where all of the kids got food from a Hong-Kong cuisine restaurant. We had a few hours to kill, so we treated the kids to ice cream before getting the team's bags checked. The bag check process took quite some time to do, so when the team was finally finished being processed it was time for them to go into their gates. My parents, Haley, Sarah and I said farewell to the team, with no tears being shed surprisingly. The tour was over.
This was a challenging tour for me. At the risk of sounding repetitive, the blog proved to be a more challenging task than I had anticipated. Because I am confident that there are moments I forgot to document and photos/videos I forgot to post, I intend to post a blog entry that solely covers things I missed, as well as my thoughts on each of the kids.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting Rescue Cambodia! We love you all!
PS: For footage and photos of the kids return to Cambodia, check out the Rescue Cambodia Facebook page!
Thanks for the blog, Adam! It's so great to watch the team as they go! It's also great to be able to watch them again later!