Friendly locals
I continue to hear stories from Yukon College’s Japanese students who come to visit the Yukon for 10 days at Christmas and who encounter our heroes in tourism, that is, the people in Whitehorse.
These are the people who show kind gestures and create an enormous impact somewhere else in the world.
There are people like the woman in Granger with the baby and sled. She helped Tomomi find her way home, in the dark, her sled carrying Tomomi’s big bag.
There are people like Joseph, who, after his shift at Extra Foods, jumped the bus and assisted students like Yuji, Yoshiaki and Natsumi, so they would get off at the right bus stop.
There are people like the YTG employee who ran after Misa to give her a copy of the latest Tourism 2006 guide after realizing that she had picked up the 2005 guide.
There are people, like Whitehorse bus drivers, who are always and ever so helpful in orienting our students.
And especially, there are people, like our host families, which take students into their homes and create wonderfully warm experiences for a stranger from far away.
These goodwill stories lead to reflection and gratitude.
Ann Bowen, Yukon College
Whitehorse
It wasn’t a ball,
but it was still OK
I’m writing to clarify what I said in Tim Querengesser’s story about Caribou records’ Decade Ball in the December 16th Yukon News.
I stand by the comments I made, but the context in which they were printed differs from the context in which they were made.
When Querengesser contacted me about comments for his article, he shared my disappointment that the event didn’t live up to it’s billing as “a ball.”
I described my unhappiness that its failure to deliver the dance on schedule turned off many people who were having their first encounter with Caribou Records and Yukon music.
This was an opportunity lost.
However, I also pointed out to Querengesser that the Decade Ball had two audiences.
To one audience and the event organizers, whom I called the “Caribou crowd,” the ball was a celebration of Caribou Records and the artists who made it a success in its first decade.
I arrived late, so I can’t comment on the any of the bands before Indio.
Having been to many Caribou Records concerts and owning practically its entire catalogue, I’m sure the “Caribou crowd” got the concert it was hoping for.
The other audience at the ball came on the promise of a good time at a dance.
The band that was to close the night has delivered many of these.
Many people unfamiliar with Caribou Record’s roster came to the ball to be part of this “goodtime” crowd.
They, most of whom left unhappy because the dance didn’t happen until 1:45 a.m., were the ones I was referring to when I said, those who “were there for a good time came for another show and didn’t get it.”
I agree with much of what Querengesser said in his article.
The arts community here is entirely too sensitive to criticism. Healthy criticism is as much part of a healthy society as are the arts.
It is sadly lacking in Whitehorse, mostly because anyone who dares to make critical comments is vilified. I can imagine the backlash Querengesser is experiencing.
I didn’t say, as my comments in the article seem to imply, that I feel that the artists at the Caribou Decade Ball aren’t capable of providing a good time.
Michael Clark
Whitehorse