2011 Family Newsletter

What a great way to let family and friends know what’s been happening in our lives this past year, 2011. We often forget that we lead an unusual lifestyle compared to most and things that become our day to day is still interesting to others. So this is to fill you in on some of the things we did last year, in case we’ve forgotten to mention it. Of course, you’re always welcome to join us for parts of this adventure!

Our day to day schedule isn’t really much different than most homeschooling/single income families. Schoolwork is always on again/off again but learning is always on and Alex and I either spend our days at home or on the go, participating in some homeschooling event; swimming, bowling, Phys. Ed., afternoons in a homeschooling environment with others. We loved our Wednesday’s in Canterbury. Taking the one hour and a bit bus ride gave us enough time to listen to an episode of CBC’s The Vinyl Café or The Age of Persuasion.  Walking around the old walled city was one of our weekly highlights.  It’s also where Alex got interested in Warhammer 40,000, a role playing game that involves painting models (with precision, since they are quite small and detailed), creating sceneries, a lot of reading(to understand the rules)and shhhh, don’t tell him but it also involves math.  Most of our outings are done locally but we did manage to get into London one day, to visit the Tate Modern art museum to help us work on a film making project. 

Mauri in the meantime, has had an awkward but adventurous  work schedule this year. The full time contract that his company had with Pfizer seriously diminished his local work when Pfizer decided to close their Sandwich site (close to 2400 jobs).  So, until other work was found for him, he spent a bit of time at home, still “working” but from home. He likes to brag about the fact that he can work from bed when he wants to.  It’s quite the sight to see him with a shirt on (but still in his underwear), sitting in bed with his coffee on the night table while making a Skype call to one of his customers.  Otherwise, work took him to a few European countries like Greece, Romania, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and France.  He really loves the travelling part but he enjoys some countries/cities more than others.  Maybe I can convince him to post some of his thoughts on the places he’s been, on our blog.

As for me, personally, things are a lot less interesting. I do the typical stay at home person stuff; I’m a teacher, chef, housekeeper, gardener, chauffeur, engineer, seamstress, counselor, entertainer, mom, and wife. I did manage to make a few preserves, do some knitting and some sewing, this past year.  One interesting thing was, that I had the opportunity to help out a friend by preparing meals for groups of Russians coming to learn about classical osteopathy, in her clinic.  Three separate groups came for three weeks in a row and I was in charge of preparing their lunches and snacks.  It was fantastic!  On the second week, I had the opportunity, along with others working at the clinic and Alex of course, to join them at their B&B for an evening of food and fun.  It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had; borscht, Russian dry sausage, pumpernickel bread.  We finished off the evening by watching them drink a lot of vodka (the rest of us all happen to be Baha’is, so no drinking) and singing a variety of English, French and Russian songs.  A good time was had by all.

Mauri and I have also been involved with our local interfaith community and sat on the executive committee. It can be exhausting work sometimes but very rewarding.  We met and made some incredible friends and acquaintances and learned much.

As a family, we’ve had a crazy kind of year.  In the spring, we decided to take up an offer from my cousins to stay at their Spanish apartment and so we took a flight to Malaga and a bus to Ronda for a week of relaxation.  What a lovely city with walks in the canyon, its beautiful parks and gardens, tapas and chocolate y churos.  Then, a move from the UK had been looming on the horizon for quite some time and it was finally happening but we weren’t sure if it was going to be France or back to Canada.  So, we decided to take another trip onto the continent, just in case it was Canada.  It would have been disappointing to go back home without having travelled enough. So we took a road trip to Ghent in Belgium and then on to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  In Ghent, we enjoyed the pedestrian walking area with obviously different architecture than in the UK and we had the best ice cream ever, made on the premises with natural ingredients.  We were a little more limited in Amsterdam since we arrived the day before a city wide transportation strike, so we did all our tram sightseeing, which included a visit to the Anne Frank  museum, on the first day and then did other things that were walking distance on the other days.  We were staying in the museum quarter, so we managed to visit the Van Gogh museum, Rijksmuseum (art) and the Diamond Museum. We also walked through Vondel Park, which was the place to be in the 60’s if you were a hippie, and the Leidsplein, a place to hang out, eat, drink and people watch.

By the time summer came along, we were trying to get our stuff in order because we were moving to France.  We visited the city of Colmar and Mulhouse in the Alsace area of France, looking for a home but were unsuccessful in finding something we really wanted. It did give us an idea about where we didn’t want to be, though.  On our return home, we heard that Mauri’s father was really not well and in hospital. A week later, at his mother’s request, we left for Canada.  Ben passed away a week and half after our arrival, at the age of 95.  We were touched by all the consoling faces and hearts at his funeral.  On our return home, we increased our efforts of decluttering before the movers would have to pack our stuff and made plans for a return to France to find a home.  Mauri ended up dropping Alex and I off in Colmar while he went to work in Lausanne, Switzerland for the week.  It was the hottest week of the year and all the hotels within walking distance of the city were older and had no air conditioning.  Alex and I both got heat stroke and spent time sitting in cool baths and sleeping before learning our lesson and spending lots of money on water and sports drinks.  We went to every “immobilier” (estate agent) within walking distance and looked at every possible apartment and house on their lists, both in the city of Colmar and in the surrounding “communes” (towns and villages).  We found a place (the only house) that we really liked, not for its esthetics but for its yard, the village and its surroundings.  Within a few days, we had the papers signed. Yeh!  Back in England, we said our goodbyes, cleaned up the garden, had the house packed up and off we went on a new adventure. 

Autumn… The house we were moving into needed a little updating since its multicolour walls were a bit 70ish.  The entrance was (and still is) bright pink with flowers, the hallway was a stripy orange, Alex’s room was two shades of pink, our room was two shades of purple, the kitchen had a brown and yellow flower pattern and the living room/dining room was (and partly still is) grey and brown wood grain.  It’s a work in progress.  We still had lots of paperwork to do, unpacking, buying furniture and appliances and we’re still working on all that.  By November, Alex and I had returned to England for the aforementioned three weeks with the Russians.  Alex kept himself busy with his Warhammer 40,000, getting schoolwork done and taking the train on his own to Canterbury while I worked like a madwoman making fresh bread, cookies and desserts, and a main dish for lunch. We stayed in England until Mauri’s Christmas staff party on the first weekend of December. It was up in the Manchester area so we visited and stayed with some friends for a few days and then flew home. 

In December, this area is full of Christmas markets and I was looking forward to all the lovely goodies we could see and taste.  Mauri’s mom was coming for a few days, on her way to Finland, and we made plans to visit the markets then. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time. I realize that we should be used to that after having lived in England for 4 years but it just wasn’t pleasant. A week later, we had the car packed, heading to the south of France to spend the holidays with some Canadian friends.

And that was our year.  I’m sure we’ve missed a few details but we didn’t want to bore you too much.  We’re happy to be on this new part of our adventure, even though we miss our friends in the UK and Canada. You can find out more about this adventure and even become part of it, if you want, by checking out our blog at http://canucksinfrance.blogspot.fr/