As an opening event for Across Summer Program 2008, << City Mosaic >> an annual city expedition race organized by Across U-hub will be held on May 31, 2008. The purpose of this event is to encourage young people to breakthrough their comfort zone and explore the multicultural richness and history of Toronto. Moreover, << City Mosaic >> has been selected as one of the significant events in the Asian Heritage Month, an opportunity for people to understand and appreciate more about the features of the Asian culture and the multicultural society in Toronto. www.asian-heritage-month.org/events.html

Across U-hub has been organizing various leadership training programs over the past ten years. This is the fourth year of the city expedition race, << City Mosaic >>. It is not just a personal challenge, but also about teamwork. Participants form a team of four members to explore around different cultural neighborhoods. To complete the race with the eight-hour limit, each team has to find answers for the designated questions. More than 400 young people had participated in this event for the past three years.

Last year’s participant, Amanda Au shared, “Joining this activity gives me an opportunity to experience the beauty of the multicultural diversity of Toronto. The experience in “Cabbage Town” was awesome. According to the program rule, not only we were requested to visit the place in surface but also had to initiate a dialogue with people residing there. It was scary but rewarding; she now gets a first hand idea about their cultures and lifestyle. If not because of this participation, she doesn’t think she will make this move to discover such unique and culturally rich corner in Toronto.”

There is a perceived "gap" that youth of minority cultural communities are unable to fully take part in the existing arts and cultural activities, the reasons could be language barrier, lack of understanding, cultural differences. Many of them choose to stay alone or pick up individual activity like computer games that leads to indulgence in cyber activities. They would point to a common feature of preference for a sedentary and culturally-motivated isolation. In response to the many parents concern to this issue, Across U-hub is providing a series of training programs in their Across Summer Program 2008 this June. The slogan – Together We Grow Across Cultures – is to encourage young people to leave the virtual reality and re-connect with the real world. The emphasis of this year << City Mosaic >> is a combination of multicultural activities and historical elements. This is a chance for the youth to know more about the city and to build up a sense of belonging. Moreover, this year’s checkpoints locations have been expanded. Lastly more interesting elements are added to raise the team spirit.

<< City Mosaic >> is a city expedition race to promote appreciation of the multicultural richness of different ethnic groups in Toronto. The word, Mosaic, represents the beauty of the multicultural diversity of Toronto. Participants have to form a team of four members and explore the city using only public transportation. Each team will be given about 100 questions as a guide to find out the uniqueness of Toronto areas. There are great awards for the highest score.

<< City Mosaic >> is not simply a race for fun, but also a movement that is initiated by a group of Chinese, hoping to spread a positive message to different ethnic youths that they can also make a difference to the city. Anyone aged 16 and above is encouraged to participate in this meaningful event Application deadline is May 14, 2008. The registration fee for a team of four people is $100 of ages 19. Participant of age 16 - 18 get 40% off discount.

In addition to << City Mosaic >>, Across Summer Program 2008 consists of other leadership training programs, including Re-feel Playback Theatre, Tic-Tac-Toronto, Youth Leadership Development Certificate Course, and Youth Leadership Training Camp. For more details, please contact 905-944-1944 or visit www.acrossuhub.com.