The days before Christmas in Victoria

Spending the holidays in a new country of course is always a new experience.  You never really know what to expect and what traditions from back home you will be missing...  or what new ones might be added....

 I was quite happy to find that Advent Calendars have indeed made it over here - and come with the regular 24 doors.  Ah, the christmas fun!!

 New christmas lights and my "old" Christmas decorations brought the festive spirit into my new home.  I do admit I felt intimidated by the decorations my neighbors put out - they do take Christmas seriously around here.... and now way I could keep up...

 So much fun making Christmas cookies (thanks for the recipe, Claudia!!) and my colleagues were very impressed and loved them.  Evne if they did mistake the Ampelmännchen for gingerbread man....

 Even if it seems not quite cold enough outside, I was super happy to find all ingredients for making Glühwein!!  Danke Nikolaus!  :)

 The Christmas tree at Hatley castle - sooo pretty!!  And no worries, there were about at least 5 more in the castle and another bunch in various corners of campus...

 The lights on "the Ledge" (that's what they call the Parliament or Legislative Building) kinda look like Christmas all year round.  However, for Christmas they exchange some of the lights to be red and green and add a few Christmas trees.  Makes the inner harbour look all nice and pretty and festive!  (Did I mention that they do take their Christmas lights really serious around here??!)

 Of course on 21 December I had to be out and about and see if the world would come to an end - which it did not.  But that was a great excuse to have a drink with a new friend out here.  And to enjoy some yummy Grimbergen, which made me (almost) feel like back home and remembering the good old Brussels' times.

 Trying out the fireplace for the first time proves that it works...  and looks great!  Just need to get some wood now...

Chocolate chip cookies dressed up with some Christmas spirit!!  I do admit that adding some red sugar to the dough didnt have the effect of making them sparkle...  Rather it turned the dough an odd shade of pink - which faded as I baked them.  But red sparkle on top worked awesome!  :)

Another year, another birthday

With a birthday in December I am very used to spending it at some Christmas party - or with only few people around.  So spending my birthday in a new country and few friends around was not really the most promising prospect.  But lucky me, having old friends move to the same corner of the world enabled me to spend a fun birthday weekend away just hanging out with a great friend.  I traveled to the neighboring state of Washington, geared up for snow (I have to admit I expected something like Berlin or Michigan - not just above freezing, mild climate and beautiful snow), enjoyed great food and one of the weirdest lighting concept at a Christmas party ever (who thought that orange was a great idea?), more yummy food, great people - and the amazing scenery around Washington and actually got to cross another US state off my list: Idaho.  Thanks for a great brithday weekend, Richard!

PS: As my iPhone is totally not US-phile and refuses to work out there apart from WiFi I did not get any text messages or phone calls any of you may have sent my way over my birthday weekend.  So I apologise if I did not say thank you (even the geeks at the Mac store had no solution or explanation, rather messed up my phone even more...) - I appreciate all birthday wishes and those of you who thought of me!

 These are just some impressions from along our hike and enjoying the snow.  There usually are some bald eagles flying around - we only spotted them as we drove back and couldnt really stop.  Amazing animals.

 There are only few houses along the shores here - which must be an amazing view!  But yes, probably very isolated from bascially everything. And in Idaho.

 I did get to borrow Trooper for parts of the hike.  What a fun dog - even if he ate all of my m&m's... (shame on me for leaving them within reach!)  Too bad he wouldn't fit into my carry-on luggage.

Downtown Victoria = yummy stuff!!

 Downtown Victoria is just a quick stroll or 25 min away.  I like being so close!  And of course Victoria does not disappoint as being the city with a higher density of food places than New York...  One of my new favorites is WannaWaffle founded by a "real Belgian family" (not making this up - this is what their logo says)!  They make yummy waffles in true Belgian style with a choice of Brussels and Liege waffles and various add-on options.  I went for the plain Brussels to try first - I'm in heaven...

Walking around my neighborhood

Using a break in the rain rain rain, I decided to take a break from moving in and...  just explore my neighborhood.  Turns out I live next to the Gorge, which is a beautiful and amazing waterway basically right in the middle of the city.  There are tons of trails and bridges and birds and ducks and all sorts of things.  Really nice!  Oh and downtown is only a half hour walk away as well...  I like it here! 

This is part of the infamous Galloping Goose Trail. It is a former railroad track that has been turned into a biking-hiking-trail.  It runs by my house (about 1 block away) and takes me right to university (okay, about 10km later...).  So once the summer comes around and my bike is all cleaned up I could/will actually take it to bike to work some days.  And yes, I also realise the amazing running potential I have just outside my door.  Just need to get some waterproof running gear....

 These are just a few impressions of the Gorge and its outlook towards downtown Victoria.  There is a whole different area walking in the other direction - which I have yet to explore on foot.  Driving by - it's amazingly beautiful.  Soo much to see around here!

Moving in - der Umzug

Recovering from the move - or rather actually moving in - apparently is taking me longer than expected.  In part this has to do with... work (my favorite excuse of choice) and being busy with figuring out how everything works out here in Canada.  So my apologies for not posting in a while and having you miss out on my fun adventures for a while.  The christmas break (thank you RRU President for the "appreciation days") will be a great time to catch up - and put more final bits and pieces together.

But...  for now... let's wind back the clock for almost 4 weeks and when I was reunited with my home (=stuff).

First thing the movers did was hand me a list with numbers.  Felt a little bit like playing bingo as they would start coming in with boxes and yelling numbers at me to cross of the list.  Lucky me - I got all the numbers right!!  Nothing missing, nothing broken - move all good!!

Just like in Berlin my Grandma's lovely piano did seem like a challenge and required calling in additional (extra strong) guys to carry it in.  It fits nicely in my living room and has since been freed of the random stuff placed on top of it.  Will have to find someone to tune it - but that'll have to wait till after the holidays....

And as predicted by my Berlin movers - the Canadians were unable to piece my buffet together.  Ah well...  Will get that sorted one of these days.

As the movers were asked to unwrap and unpack - that is what they did.  Leaving behind piles and piles of randomly mixed things: kitchen stuff and books, bathroom items and office supplies, etc.  you get the picture.  I did have fun finding random bits and pieces I had forgotten about (and I thought I had already found all the hidden treasures as I was packing up back home...)

In addition to A LOT of books and folders I also seem to have a lot of pictures and frames.  These are now all piled up in one of my rooms - but are awaiting to be put on my walls.  What to put where?  I love decorating...

Cleaning up the bedroom was my first priority, so in a way it ended up being the first (and only) room ready and organised for a while.  Great thing about big closet space: hiding piles and stuff....

Organising the kitchen was not quite so easy and remains an ongoing process.  It's not like there isn't enough storage space (rather too much almost) but getting it all where you need it the most is the harder part.

As a welcome gift my landlady (she lives downstairs) gave me a box of mandarin oranges AND a blue recycling box!  What a great way to say welcome!

When a friend asked me how my move was doing I sent this picture.  Nice, colorful stacks, right?!  That could be a new look.......  Apparently I did not make a convincing argument and was told to re-visit and go on organising.  Thanks for pushing me...  :)

So I finally put the shelves together in what will be my office (once I get a desk that is).  And started organising the folders as this before and after piece proves.

So slowly things are coming together and my home starts feeling more like my home.  It is nowhere near ready but on its way.  Part of me is happy that no one has taken me up on my invitiations to come visit - then again that would have speeded up the process immensely!!  So please, come visit!!  It's great out here.  And the guest room is actually ready!

Die erste Nacht im neuen zu Hause

Nun, ich konnte meinen Aufenthalt im Chalet verlängern - und doch hatte ich mich dazu entschlossen, die erste Nacht in der neuen Wohnung noch ganz ohne Möbel zu verbringen.  Immerhin hatte ich ja schon einige Dinge dorthin gebracht und so die Zeit noch ein bisschen genutzt alles zu reinigen und gleich früh morgens zum Zollamt zu fahren.  Da war dann alles gar kein Problem... und ich freute mich darauf, dass endlich meine Sachen den weiten Weg übers Meer von Berlin gekommen waren!

 So here is my "bed" on the floor.  After trying for about an hour to blow up the airmattress a dear friend finally gave me the hint to check for the extra hole...  I had started to doubt my intelligence at that point.  To defend myself: the instructions had not mentioned any second hole - but the box did include an extra thing to close it.  That saves me from spending the night on the floor.... (I had left the yoga mat at the chalet....)

 The bathroom was the first sort of ready put together part of the new place.  Looking sooo much better with the new shower curtain!  And some beauty goodies from the Bellingham trip - and of course the things I had at the chalet.

 This is the view from my kitchen to the neighbors yard and their...  chickens...  so far they dont seem to make tooo much noise, or maybe they are just far away enough.  No rooster in sight...  phew!

Waiting for the truck to arrive...  waiting...  waiting....

Quick weekend trip to Bellingham

When Erin invited me to come out to Bellingham (as real Canadians do...)  for a power shopping experience I had no idea what I got myself into...  Not only did Erin (and her family) provide me with an amazing place to stay and lots of yummy food and wine - she also spent all day Saturday driving me around to the best bargain places and advised me in my shopping decisions.  I got plenty of necessary and not quite so necessary things to replace what I couldnt take with me from Europe and to get me ready for my new place!

 First, getting in line for the ferry.  The meaning of living on an island is slowly sinking in on me...  everytime you want to leave basically means: take a ferry or a flight.  Which just means some extra time and planning.  And in winter...  not a lot of the ferries run on a regular schedule, which makes it less fun.

 But - once I got to Erin's place, the proximity of Lake Whatcom and the overall beauty of Bellingham along with the welcoming family made more than up for the trip (which really isnt that bad at all).

 Here are Rusty and Freya - the dogs in the family - too cute!  Both of them!

 Erin also made sure to show me some of Bellinghams most beautiful sides - and not just the shopping highlights...  So I for sure will have to come back in summer to explore more of the beauty and shorelines and Washington sites.

 On the ride back the wind picked up and it got increasingly stormy...  Luckily I left rather early (also taking into account the border and an interessting experience I had on the way over with the friendly people working there) - cause the later ferries actually did get cancelled because of the wind.  You can imagine why when you see the following picture...

 And of course I cannot show you all the things I picked up in Bellingham which range from an induction plate, toaster, lamp, toothbrush - to...  my most fun new possession: the Roomba.  Thank you Erin, for taking me into it!  It is a vacuum  cleaner which does all the work while you are out of the house!  Works amazingly (even better once I have cleared up my fllor space) and it soo much fun to watch manoeuver around all corners and bits and pieces and different floors...

Once again, thanks Erin for having me and taking me around all the great places and the fun conversations we had - see you again soon!!!