One Year in Canada. Time for an update...

As of January 20th 2016, (today) myself and my boyfriend will be living in Canada 1 year! Completely mind blowing that an entire year has passed! My last blog post was back in June. Blogging about my life in Canada is actually much harder than I has anticipated as, because I work so much and money is very tight between each pay cheque so, in this post I have a collection of various things I have gotten up to or learned since then and over the course of my first year... 

Summer Fun... 

In the summer, I was blessed to have my family, my mum included, be able to come and visit me and my sister for a few days. My mum, uncle, Aunt and cousin along with her boyfriend who are all based in Toronto came to stay for a few days towards the end of July. It was really great to see them all and show my mum and family where I live and another part of the country! My Canadian family had never been to Alberta! While they were here, I was back into tourist mode but, I didn't mind one bit! During their time here, we spent most of our time in Banff visiting Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. The weather around this time was amazing! Lake Louise, what can I say, this is a sight anyone who is anywhere near the area simply must see! The same goes for Lake Moraine. I have added some photos for you all to see as, I simply cannot explain the views and the photographs don't do it enough justice! Go there. That's all you need to know. You can kayak/canoe on these lakes which sadly I did not get the opportunity to do, it was to busy at Lake Louise and the weather was not on our side at Lake Moraine. Nevertheless, views have to be truly breathtaking to leave me lost for words and these views, are. 

View at Lake Louise

View from the Banff Gondola Summit

Lake Moraine. So perfectly still...

Lake Moraine. Image taken from the end of a walking trail. 

It's a Stampede!! 

Every year, the city of Calgary is known worldwide for becoming the host to the biggest outdoor show on the planet! The Calgary Stampede. If you are reading this from outside of Canada, you may not have heard of the Stampede before? Before I came to Calgary, I had never heard of it either! It takes place every year, usually at the start of July and lasts for one week and it is so much fun! Expensive, but fun! There's so much to see and do like rodeos, stunt shows, exhibits, concerts, lots of food and drink! It's great to see such a hustle and bustle about the city and it makes a huge impact on the Alberta economy! You can buy weekly/daily entrance and (carnival) ride tickets at Mac stores and I believe at Safeway stores beforehand and I strongly recommend that you do this! You save so much more money that way! Save up before hand always because like any other tourist attraction, venders are there to make money. There is some of the greasiest but best food ever there! Like deep fried Oreos, fried chicken smothered in BBQ sauce, the freshest, sweetest corn on the cob... These are just some of the things I had. I have to stop talking about food now. If you're reading this and live in Canada and have never been... It was an amazing experience and I really did have so much fun! I hope to make it again in 2016! 

Wannabe Cowboys. 

Giant turkey leg with BBQ sauce! 

The Stampede crowd from above.. 

Driving Experiences...

Driving in Alberta I have been fortunate enough to make it through without a scratch! However, if you're going to drive over here, you definitely need to have your wits about ya! In Alberta (not sure if this is a Canada wide thing) you are not required to do any driving lessons once you require your learners permit. Although things are  a lot more strict currently in Ireland, I feel it's better to legally have to do lessons than not to them because, as I result, I have seen some mad sh*t on the roads! Just bad merging, speeding, darting in and out through lanes. Honestly, I would pay money to see these people navigate Irish roads! The car thankfully hasn't given me so much as a glitch, I was taking a real stab in the dark purchasing that car as it has over 300,000kms on and it's only a 2002 which is a lot, even by Canadian standards! 
               One thing I would heavily advise when it comes to driving here particularly if you are driving an older car similar to mine is, you WILL want/need to invest in winter tires. They will just make your journeys a lot safer in thick snow. Get them on early is another piece of advise. Calgary had a very mild winter this year. Normally the snow would arrive September/October. We did see some in the late autumn/early winter months but, it didn't properly arrive and stick until December! I made the mistake of waiting until the snow arrived properly before going about sorting winter tires. We got a hit of it in mid November and that's when I went about sorting them only to be told there was a month long waiting list! Oops. I got lucky that the snow subsided and could manage without the tires for a whole month. If you're living and driving in Calgary, best get them on early just so you can have them on and be done with it. You don't know when the snow could arrive and how thick it will be. Do it around Sept/Oct, seems early I know but, you'll thank me later! 

Recently, myself and my boyfriend have made a pretty important decision. There'll be a blog post following this to let you all know about our exciting news! 

That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Ciara. 

Car Shopping... My experience.

As some of you may or may not know I recently bought myself a car. I've always been a lady of leisure, always driven since the age of 17 so, for me to have to give up my car and revert to public transport felt completely unnatural. 

In Sligo, where I'm from the public transport is something I've never really used and the few times I did, the bus took forever to arrive, the bus route was very short. Sligo isn't a large town so, there's only so far it needs to go but, the few times I did take it, it didn't leave me anywhere near where I needed to be, leaving me with a distance to still walk. It's pretty terrible if I'm honest! I started driving when I was 17 as I said, did my test a year later just before I sat the leaving cert exams and the rest is history. I consider myself to be quite a good driver, a mere 6 months after passing my test I was driving up and down to Dublin to attend college! Not a bother on me! I had 7 years driving experience when I arrived in Canada but, even with all of that under my belt, on Irish roads that are probably harder to drive on than Canadian roads, I was still absolutely bricking it to begin driving over here!

For those of you who are considering moving to Calgary, I can tell you now, you're going to need a car. Public transport here is, ok... Born and raised Calgarians seem to hate it. During the week, between the hours of 7am - 5/6pm it's pretty good, the city is largely accessible by train or bus. However, after these hours or during the weekend, the public transport is, well... sh*te for lack of a better word! During the weekend, it only runs on half an hour increments so, take for example, there does be an odd occasion where I have to be in work for 8am on a Sunday morning and, when I was using the public transport, I would have to up by 6am and out the door by 7am to be at work on time for 8am. Arising at 6am is relatively normal by Canadian standards (during the week) but, in Ireland! 6am is a struggle! What's more sickening is the distance between my apartment and where I work are a 10-15 mins drive apart! It takes 40mins - 1hour to commute!! Needless to say, I didn't last long without a car! 

In Calgary, if you choose to purchase a transit pass, it must be renewed every month and it costs $100 to do so. You can use it on both the bus and train, as many times as you want during the day for that whole month which is nice. Conveniently enough, we purchased the car on June 1st just on time to save me the $100 additional charge! In total we viewed three different cars before purchasing what we have now. The first car we viewed was a Mazda, I forget the year (I think it was 1998/1999) and I forget the model but it had over 200,000km, it was manual and was over $1400 which is a crazy price in fairness for a car it's age! The car itself was in ok shape, it made a pretty loud and uncomfortable sound when running which we thought may have been the timing belt? The car as I said was manual and I can drive stick, that's not the issue, in fact I had never driven an automatic! However, given the way that Canadians drive, they drive at much faster speeds, tend to change lanes very erratically and they have much larger roads (3,4, even 5 lane highways). I just thought until I adjust to driving here it would be wiser to drive automatic. With the Nissan I felt it was overpriced so, the chances of me getting it down to anywhere near $1000 to what I felt the car was worth was slim so, needles to say, we walked away from that one.

The second car we viewed was a 2003 Nissan Sentra also with over 200,00km and it was also manual. This car was in acceptable condition for its age and was at a far more reasonable price, asking was $1200. It drove well and ran well for the most part but, upon checking the engine we noticed that the oil was spitting quite badly. I didn't feel overly pushed about this one and neither did the seller. They had another person waiting to view the car and I got the impression they had it already sold to the individual as they knew them personally. Again, walked away from this opportunity.

The third car we viewed was the one we ended up going with. 2002 Chevrolet cavalier, automatic but it did have over 300,000km which was a concern. Out of all the cars that we test drove, this one I had the best feeling about. Similar to every other car I've ever owned it was black with two doors, I took it as a sign. It ran well, was at a good asking price which would make it easier for me when it came to getting myself insured. In the end, we offered $1000 for the car which was accepted! Got myself insured on June first so, as of right now I've been on the road for two weeks! 

Granted, I'm still adjusting to driving here, all I've managed is between my apartment and where I work which are only a 10-15 min drive apart but, so far I've managed fine! I thought I would have difficulty driving on the other side of the road and the other side of the car but, to my surprise I have had no issues! I still have quite a bit to learn! There's a major highway here by the name of "Deerfoot" and I'm very apprehensive to drive on it. It has a history of accidents, no one does the speed limit! If I ever want to drive to Edmonton or even out to Crossiron Millls the outlet mall here in Calgary which is a 30 minute drive on Deerfoot but, we'll work up to it!

My advice to those of you hoping to drive over here would be the same advice you would tell yourself in Ireland. Shop around, your first car here will be a heap, the same as it would be at home. The mileage on it will be huge, Canadians do a hell of a lot more driving over here because flying within the continent is SO expensive they have no choice! Petrol is way cheaper! For those of you looking for insurance in Calgary, Irish people can have difficulty getting insured for the first time in Canada. I definitely recommend you contact "the insurance place" and ask for Julie. She's a legend! Because the car is over 12 years old, legally in Alberta you can be required to have the car serviced and checked before you'll be granted insurance. Depending on the car and mechanic you get stuck with who might chance their arm and declare you need a new this, that and the other, having it checked could set you back up to $1000?! "Intact" insurance don't require you to get your car checked for 20 years!!! 

Here's our beauty of a car but, I'm so delighted to have it in my life and be back on the road! 

Job Hunting. My Experience...

As you guys may or may not have seen from my most recent Facebook post, I finally managed to land myself a job! I actually started working last Tuesday and so far, it's been amazing! Everyone that I work with is lovely and more than helpful in allowing me to adjust to my new work environment. There's still a lot to learn but, hopefully I'll pick it up in no time! It took me two whole months to get something suitable and that I was happy with but, that doesn't mean that there was other job opportunities that didn't happen between January and April.

One thing you guys should bear in mind before coming to Canada, Calgary in particular is, unless you have a qualification or experience in engineering, construction or any sort of manual labour, chances are you won't be able to find a job where you're qualified right off the bat. I have a degree in business with marketing from home and, although I knew the chances were slim of me finding my "dream job", I wanted to at least try and find a job where I was qualified. This turned out to be a mistake and left me for two whole months without work...

I began my search on line by using the popular job search website indeed.ca and I recommend this website for those of you who may not know of it. I stumbled across a job in entrant marketing, this is a job where you have a degree in marketing but no experience and require no training i.e. moi. This job that I stumbled across was for an "up and coming" company, offering training, medical after 6 months, travel opportunities, weekly pay (it's normally every two weeks in Canada), no comissions, paid training, $20 per hour, the list goes on! Sounds amazing right? I thought so...
                     I jumped at the opportunity and applied immediately! I was contacted to come in for an interview the following week. I was so excited and nervous all at the same time! First job interview here and potentially could have a job where I'm qualified! What are the odds! I went to this interview and no word of a lie, it was literally, LITERALLY, two minutes long. That should have been a dead give away and, those of you reading this who have been based in Canada longer than I have can probably sense it. The interviewer basically ran through the company and who some of their clients were. They had 3 in total but, I only actually recognised one of them, a Canadian version of a well known charity but, of course I pretended to know of all three. During the interview, I was asked how my friends and family would describe me in three words and naturally, when someone asks you this, you pick the first three words that pop into your head! I mean, what are you going to say? Lazy, stupid and negative? I think I said, "friendly, hard working and passionate". I was told I could have to speak to up to 100 people a day and would this bother me, to which I said no. I was asked would I be interested in progression through the company and eventually go into management and, I answered yes to this. That was essentially it folks! I was then told I may or may not be selected to come back the following day for a second interview and I would be contacted later that day had a been successful. From that initial interview, there is no way a potential employer could effectively assess anyone and therefore, I knew I would called to comeback as there was nothing I said that ruined my chances. Sure enough, I got the call and received and email confirming my second interview.

This email stated that during my second interview I would be "shadowing" someone to see if the job was meant for me. It also stated I should dress in a "business casual" manner. Because it stated business casual, this suggested to me that I would witness them try to establish a new client, or creating a new PR campaign for an existing one or some sort of a situation like that. What I didn't expect to be doing was door to door sales for the previously mentioned Canadian charity in what felt like -18 degrees for 9 hours!!! For only it has snowed that same day and I was forced to wear several layers and snow boots, I would have showed up wearing little dainty ballerina pumps and clothing that would have kept me in no way warm! I mean, what the hell! I had literally, NO IDEA this is how I was going to spend the day! What's more, for only I brought a small lunch and had an opportunity to eat it before we went to work, I would had no food for the whole day. How could they leave me so in the dark?! On top of all this, because I was only shadowing someone, I didn't get paid a dime! I have never been more p***ed off in my whole life!! Never again. Learn from my mistakes , if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

The second opportunity that arose for me was brought on accidentally if you will. Myself and my boyfriend Larry attended a newcomers fair at the end of February. While we were there, I stumbled across another marketing company. It was the only stall at this fair that was directly associated with marketing. I approached them and asked who they were and what they did as I was unfamiliar with the company. A brief explanation later, I was told I could do an interview for available positions... right then and there. Naturally I panicked! What would you do? The room the fair took place in was full of people and therefore, was very loud and busy. The interviewer also had a strong foreign accent and I couldn't understand a single word they said! I was even unsure who the company or what the job was! Feeling on edge, I decided to chance it and do the interview as it didn't feel like a smart decision to walk away from another potential job where I was qualified. Throughout the interview, again, I could hardly hear or understand the interviewer and for that reason, thought "oh well, I tried!" once it was over and thought nothing more of it.
            Little did I know, about a week later, I received a call straight up offering me a job! Just like that. Alarm bells go off naturally, given what happened the last time! I was extremely sceptical about it. In fairness to the company, they were far more upfront about what I'd be doing and where. It was a job very similar to the first one only I knew I would be based indoors. Ultimately, I decided to give it a try and see how I would get on. However, during my training, I found them to be inconsistent and unprofessional and this made me worry about how they would treat me as an employee. I gave up very early on in the training and decided to try and find a job as a waitress or in retail. I needed the money and couldn't stand the boredom any longer. Most days, I ended up housebound! There's only so many times you can go for walks with no end destination, go to the library, walk to Starbucks or clean your apartment 100 times over. Thankfully, third time was the charm and I have landed a job back in retail. During my interview, the conversation flowed really well and we seemed to connect instantly. I'm looking forward to working for this company and will update you guys on how I'm getting on in a future blog post.

Thanks for reading,

Ciara.

Apartment Hunting. My Experience...

Since I was last talking to you guys, you should remember that myself and Larry had managed to secure our first apartment! We have recently moved in are getting used to our new home and it's surroundings. This apartment that we are now living in was the 6th out of 7 total viewings. One of the most important things for us when choosing our apartment was that it came partially if not fully furnished, included some if not all utilities in the price and also, for it to be close to where my sister lives. Obviously, living in the same area or close by was of top priority to me as well as Larry. We set ourselves a budget of an absolute maximum of $1500 per month.

Out of all the apartments we viewed, some were better than others, some were plain awful to be quite frank! The first apartment we viewed looked better and more appealing from the outside and in the photos but, it did meet all the above requirements. When we first entered the building it was old and it had a stale curry smell. The type of smell that was instantly off-putting. It made me think that the building would forever smell that way. Also, the laundry room which was separate to the apartment was dirty and dull. When the laundry room is dirty, this is a really bad sign! How can you be expected to clean your clothes in a room or using machines that are not clean either. In hindsight, we were probably never going to take the first apartment we viewed as, you want to go ahead and view as many apartments as you can in order to make comparisons.
                 The second apartment we viewed was in the Sunalta area which, I think is a really nice area of Calgary. It was much nicer than the first, cheaper even and had it's own balcony. Just one small problem, it had no furniture whatsoever! The advertisement for this apartment was a bit misleading as we had expected it to be furnished. Arguably, the apartment didn't need to have furniture. It is entirely possible for you to furnish your apartment for next nothing! Many Irish people use a popular website called "Kijiji", essentially the "DoneDeal"of Canada! It could have been done but it's just a lot of added stress and effort.
                 The next viewing we had was actually three different apartments in the same building. We didn't know there was three on offer until we got there. We were delighted, it gave us more choice without having to leave that building. The first one we saw was small and untidy, dirty really in fact. The apartment didn't really have a great flow to it. The living room, kitchen and bedroom were all the one room because the bedroom didn't have its own door. It was the same for all the apartments we viewed in that building, none had bedroom doors? We didn't find this appealing, downright weird if I'm honest. I suppose we don't really *need* a bedroom door. It's just going to be the two of us, living together but, it's a bed*room* so, it should have a door. Everyone needs their privacy from time to time. Just to be able to go into the bedroom, close the door, have a nap, read a book, listen to some music.... Plus, myself and Larry sleep with the bedroom door closed at night so, we did find it strange. We were making plans to hang a curtain of some kind as soon as we saw each apartment.
                 The second apartment that we saw in the building had a nicer flow to the first apartment. There was an island separating the sitting room and kitchen so, we loved it instantly! Again, no bedroom door but we were willing to make a compromise for this apartment. The third apartment we viewed was the exact same as the second only, it had a balcony. The balcony wasn't great though, the door was old, rusted and difficult to open. We didn't really find that it added anything to the apartment and it was going to cost us $100 extra so, we were happy to go without it. We had every intention of submitting an application for this apartment the only issue was, because we were newly living in Canada and therefore have no credit history, they wanted us to pay the first and last months rent and a security deposit, three months rent upfront essentially, that's over $3000! We do not have that kind of money to spend in one go! We didn't know what we were going to do to come up with it, we really liked the apartment. Very unfair to put us in the same box as other tenants who may have lived in the apartment before and who may not have treated in with the respect it deserves. The next day we were scheduled to view another apartment so we told the building manager that we would go ahead and view it seeing as I had made the appointment but, we would contact her in regards to taking the second apartment.
                 The next day, later in the evening, we went to view apartment number 6 out of a total 7 viewings. The moment we laid eyes on it, we fell in love! It was perfect! Good layout, pretty decent size, fully furnished, included all utilities, the laundry facilities were located separately downstairs but, it looked clean and well presented so, we didn't mind that and had its own parking spot. Also, in the same area as my sister, I am literally a 5 minute walk away from her which is great! As the rental was a private one and there was no rental agency bullsh*t to go through the security deposit was just €700 and then pay the first months rent and that was it! The owner of the apartment was so laid back and nice and understood our situation. He was renting out his apartment so he could attend school in Europe so, he was going to have to do the exact same thing we were doing and find a place to live overseas. We were sold and offered to take it later that night! As I did mention this was viewing 6 out of a total 7 so, we did actually end up viewing a final apartment after that and, it to was lovely, it had in room laundry facilities and parking space but, this one was located way further out of town and away from my sister. So, in the end we probably shouldn't have bothered viewing it at all but, I didn't want to seem rude and there's no harm in keeping your options open.
                  We've been living in our new apartment for just over 1 week now and have been loving it! You guys may be thinking why did she get an apartment before she got a job but, I hadn't planned on doing it this way either! It just sort of worked out that way! One piece of advice I would give you all is give yourself as many options as possible and don't leave things to late. As I right this, it's March 16th and for those of you who may be apartment hunting, you may be to late to have a place secured for April 1st? Things are snapped up fast here! Particularly in Calgary! All in all, it's been a blast getting used to our new surroundings figuring out the quickest way to get home by bus that involves as little walking as possible! Calgary living has been an adjustment but, we've really been enjoying it so far. Now that we have our own place. it's really starting to feel like home...

That's all for now! More to come soon about my job hunting experience...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ciara.

One month in. What I've learned so far...

In the time I spent counting down to my arrival to this country, I've now been living here over one month! Can hardly believe that let alone say it! Definitely doesn't feel it! First and foremost, Calgary is a beautiful, understated city that packs a serious punch. It's has a gorgeous skyline, with lots to do and see, plenty of food variety which, I love! I'm a serious foodie and love to try new food! Calgary has a similar population to that of Dublin which I really like, sometimes I can get very claustrophobic  when surrounded by large crowds. You get the best of both worlds here as it is a city with everything you could possibly need. At the same time, should you need a break from city life, jump in your car and drive 30 - 45 mins and city life, is all forgotten! You'll find yourself in the middle of nowhere! What's more, if you continue driving, only 1 hour and 30 mins and you reach the famous tourist town Banff.

Banff is your pretty stereotypical tourist town lots of stores, plenty to do and see. One thing in particular will certainly catch your eye if you make it as far as Banff. What's that you say, only the iconic Rocky Mountains! They are simply the most breathtaking mountain range! The day we were there we didn't get there until late and also, that same day was "family day" here in Alberta. "Family Day" is essentially a long weekend in Canada dedicated to allow families to spend time together. It happens at different days of the year across Canada but, the point is, the day we were there, had two or three times as many people as there would be on your average day or weekend. Myself and Larry hope to return to Banff before the winter is out to go skiing, there's also a few places that offer helicopter tours! It would be cool to do that and take a proper look at the Rockies. Here's just a glimpse of that we saw...

Just a snippet of the Rockies 

Bow Falls, off the Rockies. 

One of the first thing we did upon arrival in this country and I recommend incoming emigrants to do the same. Get your SIN number and set up your chosen bank and phone network providers. I would advise you to research into bank and phone network providers before you leave for Canada. The sooner you have it set up, the sooner you can go ahead and transfer money. If you guys are wondering, I choose  "Fido" for my phone network provider and Scotia Bank for my bank, have an account called "ScotiaOne".

You are charged for banking in Canada some banks such as CIBC offer free banking for the 1st year or wave monthly fees if you're monthly/daily balance exceeds a certain amount. However when I researched these banks, although it was free, I was limited to about 10-20 free transactions per month. A transaction is money going in or coming out of your account in ANY way. It was $1 per transaction once that number was exceeded. Ireland doesn't limit your transactions so, I knew I would need an unlimited account or one with a very high number of transactions. That's what the ScotiaOne account is essentially. I've heard mixed reviews about Scotia bank but, in saying that, I've heard mixed reviews with every bank here. If I don't like, I can always change.
                    As for Fido, I was originally planning on going with a company called "Wind", this company is dirt cheap. Offering unlimited everything basically! Calls, texts and data for less than $50 per month. That is CHEAP! However, the strangest thing. I have an iPhone 5, which I bought soon after it was first launched, before the 5S or 5C came about so, my phone is old. Your phone has to have a certain serial number(s) for it to work with their network frequency?! My phone doesn't have the correct serial number. I tried to find what these serial numbers are for you guys but couldn't? Try googling it or just hope for the best if you're hoping to join wind when you get here! Also their coverage is VERY hit and miss.
                    Often, when you bring your own phone to join a network, you get a discounted price. We set up two lines with Fido under the same name which gave us a further discount. I pay just under $70 per month and that gets me 2GB of data, unlimited Canada wide calls and text, voice mail and caller ID. That's right folks, voice mail and caller ID are an added extra in Canada! You may have to add it on with some network providers, otherwise it will just say "call" when someone rings you. God knows who could be on the other end of that call.

 In other news, myself and Larry have not managed to secure jobs just yet. Some of you may find that surprising but, we didn't even start looking until about 1 week ago. Calgary and the province of Alberta are booming are where construction and engineering is booming here. We knew this before we ever came here but, decided because my sister loves it so much. we had to at least come here and try out. We can always jump ship and move out if we don't like it here, in six months to one year, see how we feel. We're going to be here for at least one year because we on Valentine's weekend, we signed the lease on our first apartment! We move in on March 1st and we are both so excited! It's right around the corner from where my sister lives in the south west area of Calgary. It's fully furnished and includes all utilities which, is great for us because I wouldn't know where to start when it comes to setting up heat or electricity in this country, it just eliminates a lot of stress for us. Also the security deposit is really low! Less than $1000 which is really hard to find!

Larry has been called for interview twice both for retail based jobs. I have applied in a few places also, for retail based but have not been called for interview just yet. I'm not overly worried at the moment but, I will have to sit down and just apply everywhere and anywhere. I have been afraid to apply for jobs here unsure of where I'd like to work. Ultimately, I would like to work where I'm qualified but, I have no experience so, might take a bit longer to secure. There is LOTS of part-time and full time-time work in retail, hospitality or in the food industry. It might not be ideal but hey, at least it something to start the money coming in!

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!
Ciara

Here's a few more snaps from our adventure so far...

                                                                         Calgary at dusk

                                                           Myself and himself in the snow

                                                                Me, battling the snow

                                                                       Pretty snowy tree