Life fell into a rhythm in my new home. I had some beautiful friends, who I enjoyed spending time with. I had great housemates who always had time for a chat. I looked forward to my first white Christmas!
A highlight prior to that was carving my first pumpkin for Halloween. I had grown up with pumpkins with thick flesh and I had always wondered how people could carve them. Turns out that in North America they have these giant orange skinned pumpkins with a thin layer of flesh on the inside and easy to carve skin. I was able to buy myself a pumpkin, complete with stencils and a special knife for carving. I carved my pumpkin intently all afternoon and then proudly displayed it on our front porch that evening. I was so proud of my witch on a broomstick flickering in the golden glow of the candle I inserted inside it's now barren orangey depths.I eagerly sat at the front door to hand out candy to the local children. It felt like a movie scene.
I was also invited to my first Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed my first pumpkin pie. People were quite surprised when I told them that we eat pumpkin as a savoury dish in Australia but I loved pumpkin pie and the excuse to eat Turkey before Christmas. I was also introduced to the early version of Uber eats as we ordered more alcohol to be delivered to the house. This was unheard of back in Australia in the 90's.
I was invited to a special Christmas event in Downtown where we had a parade. I remember this night because I met Matthew from Anne of Green Gables. Well I met the actor who played Matthew, Richard Farnsworth, in the 1980’s mini series. It was a huge moment for me because that particular series had inspired me so much during the darker times of my school life and I loved the character of Matthew. So I cried when I met him and I told him how much that character had meant to me and I had a photo taken with him. He was so lovely and generous with his time. He passed away the following year and I am so grateful to have had that moment in time.
Christmas in Canada was definitely different to the long hot summery Christmas days I was used to. One thing that stood out were the oranges. I would call them more mandarins but they sold these boxes of small oranges, beautifully packaged each with it’s own paper wrapping. These oranges would be displayed on tables in the house but we didn’t really seem to eat them.
We made mulled wine on the stove. Large batches of steeping wine with cinnamon sticks and slices of orange floating on top. We entertained friends at the house where I tried to make Aussie food to share but my cooking abilities were not as evolved as they are today.
The one day I can’t recall with any real clarity is Christmas Day itself. I think I may have drunk too much mulled wine but I believe the lead up to Christmas was more memorable and I still believe that today. I love the anticipation of Christmas; the shopping, decorating and expectation. It was a different experience walking home from work at 5pm, in the dark, and looking at the Christmas lights reflecting in the bright white snow. Sometimes it would be softly falling with snow as I trudged in my snow boots home, often carrying my groceries for dinner, but it felt pretty special to be in a different place and time to any I had been in before. I was used to long December days with BBQ’s and summer treats. This felt surreal in comparison.
So Christmas passed, as did the New Year, and life continued on in this new pattern.
Dating was something I did unsuccessfully during the year I lived abroad. Friends seemed determined to match me up with their bachelor friends and I went on many dates. One memorable one ended with me declining dessert at the restaurant, after not feeling any connection, only to have my potential suitor purchase two serves of dessert “to go”. I thought "that’s ambitious" but I’m going to head home so irrelevant. At my doorstep he made his move and as I ducked and weaved from his advances he informed me he had a girlfriend and, actually, he was on his way over to her house with the dessert he had just purchased! It was a low light.
So I decided dating was too much effort plus I was so busy with work, dance, theatre and friends that I didn’t feel like I needed anything else. I did enjoy some short lived relationships, one comes to mind who participated in the quintessential Canadian sport of Curling. I very much enjoyed sitting on the sidelines, sipping on a blueberry tea, while watching him curl. Blueberry tea is not as innocent as it sounds; it is tea with booze!
The car dealership I worked for started to lend me cars to drive home with at the end of each day. I think they felt sorry for me as I trudged to the bus stop at the end of the day, in the cold and dark. It was very much appreciated and I was thrilled with my new freedom! I was able to drive a range of luxury cars, the kind I have yet to be able to afford even to this day. I enjoyed the novelty of driving on “the wrong side of the road” and I also enjoyed having so much extra time. On average my trip to work would take an hour by bus but I could drive home in 15 mins.
The one thing I did enjoy with catching the bus was my chance to read. I would catch a bus into town and wait for 15 mins for my connecting bus. In that time I would cross the road and order a large coffee and an orange cranberry muffin, every single day. The guys at Blenz would see me coming and have my order ready. I have always appreciated a coffee guy who remembers my order.
Starbucks was unknown to me in Australia but here they had one on every corner. I would spend hours on weekends ensconced in a giant armchair, in the window of a Starbucks, nursing a caramel macchiato or a spiced warm apple cider. Funny how I don’t think I could handle those sweet drinks today. Those early memories of Starbucks still draw me to their franchises when I travel today.
In the April my parents travelled across the world to visit me. I can’t remember too much detail from this visit but I do remember them being freezing cold as I walked around in a singlet top. I had fully acclimatised by this point and the 17 degree days were blissfully warm and scented with spring. I took my mum and dad on a tour of my new home town and they fell in love with the views and atmosphere of my adopted home town. We shared cocktails at their hotel and went on some fantastic day trips. They then went on their own adventures around the country and I was so proud that they loved it as much as me.
Towards the end of my year abroad I visited the Calgary Stampede, which was really interesting, and I also flew to Las Vegas with some dance friends for a week long dance convention. Here I was able to do classes with choreographers like Mia Michaels and I remember to this day the impact this week had on my love for dance.
The months between finding a place to live and packing up my belongings to return home to Australia genuinely feel like a blur. I tried so hard to embrace every moment but time has a habit of marching on in brutal fashion through the good times. Eventually there I was the night before my return, visiting a Lacrosse tournament. There was the one who I had followed 12 months ago to this new home. There we stood, at his request, awkwardly holding conversation when he informed me he might have made a mistake in letting me go. It had been 12 months, 364 days since I had arrived and he collected me from that ferry. He knew where I was all that time and waited until the night before I left to inform me he wished things were different.
As I stood there and heard the words, I thought I had wanted to hear, I realised that the adventure I had over that time was a true gift. I would never have experienced the sights, friendships and experiences that I had over the past 12 months if he had embraced me as I walked off that ramp. I had found something so much more exciting than I could ever have imagined and that was a true understanding of myself. I told him so and I walked away. It was a great “movie moment” and I loved every minute.
I hope you enjoyed my reflection of a journey once travelled. On the most part it is ramblings and varied snapshots of experiences but the colours remain vivid in my mind to this day and I am forever grateful for the opportunities that life has presented me. If nothing else, I have learnt that when life throws you a curveball, don’t work against it. Embrace it and see what happens because you might just have a life changing experience.
