People & Places
Hobden's Canadian blog October 2007
It has been another jammy month for the Hobdens, who bring us up to date with life in British Columbia
The blackberries have all been picked, made into jam and sold on our stall. It's been another successful season with our plum and blackberry jams, but it's a long wait until next Summer now until we can make some more. It is nice to make something from the fruit from our field rather than just letting it rot and go to waste; a nice connection with nature.
Both Daniel and Anja have started back at school after their ten-week summer holiday. Daniel has already got back in the swing with both basketball and soccer and Anja is back to her dance routine. It is nice to see how many kids are involved with sports and clubs and other activities over here. There are definitely lots to choose from.
Anja had her 13th birthday and she had an evening with her friends on a sleepover. They swam in the pool, had their nails done, watched DVDs and ate pizza and ice-cream cake. I also helped with the pizza and ice-cream cake eating. So, I am now a parent of two teenagers, although I am sure I don't look it! We had a BBQ and there were 25 of us altogether. It's been a bit of a poor BBQ season this year due to the weather so it was nice to see friends and spend a bit of social time together.
We have met up with another British family who have recently emigrated here and it has been good to be able to share each others experiences of emigrating and talk about our local area here. Some friends from England came over for a visit and stayed with us for a week and it was nice to catch up and find out what has happened in each others lives. Since we left three-and-a-half years ago they have had two children.
The weather is still up and down, being warm and sunny one day and wet and chilly another, but, as someone said the other day, the forests and plants will be thankful for it as normally the summers here are hot and dry. Also, this year flowers lasted longer and the grass stayed green so the wet summer has had its benefits.
We were also involved with the live webcam seminars at the Emigration Shows in York and it was nice to speak to some of you and be able to answer some of your questions.
Tip Of The Month: Depending on which povince or territory you relocate to, in some you will need to take a driving test. It sounds nerve-wracking, but it isn't that bad. For example, if you come to British Columbia you have 90 days from arriving to take your test. In the meantime you can drive as much as you want, which is all practice and getting used to driving here. There are differences are such things as four-way stops, turning right on red lights, traffic filtering where two lanes come into one - a car at a time (unlike the UK where everybody blocks everybody else out, a swearing match starts and that trusty old road rage tradition comes to the fore!). You will need to take a theory test (road signs, driving conditions, etcetera) and a practical driving test. On the practical you will be taken to four-way stops and do some highway driving etcetera but generally the examiners know you can drive as you already have licences, they just need to know you can drive safely. You can take the test in your own car and if you pass your test in an automatic here you can drive a manual, unlike the UK where the licences are split into two groups.
Please keep your emails coming. It is always good to hear from you and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. We always reply to all of the emails so please don't be shy.
Please have a look at our website for information about Canada and Canadian companies.
Until next month...
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