Happy Canada Club Day!
Wherever
You are!
From Japan to Victoria, B.C.
Moments to
Remember
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Dr. Anita Girvan,
A Special Woman, Valued by Many
For her Many Special
Qualities
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At the end of the twentieth century a wedding, unique in the annals of the history of our family collectivity took place in a region of Japan which 12 years later would witness devastation of epic proportions in March 2011 when the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami levelled many coastal communities. The communities of Shizugawa, later to become Minamisanriku, and Kesennuma, where Anita and Rob lived for 3 years and taught English, were among the centres most impacted by the tsunami.
Between 1996 and 1999 the people in those communities embraced our two ambassadors and were extraordinarily generous in their support. Their hospitality was extended to Anita’s parents when they visited in 1999. The warmth of their hospitality still nourishes our souls nearng three decades later. Evidence of their generosity appears in the “show” wedding in the gallery below. This elaborate and beautiful charade was a gift to Anita and Rob by an international club in the local community to surprise her parents who had not witnessed her hastily arranged civil marriage ceremony in Ottawa prior to Anita and Rob’s departure for employment in Japan.
Another significant turn in Anita’s life took place June 10, 2015 when she earned her PhD from the University of Victoria. In August 2015 she begins teaching at Bucknell University in Lewisburg Pennsylvania.We were overjoyed when she decided to return to British Columbia.
Of course, all these celebrations pale in contrast with her crowning achievement: mentoring and nurturing, along with Rob, two beautiful, new and original humans: Reina and Kieran.
What a Chick!
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Click on page to enlarge
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Nearly Thirty Years Ago: When We Were Briefly Japanese!
A Gallery of Anita and Rob in Japan
With a Few Assorted
Hangers-on
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Click on photo to start Carousel
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- Marriage Ceremony in Japan, 1999
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- Japan, 1999
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- Change of Costume, Japan, 1999
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- Japan, 1999
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- Japan, 1999, Anita and Rob Celebrity wedding of the Century
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- Japan, 1999
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- Japan 1999
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- Japan, 1999
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- Japan, 1999
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- Japanese Hospitality Extends to Parents of the Happy Principals
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- Papa is Grumpy Samurai Warrior
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- Happy Japanese Couple and Friemd
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- Happy Japanese Couple, Rob and Anita
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- Party with Canada Club, Japan, 1999b
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- Party with Canada Club, Japan 1999
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- Convocation University of Victoria, 2015
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- Victoria, B.C. 2015
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- Victoria, B.C. 2015
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- Victoeia, B.C. 2015
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- Victoria, B.C. 2015
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- Japan, May 2026, Rob and Kieran, the Chip Off the Old Block
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- Japan: May 2026: Reina Among the Red. Red Roses
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- Japan: Return May 2026 With Value Added
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Carbon Footprints as Cultural-Ecological Metaphors
Thanks for this, Mom and Dad! A lovely collection. So glad you were there to witness both ceremonies!
Fantastic !!!!!!
Respek Nuff Nuff Anita👊🏽🎶🎶🎶🎶🇯🇲
💕
From Lisbeth
Wow! Thanks for the update, Dad!
Everyone here is sending greetings to you both. The town we lived in is unrecognizable after the tsunami. So much destruction. But our people here in Miyagi are still very generous and lovely as always !