Activity

Since coming to Canada, we have lived a simple life. Working, grocery shopping and cooking are still our daily life. In fact, we have only been to the shopping mall twice in these four years. We barely eat out since we cannot find a place where we enjoy the food. Going to a park or beach is the extent of our entertainment. It seems to be a very boring life.

One of my colleagues who knew about my uneventful life, suggested that my family and I go to a drive-in theatre. She told me how she was excited when her parents took them to the drive-in theatre. Actually I am afraid of watching movies in Canada because I am never sure if the movie is appropriate for children. After I told my husband about the drive-in theatre one weekend, he searched online and found a one in Clarington. A cartoon movie was showing on that day.

We decided to have a try. We asked our kids to have a nap in the afternoon since they would stay up later that night. According to my colleague, we put some clothes and blankets in the car. In order to have a good spot, we finished our dinner very quickly and left early. I was even a little afraid we would not know how to park the car if there were no other cars there. Actually I didn’t need to worry about that at all, since there were many cars there already when we arrived. After looking around and learning from other cars, we parked in a good spot.

We had parked backwards so we could open the trunk and spread the blanket inside it. And then my kids and I walked around to check the location of the concession stand and the washroom. Now everything was ready.

Before the movie started, we went to buy some food and snacks for kids. The menu from the entrance was very helpful; it clearly identified the items and their prices. We gave our orders easily. When we made the payment, the staff asked me for my licence number and the brand of my car. Oh my, I didn’t know the information. I just knew the color of my car. The staff asked me to take a photo of the car and came back again. Anyway, finally we did it.

Next, the movie started while we sat in the trunk, enjoyed the snacks and watched the movie. But we could not hear it clearly because we did not turn on the radio of the car. If we wanted to turn on the radio, we had to start the car first. The light would be on if we started the car, so my husband did not want to do it because he was afraid the light would annoy other people. I suggested we could do it as quickly as possible, and so we did, but the radio would only stay on for some time after we stopped the engine. So, during the whole movie, we had to start the car and turn on the radio again and again. However, I did not find other people having this trouble. I still don’t know how they dealt with this problem.

The first movie was "Bugs Bunny". I was not very interested in it, but the boys were very happy. The second movie was “The Conjuring”, a horror movie. I was not sure if it is appropriate for the children, so I suggested that the kids sleep in the car since my husband wanted to watch this movie. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sleep because of the scary noises and screams in the movie. At last, my husband gave up and we drove home.

We were almost eaten alive by the mosquitos because we had no bug spray. It was not perfect, but it was an exciting and different experience.