Our First Gathering - Canadian Style!

Well at last we have got round to our first gathering and invited a few people over for a BBQ. Although it will seem strange not having our friends from the street in N.Wales with us, we were lucky to have some new friends to join us in the sun. Our new neighbors, Samantha, Brian, Mo and Maggie, and Sonja and Alan, a couple who have just moved from Scotland, whom we met via a British Expats meet up.

Brian, Mo, Alan, Nige and Domino.

Samantha, Brian and Sonja.

Domino and her two new friends Mo and Maggie.

Our neighbors Samantha and Brian and their two babies Mo and Maggie

Then to burn off the calories from all the eating and drinking there was badminton over the garden fence well into the night!

The Jobs So Far

Well after the initial concern about getting jobs we both started work the same week and wanted to up-date you on how things were going.

Below is a picture of my brand new van and it's 45ft lift that was purchased by the company for me to use here in Alberta and as you can see it will come in very handy when it comes to putting up the Christmas lights!!!

My job is a Sign and Lighting Service Technician and the company I work for are based in Langley, BC but are now expanding into Alberta with their contracts with companies such as Future Shop, Best Buy, Shell, Starbucks, McDonalds and CIBC etc.  We service the interior and exterior lighting including the main signs each company has, which can involve changing ballasts and contactors as required, all over the province.  They only employ about 7 people (5 in BC and now 2 of us in Alberta), but they are a great company to work for and certainly look after their employees.  They are even flying me over to Vancouver Island in August for a Charity Golf Tournament in aid of Ronald McDonald House, then they'll be flying both me and Sophie over for their Christmas Party at the beginning of December in a posh hotel!!  I certainly feel like I've landed on my feet considering the current economic climate.

Sophie got offered 2 jobs from her 2 interviews and has since started work in the Operating Room at the Foothills Medical Centre in the North West of Calgary.  This is the largest of the hospitals in the city.  She has managed to get employed on a Casual basis only, due to hiring issues in the Alberta Health Region, but she has a 6 month, fully rotation, full time job while she trains in all departments.  Sophie has already picked up shifts for October though and is settling in nicely, learning all the new instrument names required for the job.

It's certainly nice to see some $'s entering the bank account now after the initial spend, spend, spend! 

The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth...Calgary Stampede

Well it would be nearly impossible to avoid 'Stampede Fever' (not that we wanted to) so we made sure that we booked our tickets for the Chuck wagon racing and the evening grandstand show.

We paid about £45 for the two of us to enter the park and the racing and grandstand show, but we certainly got our money's worth. Stampede park is full of smaller shows and demonstrations and we have never seen so many food outlets (of which photographic evidence exists of a small percentage of the ones sampled). There are beer gardens, bars, a casino, rides and rollercoster's, as well as the grandstand and the Saddledome.

Nige eating his first ever corn dog!

Me sampling one of the many food outlets!

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recruiting at the show.

One of the Stunt shows we watched, whilst trying to cool down from the heat.

Some stunt diving!

The Stampede has a large area dedicated to the Indian culture and those living on reserve land. It was amazing to see all the teepees up close as well as see all the traditional dress and watch some traditional indian singing and dancing.

I couldn't resist the opportunity for a snapshot with some local officers! I just kept thinking about a program i used to watch 'Due South' and was just waiting for his trusty side kick the husky dog to turn up!!!!

Yes another picture of me sampling one of the food outlets!

A member of the Canadian Air Force, with one of their planes.

One event we really wanted to see was the chuck-wagon racing. This took place at the grandstand at Stampede park.

During the Canadian National Anthem an Air Force helicopter flies in an enormous canadian flag and circles the grandstand.

The chuck wagons just getting ready at the start line!

After the chuck-wagon racing the large part of the stage is brought in on an enormous trailer pulled by a large tractor. This is then all secured and the rest of the stage is assembled by group of people, its really well organized and fascinating to watch.

The entertainment was fantastic and really varied. There was a circus act, dancing, singing, motorbike stunts, bands and a comedian.

Unfortunately the camera batteries decided that they had had enough excitement for one day so we didn't manage to get any more pictures, but I'm sure you get the idea and we both agreed what an amazing day and night we had. There was so much to see and we felt that we were being very optimistic thinking we could see all we wanted to in just the one day. Having now been once we know what the Stampede has to offer and can plan for next year accordingly. We're hoping to spend a few days at the stampede next year and then we can ensure we get the full Stampede experience.

Is that our container at the end of the drive???!!!

Firstly, a couple of weeks ago we were having coffee with a family that were in the midst of planning their return back to the UK and got onto the conversation about how they were wondering if their games consoles would work in the UK.  Now to cut a long story short we decided that rather than both of us trying to use our own consoles and games in a different country we would swap everything and they would have our UK Wii and PS2 and we would have their Canadian ones.  

Their container was originally due to be packed after ours had arrived, but due to a delay at the port, then a shortage of delivery drivers in Calgary (very frustrating), our containers arrival date had been changed four times and the final date was after the other container was due to leave so we had to arrange (for a fee) to enter the warehouse in Calgary where our stuff was being stored whilst we had to wait for a delivery van and get the 3 boxes that contained the consoles and games, thus saving them from having to pack it all in their suitcases.  

Well at last, today was the day (after a lot of miscommunication with a very snotty women in the Calgay office) and the van containing the remainder of our worldly goods arrived this afternoon.

The arrival day of your belongings, that were last seen many weeks ago driving down the road, has been described to us by a friend as very much like christmas, which, as it turns out, was a very good discription.

They arrived aroung 1.30pm and spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking our boxes and it was amazing how much we had forgotten we had shipped.  At first it was all a bit surreal having last seen all our belongings in their places back in the UK, to watching them unwrap things into a pile then having to work through the pile to try and work out where everything could go in our new house (without having all our old furniture to put it in!)

Now the worrying bit, breakages.  We were no unrealistic and were prepared for this and were relieved to have only 3 breakages and some scratches to a picture frame, which considering how far it had all come we weren't too upset.

So we are sitting here with many piles left to still sort out but I think that another trip to Ikea may be necessary in order to be able to put things on display.

As soon as things start to look a bit more presentable, pictures will be taken and posted.