An Update of our Progress

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

The speed is picking up as we start to plan for our move.  We have had an e-mail to say that our visas have been forwarded to the Canadian High Commission for processing so we should have them both by the end of April at the very very latest. This means we are still on target for an early May departure.  We have arranged for our property to be managed by someone whom we know (who is very experienced in managing rentals)  so we won't have to worry about it when we go.  

We have now set up, what we call ' the nerve centre' of operations in our spare room!  This is basically an enormous wall planner, a detailed check list of everything that needs to be done (which is being continually added to!) four folders of all our documentation, leaflets, lots of post-it notes and some rather brightly coloured markers!!  

One of the most drastic things that has taken place over the last week is that Sophie has started the unenviable task of going room to room to sort our all our belongings as ideally we don't want to take too much with us.  We have already made the decision not to take any furniture and will be selling that before we leave, but once you have decided a cupboard is not going with you, it is amazing how much stuff that little cupboard contains!!!!  

Initially we thought it would be similar to moving house, with the added bonus of being able to buy new furniture at the other end.  This however, as we have quickly gathered, is not going to be the case.  We have designated different bedrooms in the house to different fates for the contents within them, one for car boot, one for taking and another for storage in the UK (i.e.friends lofts!!) Things that are staying put are things that will go in our suitcases.   This way it will give us a better idea how much we actually want to take, and hopefully allow us to be realistic about what to actually take.  The house now looks like a cross between a minimalist show home and a flea market depending on which room you are in!!  

Sophie completed her SEC assessment last week and now just has to wait 5 weeks to find out how she did.  She has also had her date for her knee op and has managed to get a cancellation for the 3rd of March so should be fighting fit for the leaving party (which has now been booked for the 2nd May).

Will keep you posted with any other developments.

London SEC Assessments

Well tomorrow I am completing the 2 day SEC nursing assessment down in London and am just waiting for Nige to come home from work to take me to the train station (so just killing time with a quick post).  What with the severe weather conditions down there, I was worried to begin with that it may be delayed (wishful thinking I think) but so far everything is going ahead as planned.  I'm not sure what order things will take place over the two days but am starting to get very nervous.  I plan to do a final bit of revision on the train and then tonight at the hotel but have come to the conclusion that I can't learn a three year course in two weeks so can only do my best and hope that I do enough to convince the assessors that I don't require any further training.  If however I do have any identified 'skill gaps' then to get out to Calgary and complete the training as soon as possible so I can continue doing the job I love!  

Wish me luck!!!

Winter/Calgary Sports Update!

Nige here.

Just a quick update on our Canadian sports adventures! I have been putting quite a bit of time in at the Ice rink in a bid to start playing Ice hockey and have since joined the local Recreational team, the Flintshire Phantoms http://www.thephantoms.co.uk/. 3 training sessions in and I'm comfortably the worst player on the team, but I love it and the challenge of learning a new sport. Managed to get all the kit second hand as a job lot on ebay for £155 to include 2 pairs of skates (1 new), hockey stick, all pads, socks, 3 hockey tops including a brand new Calgary Flames top, helmet, gloves, kit bag and the all important box! In time I'm sure we'll get some pics up and maybe a short video (but only when I'm upright more than I'm horizontal!!).

Unfortunately Sophie hasn't been able to skate since hurting her knee during October half term when we went to Chillfactore http://www.chillfactore.com/ in Manchester for a second session on the snow. This means her progress has been halted somewhat. However, her knee has improved now and we took the opportunity to get down to the snowdome http://www.snowdome.co.uk/ at Tamworth this Friday for a 3 hour Recreational Board and Ski for £25 each including board/skis, bindings, boots and helmet for me which I needed. Took a little bit to get back into it, but we were soon flying from the top of the slope and had a great morning with some noticeable improvements. Really looking forward to getting on the slopes in Canada now!

Must try and get some piccies etc to add to this!

Update from CARNA and our Next Steps to Calgary!

After putting in my nursing registration application in September I received in the post today a letter from the College and Association of Registered Nurses in Alberta (CARNA) saying that as I have no childrens nursing experience then they are unable to continue with the application. As I am sure you can imagine I was very upset but am sure that I am not the only one this has happened to as in the UK, we specialise in either adult or childrens nursing. They have told me I can apply for a restricted temporary permit but will have to complete a SEC assessment and subsequently any additional training required in Peadiatrics before I can apply for a Temporary Work Permit. After this I will be able to take the main CRNE exam once I am working in Calgary. Disappointed would have been an understatement as it seemed I'd have to sit the assessment and any further traing at Mount Royal College, Calgary, whilst not working!

Since this news and speaking to CARNA (who would not change their decision), the International Float Pool Manager for the Calgary Health Region and Mount Royal College, I have been able to book myself in for the SEC assessment here in London on February 4/5th, then possibly some training if required during Feb/March whilst Mount Royal College are over carrying out the SEC assessments for International nurses. Must get my nose in those textbooks and get studying!

Nige's job offer has also gone quiet and even after speaking to the company last week, there doesn't seem to be any movement which is also frustrating! Who said things were meant to be easy?

This has prompted us to take a different option on the visa front for now as Nige will be out of work at the end of April, so we want to be heading out to Calgary no later than June, otherwise he'd have to find work here for a short period of time. After realising that the Bunac visas are not just for students, but for anyone who is 30 or under, Nige has now applied for these as a way of getting us started in Canada as they will allow us to work for 12 months and they are offered purely on a first come first served basis until the allocation has been taken up. These will basically cost us £300 each, which we thought was a small price to pay for the comfort of knowing we can leave for Calgary with an open work permit in place by May, incase my nursing registration gets prolonged or I have to do some training in Canada. Just going through the process of Police checks (£40 each) and filling in the work authorisation application, then I'll have to have a medical (approx' £150) due to working in the Nursing environment. These would have had to have been done anyway, so no extra cost for us.

Fingers crossed that things are now looking more promising after the initial shock of the letter back from CARNA, denying me my registration.

Exciting News

I am so excited as last night I received an e-mail from CARNA the nursing regulating body in Calgary to say that they have now forwarded all my documentation to be processed!

Although it may not seem like a big thing to most, for us its another step forward towards our new life in Canada!!!!!

Ice Skating at Deeside Today

We've just got back from our third session ice skating and it certainly felt a lot better with just 1 fall each! The pictures below may not give the impression that we are nearly experts, but believe me, one more session and Torville and Dean had better watch out!! (well maybe we're being a little optimistic). Either way we're looking forward to all those frozen ponds and lakes!

This is the only picture of Nige where he doesn't look as if he's about to fall. He claims that is because most of the time he was skating too fast and that his mum, Pam (our photographer for the day) had forgotten her glasses. We believe you!

This was a friend of ours Misja who came to give us a few pointers!

I personally couldn't understand what all the fuss was about!!!

Operation - Alberta Sports!

We had noticed both in our research and our recent recce trip just how many outdoor activities there are in Canada.

I play a lot of sports here so was really looking forward to trying out some new activities in Calgary. Sophie on the other hand has always said that she gets tired just watching sports, let alone doing them!!! When we decided that we were going to move we knew we had to embrace the lifestyle and decided to get a head start before we arrived.

We wanted to become fairly confident with a few things before we moved, mainly so we didn't look stupid, but also so it would give us a way of meeting new people and socializing. First on our list was roller blading or in-line skating, whichever you prefer! Both of us had done roller skating as children but hadn't done any since, so off to the local sports shop we went to purchase a pair of in-line skates and protection kits, which we understand are compulsory in Alberta.

(Can I note now that we didn't get matching ones on purpose!!)

We are currently only practising under the cover of darkness to reduce the risk of ridicule from the neighbours, that is until we get to a reasonable standard (hopefully)!

Next on our list was ice skating. We had both been as children again, but also a couple of times since we met nearly 9 years ago, however again, neither of us had been for at least 5 years so we weren't quite sure what to expect. We decided to go on one night (Saturday - Ice Disco!) and thankfully there is no visual evidence of the event from Sophie's point of view as she'd managed to spend most of her time in a heap on the ice. Very elegant! I was also worse than I remembered, but only had one fall, however this was at high speed avoiding two teens heavy petting on the ice!! Sophie's knees were black and blue the following morning from the number of times she had fallen and we were still finding bruises two days later!! We had been told by one of the stewards that the best thing to do was to buy your own skates as the ones that you hire are really poor quality to learn on (that's what we thought). So two days later and after a fair amount of time on the web we bought 2 pairs of ice skates. (I won't bore you with another picture!) We have now been once more and have dramatically improved, with a minimal fall count!!

Last on our list was Skiing or in my case snowboarding. Now for me this was completely new, but Sophie had been for a weeks skiing whilst in school so was quietly confident on the skis. We looked at lots of different options but decided to do the days learning course at the snow dome, Tamworth in the Midlands. That way we would be on real snow and would get it over in one day.

Well what can I say, I spent most of my time on my bottom, although I am assured that all snowboarders start off like this.

(I'm the one in the red and black. I think this video was taken later

on in the day as I appear to be doing ok!)

Sophie on the other hand took to it like a duck to water being able to use her past experience and really improved as the day went on.

So after a fantastic but very tiring day I had picked up the basics and Sophie had made real progress and we are both looking forward to getting on the slopes in Canada.

We are going to try and go every couple of weeks to build up our confidence and skills but will be ice skating once a week and roller skating as much as we can during the week. We'll keep you posted on our progress.