Happy New Year!

Hi,

Happy New Year! It's been a while since my last email. Greetings from
Toronto, Canada. How's life?

Quite a lot of things have happened on my end. I got engaged this past
year to Melissa Tam, whom I met at my church in Singapore. We were
planning a church wedding in Los Angeles in January of 2003. We even
booked the church and Chinese restaurant for the banquet. However we
actually got married by the mayor of my town in June of 2002, before we
went back to Singapore for vacation.

After we got married, in order for Melissa to enter the U.S., we had to
apply for a spouse visa through the U.S. immigration and then have an
interview at the U.S. consulate in Singapore. We have sent in the
application and are still waiting to hear from the INS. As a result, we
put our church wedding on hold. Once Melissa comes into the U.S., we will
plan for a church wedding either in LA or in Cleveland.

Melissa waited in Singapore for a few months, and then I came up with the
idea of having her move to Toronto while we wait for the visa. Every
weekend, I either drive up to Toronto from Cleveland, or fly. That's why
I'm writing you from Toronto.

We like it here in Toronto. It's one of the most ethnically diverse cities
in North America. There are people from all over the world and restaurants
for all types of food. The Chinese restaurants here are especially good,
due to all the Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

We know two couples here in Toronto, Irv and Liz Ng, and Sam and Teresa
Chan. Liz Ng, formerly Liz Pang, is the cousin of my friend Genevieve
Owyang, who along with her husband Charles, went to my church in Boston
(BCEC). Irv and Liz attend the Toronto Chinese Alliance Church, and they
serve on the music team there.

Many years ago, I came to Toronto for a friend's wedding. In fact, a group
of us from BCEC came. We crashed at Teresa Hum's brother Lyndon's
apartment here in Toronto. Teresa is good friends with Mag Chen (formerly
Mag Wong, who also attended BCEC). At that time, Teresa was dating Sam
Chan and not yet married. Now, they have been married for many years and
they have an adorable boy named Justin, who just started to walk. So, I
met Sam and Teresa Chan years ago, but we didn't keep in touch after that
weekend. Last night, we were invited to Sam and Teresa's friends place for
a New Year Eve's dinner party. Teresa's brother Lyndon was there, so we
talked about the fact that I visited Toronto years ago and crashed at his
place. It's quite a small world!

Here are a few of our pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/30661338LqfqzgHveW
(In one of the pictures, Melissa and I posed with Justin, who is Sam and
Teresa's cute son.)

Irv and Liz and Sam and Teresa have really helped us to get adjusted to
life in Toronto. They have introduced us to several restaurants. They
have shown us different sections of town and given us advice on where to go
grocery shopping and visit, etc. They also invited us to visit their
churches, the Toronto Chinese Alliance Church and the Cornerstone Church.
We pretty much attend either of these two churches on Sunday mornings.

My job in Cleveland is going well. I'm on the last rotation in Avery
Dennison's General Manager Development program. I'm serving as the
Logistics Manager, responsible for the customer service department, and
warehouse inventory and shipping department. I quite enjoy the challenge
of managing a group of people, helping to train, develop, and mentor them,
and to slowly change the workplace culture in a positive way.

Melissa is keeping herself busy in Toronto by taking all kinds of classes,
exploring the city, reading, and cooking. In fact, as I'm typing this
letter, she is in the process of making her cinnamon raisin bread again.
Very yummy!

As we reflect back on 2002, we have a lot of praises to God. We thank God
for leading us from Singapore to the U.S. and now to Canada. We thank God
for friends such as Irv, Liz, Sam, and Teresa to help us settle into life
in Toronto. We thank God that my job in Cleveland is going well. We thank
God for helping us to both grow as individuals and as a couple.

Well, take care and keep in touch! Please write and let me know what you
are up to.

May the Lord bless you in 2003!

-Josh & Melissa