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.

• 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.

And so on. Seriously, -40 odd today, with a windchill. It's like nothing I've ever experienced. My face starts to hurt after about 5 minutes, which I think means it's close to getting frostbite. Awesome! I have purchased an incredibly warm jacket, which is phenominally good at keeping the cold out. The struggle is keeping my face and toes warm. It was said to me yesterday that at -50, it takes minutes for body parts and extremities to start freezing. Great! Why am I here again?!


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!

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!