Welcome to February in Canada:
[scroll to the very end for all the news and views]
CONDO LIVING:
We are on the 8th floor in our tiny cube. Our ‘suite’ is next to the stairwell. We can hear people getting puffed as they make it up the stairs. We listen to the domestics that seem frequently heard through the walls and as doors slam in the hallway. We do like to peek out and check out what the residents in the other building across from us are doing.
WEATHER:
Brutal! Abnormal! That’s all we hear. And it’s true. No-one could be happy about this weather. It hurts. It’s been minus 45 wind chill and the average is about minus 15. Nothing else to say.
SCHOOL NEWS:
I am settling in to my Gr. 4-5 class and they are getting used to my accent and ways of teaching. They love TABARI, groups, writer’s notebooks, classroom meetings and lots of other Aussie things :-).
Valentine’s Day saw the Dollarama shop make a mint with the goodies being passed around to all students [and their teacher]. I got a pot plant, a great restaurant voucher and lots and lots of candy and heart shaped ‘stuff’. They got a smile and a pencil from Australia. :-)
ROAD TRIPS:
QUEBEC:
We have been to Quebec… yay. How amazing that there is this huge province in English speaking Canada that is pretty much totally FRENCH!!! I knew it was French influenced, however, it was incredibly and deliciously FRENCH… very few spoke English, the menus, signs, information was ALL in French—and no English sub-titles. Sitting in cosy cafes [it was freezing] and speaking French felt like being in Paris….. Loved it. We were there for Winter Carnivale and ventured down to the old city, to the river, saw skating on the winter rinks, went out to a ‘sugar shack’ where maple syrup is to be tasted straight from the snow. We visited the ice hotel, the ice palace, the ice castle. [Did I tell you it was freezing! Minus 21, minus 18, minus 21, minus 20]
Camp Wanakita:
A great weekend. Adam tried out alpine athletics such as snow shoeing, cross country skiing, tobogganing, tubing, Temperatures were mild: only minus 10, minus 5, minus 5. We hiked across the frozen lake at night, guided by lanterns, and I saw a beaver whilst taking my own walk.
DAY TRIPS
Unionville: This is an historical town about 30 minutes away…. And very British, which is different from the predominately Chinese area we live and the Italian background of many families in the GTA [Greater Toronto Area]
OTHER INTERESTING BITS ABOUT LIFE IN CANADA:
· Did we tell you it’s cold??????
· Dollar is even :-)
· Our condo building is nearly finished.
· The Inuit have about 500 ways of saying snow.
Highlights and Lowlights:
· It didn’t go above minus 15 all month.
· Icestorms and frost quakes, thunder snow were common
· Driving on the ‘other’ side of the road and dodging snow ploughs and snow removal trucks.
· Tim Hortons
· Our Chinese hairdressers
· Finding Tim Tams at Loblaws supermarket
· Groundhog Day… over and over again.,
· Valentine’s Day—OTT
· Walk-in clinics for the doctors
· Bagels
· Newmarket café scene.
· Happy Birthday Dad!!!!