Recap of first week..
Kids settled well at school..
Yaya is going on a school camp for 5 days !!!!
I absolutely hate when I have to send my child away to any place for more than 6 hours. I know I can’t keep them under my wings forever.. still I wish time would go a little slow..

Toothless got a wonderful teacher..This morning he has gone to attend some environmental conference at the University.. He is on cloud 9.

Baby is thrilled because she is one of the tallest in her class.. ( more so because she was the shortest in her class in Canada !!!)..

Schooling is ( though it is a public school) is expensive.. I wish Mr. Paul Young will move to Down under.. ( He is a school trustee from Victoria who went to court so every child in British Columbia can have ‘free’ education..Because of him I never had to pay anything.. be it school trip or text books)
So far I had to pay an arm and leg for uniforms, books, photostat fees and even a voluntary contribution of 100$/family..

I seem to be the reason why many of my neighbors currently take Prozac.. They just can’t figure out why I drive my car straight on to the oncoming traffic..Not enough, I also keep switching on the wiper instead of the signal !!! ( I hate when I do that)
Also the fact the car I am driving is my cousin’s old beat up Corolla that was born in 1985, sans power steering is not helping either.
The school is almost 30 minutes brisk walk from home and we leave home at 8.15 so in the event the car doesn’t start( which is very often) we can still walk to school and won’t be late.

Food is expensive.. choices are poor..
The first thing my son noticed was that there are no proper wieners( my son is an ardent hot dog fan and he is heart broken after seeing the wieners here).

I miss my usual Friday morning drive to Bellingham (US) to buy groceries and odds and ends from Fred Mayers and ROSS.

We still haven’t got a library card..first of all the libraries have so little books and the selection is appalling..The nearest library for me is 2 bus zones away and the hours of operation is pathetic. The librarian was very kind to let me know that they need an official letter in my name to prove my proof of residence!!!! to open an account! And they let you borrow only 20 books ( 35 in Canada which they used to override for my kids)

There are so many beautiful birds around where I stay.. I don’t know the name of any.. Have (been wanting to buy a book about Australian birds.. for that I need to go to town (68 km away!!!)..Can’t think of taking my old car that far and then having to walk back home…

Every time when I see the beautiful blue sky, I think of the miserable winter we have in Canada.. the grey skies, the frozen car windows etc etc.. Then I ask myself, would I want to settle down here?? Then I tell myself.. I still have Venezuela ( south America) and Botswana( Africa) to go to.. ( then I would have stayed a year in all the continents!!)..Then I shall look for my Shangrila!!! !!!!!

In Australia !!!

I came prepared for weathering the Australian winter.. I even packed extra pairs of gloves for each of my children. ( Just in case they misplaced their gloves !! I didn’t want to go through the hassle of finding a shop to buy new pairs of gloves. I really didn’t want them to get frost bite)

When I landed in Sydney, the weather outside was 24 degrees! and my children were wearing two pairs of jackets and everyone was staring at ‘this’ group of weirdos..

oh before I forget, except the number 24, I didn’t understand a word the pilot spoke prior to landing for the matter even prior to take off.. He sounded like he had a mouthful of boiled tapioca in his mouth.

As we came out of the airport, I noticed that there are too many trees and all had leaves on them..and this is supposed to be WINTER!!!! I didn’t find a single tree that didn’t have any leaves.. There is something about trees without leaves.. it teaches you about cycles of life..

We went for a stroll in the Bondi beach and I learned that it is pronounced the way it is spelt..(Not bondee as I thought but bondii.

Kids will start schooling on Monday..I am preparing for the mutiny on Monday when they learn that they have to wear uniform to school.

So far, I am finding it extremely difficult to cope with the following..

Internet connection is very very very slow and I pay more than what I paid in Canada.
Almost all shop closes at 5.30 in the evening.
Wines are too cheap !!!! and I am too tempted!!!!
Very few East Indians especially Punjabis around.. I see more Caucasians every day!!
I wake up at 4 every morning.. (Nalla kalathu naalu mani kandittilla. )
I have no clue why I get up at that time.. It is a pretty weird jet lag
I haven’t found a thrift shop where I can buy books.

With all of those difficulties mentioned above comes the silver lining.. Absolutely Beautiful blue sky!!!
Now I shall go and fry some chooks for dinner.

Finally

Packing is done..
Movers have come and gone..
Have said the good byes to most of my friends..
Have done the camping trip with the kids..
Tomorrow I am leaving Canada…
I never, never, never thought I would ever say this (Yeah, I know ‘you’ always told me never to say never).. but I really don’t want to leave Canada..
May be I will come back!!!

Here is a toast to New country, new home, new school, new life…and old me.

Sarah

Gonna be a bear

In this life, I’m a woman. In my next life, I like to come back as a bear.

When you are a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months.
I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you are supposed to eat and eat.
i could deal with that too.

When you are a girl bear, you birth your children ( who are the size of walnuts) while you are sleeping and wake to partially grown cute, cuddly cubs.
I could definitely deal with that.

If you are a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. if your cubs get out of line, You swat them too.
I could deal with that.

If you are a bear, your mate expects you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat !!!

YUP… gonna be a bear