December!

Frozen river

Well its now the 2nd December and its been pretty white out for the past few weeks, expecting it to be March or April before we see some grass again here. The river is now frozen solid. The pic above is the view from our balcony at the moment. Some freezing fog so its not the clearest picture. I'll have to try and get some better ones.

Got some new snow boots rated for - 40 so they will hopefully keep my toes warm going forward. We went to see some more show homes and condos. We seen an amazing 4 bedroom house on Sunday which would be way to big for us but would be amazing to live in, you would never need to move. Why look at houses if were only here for a year you might ask? We are still weighing up the options for the end of the year about staying here and going home so we want to have a good idea of the prices of the real estate here.

Still waiting to hear about jobs, Shane was speaking to the HR girl I am still in the running they just are being slow at making a decision so hopefully will get a positive response.

Let me see what else happened? I broke 2 toes while in the show house my toes and the kitchen Island did not like each other! Nothing else really going on at the moment. We will try and do some interesting stuff in the run up to xmas!

Snow, snow, snow

Winter is officially here! It was minus 28 when I woke up this morning so just a tad chilly. When I looked out the window the North Saskatchewan River was frozen over but not solid yet as it breaks up a little when the sun comes out. 

the river during the day

Shane making himself at home

Frozen bedroom window

We've been for several walks in the snow so that we are getting acclimatised and not just hiding indoors. We've realised why the Canadians call snow powder cause that's exactly what its like, more like talcum powder than the wet slushy snow we get in Ireland. This makes it really bad for snowmen, we have tried- unsuccessfully.  The worst part is when you come back in the heat and am defrosting its so painful. 

Shane's in his second week in work and he seems to be settling in ok in the office, which is good. His hardest adjustment seems to be that he has to wear proper clothes. He is actually like a school boy. 

I've had 3 interviews since my last post, 1 I didn't get which I don't mind cause I didn't really want it, as the guy was talking a lot about aggression etc. So I don't think it would have been for me. 2nd one I got its just a part time job working for events at the local arena doing the bar etc like I used to do when I was in college so good for money but still need a proper job to. 3rd one was yesterday and was for a position in the same company as Shane is working- I applied before he got his- I'd really like it, they said I'd know within the next week so fingers crossed. Its getting hard not working now that its so cold I cant do as much and I'm skint so I cant wander the mall all day. :( 

We've had a pretty boring week this week overall. Well Shane has sorted all his paper work for his new job and he starts on Monday (tomorrow). It seems like it will be a good job we will just have to see how he deals with starting work early in the morning :). I've been applying for everything going this week- my fussiness moved on. Remembrance day is a holiday here so its pretty slow here for people getting back at the moment :(.

On Tuesday we went for a walk around the art gallery part of town and went to a gorgeous bakery that has been highly recommended to us a few times- The Duchess. We had a lovely coffee and shared some macaroons and a chocolate torte. We will def be continuing that recommendation.

Macaroons

On Saturday we went for a walk down-town to go to the Christmas market and see the Tree and the lights. We were hoping that it would be like the continental market that's on each Christmas in Belfast and Dublin- wishful thinking! Unfortunately there was only 4 tents at the market with a few stands in each, we were finished looking around in less than 15 mins. The highlight was some mini cinnamon donuts. I'm noticing a trend of deserts this week :)

Today it was wet so we didn't do much. While we were out at Starbucks we seen that the Condos beside us were having an openhouse so we went in to explore. A few white lies to the relator and we were in to have a good snoop. The condo was gorgeous two bed, two bathroom and finished to a really high standard seems the going rate was around 410,000 for that so there might need to be a lot more loonies and toonies hit the piggy bank before we consider that. I'm going to have a look this week for some showhouses to get an idea of prices for proper house.

Just a quick update to say Shane got offered the job and all looks good to go and start on 15th Nov will be fully confirmed tomorrow but so far we are not anticipating any issues with it. As for myself I have passed all the interviews for the bank and I'm now on a short-list and will hear in the next few days if any suitable positions come up. So hopefully we will both be working in the next few weeks.

I'm at the stage now where if there's no update in the next few days or sign of a job I will be heading to the mall and applying for the Christmas temp jobs just to get doing something. I've loved being able to explore the city and parts of the province but - and I hate to say it- I'm missing working.

Today we went for another long walk around the river valley and the ravine while its still in the fall stage as it is due to start snowing tomorrow and by all forecasts this looks like its in for the winter so our next river valley walk might need snow shoes :)

Moving day - been and gone

First post of November and first post from our new apartment. :)

Well since we went to Banff, we've both had two interviews and Shane even worked for a whole day and a half!! My 2 interviews were for a bank and a store, for the bank I've done an email interview, a phone interview, an aptitude test, and a face to face interview (lot of work) and I'm due to hear back in the next few days. The job  in the store was a management position which I wasn't qualified for so I don't know how I managed to get an Interview so I'm not surprised I haven't heard anything back.

Shane has had 2 IT interviews one is doing a reference check at the moment and the other was just today so its a bit early to tell yet. So he went and got a few days work doing some manual labour which didn't last long as the guy he was working for lied a bit and Shane wasn't going to tolerate that, so he didn't go back. But as always Shane managed to injure himself. He got a giant splinter in his face (I have no idea how but he managed it).

view from apartment

So We've now moved we're on the 19th floor downtown (see above for view). We had to go an buy a bed and everything seeing as the apartment was unfurnished. The apartment looks lovely now and is on its way to my favourite place we've ever lived. We even have a 40inch flatscreen with our unemployedness!! 

Other than that we haven't done much so its a bit of a boring update for now. Maybe by next time we will have more to tell.

Our unemployment was becoming sickening- we had seen all the movies that were out and we had wandered around the mall so much that we actually knew our way around so we decided to take a trip- to the Rockies!

We hired a car which was an extremely awkward process, booked a hotel and headed off to Banff, AB. It was about 3.5 hour drive with Shane adjusting gradually to the automatic shifting of the car and then starting to love the cruise control. Half of the drive was extremely boring and the other half was exciting and mountain spotting.

Mountains in distance

Our hotel was ideally positioned in the town centre and we had a great view out of our balcony of the Bow River which was lovely. The hotel was just basic but it did the job, 

Saturday morning we got up and we headed to Banff gondola up Sulphur mountain. It a 4 person closed gondola which takes you up 2292ft of the 8041ft high the mountain up is. It was great. From there we had a brilliant view of the area and the surrounding mountains and climbed the remained of the summit of the mountain. 

Then we had an oh so classy lunch at McDonalds, before heading off to Lake Louise. Lake Louise is amazing the colour is cause all the water comes from the nearby Victoria Glacier (in the background of picture). There's also an amazing hotel on the edge of it, where we got the nicest coffee since we left Ireland. There was a wedding at the hotel when we were there- all I can say is lucky couple them wedding pictures will be amazing!

We had a lovely dinner on Saturday night. Baby back ribs and Filet Mignon- Yum- followed with chocolate fondant and strawberry daiquiris, no better way to end the day. 

On Sunday we started off with a brunch, and what a brunch it was! There was pancakes, bacon, sausages etc, paad thai, roast beef, mixed veg, and fish. followed by a chocolate fountain, fruit salad and a million different cakes. Shane had so much food he couldn't actually move for a long time afterwards.

We then decided to go for a drive around the area was a so-called wildlife drive. We didnt see much wildlife- some rocky mountain sheep and squirrels but the drive went through some remarkable scenery so we had fun nonetheless, we even seen our first frozen lake.

Then just as Shane was losing hope on Monday morning on our way home we seen a bull Elk in the park, being chasing by a park ranger with a gun!

Overall a brilliant weekend. 

Unemployed again!

Well so much for my giving it time, I went to work today for my long/late day 9-7 shift. After a two hour chat with the boss- inspirational? I think not- and the morning of actually working I was pretty sure it was not for me so when lunch came at 2.30 I checked with Shane for his opinion and it was decided it wasn't worth it. I mean really me being polite and having manners was a problem apparently. That's part of my ethics so I wont be changing it. So I'm back on the job hunt and I think I'm going to have to stay away from my previous field as they seem to have a very different moral code here compared to Ireland.

In other news we got the apartment :). So come 1st Nov we will be moving to the 19th floor from our lowly but quite lovely basement. So far we have a sofa bed and a chair :) Furniture donations welcome !

work argh!

Well on Tuesday I had my third interview in the two weeks since I got here. I got offered the job -go me!- and this one actually had a decent salary so I took it. I had been offered the previous two but the benefits weren't good.  So my holding out paid off. I started at 730 am the next day and have been exhausted since. Getting up at 530 am after 3 weeks off is not easy even at that its nearly 3 hours earlier than my previous job.  So far it seems ok but I'm not 100% sure yet I need to give it a bit longer to see.

This week we also went apartment hunting. The first two we seen were both in the same building which would have had a great view but the apartments were on the wrong side for the view. They were nice but small so a no-no. Shane went to see some more while I was at work and sifted through them. Today (sat) We went to see the best of them we seen a gorgeous 900sq foot 1 bed while the tenant slept in the bed- seriously who does that? and the other slightly smaller 1 bed with an amazing view which I will get a picture off it and post it.  We have a deposit on this one and our application in so we will hear on Monday if we get it- fingers crossed.

Shane - well hes still looking for work, and Im not sure what hes doing while Im in work. He will maybe update and say what :P

Thanksgiving

Well its our first Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, which is in October not November like the American one. It falls on a Monday so its a long weekend.

On Friday we went to the glow in the dark pitch and putt for the early bird play. It was a surprisingly good course made harder cause you couldn't see the hills etc in the play. 18 holes later and I kicked Shane's ass, well by a par of 6.

That night we went to a party at the football club for one of the guys leaving. It was a good night, an opportunity to meet lots of people in the area and also to see what alcohol they had available here compared to at home. Smirnoff ice is 3% stronger here so it was easy to start to get drunk :).

On Saturday we went exploring on Whyte Ave which is just off the University of Alberta and is like a long road of pubs, coffee shops and kooky stores. It has a real small village feel and probably one of my favourite areas of the city so far. It was another really warm day about 24 degrees so we both got some more sun, our tans are nearly as good as when we came back from honeymoon at this stage. Then we went for our first Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family of the family we are staying with. We had a turkey and steak dinner it was yummy, with some home made wine and cider.

Sunday was just a lazy day, we rang home, wandered around the ravine and housespotted. There are some lovely- no actually amazing houses in the neighbourhood. including one for sale at 2.95million dollars. I really must take my camera out next time.

Thanksgiving day started with homemade waffles, maple syrup, berries and cream which was a nice way to start the day. Then I spent the day baking pie ( peach crumble, saskatoon, pumpkin) while shane sat and watched football (american). We had ham for dinner which was lovely and the pies for dessert which were yummy too even if i do say so myself.

So far im liking this Thanksgiving thing.

We've done alot of exploring in the past few days. Some 5 hour walks around the parks in the rivervalley and alot of sitting on the bus and the lrt (train) watching where they go to. The majority of transportation services in Edmonton end up in the Mall. which is the 5th largest in the world and was the largest for over 23years.

The mall has galaxyland, waterworld, 2 pitch and putts, a cinema,ice rink, casino, comedy club, sea world- pretty much anything you can think of. We've watched the jumior ice skaters figure skating some of them are amazing. So the mall will be my entertainment and Shanes hell :)

So we have been bombarding the majority of Alberta with our resumes with mixed results. I have had 2 interviews so far and been offered both jobs! I'm in the process of deciding which oportunity would be a better fit for myself.

Shane on the otherhand is still having limited success but his market is a bit slower to respond than my own.

pics so far

Here's some pictures of what the view at the bottom of our avenue is. We have walked the long walk into the city from here and it really takes a while. 

Efficient Canadians

Our first week in Canada provided many examples of how efficient the Canadian people are. Our first full day in Canada started with us heading downtown to get our social insurance numbers. We were armed and ready to have to wait for a couple of hours in an office as we did when I moved to Dublin but we were called to a desk after 15mins and then after a further 10 mins and a lovely conversation with Leslie- we were ready to leave with our printed sin numbers in our hands and the cards to arrive in the post 2-3weeks later. (they arrived 4 days later!). 

Next stop was the bank, this took a bit longer about 45mins or so but we left with debit cards in hand compared to the two week wait back home for cards. 

The only slight problem we had was with cell numbers as the idea of us already having phones that were unlocked for use seemed to cause some confusion but after a failed attempt with the cheaper network, we were ready to go after 5mins in the more expensive networks store. It may not be what we wanted but for now it will be good enough to last until we are more established in the region. ie- gives us a number to put on our resumes.  

A detailed post on exploring in the area will be updated tomorrow once I can get access to the pictures.

We're in!!

Shane's cousin picked us up from the airport and drove us the scenic route to their house, while pointing out anything of interest on the way. We seen all the usual suspects like Ikea on the drive ( they are always by the airport!)  Their house ( or our temporary residence) is lovely, they call it small, i'd say huge. They seem to live in a really nice area of the city. The owner of the Oilers lives around the corner to give an idea of how nice an area it is.

on a Jet Plane

Beep Beep! our alarms went off at 430 am and we sleepily got up. We were at the check-in desk just after 5 and walk straight up to the Premium desk., The usual- did you pack yourself etc- and 2 mins later we are leaving with our boarding passes - seats 1D and 1E Front row. :)  Then it was off to security with us which was empty due to the time of day so we flew through and headed for a well needed cup of coffee and breakfast.

We were called first for the plane and went straight on to be welcomed with a choice of rose champagne or orange juice- what a change from easyjet the day before. At our seats we find lots of legroom due to the front rowness, a blanket, pillow, and a bag of goodies- socks, moisturizers, wipes etc. It really is the simple things in life.

A few hours sleep, shrek 3, iron man 2 and Gavin and Stacey later we begin our descent into Edmonton. I enjoyed our premium class trip and will willingly pay to upgrade again.

Straight to customs and anything to declare? eh not this time. The customs girl was very excited that we were in Edmonton for the year and was apologising for the rain that is apparently unusual here. We picked up our bags and went nervously to immigration. There were several families in front of us becoming permanent residents which held up the queue as the officers had to verify all the paperwork. Then it was our turn- another extremely nice officer who apologised for the rain while printing our permits. It official we're Canadian - until 28th September 2011 at least!

Pod life.

When we finally got to London we had to find our hotel. it was hidden in the terminal- hard to spot but well located. The Yotel - owned by the same people as Yo sushi. Is a compact pod japanese style hotel. It was pretty funky even in our tired state we were able to appreciate how cool it looked.

Bed down

Bed folded up

There was just about room to squeeze in our two giant suitcases. as you can see beside the bed. we pushed the button to unfold the bed and set our alarms for 430 am! Tiny hotel but had everything that we needed- roomservice, wifi, tv I would definitely recommend yotel for short stays.

Final Week in Ireland

Well our final week in Ireland was a mix of doing nothing and running around in a mad panic.  We spent the first half of the week cleaning up our apartment and packing- we really had accumulated a lot of stuff over our 13 months there. I think the bin was filled twice over from us alone.

Shane finished work on Wednesday and we spent the evening in the pub having dinner with some friends for the last time. Thursday morning came and we loaded the car and handed back the keys to the apartment. We actually managed to fit everything in the boot of the car- quite depressing/impressive depending on how you want to look at it. Then we went on a mini tour of Ireland-kinda. We drove to Kilkenny to see Shanes family and his mum took us out for lunch then in Dublin, then I drove back home to Ballymena alone. On Friday Shane did the long bus journey to Belfast to meet me took from 3.30 until 11.20- not bus eireann's finest work.

The weekend was spent with u running around getting final bits and pieces like coats and shoes, and our final fill of favourite foods like honey chili chicken and beef curry (just in case we cant get it in Canada).

On Sunday there was a surprise party for us in the Wine Bar. It wasn't a massive surprise as my family are subtle as a brick and really shouldn't park their cars in front of the bar if they don't want us to know they are coming. It was a great day with the kids running around as we got Daisy slightly high on sugar, and catching up with family we hadn't seen since the Wedding. It was nice to know people were going to miss us.

When Monday finally came around we had a leisurely breakfast with my sisters and then went to home to do a final pack. Helen dropped us to the airport while still trying to convince us to stay- no jobs, no house great reasons to stay :P. We got Checked in and dropped our bags off and we were under the weight limit!! So Proud! Then our flight was delayed (a sign to stay in Ireland? I think not) by 2 hours- The rest is a story for another day

Leaving Parties!

Time is rapidly passing we are now down to 8 days to go! Apprehension, nerve, excitement and fear are all kicking in, in equal measures. Some things reinforce our want to go and somethings are making us doubt it but "Nobody said that it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. " Im hoping that rings true as time goes on in this trip... 

Im now officially unemployed, finished up on Friday afternoon- handed in my card and brands, was the subject of an embarrassing speech and then left and headed to the traditional leaving place of all jobs - THE PUB!!! The scene- The Porterhouse, the drink- Strawberry Daiquiri, the music- assorted! We had a great evening of cocktails, pitchers, pints and shots. Was a great night finished with some choking goodbye hugs and promises of emails and Skype chats. 

Shane also had his leaving do on Friday but he is still employed until Wednesday. The lads and token girl ;) headed to Slatterys for several pints. I like to think the craic was had by all but I haven't heard much but Shane's head ache on Sat would indicate it was fun. 

When Saturday arrived we embarked on a 6hour journey to Carlow - yep 6 hours! The joys of no longer having a car were experienced in all their glory. When we arrived we had a lovely chinese and then readied ourselves to head to Kilkenny. 

We headed to the Left Bank. It was our first time in the Left Bank and I was impressed. It had a lovely atmosphere and a good mix of people and most importantly never took more than a few minutes to get served. We spent the evening catching up with friends and meeting people we hadn't seen since the wedding over 6 months ago now! (how time flies when your having fun). After a few hours we walked-staggered, to Abra for some food- the kind that no one eats sober. 

Some Images of what we are leaving behind

Snowy Slemish

Dublin day

Dublin at night

Glenarm

Kilkenny

3 Weeks to go.

Now only 22 days to go. Packing has started with a vengeance! first suitcase packed and surprisingly only came to 15kg- we might manage to actual do this within our limit. The apartment is covered in boxes and crates. Still tying to get rid of the car hopefully will get a buyer soon before Shane starts to really panic.

Unfortunately today was spent watching Kilkenny lose the final, that 5 in a row was so close, but well played to Tipp, they were definitely the better team today.

I have 10days left in work and Shane has 13 to go, its very hard to concentrate when its nearing the end. Especially when you are coming home from work and apartment and job hunting. The excitement is growing!
Most of the final arrangements are done, we even have our boarding passes already! Now we just have to make arrangements for good byes :( and storage.

And so the countdown continues...

Last stop tour!

Before we go we're trying to do a bit of tour around all the touristy places in Ireland. well within driving distance anyway. This weekend we went to Glendalough and had a lovely picnic beside the upper lake. While Shane sizzled we watched the children swimming in the lake (didn't think it was that warm) and people fishing. 

Glendalough, Co Wicklow

Next stop on the tour Bettystown beach. We wandered around the amusements for a bit before getting a burger and sitting on the dunes on the beach watching the ice cream man seemingly race the coast guard jeep up the strand. I think half the country had their first driving lesson on this beach. I know i did, i think I was 3 at the time!

Bettystown, Co Meath

The remainder of the weekend was spent shopping for cold clothes which was quite unsuccessful as its still August and the shops were trying force people to buy shorts till. Shane got a coat and sticky toffee pudding, I got nothing somethings never change!

To Blog or not to blog?? that is the question

The new age old question of every adventure is now to blog or not to blog? We're currently on the trial stage.  Now down to 6 and a half weeks to go till we leave the Emerald Isle to head to the snowy land of Canada. We are hoping to be saying goodbye rain clouds and hello snowy winters and proper seasons.
Before that can happen we have to pack up our apartment, sell our car ( still available if anyone wants it???) and resign from our jobs. Its gonna be a busy few weeks.