Life is good.
As you would know dear reader, I take off across Canada very soon. Today in fact. I head off to Laurel's family's trailer (read giant Caravan) this evening for 4 days of drinking, swimming, boating, and drinking. I have been looking forward to getting out to their trailer at Sicamous in British Columbia since my birthday on the 2nd of July as we had originally planned to get up there for the Canada day long weekend. Unfortunately there was a massive flood due to a huge amount of rainfall in a very, very short period of time - houses were washed off of their foundations and the lake itself was contaminated with septic water. So the entire camping area was off limits up until a few weeks ago. On monday evening I begin heading east for my trip across this amazing country.
The only downside is the goodbyes. It is incredibly bittersweet. Apart from saying goodbye to Laurel, it is the rest of her family that have truly welcomed me into their lives and have shown me such amazing hospitality, love, and friendship. Each and every one of them have made such a big impact on my life, not just on my time in Calgary and dealing with the various challenges that I have gone through. I have said this to "the family" (as I refer to them) many times, but to travel to a foreign country and be invited in and considered as part of such a close knit family has been incredibly humbling and touching. Laurel's brothers, Thomas & Rob, are easily 2 of my best friends; Laurel's sister Kori is like a sister to me; Laurel is the original friend with whom I have shared so much and of course her parents Tim & Donna have always ensured that I have been included in family gatherings and have provided advice & guidance like the de facto parents that they are. I'm packing extra packets of tissues. I'll need them. But, this is definitely not goodbye. This is see you later. Beginning with a random meeting in Italy, I've made friends to last a lifetime. Ones that I will surely see again. I will make sure of that.
On a different note, I think getting out of Calgary will be very good for my health. I have never partied so much in my entire life.
I happily moved out of the house I was living in with the neurotic fat bitch who treated her housemates like boarders and moved in with Thomas. An excellent move - I was paying almost half the rent as I was previously, it was right by a train line and had everything I needed close by. Plus I got to spend a whole lot more time with Thomas - we've basically been joined at the hip for the last couple of months. I will miss him dearly.
This move also meant living in what was essentially, a party house. I got on very well with Thomas' friends, but not so much our other house mate who would invite people over most nights during the week and keep partying even though both Thomas and I would need to be up early for work. That was frustrating, but the socialising on weekends was very enjoyable. Being the foreigner who talks funny, I was often the centre of attention. Vain, yes, but I will miss the popularity.
The weekend following my birthday was the start of Stampede. Some readers may be aware of this Western Canada festival, but put simply, it is what the locals call a "shit-show" - it's essentially a big, classy carnival that includes huge country music gigs, wall to wall vommitting, impressive firework shows and cultural displays. For those in our age group, the drinking is a pretty large part. The start to Stampede was very, very cool.
My boss gave me the first friday of stampede off which I really appreciated. So as I got off the train close to home on the thursday evening, I was caught in a huge hail storm. I sought refuge in the local supermarket close by. It hailed very strongly for about 30 mins. I rang Thomas to see if he was on his way home and if he could collect me on the way through. He replied that yes he was on the way home and that we could use the hail to cool a whole lot of beer he had in his car. WTF? So Thomas got home and started shovelling the hail to collect on our doorstep. His idea was the stick it all in the corner and put all the beers in the mound just like an esky. A very cool idea.
After a few hours and six beers, there was a knock on the door. Someone wanted to interview me. Wait, what? I went to the front door - a camerman from the local tv station who had been taking some footage of the hailstorm saw the cooler on our doorstep. Thomas then told him a visiting Australian was in the house so they wanted to interview me for the evenings news. Suffice to say it was pretty damn cool. I simply expressed my surprise at a hailstorm in the middle of summer, how I'd never seen hail used to keep beer cold and that I usually try to avoid such weather. Hopefully at some stage I'll be able to get a hold of the footage - they even made mention of my Megadeth t-shirt! Awesome!
More to come......
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Celebrated Summer
Last week it was a long weekend here in Canada - Monday the 24th of May is Victoria day. Apparently it's to mark Queen Victoria's birthday. You know, the former English Monarch who married a Kraut. Yeah, doesn't make much sense to me either but apparently it's also to commemorate the birthday of the current Monarch. Either way I get a day off.
More importantly though, my mate Dean tells me it unofficially heralds the start of summer. Yeah righto. That would be the summer that brought Calgary the glorious temperature of 16 degrees on that weekend. Better watchout I don't get heatstroke.
In any case, it has been warmer of late. It was 23 degrees last saturday, and every man and his dog was out and about in summer clothing enjoying the warm weather. Of course being Calgary, it switched very quickly back to cold weather, and we even had some light snow on thursday. As I've tried to explain to people, back home in Adelaide, we can see the weather coming 5 days in advance. It's all very weird. My mate Josh says that's because Australia is flat and we can see from one end of the country to the other. Cheeky bugger.
Anyway, enough about the weather.
Stability has returned after the tumultuous few weeks spent living with a crack head.
I am glad to report though, that those who complain about the government sector and hold the private sector up to be a shining example of efficiency, clearly have no idea what they’re talking about. Out of all the departments I worked for in the South Australian government, none had such piss-poor HR and IT procedures as the mob I currently work for. So to me, that’s all very interesting. In any case, they have hired a new permanent Admin assistant to replace me, but have extended my contract to mid-july which is just about perfect. Stampede starts at the middle of July, so I’ll be here and earning money for that and then once my contract finishes, I’ll do a couple of small trips into the mountains before taking off on my Canadian adventure.
More importantly though, my mate Dean tells me it unofficially heralds the start of summer. Yeah righto. That would be the summer that brought Calgary the glorious temperature of 16 degrees on that weekend. Better watchout I don't get heatstroke.
In any case, it has been warmer of late. It was 23 degrees last saturday, and every man and his dog was out and about in summer clothing enjoying the warm weather. Of course being Calgary, it switched very quickly back to cold weather, and we even had some light snow on thursday. As I've tried to explain to people, back home in Adelaide, we can see the weather coming 5 days in advance. It's all very weird. My mate Josh says that's because Australia is flat and we can see from one end of the country to the other. Cheeky bugger.
Anyway, enough about the weather.
Stability has returned after the tumultuous few weeks spent living with a crack head.
I have moved into my new (normal) place, and whilst my roommate who is sub-leasing the place gives me the shits, it is an island of tranquility compared to my previous lodgings. My roommate is 30 something woman who’s life revolves around television and her small yapping shitsu, and who considers herself an expert on Australia just because she spent a few months in QLD 5 years ago. Grating, to be sure, particularly when she proceeds to bag my homeland based on one experience in a small part of a big country. But it could be worse. My room is small, which isn’t an issue – one of the best parts of being a traveler is the lack of material possessions needed – give me my mp3 player, my favourite newspaper (which my dear parents send me every week) and a couple of beers and I’m a happy chap. But the house is very close to downtown and there is a supermarket and liquor store around the corner.
I’ve been keeping myself busy on weekends catching up with friends and doing some touristy things around the city. Last weekend I went to Fort Calgary which was the first outpost before the Canadian Railway was laid that linked the east with the west. It was very interesting. (I will put some photos on facebook). The best part though, was that it was all in English; none of it was bilingual. What made me even happier was angry Quebec-ers complaining about that in the visitors book. Sick it up I say – some local governments in Quebec have already stopped printing materials in English so I say f*ck em. Secede; see how long you last with your big spending, socialist government you twats. (This topic in Canadian politics is the only thing that gets me riled up as Australian politics).
Work is going along swimmingly. Well I say swimmingly. I probably mean tediously. I give administrative support to a bunch of accountants, and it’s pretty slow going apart from at the end of each quarter when the financial statements have to be prepared and sent to the board. They had 2 people in my position previously, so I was guinea pig to see if it could be done by one person. Apart from 4 or 5 hours overtime at the end of the last quarter, (I worked until 7pm one night – outrageous! Where are some cumbersome, irrational, Labor-like industrial relations laws when you need them?!) things have been pretty slow. So I get lots of time to check to see what the Gillard government has f*cked up this week and post stupid things on facebook. And of course take a few smoke breaks, and browse the internet some more.
I am glad to report though, that those who complain about the government sector and hold the private sector up to be a shining example of efficiency, clearly have no idea what they’re talking about. Out of all the departments I worked for in the South Australian government, none had such piss-poor HR and IT procedures as the mob I currently work for. So to me, that’s all very interesting. In any case, they have hired a new permanent Admin assistant to replace me, but have extended my contract to mid-july which is just about perfect. Stampede starts at the middle of July, so I’ll be here and earning money for that and then once my contract finishes, I’ll do a couple of small trips into the mountains before taking off on my Canadian adventure.
I’m using my free time at work to plan that at the moment actually – So far, my itinerary includes leaving Calgary on the 1st of August and getting a bus to Vancouver. It is much more economical to fly, but I am told there are some must see places on the way where I’m going to stop for a few days each. Here is the route I’ll be taking -
https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=calgary&daddr=lake+louise+to:Kelowna,+BC+to:Vancouver,+BC&hl=en&sll=51.232688,-115.133972&sspn=1.27436,3.556824&geocode=FYjiCgMd-p8z-SnVP4SfA3BxUzE6tlK2sTttJg%3BFT-PEAMdCrsS-SkRzuGgKF13UzHmvGVjezw3PA%3BFdA6-QIdtaLg-CmzMMfjtox9UzH3xLTaPeX4Tg%3BFaqq7wIdOW6p-CmzT6lD8XOGVDGL84Gb6paRuw&oq=vancouver&mra=ls&t=m&z=7
So my first stop is Lake Louise. The name kind of speaks for itself – there’s a big arse Lake, and the pictures look amazing, so I’ll be looking to take a cruise on the Lake and just take it easy and wander around a bit.
It’s interesting. It’s only really dawned on me that for the first month, my trip is going to be a relaxing, wandering kind of holiday. In Europe, it was constant action with all of the history and culture to learn about. Whilst I’m certainly interested in Canadian culture, it’s the geography and the extreme difference between the lay of the land between our two countries that interests me the most. Plus Canadian culture is really just hockey, bad coffee, hockey, the constant implication of boat ownership (a-boat instead of about) being incredibly nice and hockey. Well, there’s probably (definitely) more to it than that but that’s certainly the broad impression.
In any case, after a few days at Lake Louise, it’s down to Kelowna, in British Columbia (the eastern most province) which is apparently wine country. So I will do a winery tour and take in the surroundings. It’s then onto Vancouver, which I have seen parts of, and where I will catch up with another friend, Catherine, who I met on my travels in Europe. The best part follows though – Vancouver Island. Ever since I decided that Canada would be my next trip, I have been eagerly awaiting my trip to Vancouver Island. Again, the photos I have seen have been of such natural beauty. There is a ferry that goes directly from Vancouver to the Island and I’m thinking that I’ll hire a car to get around the Island – there are buses that go between the towns and indeed the capital of Victoria (which is actually the capital of British Columbia, even though Vancouver itself is much larger) but I did some rough math and it wouldn’t be much more expensive to hire a car and go at my own pace. It also means I’ll easily be able to get into the national park which is a drive out of the closest towns; better yet, I’ll have some much anticipated freedom. The idea of being able to come and go as I please and stop at places along the way is just magic – just like heading down to the yorke peninsula back home.
After a week on the Island, I have a train trip booked to go from Vancouver over to Saskatoon, in the province of Saskatchewan – it’s about 3 times the cost of catching a plane, but this train goes through the Canadian rockies and I’m told that the scenery, again, is stunning. And it will be nice to have my own cabin and watch the country go by (and I'm also going to make 2 stops in Jasper & Edmonton). Here is the where the train goes - https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Vancouver,+BC&daddr=Jasper,+AB+to:Edmonton,+AB+to:Saskatoon,+SK&hl=en&sll=50.272865,-118.580685&sspn=5.20324,14.227295&geocode=Faqq7wIdOW6p-CmzT6lD8XOGVDGL84Gb6paRuw%3BFa3fJgMd6ED2-CkpPlVoCCuDUzGCKBkLvQIgHw%3BFZXaMAMdoCA8-Skj_96ARSKgUzFdFfZKDKAfQQ%3BFeKBGwMdmK-k-Skrme1Hv_YEUzGQJneVMp4EBQ&oq=sask&mra=ls&t=m&z=6
After that, a few days to catch up with another mate in Regina (not far away from Saskatoon) and then onto Toronto to see Dean & Alex and then plan my way around the east to see the French bastards and some of the more remote provinces.
There is a huge, blinding light at the end of the tunnel and I can’t bloody wait.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Crack dealers & Corporations
Excuse me, dear reader, for not updating my blog in a while. A few things have been happening both personally and emotionally.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I signed up with a temp agency to find some office work which would give me both better hours and better pay. Well, that was a very successful venture. Only 4 days after signing up (on a monday), I received a phone call (on thursday) between shifts at Craft that an oil and gas company, Enbridge Inc, was in need of an administrative assistant. The hours would be 8 to 5, $21 an hour (a pay rise of $8 an hour) and for 3 months. The catch was I would need to start the very next day, a friday. I thought that last part was odd but I said yes, I'll take it as I had been at Craft less than 3 months so I wouldn't need to give any notice of my departure. I went into work that evening and gave the news to the managing Chef, the managers that were on duty, and to the Executive Chef, Paul, who hired me. By and large, everyone was happy for me and understanding that it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.
The Exectutive Chef, however, thought differently. When I started my last shift, he was off duty, having a couple of beers at the bar. I approached him to give him the news; he quickly noted that he had "heard" and wasn't interested in discussing my resignation being that he was off duty. He only noted that I had "really screwed him around". I tried to make the point that if I declined this opportunity and didn't start immediately, I would have lost that very opportunity. Again, he replied that he wasn't interested. This is coming from a so-called professional, who has featured on local television and participated in local public panels, reviewing food sustainability in Calgary, and in Alberta itself. On the contrary, I thought his conduct was incredibly immature and not fit for a managing chef. Either way, that would be my last shift at Craft and I did my best to ignore his immaturity.
(As a side note, the David of 18 or 19 years of age would have been disgusted that I was going to work for a multi-national corporation. Back then I was still finding my feet politically, and would have been abhorred that I was even thinking about involving myself with a corporation. My principles at the time were only barely being formed, but a harsh anti-business stance was part of my thinking. Not based in any sense of reality of course, but one must have ideals at that age, right? Well ideals are important at any age.)
So, I would start at Enbridge, with normal working hours and a wage that would afford me to save some money and take weekend trips to the surrounding areas. Bloody brilliant.
At the same time, it was more than overdue for me to find my own place and move out of \Laurel's home. I had been there for 3 months and it was very much time to move on. I had been there too long - It made it harder for me to find additional accommodation as there aren't many places that will take a tenant for less than 6 months and It was time for me to be self sufficient and ensure that I didn't outstay my welcome. Laurel and her parents were incredibly warm to me and the fact that their house felt like home was something I will always be grateful for. If these very kind people hadn't opened their home to me, I probably would have gone home in December last year as I was still struggling to find work. Again, thankyou Laurel, Tim & Donna.
That last week at the Hagel/Sherwood household was stressful looking for accommodation (even if that stress was shortly placated by the arrival of Laurel's twin brothers, Thomas and Rob who are incredibly interesting and funny), but I did find a place to live. A young lady was looking for a roommate to share her inner-city suburb house, either long term or short term. We got on well immediately over the phone, and once I checked the (nice) house out, I paid a deposit to become a short term room mate. This took a huge load of my shoulders, but I would not be able to move in until April the 20th. Earlier, at Craft, one of the Chefs mused that I could stay with him if I fell into trouble and couldn't find a place to live. I very much kept this in mind. I spoke to him after finding a new place and mentioned that laspe between moving out of Laurel's and into the new place. He was very welcoming in letting me stay with him for a few weeks. He noted that he had a one bedroom basement suite but that he had two beds and would give me his. Better than staying a hotel for $600 a week right?
At about this time I was really getting a wanderlust - life consisted of merely working, drinking and sleeping and as a result of getting in such a rut, my mind drifted to home. My family. My friends. Reading The Australian and drinking proper bloody coffee. (Seriously, it's hard to get a proper espresso coffee that doesn't require a bank loan to pay for. Canada, brewed coffee is SHIT!). So I decided that would do a few weekend trips to ammeloriate such feelings. I would go back to Canmore (which I visited brefily with Laurel, her sister Kori and her boyfriend, Clint) and possibly even Banff. Canmore is at the feet of the Canadian rockies and Banff is a little further in.
Well, I've posted quite a few photos on facebook of my trip to Canmore, which consisted of Hiking, drinking with random people at the local pub and dogsledding. (For those of you not on facebook, I will email some photos post haste). I have no desire to add anything else here about my trip other than I had a massive smile on my face the whole time. Oh and that I got lost hiking in Canmore, before being shown the way by a lovely couple who could see I was lost. And more importantly, being stranded by an avalanche up at the Sprey lakes whilst dogsledding - The instructors told us we would be stuck for a few hours as the main access road had been closed. I would miss my bus back to Calgary, but as has been the theme of this entire trip, generous Canadians came to the rescue. A very kind fellow was driving back to Calgary once we had finished dogsledding and arrived back in Canmore - and he offered to give me a lift! Canada, take a bow. Never have exprienced such kindness.
The trip to Banff wasn't as good as there were way more tourists but the scenery was still amazing and like nothing I've seen before.
So, I was sharing with the chef. In a cramped, filthy basement suit. I kept telling myself, it's only a for a few weeks but his smoking inside and the fact that I did all the cleaning (of this dirty suite) began to grate. I hated coming home from work; and to top it off, it was eventually revealed, he was a crack dealer. Yes, crack cocaine. The main door to the house had a broken lock and he had no key to get in to the basement - both of us would have to get in through the window. Then he started ringing me on a week night, as to whether various people had come looking for him, to score. That was enough for me. I kept my luggage locked up at all times as my instinct told me that things weren't safe but when I learnt that latter fact, it was time to get out. I'm now staying at a cheap hotel for the week until I move into my new (normal!) place next saturday.
Those couple of weekend trips really did lift my spirits as I got to explore real Canadian country side. And all things considered I'm feeling pretty good. It looks like my contract at work will be extended to August, so I'll be able to save more money and of course, see all of the Stampede (google it). It's about time things started falling my way - from the stress of finding a job and getting a place to live, I'm finally in a position to prolong my stay in Canada and see some of this beautiful country.
I'll leave you with one last thing - a beautiful song which added to my pleasure when Hiking in Canmore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcl1PCaxFFw
Cheers
As I mentioned in my previous post, I signed up with a temp agency to find some office work which would give me both better hours and better pay. Well, that was a very successful venture. Only 4 days after signing up (on a monday), I received a phone call (on thursday) between shifts at Craft that an oil and gas company, Enbridge Inc, was in need of an administrative assistant. The hours would be 8 to 5, $21 an hour (a pay rise of $8 an hour) and for 3 months. The catch was I would need to start the very next day, a friday. I thought that last part was odd but I said yes, I'll take it as I had been at Craft less than 3 months so I wouldn't need to give any notice of my departure. I went into work that evening and gave the news to the managing Chef, the managers that were on duty, and to the Executive Chef, Paul, who hired me. By and large, everyone was happy for me and understanding that it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.
The Exectutive Chef, however, thought differently. When I started my last shift, he was off duty, having a couple of beers at the bar. I approached him to give him the news; he quickly noted that he had "heard" and wasn't interested in discussing my resignation being that he was off duty. He only noted that I had "really screwed him around". I tried to make the point that if I declined this opportunity and didn't start immediately, I would have lost that very opportunity. Again, he replied that he wasn't interested. This is coming from a so-called professional, who has featured on local television and participated in local public panels, reviewing food sustainability in Calgary, and in Alberta itself. On the contrary, I thought his conduct was incredibly immature and not fit for a managing chef. Either way, that would be my last shift at Craft and I did my best to ignore his immaturity.
(As a side note, the David of 18 or 19 years of age would have been disgusted that I was going to work for a multi-national corporation. Back then I was still finding my feet politically, and would have been abhorred that I was even thinking about involving myself with a corporation. My principles at the time were only barely being formed, but a harsh anti-business stance was part of my thinking. Not based in any sense of reality of course, but one must have ideals at that age, right? Well ideals are important at any age.)
So, I would start at Enbridge, with normal working hours and a wage that would afford me to save some money and take weekend trips to the surrounding areas. Bloody brilliant.
At the same time, it was more than overdue for me to find my own place and move out of \Laurel's home. I had been there for 3 months and it was very much time to move on. I had been there too long - It made it harder for me to find additional accommodation as there aren't many places that will take a tenant for less than 6 months and It was time for me to be self sufficient and ensure that I didn't outstay my welcome. Laurel and her parents were incredibly warm to me and the fact that their house felt like home was something I will always be grateful for. If these very kind people hadn't opened their home to me, I probably would have gone home in December last year as I was still struggling to find work. Again, thankyou Laurel, Tim & Donna.
That last week at the Hagel/Sherwood household was stressful looking for accommodation (even if that stress was shortly placated by the arrival of Laurel's twin brothers, Thomas and Rob who are incredibly interesting and funny), but I did find a place to live. A young lady was looking for a roommate to share her inner-city suburb house, either long term or short term. We got on well immediately over the phone, and once I checked the (nice) house out, I paid a deposit to become a short term room mate. This took a huge load of my shoulders, but I would not be able to move in until April the 20th. Earlier, at Craft, one of the Chefs mused that I could stay with him if I fell into trouble and couldn't find a place to live. I very much kept this in mind. I spoke to him after finding a new place and mentioned that laspe between moving out of Laurel's and into the new place. He was very welcoming in letting me stay with him for a few weeks. He noted that he had a one bedroom basement suite but that he had two beds and would give me his. Better than staying a hotel for $600 a week right?
At about this time I was really getting a wanderlust - life consisted of merely working, drinking and sleeping and as a result of getting in such a rut, my mind drifted to home. My family. My friends. Reading The Australian and drinking proper bloody coffee. (Seriously, it's hard to get a proper espresso coffee that doesn't require a bank loan to pay for. Canada, brewed coffee is SHIT!). So I decided that would do a few weekend trips to ammeloriate such feelings. I would go back to Canmore (which I visited brefily with Laurel, her sister Kori and her boyfriend, Clint) and possibly even Banff. Canmore is at the feet of the Canadian rockies and Banff is a little further in.
Well, I've posted quite a few photos on facebook of my trip to Canmore, which consisted of Hiking, drinking with random people at the local pub and dogsledding. (For those of you not on facebook, I will email some photos post haste). I have no desire to add anything else here about my trip other than I had a massive smile on my face the whole time. Oh and that I got lost hiking in Canmore, before being shown the way by a lovely couple who could see I was lost. And more importantly, being stranded by an avalanche up at the Sprey lakes whilst dogsledding - The instructors told us we would be stuck for a few hours as the main access road had been closed. I would miss my bus back to Calgary, but as has been the theme of this entire trip, generous Canadians came to the rescue. A very kind fellow was driving back to Calgary once we had finished dogsledding and arrived back in Canmore - and he offered to give me a lift! Canada, take a bow. Never have exprienced such kindness.
The trip to Banff wasn't as good as there were way more tourists but the scenery was still amazing and like nothing I've seen before.
So, I was sharing with the chef. In a cramped, filthy basement suit. I kept telling myself, it's only a for a few weeks but his smoking inside and the fact that I did all the cleaning (of this dirty suite) began to grate. I hated coming home from work; and to top it off, it was eventually revealed, he was a crack dealer. Yes, crack cocaine. The main door to the house had a broken lock and he had no key to get in to the basement - both of us would have to get in through the window. Then he started ringing me on a week night, as to whether various people had come looking for him, to score. That was enough for me. I kept my luggage locked up at all times as my instinct told me that things weren't safe but when I learnt that latter fact, it was time to get out. I'm now staying at a cheap hotel for the week until I move into my new (normal!) place next saturday.
Those couple of weekend trips really did lift my spirits as I got to explore real Canadian country side. And all things considered I'm feeling pretty good. It looks like my contract at work will be extended to August, so I'll be able to save more money and of course, see all of the Stampede (google it). It's about time things started falling my way - from the stress of finding a job and getting a place to live, I'm finally in a position to prolong my stay in Canada and see some of this beautiful country.
I'll leave you with one last thing - a beautiful song which added to my pleasure when Hiking in Canmore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcl1PCaxFFw
Cheers
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Things change by staying the same
Well, I think I'm finally settling in and keeping the home-sickness at bay.
You see, dear reader, for a couple of months now, I've been having this reoccuring dream that I have returned home to Adelaide with the intention of seeing my family & friends and then coming back to Canada at a later point. Well, I'm pleased to say, the last few times I've had this dream, I have been very, very annoyed that I have left Canada. I'm no dream interpreter, but I'm going to guess that subconsciously, I've finally settled in. Calgary has been incredibly kind to me, whether it's been the hospitality shown to me by the Hagel/Sherwood family, or the mild winter which has allowed me to (somewhat) adjust to the weather, or the cool people I have met at the Craft Beer Market. Still, the only thing that lasts forever is the certainty of change, but I think I'm on a pretty good wicket at the moment.
Like I said, the weather has continued to be quite mild. After that week of -40, it has remained around +5 degrees or so, although the last couple of days has seen constant snow and it even dropped to -18 on sunday just gone. This has meant I was less busy at work as less people venture outdoors. We're very lucky in Australia - the weather rarely keeps us from enjoying the outdoors. Here, it's a very real deterrent.
In any case I've enjoyed it being a little quieter at work, particularly last saturday night, when it is usually incredibly busy.
Speaking of work, things are about to change. The weekend before last, during the typically maniacal saturday night shift, I thought to myself "I don't get paid enough to endure this much stress at work". Although a bartender gave me a very wise point of view about the industry - "it's only food and booze" - when it's busy, it's really bloody busy. Tables and tables; multiple bookings of ten or more, and then there's me, the poor bastard who has to get all the meals out of the kitchen. Just as one example, last friday during lunch service, which only goes for about and hour and a half, we sold just over 6600 meals. Yeah, that many. It's hectic, and whilst I'm getting used to my position, it's still nerve wracking at times.
So, yesterday (monday) I had an appointment with Mark staffing, a temp agency. A few people have recommended this mob, and I'm not interested in working as an expo anymore. So after having an interview (the first in my entire life where I've actually felt confident) and going through 5 computer tests, I'm on their books for temp work. I really need a monday to friday job, so that I have the same days off as my friends, but I also need to earn more money. I barely break $500 a week, including tip out, in my current job at $13 an hour. Office work starts at a minimum of $15, so it will enable me to save more and continue my journey.
As I said, there are some great relationships I have developed at the Craft (and everyone loves an Aussie) but I need to look after myself. More pay, better hours and an actual social life is what's needed. It's no good spending my days off drinking and reading about politics; I can do that anywhere.
Thankfully, a couple of weeks back, I ventured up to Canmore with Laurel, her sister Kori and Kori's boyfriend Clint. I got a sunday off work (easily the slowest day of the working week for me) and enjoyed a 3 day weekend. And what a day it was. I have never seen such mountains and unique landscapes in my entire life. Even half an hour out of Canmore, there are just massive, bloody massive snow covered mountains. It was quite an experience. (There are photos on facebook, but for the few of you who aren't on facebook, I'll email a couple to you. Let me know if I've missed anyone). We went to lunch and a few local beers, then headed up to Banff. On the way, we spotted some local wildlife which Clint kindly stopped for so I could take some photos. Otherwise the day was spent drinking and enjoying the unique landscapes.
On a lighter note, I'm fully addicted to pickles. In particular, dill pickles. Apart from Maple syrup, there are 3 things it seems Canadians are utterly addicted to - Tim Hortons coffee, hot sauce & dill pickles. I'm not a huge fan of hot sauce myself, but dill pickles & Tim Hortons certainly hits the spot for me.
I'm still reading quite a lot, an am having to give away books being that I simply don't have the space to keep them. I frequent a bookstore downtown which quite often has "bargain" books, so I've picked up a book on Guns 'n' Roses as well as a few books by Hunter S Thompson. I'm still listening to music as much as I ever did, and currently Van Halen's first album in 14 years (and their first with their original singer, David Lee Roth in 28 years) is really floating my boat, along with a good dose of Stone Temple Pilots.
Now I know, dear reader, you'll probably groan at this, but with all that has transpired in Australian politics in the last week, I must make a comment. The leadership battle between a popular yet disfunctional leader and an incompetent leader who has incredibly bad political judgement, was perhaps the nastiest and ugliest political battle seen in modern politics. Alas, I will make my point short and sweet. Rudd tried to do too much too quickly, and reacted to the media cycle too much. In the process, he left us all guessing in what he truly stood for. Gillard has been the same, but with worse political judgement. Seriously, can anyone imagine a political staffer from the Howard, Keating or Hawke governments inciting a riot? The fact that Gillard has left Tony Abbott as the PM in waiting, even though he has little policies on offer at this stage, should speak volumes. Abbott has certainly played the negative game, but one point he made is very prescient - if Julia Gillard can barely manage her own office and media policy, how can she manage an entire government?
Indeed.
You see, dear reader, for a couple of months now, I've been having this reoccuring dream that I have returned home to Adelaide with the intention of seeing my family & friends and then coming back to Canada at a later point. Well, I'm pleased to say, the last few times I've had this dream, I have been very, very annoyed that I have left Canada. I'm no dream interpreter, but I'm going to guess that subconsciously, I've finally settled in. Calgary has been incredibly kind to me, whether it's been the hospitality shown to me by the Hagel/Sherwood family, or the mild winter which has allowed me to (somewhat) adjust to the weather, or the cool people I have met at the Craft Beer Market. Still, the only thing that lasts forever is the certainty of change, but I think I'm on a pretty good wicket at the moment.
Like I said, the weather has continued to be quite mild. After that week of -40, it has remained around +5 degrees or so, although the last couple of days has seen constant snow and it even dropped to -18 on sunday just gone. This has meant I was less busy at work as less people venture outdoors. We're very lucky in Australia - the weather rarely keeps us from enjoying the outdoors. Here, it's a very real deterrent.
In any case I've enjoyed it being a little quieter at work, particularly last saturday night, when it is usually incredibly busy.
Speaking of work, things are about to change. The weekend before last, during the typically maniacal saturday night shift, I thought to myself "I don't get paid enough to endure this much stress at work". Although a bartender gave me a very wise point of view about the industry - "it's only food and booze" - when it's busy, it's really bloody busy. Tables and tables; multiple bookings of ten or more, and then there's me, the poor bastard who has to get all the meals out of the kitchen. Just as one example, last friday during lunch service, which only goes for about and hour and a half, we sold just over 6600 meals. Yeah, that many. It's hectic, and whilst I'm getting used to my position, it's still nerve wracking at times.
So, yesterday (monday) I had an appointment with Mark staffing, a temp agency. A few people have recommended this mob, and I'm not interested in working as an expo anymore. So after having an interview (the first in my entire life where I've actually felt confident) and going through 5 computer tests, I'm on their books for temp work. I really need a monday to friday job, so that I have the same days off as my friends, but I also need to earn more money. I barely break $500 a week, including tip out, in my current job at $13 an hour. Office work starts at a minimum of $15, so it will enable me to save more and continue my journey.
As I said, there are some great relationships I have developed at the Craft (and everyone loves an Aussie) but I need to look after myself. More pay, better hours and an actual social life is what's needed. It's no good spending my days off drinking and reading about politics; I can do that anywhere.
Thankfully, a couple of weeks back, I ventured up to Canmore with Laurel, her sister Kori and Kori's boyfriend Clint. I got a sunday off work (easily the slowest day of the working week for me) and enjoyed a 3 day weekend. And what a day it was. I have never seen such mountains and unique landscapes in my entire life. Even half an hour out of Canmore, there are just massive, bloody massive snow covered mountains. It was quite an experience. (There are photos on facebook, but for the few of you who aren't on facebook, I'll email a couple to you. Let me know if I've missed anyone). We went to lunch and a few local beers, then headed up to Banff. On the way, we spotted some local wildlife which Clint kindly stopped for so I could take some photos. Otherwise the day was spent drinking and enjoying the unique landscapes.
On a lighter note, I'm fully addicted to pickles. In particular, dill pickles. Apart from Maple syrup, there are 3 things it seems Canadians are utterly addicted to - Tim Hortons coffee, hot sauce & dill pickles. I'm not a huge fan of hot sauce myself, but dill pickles & Tim Hortons certainly hits the spot for me.
I'm still reading quite a lot, an am having to give away books being that I simply don't have the space to keep them. I frequent a bookstore downtown which quite often has "bargain" books, so I've picked up a book on Guns 'n' Roses as well as a few books by Hunter S Thompson. I'm still listening to music as much as I ever did, and currently Van Halen's first album in 14 years (and their first with their original singer, David Lee Roth in 28 years) is really floating my boat, along with a good dose of Stone Temple Pilots.
Now I know, dear reader, you'll probably groan at this, but with all that has transpired in Australian politics in the last week, I must make a comment. The leadership battle between a popular yet disfunctional leader and an incompetent leader who has incredibly bad political judgement, was perhaps the nastiest and ugliest political battle seen in modern politics. Alas, I will make my point short and sweet. Rudd tried to do too much too quickly, and reacted to the media cycle too much. In the process, he left us all guessing in what he truly stood for. Gillard has been the same, but with worse political judgement. Seriously, can anyone imagine a political staffer from the Howard, Keating or Hawke governments inciting a riot? The fact that Gillard has left Tony Abbott as the PM in waiting, even though he has little policies on offer at this stage, should speak volumes. Abbott has certainly played the negative game, but one point he made is very prescient - if Julia Gillard can barely manage her own office and media policy, how can she manage an entire government?
Indeed.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tidbits & Canadianisms
Well, not much has happened since my last post. I'm working, sleeping and spending my days off relaxing, and trying so stay warm. So being that there's not much to tell, I have some tidbits and thoughts to share.
How humans ever adapted this weather without modern technology in way of heating and clothing is beyond me. And how do the squirells survive? That's a question for the ages I tell ya. At least now I understand how my mate Dean can wear a shorts and t-shirt when the temperatures gets to +10. Such a huge jump from extremes really would feel warm.
May last 2 days off (monday & tuesday just gone) were spent indoors for the whole time. It's just too cold to go outside unless you have a car - waiting at train stations and bus stops is just brutal. I'm hoping to get up to Banff at some stage on a day off soon though; it would be really nice to get out of the city and see some countryside, as long as it's a bit warmer that is. I might even have a go at ice skating.
Seeing the sunshine during the cricket or the Australian Open really has me pining for home, but this is one hell of an experience. Enjoy the warm weather people!
- It's so cold in Canada, houses can literally fall off cliffs in the Northwest Territories when the permafrost melts and foundations of a house move
- It's so cold in Canada, you need a heater for your engine so that your car will start in the morning
- It's so cold in Canada, there are bugger all people on the streets in the middle of the day
- It's so cold in Canada, when you step outside and the cold wind hits your lungs, it makes you cough
- In so cold in Canada, if you left beer outside, it would freeze and explode in a matter of minutes (I haven't tried that one yet).
- It's so cold in Canada, the trains sometimes just don't run because they can't make it through the snow or even start going when it's this cold.
How humans ever adapted this weather without modern technology in way of heating and clothing is beyond me. And how do the squirells survive? That's a question for the ages I tell ya. At least now I understand how my mate Dean can wear a shorts and t-shirt when the temperatures gets to +10. Such a huge jump from extremes really would feel warm.
May last 2 days off (monday & tuesday just gone) were spent indoors for the whole time. It's just too cold to go outside unless you have a car - waiting at train stations and bus stops is just brutal. I'm hoping to get up to Banff at some stage on a day off soon though; it would be really nice to get out of the city and see some countryside, as long as it's a bit warmer that is. I might even have a go at ice skating.
Seeing the sunshine during the cricket or the Australian Open really has me pining for home, but this is one hell of an experience. Enjoy the warm weather people!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Visions of old and new
Ah, procastination. How well I know thee. Hmmmm, I never thought I'd ever use the word "thee" on my blog.
Anyway, yes, I have been lazy. I've been meaning to post but I'm still getting my head around working split shifts and commuting for an hour to work both ways. Could be worse though eh? (Oh-o, Canadianisms are seeping in!) I could be unemployed. No bloody way am I going back to struggling to fill in the hours. That sucked.
Last week I started my new job as the "Expo" (I must find out why it's called that) at the Craft Beer Market here in Calgary. My first ever job in the private sector. My first job in a restaurant. My first job in Canada.
Basically my role is to ensure the efficient and timely delivery of food orders to customers. The chefs put it together, I make sure it gets to the right place with the right side dishes etc. It's a very hectic job, in which when it gets very busy, it's absolute mayhem. Multiple orders and multiple dishes flying around at the same time. It's quite a far departure from the public sector; indeed it's an incredibly far departure from a structured workplace with clear lines of demarcation. It's been quite a learning curve and experience.
I was bloody nervous before my first day, which was not helped by the fact that the head chef who hired me was on leave and I was left with one of the junior chefs who took little interest in training me - the actual hours I worked for the first 4 days weren't recorded, even if by that point I was already doing overtime. The manager who put my name forward for a position, however was looking out for me, and the other managers (there are about 8 of them, remembering that it is a big place) were looking out for me as the new kid. That was much appreciated.
Aside from the normal teething problems that come with a new job, I was really worried about how well I could adapt to such a foreign environment. Indeed I wondered whether I could do the job at all. As you know, dear reader, I am not the quick thinking on my feet kind of type; I am calculated, careful & somewhat analytical. How the hell could I cope with 20 plus tables ordering food and 5 + items per table?! This would really test me.
At such a large bar/restaurant, there are quite a few employees. Over 50 or so I think. Most of them were quite friendly and came up and introduced themselves which was really nice. Most of them thought I was English (I'm no dirty stinking pom!)! I guess it's not only Americans that are terrible with accents.
Anyway, somehow I got some positive feedback after only day 2 and I really started to enjoy myself. Don't get me wrong, even now I'm shit scared of a really busy shift and being swamped by orders; but I love the adrenaline rush of so many things happening at once. There's nothing quite like it. But most importantly, I've discovered I can think on my feet and get results. Once I learnt the (huge) menu and was able to identify different dishes and variations quickly, I was ok. Now it's just practice.
So now I'm quite enjoying it. I'm still staying at Laurel's house which means I stay downtown all day, even though I'm working split shifts 10:30am to 1:30pm then 5 to 9pm - there's just not enough time to get a train and then bus back home, have lunch, and then come back. So I take my lunch with me, get some soup downtown and sit here, at Starbucks, with my laptop using the free wi-fi. It kind of sucks being that I'm home by 10 then in bed by 12, but again, it's better than being unemployed.
Once I get my own place, a bit closer to downtown, things should fall into place. Amazingly, I'm still taking things day by day; I'm not looking too far into the future, but now that I'm staying put and I have a job, I'm struggling a little to appreciate my circumstances. When I was travelling around Europe last year (and I'm sure many of my fellow travellers will attest to this) I lived and breathed every city I went to; nothing was taking for granted. I took everything in, appreciated where I was and what I was doing and lived in the moment. Every feeling and moment was heightened due to the sheer adventure, so now, I need to keep reminding myself that I am indeed on the other side of the planet, in Canada.
Truthfully, that's a pretty awesome thought eh!
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