One month

So we've been in Canada for a month now and slowly starting to get settled.  I must admit this moving your family across the world business has not been easy.  I had no idea about what we were in for and couldn't even comprehend what the weather would be like.

Eating snow...

There are great moments and really crappy moments and I'm embarrassed to admit that there have been a few too many tantrums from mama!  Fortunately I think the really hard stuff is behind us and we only have one more moving step to go - our container is being delivered this week!  While I'm looking forward to having all our stuff I'm not looking forward to unpacking 212 boxes and pieces of furniture...

Besides the tiredness, the cold and the associated challenges have been the hardest things to deal with.  Making sure everyone is warm and dry takes a lot of layers and not everyone is happy with so much outerwear!  Little Miss D has "issues" with her clothes right from her knickers through to mittens.  Poor Baby A isn't super keen on his get up either.  Luckily Action Boy is pretty happy with all his gear and can put it all on by himself.

Having too much fun to worry about niggly clothing...

Everyday we come across new and surprising things - sometimes I'm amazed at how different Canada and Australia are and sometimes I realise we're mostly just the same.

Here are a couple of things I have found most striking...

• Doctors/medicare...  we've only had one visit to the doctor for a suspicious rash but I could go on and on about the apparent inadequacies of the Quebec health care system.  Long story short there is no such thing a a family doctor, instead you have "walk-in clinics" where there may be 50 other people waiting to see one doctor!!!  I'm not kidding!  Generally the wait is between 4 to 6 hours.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked in to see so many people, some wearing face masks.  They come prepared too with food and entertainment.  Don't ever complain about waiting 20 minutes to see "your" GP!  Fanta Pants' work provides us with top notch health insurance but from what I've been told it won't do us much good as there's no such thing a private health service.  I'm sure I'll have more to say on this topic.
• Baby girls seem to get their ears pierced between 6 -12 months - ouch!!!
• The roads are in a shocking state of disrepair - I know it's cold but surely they could be  better maintained.
• Canadians are outdoor adrenalin junkies!  It seems snow = excitement.  Sounds like fun!!
• In our house we like bacon and eggs on the weekend however Canadian bacon doesn't have much meat on it.  It comes as long strips of fat with the occasional fleck of meat.  We're on the hunt for some back bacon....
• Everything is highly flavoured and scented- lattes, washing powder, antiseptic throat spray etc.  Baby A is teething and so quickly went through our supply of baby panadol and we can't seem to find a sugar free, colour free alternate.  I need to find some flavour free, colour free, additive free medicines, food and household products.  No idea where to start looking...
• Canadians seem really nice - very friendly and helpful.  They're always happy to help and make sure you're ok.

xx

ps - I was reading an article on www.canada.com about the success of pintrest and thought this quote was hilarious!   "It's like Etsy and Pottery Barn had a baby and made a scrapbook of their cute little family."