Ouch!

It seems slightly ironic that I previously mentioned the hazard warning produced by the local authorities regarding the dangers of exposed skin in these extreme temperatures. It also pays to listen to your own advice. I decided, for no apparent reason other than I was completly insane, to clear my driveway wearing no hat. The shovelling and labouring made me sweat and quite hot so I didn't notice until I got back inside that my right ear was burning. One hour later it had swollen up like Gary Lineker on botox and was numb. Yes, dear reader, I had frostbite. The following morning, looking like an alien extra out of 'Star Trek', I discovered it had blistered and was still burning, but luckily did not show any signs of turning white, or worse, blue. A trip to the medical centre was required.

Now the medical system in Canada is very good, each Province has it's own plan and ours is the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) run by the Orwellian sounding Ministry of Health and Wellness. It is very similar to the UK's NHS, except that it works. The drawback of course, is that you need to register by filling out the usual forms and await the slow-grinding wheels of bureaucracy to do their thing. Once registered, trips to the doctor and the hospital are largely covered financially as are the majority of prescription drugs. Once registered, your plan contributions are deducted at source from your pay, you get a nice laminated card and off you go. Of course, our cards have not come through yet, no card - no treatment, unless you pay. We have not, therefore been able to register with a doctor locally so have to resort to a walk-in surgery called a Medi-Centre. This entailed me waiting two hours in a room full of sick people and having to cough up $33 (about 17 quid). The good news, is that all treatment is refundable once we do get our cards (I have already been paying the contributions since I started work), so you just need to keep the receipts and hope that Eleanor doesn't eat them. I finally saw the doc, who took one look and with that laconic Canadian style, grinned at me and said 'yep, a touch of frostbite - not used to these temperatures then?' (I love Canadians, they are friendly and helpful, truly decent people - but sometimes you do want to give them a slap) He then reassured me that it would heal up fine, not to antagonise it and keep it clean. After an interesting chat about some of the horror stories he had come across he declared quite cheerfully that amputation of my right ear would not be required. Well, that's all right then.

Needless to say, my tuque (that's woolly hat to you) will always be fixed securely to my head in future. I have been warned....

Blizzard...

Being British, it is only natural to be obsessed with the weather and living in Alberta at this time of year gives one plenty of fuel to stoke any such discussion. Until yesterday, we had experienced some cold weather - now we are in the middle of a full blown Arctic blizzard. Most locals will tell you that every year brings a couple of weeks when the temperature is unbearably low and it looks like this is it. As well as more snow, which let's face it, I'm getting a bit blase about now, a North wind has pitched in to literally bite you in the face. This has the effect of re-arranging said snow into huge snowdrifts in and around anything that stands still longer than five minutes. So not only do you have to dig yourself out of your house in the morning, you have to dig yourself back into your house when you return at night. With temperatures hitting minus 40, a wind of 30-40 mph and snow up to your thighs, the desire to do anything except stay at home is greatly diminished. The local radio stations and internet sites are awash with warnings of extreme peril along the lines of ' Any exposed skin will start to frostbite within 5 to 10 minutes' or 'driving may be a little more slippery than normal'.

But life continues with little disruption, Canadians simple go to DefCon 2. This entails putting on overtrousers and wearing a thicker hat. The buses run, the schools stay open and business continues. The roads are v. bad though and driving is a nightmare. The way to work this morning was peppered with glimpses of people having their cars pushed out of snowdrifts, digging their front doors clear and more than enough fender-benders to keep the insurance companies afloat for a good while yet. I managed to stagger in, although walking the 5 blocks along Jasper Avenue this morning was like facing the death of a thousand cuts as the icy wind cuts you in half. Claire, after an abortive attempt to get the car out this morning, needed the help of a neighbour and his truck to tow her back on to the drive. She decided not to send Charlotte to school today (like many parents apparently) and just hunker down. There will be more digging before bedtime tonight I fear...It was also very quiet in the office as many people opted to work from home or just take a day off. Probably spending their time clearing their bloody driveways.

It isn't all Scott of the Antarctic though. Sunday saw us take our lives into our hands and drive down the snowswept Yellowhead Trail to visit a pet expo being held at the exhibition centre in North Edmonton. This was as a treat for Charlotte who was feeling depressed at the loss (albeit only for 2 weeks) of her playmate Brett who had gone with Shirley and Ian back to Blighty for a family visit. After we had negotiated our way to the centre, we spent 20 bucks for a family ticket for the next 4 hours petting rabbits, goats and ducks, riding camels and horses, handling snakes, watching dog displays and indulging in all sorts of animal related activity. It was good fun for all and well worth the short, but hazardous journey.

From then on it was just a matter of sweating on the house sale. We committed ourselves to a leaving date of the 12th October, the day after my 50th birthday, and hoped a buyer would materialise. Plans continued with respect to booking accommodation in St. Albert and preparing any paperwork. After some weeks of ifs, buts and maybe's, we got an offer on the house, dates were finalised and after an agonisingly long period we exchanged contracts. Two weeks later, the shipping container turned up and an enthusiastic team of men loaded our wordly goods on to the back of a truck. On Monday, 8th October 2007, we left our house for the last time and stayed with some friends who kindly offered to put us up for a few days. Finally, on the 12th October, with our bags packed and with some tearful goodbyes, we boarded a plane that would take us out of the UK to start our new life in the vast open space that is Canada....

Expat entertainment

In a demonstration of the diversity of the Canadian demographic, Claire and I were invited to a Burns Night supper last Saturday thanks to Ian, our Edmonton policeman friend. The evening was hosted by the police themselves and remarkably, many of them have strong Scottish roots. Of course, it may just be an excuse to play the bagpipes and drink whisky. We actually had a chance to doll ourselves up in our finery, once I had blown the dust of of my suit, drop the kids off for a sleepover thanks to Shirley and Ian's regular babysitter and eat, drink and be merry with other like minded adults. We had the full works, the addressing of the haggis, toasting the lads and lassies, Scottish dancing and much drinking. Both Claire and I are seriously out of major party practice, so she decided to abstain and drive and after a brave (I thought) attempt to keep up with the copious beer drinking, I fell back to a more leisurely pace - mainly in fear of facing a head like a hammer drill the next day.

Needless to say, Charlotte was overjoyed at the prospect of a sleep over and it proved difficult to extract her the next day, but a promise of more skiing and an arranged play date with one of her kindergarten pals in the week proved effective enough. Eleanor, being the astute little toddler, didn't really give a toss about where she got her head down as long as Mum and Dad were around in the morning for breakfast. The following day proved a little hard going due to lack of sleep, but a very bracing couple of hours at Rabbit Hill soon cleared the head. My, it was cold. Minus 18 degrees with a breeze to boot proved a bit of a handicap for further skiing progress, but Charlotte endured even if she did finish her lesson looking like she had been in the fridge for a day.

The main news concerning the Palmer family's latest life changing episode has to remain untold for now for fear of putting the kibosh on the whole thing (no, dear family, Claire is not pregnant). It is also a little embarrassing although probably understandable in view of the new Canada experience, but rest assured, time will out the story. Be patient.

Winter draws on

A little note would be nice. Something on the mat by the front door in the morning. "Mother Nature would just like to let you know that she has decided to deposit another 6 inches of snow outside - thank you for your attention". But no. Yesterday, the roads were all clear, the sidewalks swept and the journey to work was routine. This morning, the roads were all under that increasingly familiar white blanket and everything goes to pot. Mind you when I say that, going to pot over here means that the transit is 5 minutes late and everyone is wearing an extra shirt. In the UK, a sniff of snow and the entire rail and road system ceases to function for a week. It isn't because Albertans are tougher than Brits, it's just that snow and sub-zero temperatures are not only expected but guaranteed. Weather is predictable here. In winter it gets cold, it snows, it warms up, snow melts, spring. Simple. You know where you are. Winters may be tough here, but you know they're going to be tough and you just deal with it. You buy warm clothes, you stock up on winter essentials and life goes on. I tried to rationalise the attitude here and I think the big noticeable difference is that people don't moan about the weather. Even when it is -20 degrees and you have cleared your driveway for the fourth time in a week all you get is a cheery resignation and a slight shrug of the shoulders. We Brits are met at work with a 'is it cold enough for you yet?' said in a playful way. None of this whinging in the lift along the lines of 'I'm sick of this weather' or using the weather as an excuse to be miserable. Seasonally Affected Disorder is not welcome here.
It could be that there is a distinct lack of that one item which does cause so much misery - rain. Since we arrived here on October 12 2007, it has rained precisely - well actually it hasn't, at all. This means that you can pursue those outdoor pleasures that getting soaked to the skin rather spoils. Skiing, skating, walking etc. Apparently it does rain in Alberta, sometime between spring and summer apparently. Although if you turn your ahead away for a few minutes, you're probably going to miss it. This was always a problem with January and February in the UK for me. It was bad enough wading through the two most miserable months of the year before the possible onset of spring without having to get soaked doing it. January is still a non-eventful month here, it's just that you stay dry and you know that in March, spring will arrive. March 23rd apparently, at 14.15 precisely. OK I made that last bit up. The seasons are predictable, just not that predictable.

Enough about the weather.

For the most part, life continues for us in it's new and challenging way. Where are we going to find nappy sacks? How many of the 230 cable channels do we actually want to retain? When should we get our furnace serviced and why do the neighbours keep avoiding us? I may be getting paranoid about that but I do feel we should have made contact by now. Still, there is play date arranged for Charlotte with a new friend from kindergarten and Claire and I are going out to a Burn's Night dinner on Saturday. Claire has even bought a new dress. We are going skiing again on Sunday with another lesson booked for Charlotte. We went last Saturday, just the two of us and she is coming along very nicely. More confidence and enthusiasm by the week. Splendid. Now if we can just get Eleanor to stop head banging the cot everytime she goes to sleep that would be good. Although we have found a way of reducing the noise at night - we turn the baby monitor off.

Once we knew that all the approvals were in place, things moved apace. Stantec were politely pushing for a start date in Canada, the house went on the market and we stepped up our research on potential properties in Alberta. We had narrowed the residential options down to two locations, Sherwood Park and St. Albert, both within easy commuting distance from Edmonton. Desktop studies and internet research can only take you so far though. What was really needed was a visit. So, in May we went on a fact-finding tour/holiday for two weeks taking in Edmonton and the surrounding area followed by some time in Jasper and Banff in the Rockies. Claire's dad accompanied us so that the kid's would have a distraction when we were schlepping around houses as well as being able to check out our new country. I may go into the holiday into a bit more detail later, but it must be said that the first few days did not go well. Claire hated Sherwood Park and the other towns we saw south of the city, such as Beaumont. After the first few houses I could see that her enthusiasm and confidence were waning quickly. This all changed when we got to St. Albert and her spirits rose. By the time we had taken in Jasper and Banff and the grandeur of the Rockies, we knew that things would be fine. There was plenty of property within our price range and our confidence was restored. We returned home, convinced that our decision to go was the right one.

2008

So the new year dawns. It was natural to spend a few moments contemplating our new home and our new life and wondering whether it has all been worth it so far. The answer has to be yes, as we continue to settle into the way of things in Canada. There are a couple of things that could be better, the continuing isolation of Claire as she goes about her daily routines at home, although this has been eased with the introduction of Skype. There is no doubt she misses her best friend Cathryn and as sociable and helpful as Shirley is, she is no direct substitute. It will be a priority early in 2008 to 'get amongst the locals' and attempt to start building new friendships. This is going to be challenging for the both of us as neither are naturally extrovert and apart from knocking on our neighbour's doors and throwing ourselves at them (a very un-British thing to do obviously), it remains less than straightforward as to how this will be achieved. I'm confident that we will fit in soon enough and at the moment we remain content to capitalise on any social opportunities that may come our way. Secondly, there is the lack of a circle of friends for Charlotte, although I guess this is all part of the same challenge. She has settled well, is doing fine at kindergarten and has bonded with Shirley's son Brett, but still lacks that best friend relationship she enjoyed in the UK. Of course, it would be unrealistic to be concerned at this stage, we have only been here 12 weeks and Charlotte has attended school for less time than that. Nevertheless, I will be relieved when the party invites start arriving and that special friend comes knocking on the door. Eleanor is growing up fast. It seems exponentially so as her vocabulary expands almost daily. She is very demanding and has now started to perpetrate acts of physical violence. The cats, having felt relief at being sprung from the cattery, now find themselves under perpetual threat of being pummelled, having their tails pulled and generally being assaulted at all times. Claire has been clobbered more than once and Charlotte moves within hair grabbing distance at her peril. Discipline has been applied where necessary and consists of having toy privileges revoked and on one occasion, being banished to her cot for a bit of soul searching. We tend to look on with some amusement, particularly when toys are hurled across the room and a tantrum ensues.

Away from the domestic scene, I have great news to impart. Marmite has been located. Safeways in St. Albert has been raided and as many jars as possible purchased before I retreated in the face of threatening glares from Claire. We are now on a quest to locate and replace the many spices that we had to leave behind in the UK. Not easy. The average Canadian's idea of a spicy meal is to put a bit more pepperoni on the pizza. TV advertisements (worthy of a blog entry of their own I feel) constantly flood your living room with ready meals, pre-cooked sauces, fast food variants and everything convenient. This was brought into sharp relief when Claire last presented herself at the supermarket checkout with a trolley full of fresh fruit and veg, cooking ingredients and base items. The checkout girl, in a state of disbelief, was forced to lie down when told that all this was for 'cooking from scratch'. OK I exaggerate somewhat, but there is a plethora of two kinds of adverts on the tv, one is for convenience food and the other is for weight loss and health programs. As they say over here, go figure...