6th Month Anniversary....

Well here it is - 6 months to the day since we landed in Canada. Hard to believe, and it's gone so quickly. I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect, make some observations, and list our achievements. I also took a couple of pictures of the house last night so you can see how it's changed now that the trees all have some leaves on them! It was getting late however, so apologies if they appear a little dark. Incidentally, if you click on the pictures, they open up in a bigger window so you can see them more clearly.
So do we have any regrets? Absolutely not - of course we miss family and friends, but with the wonders of modern technology and this blog, we manage to keep in touch. Matthew and Emma are particularly bad at replying to emails from their friends and no amount of pestering on our part makes any difference. However, Emma now has her own computer in her bedroom and we're hoping this will encourage her to be more conscientious at replying! I might even encourage her to start a blog.
Things are different here, of course they are, it's a different country, but that doesn't mean they are bad. There are some things that aren't as convenient or as switched on as things in the UK, but you accept these. Such as? Well, you can't buy wine/beer in the supermarket - you have to go the Liquor Corporation (but it's usually next door to the supermarket). The unions are very strong here - bit like they were in the UK before Maggie whipped them into shape. There's a big paper mill in Cape Breton, been shut for weeks because of a Union Dispute. It will shut soon - they can't afford to keep it open if it isn't running, so they'll all be out of a job. Not good in Cape Breton, it isn't exactly brimming over with potential employers. So that will be a result for the Union won't it?
Although petrol prices here are lower, they fluctaute wildly - for instance it went up 7c a liter on Monday night. Glad I filled up on Saturday! However, we do live a bit out of town and tend to use a lot of fuel. The other side of that though is that I have a 10 minute drive to work, and we live in a fantastic neighbourhood, have a great house with plenty of space.
Our heating bill is higher, but then we'd expect that - it's colder here in the winter and we have a bigger house. Next year we will be making a lot more use of the wood stove and the supply of free fuel we have out back following the tree felling. The house though is extremely well insulated and the heating has been off now for a month, and even last night the house was warm even though it wasn't a particularly warm day. We had to open the bedroom windows it was so warm (what sort of bird it was that woke me up I have no idea, but it had a really annoying call!).
Food prices I would say are on a par overall, with fruit and veg on the expensive side (it's all imported from the States and South America during the winter) and convenience foods cheaper. Milk is more expensive. We keep our eye out for deals though! There is also Costco which enables us to buy certain stuff in bulk which keeps costs down.
Drivers are much more polite with speeds generally lower and there is much less traffic. If you head downtown during the rush hour then you will hit traffic - it is the Capital City of Nova Scotia after all, as well as the largest city in the Maritimes, but it's still better traffic-wise than Swindon!
The television is shocking - good job we don't watch much. Main problem is the adverts. Same ones over and over again, sometimes the same one twice in the same commercial break. We've just started watching Canadian Idol - that's how bad it is!! We do get the odd UK import, but they are few and far between and we have just cancelled BBC Canada as we were getting sick of the endless repeats of Carol Smillie and Changing Rooms....If we see something good coming on, we can always get the channel on it's own for a month. The joys of cable.
Telephone calls are cheaper (free in the local area), international probably more expensive - we tend to use Skype or messenger instead. Our internet is very good - 10 meg line, so very fast and reliable as well.
The school system is similar is some respects. We put Matthew and Emma in their age group as opposed to their academic level. It has given them the year to get used to how things are done and the differences in teaching methods. I suspect Emma has been a little bored once she got into the swing of things, but next year I think she'll really take off. Matthew is, well, Matthew. If we can get him to focus we'll be well on our way!
So that was the observations, now onto our acheivements.
It took us less than a month to get all unpacked and sorted. We had a housewarming party to meet the neighbours just after Christmas and this was excellent. I would thoroughly recommend moving just before Christmas - everyone really made us feel welcome.
We sorted out our health cards, doctor and dentist, cars, insurance, utility hook-ups, all in the first week of arrival. Matthew and Emma were in School within 4 days of arriving and getting into the routine.
I managed to get a job within 2 months of arrival, and managed to combine it with a career change. Okay it's not as well paid as I would have liked, but it is still well above average and I'm still learning a new 'trade'. It's also very enjoyable!
I have joined Toastmasters and come September I will be on the executive committee. I have already completed two speeches, both of which were well received. In fact someone has suggested I enter the second speech in the Humorous Speech Competition coming up in the fall. Not sure about that - it wasn't THAT good!
Deborah is a member of Newcomers and again she will be on the committee this coming term as secretary. She has also started her own business selling craft goods and projects. (See her website link to the right). She has also done sterling work in the garden. Nothing grows all winter and then suddenly it becomes a jungle of weeds! She's been out there weeding despite the onslaught of blackfly!
Matthew and Emma are Cubs and I will be invested as a leader in September (can't wait). We've been on two Cub Camps (well three really, but they didn't sleep over on the first) and trips to York Redoubt, Martinique Beach as well as numerous evening hikes and activities. They certainly do put the out into scouting!
We've done lots of visiting of places around Nova Scotia. We haven't managed to take in Cape Breton, or the other end of the province (Yarmouth), but plenty of visits to Peggy's Cove/Lunenburg and up to the Valley.
We've got a dog. Rescued from a center in Cape Breton (though she'd been re-homed once to Truro and we collected her there). She's got a fantastic nature and has settled in really well. We have an Invisible Fence, so she's got the run of the entire garden.
I've probably missed loads, but I'm writing this at work, and I really should get on with some work. If I remember anything else I'll add it later!
Enjoy the pictures. Please leave your comments - they are appreciated.