Bonus Blog - starting school :)

Starting school... two small steps for some, two giant leaps for others...

I am blown away. I realise, retrospectively, that the load I was carrying somewhere in my inner consciousness was directly attributable to my anxieties about the children leaving one comfortable school and starting another, unknown school.

They were very happy at Greatham Primary - we were all very happy at Greatham Primary, fitted like a glove, a soft comfy old faithful glove. Quirks and feubles, routine and mannerisms Greatham Primary has been part of our day to day lives for the best part of six years. It was just another one of those parts of our lives that we didn't much need to think about, we didn't have to consider.

No such luxury here. We anticipated keeping the children off with us while we ran around, buying furniture, cars, new lives in a box.... and for the most part that is what happened. We thought we'd get them registered by the end of November and they could have a couple of weeks of 'new school' before the Christmas break and then start back afresh no longer the 'new kids' in January.

When they started eating each other's faces off we realised that their boredom was getting out of hand. No TV, no internet, just a few familiar toys and lots more unfamiliar ones, the shopping spree bribes were losing their impact and the parents' tempers were becoming shorter by the day. We had taken for granted the outside distractions that wiled away the hours before, the allotment play areas, the garden-matured toys... the familiarity of the locale which allowed lone trips up the lane, exploration of hedgerows. The individual bedroom space that was full of personal anchors into their lives... none of that here just mum, and dad, and so much boring stuff to do.

So, a trip to the 'immigrant welcome department' within the Hollywood Road Education Centre sealed the places in our very sought-after catchment school for the very next day if we wanted..... Oooh no, I wasn't expecting to hand over my babies so soon, could we postpone a day please...?

So we had a day to 'prepare' and the children had their places in Grade 1 and Grade 4. With children of their own age we couldn't have found a better system. Both children having had an extra year of education than their Canadian peers, Amelie's progress was my worry, more than Tom's - whose classmates would likely be at relatively similar levels to him, given the four years or so of formal education they had received to date, things tended to balance out by then. Amelie's classmates in Grade One, by contrast, had only just started formal education this summer, she has had two full years more than them and my concerns ran deeper than mere boredom on her part, I felt she would lose the enormous enthusiasm that she has always had for her schooling if she were placed in an enforced retrograde situation. No such concerns now though, her class is a 'Grade 1-2 split' which means she is sharing her school day with children who are a year older (but having had the same amount of education to date) as well as half the class who are her age. She gets to play and socialise with them all and her academic ability will fall somewhere between the two. I will, nevertheless, remember for a long time the look on the secretary's face when she asked her to sign something (expecting a 'cross' on the line or a scrawl....) when she signed her name so beautifully. "Oh, she writes already?" she stammered. Better shrink my ego or I'll be slapping makeup all over her face and entering her into North American talent competitions soon....(not!). A mum can be proud of her babies :)

So. Having met the teachers and gone through the paperwork, the e.n.d.l.e.s.s.... paperwork we were now, it seems, parent of students of the Anne McClymont Elementary school. Hurrah! We did it! We got into the best school in town, well, we would say that eh?! There's an ironic link to Anne of Green Gables which I won't bore you with right now but it is, apparently, the place to be. You can google if you're so inclined...

It's huge and, despite allaying most of my fears for the emotional integrity of my children, there was still a big part of me that wanted to run away and take them under my wing... it's OK, you don't have to come here, we'll home-school you or something, I'm so sorry to have put you through this upheaval, now now, let's erase that angst from your eyes....

I probably imagined that angst. When probed, Amelie just jumped up & down and said it was the best school ever and could she please just stay now. Tom - in his wary, sensitive, nine year old kind of way, stayed quiet and reserved, looked around a lot and tried to 'deal' with his anxieties by himself until we could be alone to chat. Turned out he was worried about bullies and whether he had a strict [male?] teacher and was re-assured by our delightful teacher friend that his concerns were unfounded.

So, armed with new 'runners', a lunch pack and gym kit, not to mention being dressed in ...wait, whatever they wanted to wear... the welcome we received at 'a quarter past eight' on Thursday 19th November, not even 48 hours after we decided to visit the education department, certainly verified this unfounded fear for Tom - and for us - we were treated like royalty. We were, for all intents and purposes, the most important thing to happen at the school for the last academic year. This is of course an absolute fallacy, the school is host to a number of high-profile events and guests, but we felt - at that moment - that The Galloways in town was so important that the school engine had stopped just for us. It was a great feeling, and the kids weren't the only ones to 'feel the love'... they barely looked back as Andy & I climbed back into the 'van' and wondered what we were going to do without them for the 'day'.

Never far from my mind and, undoubtedly Andy's too, we busied ourselves with work and admin, of which there is plenty. Collecting them 'at the door of their classroom' at 2.30 sharp was an event in itself. What was I expecting to see exactly? Amelie tied up in the corner, all her classmates throwing things at her?? For goodness sakes', she was so fine I felt bad about ruining it by my presence. She beamed when she saw me but made it known in her own special way, that she was good. That she belonged in this class and they had made her feel so welcome. She had 'a hundred' friends she said, but only remembered one name. That was good, she could learn a new one every day, after all all the school only had two new names to remember, they had the whole school to try and store in their grey matter.

Tom (met by Andy at his door) came round to Amelie's class with a new self-assurance. A certain je ne sais quoi that he hadn't gone in with. His fears and worries had lifted without him having to 'share' too deeply, he had come away with more friends and more attention in one day than he could have ever imagined. He said all the girls had been all over him, except one that was, and she loked like a cat so he didn't mind about her.

So, as an 'additional' bonus blog that was all that was about starting school for our little people. They miss their friends, especially our little lady, but they don't stress about it and they're going to be just fine with their new school buddies. Tom (as we speak) sleeps clutching the pencil that one of his new friends gave his inscribed (in 9 year old lead print) 'welcome to Canada my new friend' having gone to bed saying "I can't believe I'm saying this Mum but I can't wait to get to school tomorrow..." and Amelie having set out her 'pink' clothes for anti (pronounced an-tie rather than ant -ee) bullying day tomorrow asks me pleeeeease when can they take the yellow bus to school. So end of an era. No more playground chats, I just pack off my children and hope the bus gets to school and the children get off it... and know where to go. Will I ever stop worrying? Give me one more day, they can start after the weekend.. ;)

Oh, and did I mention that the PTA (or PAC as it's known here) meeting is on Monday and they have an extra 'grown-up' pair of hands so you bring your children along. Looks like I might finally be able to get involved in the PTA, no more badminton widow excuses, what a fab idea - they even get to chew on pizza while we grown-ups chew on the fat....
:)

Arriving...

Well, that went quickly, it appears we have been here for two weeks now...

Strangely, and it gets us every time, we feel like we've always been here. It's hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago we were living thousands of miles away in a completely different life - a different world altogether.

We liked that world, that world had friends every which way we turned, family at arms length, familiarity that allowed the day to day - the minute to minute - to pass without conscious thought, hours into days, days into weeks into months - all without effort, something we took for granted.

We like this world too. It is such a different world, every minute - quite literally every minute - we're learning new things. How to get here, how to get there, how to drive this car - how to speak the lingo thus avoiding those blank looks, how to operate the 'washer' the ABM (ATM!)machine the petrol (sorry, gas) pump, how you buy bread, rice, coffee... how to put one foot in front of the other, Canadian style. It's fun and exhausting, all at the same time. No friends at arms reach, no family 'popping in', but we do love it for so many different reasons, we're still at the 'pinching' stage...

So where at we at, as we speak?

Well, we didn't take those three weeks so generously offered to us by dear Kelowna friends to stay at their home while we furnished ours. We moved in after two days, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, towels at the windows, we love the 'feel' of this place, we wanted to make it ours as soon as possible.

Day by day (hour by hour for the most part) spaces in our house slowly filled, following exhausting shopping sprees that started as fun and whose novelty expired very quickly. Andy clutches his heart while I settle the bill...

Room by room new furniture filled the gaps, the spaces, pictures (lovingly brought from England) have found homes in new frames on new walls. Toys have been bought and found homes among the well travelled toys, merged within new bedrooms with enough UK memorabilia, photos, cards, letters, presents to remind us where we came from, that there is life outside Kelowna, and people in that life who care... we are all consumed.

My BC driving career was bump-started (quite literally!) with the purchase of my dream car. The proud owner of my Chrysler Grand Voyager (or Dodge Grand-Caravan in Canadian) somehow doesn't mean the same thing... I now brave the stop streets and filter lanes with their lights flashing freneticly for me to turn left (..or is it right?) Everyone is so patient, my waves of alien apology to unsuspecting road users for my sudden braking or lane overlaps are met with beaming smiles and waves, hat tipping and offers of assistance. I'm reminded of the time I drove up to Wandsworth and realised (in plenty of time) that I needed to be in a different lane. What followed made me quite literally fear for my life as, clearly, needing to change lane was a hanging offence amongst the London drivers. The language and gesticulation was angry and blue (despite a young Tom in the car) and really devastatingly upsetting for a village chick like me. No such worries here.

So, here I sit, listening to CBC rather than BBC (still no TV, Internet or phone) the Dimbleby lectures beaming through the house, kids asleep and Andy ventured to his first Kelowna badminton, yes really. Nothing new here then!

Work has streamed in, the kids starting school before the end of the week, car bought furniture bought, suitcases [finally] all unpacked today. We've had snow, ice, glorious fall days, we've had big grey turmultuous clouds but are yet to experience the 'gloomy' Kelowna we were told to expect - maybe the next update will be somewhat less 'sunny'.

Still, we love our home, our life, we love our new neighbours, our 'old' Kelowna friendships have reached a new depth and we do, really, feel at home here. Life is good.

To quote a great friend's leaving gift to us "no dream is ever too big", we're truly 'living that dream'.

Come back again soon & we love to hear your comments :)

Leaving....

Well, that all went in a blur...

One day we were saying goodbye's - so many sad goodbye's, and the next we were on the plane...

There was a bit in the middle, of course. The bit where we turned Tom's room over to be the 'packing' room and loaded up the suitcases bit by bit... taking a bit from here and putting it in there - I never knew a man's shoes could weigh so much, still, it gave me the excuse to load another batch of 'essentials' without guilt, to compensate you understand... Also the bit that involved 'making good' our home for tenants; the painting, the glossing, the washing, scrubbing, cleaning. The fixing of roof's, the sorting of woodsheds and enormous garages, the sticking of wallpaper and removal of hooks, the endless trips to the dump, the endless evenings packing, by crikey riley that was a busy few weeks...

So, fighting with scales and heavy suitcases - and the inevitable last minute panic - we can't do it - we'll have to pay for yet MORE suitcases..., finally, in a blur of cleaning fluid & testosterone pumped muscles (even mine) we found ourselves loading the [slightly knackered] old taxi that arrived to take us to the airport. Loading that took almost half an hour (all the while engine running...so to the glorious scent of diesel...yeuuchhhh). And we were off.

Nothing, from the moment we left to the moment we arrived went wrong. Not a sausage. The journey was smooth, the porters were happy to be paid to take us to the check-in (it looked like something out of a 60's film with porters ushering the 'rich' people onto the ships, scurrying on behind with their 8 foot high trolleys, loaded to the brim with 'trunks'...).

So, check-in & flight marvellous (in fact flight less than half full so huge space everywhere) what a pleasure, Tom had a row to himself and took full advantage of the attention bestowed upon him by his adoring Canadian hosties (sorry, 'Cabin Crew'..). Immigration (albeit a bit daunting) in Calgary all straightforward - straightforward in a kind of 'don't mess with the bullet-proof jacket' kind of way - and then, all of sudden we're in! Fully fledged Canadian Permanent Residents, Landed Permanent Residents - stay as long as you like, Welcome to Canada...hurrah!!

We arrived in flurry of suitcases. Flurry. That doesn't seem a big enough adjective. The suitcases were not at all flurry-like, or flurrious, they were heavy, and cumbersome and clumsy - and there were eleven of the damn things. Full of everything from kitchen implements to photos, from Wii Fit to running gear and salt cellars, plectrum to Crayola... anything you can imagine and a million things you can't. Oh and instead of the kitchen sink we also brought our two computers. Bubble-wrapped mouses (not mice) and all. That was a big 'ole cargo and it drew a few stares....

So that was the leaving. It turned from loooooooonng drawn out sad, solemn 'what are we doing's to Hurrah! We made it! and I don't mind admitting that the moment we touched down in Kelowna, even after eleven hours travelling... the moment I saw the red LED sign saying 'Welcome to the Sunny Okanagan' I knew we were home again, because I know whether or not the sun is really shining here (and it was) everyone is so nice, so friendly, so welcoming, the sun always shines in Kelowna and you can't help but feel at home. Our home.

Check back soon for our latest post - settling in :) Our new house and our first few days of our adventure, it's been fun :)

(As soon as I find the lead to upload photos I'll add some on... could be anywhere... )

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