Chapter 15

So, it's been a while. I was thinking, seeing as today is our two month anniversary of being in Calgary, I thought I'd make this blog post a little bit different and give it a bit of structure instead of just my usual ramblings.

Things I like about Calgary.

• The weather. On the average day, it's much better than home. Yes, it sometimes rains but definitely not more frequently than Dublin. When it does rain though, it lashes, but so far most of the rain has happened during the night. I'd say about 6 out of 7 days here, the weather is awesome. (Keep in mind, I have not yet experienced Calgary in the winter).
• Cost of living. Yeah, you've guessed it, it's much cheaper.
• The availability of jobs. It's quite encouraging.
• My local off-licence ("Liquor Store") is open until 2am.
• The view in certain parts of the city. I saw the Rockies the other day from the train.
• The people are nice. There doesn't seem to be any of the scanger culture you get back home.
• It's nice watching the Euro crisis happen at home knowing all of my money is currently in the form of the stable Canadian dollar. It's also nice not being bombarded with doom and gloom and recession woes every day.
• I've met deadly Irish people from all over Ireland that I probably would have never met at home. Also, Australians (they're everywhere, you'd wonder if there are actually any still left in Australia).
• My apartment. It makes me feel grown-up. Phone bills, internet bills and credit cards make me feel that too but they're not as fun.
• H&M is cheaper here than at home.
• The food is better than I expected. I was expected the standard of food you get in America but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality.
• Free plastic bags.

Things I don't like about Calgary.

• Tax being added on to products at the till. It's only like 5% but it's annoying you can't get your money ready before you're at the till. (Obviously, this problem is not just Calgary specific but covers all of North America.)
• Having to get a credit card. People don't carry much cash around here. They pay for everything on credit. Having to build up a credit rating sucks too.
• ID. It's a serious thing around here. At home, I only get asked for ID now and again. Here's it's everywhere. Which is fine when they accept my Irish driver's licence, which is actually most places. We were caught out last Thursday when we went for steak day in our local. We've been there literally every Thursday since we got here where they have accepted my driver's licence and Ciaran's Garda Age Card no problem. Last Thursday, however, they decided to tighten up on IDs and the only foreign ID they take now is a passport. We weren't even going to have a drink, just steak and water, but they wouldn't serve us without the most important document we have over here with us.
• The bus stops don't have timetables on them. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled with the instalment of the Real Time Information on Dublin Bus but not having a little bit of a timetable at the stop seems backward.
• Tipping. It's expected pretty much whenever a service is provided. Which is fine, except for the fact that it's expected even when the service is shite. I've noticed here that servers in bars are in no rush to bring your drinks over, possibly because they know they're going to get a tip anyway, and have had to wait up to 15 minutes between ordering and receiving a drink. Next time I might just sit at the bar and tip the bartender instead.

Things I miss about home.

• The food. Although the food is good here, I miss good old Irish food. We had Ollie bring us over two bottles of Chef Brown Sauce.
• DRIVING! I miss it so much. This is probably the longest I've gone without driving since I started. Although I got to ride as a passenger in this thing going 160 km/h down the highway in this yoke which was deadly. I want one.

It's a Corvette.

• Of course, friends and family.
• Being in Ireland for the Euros. Although, if I was in Ireland for the Euros, I'd be moping around wishing I was in Poznan.
• My cat. I almost wish I brought her over. I might when I come back at Christmas.

Things I don't miss about home.

• Recession talk. Unemployment talk. Job losses talk.
• Scangers.
• Jedward.
• The price of stuff.
• Being bombarded with the Olympics hype.
• The weather.
• Mick Wallace.

In other news:

I signed up to a recruitment company. They've got me a couple of days work so far and I've an interview coming up for another job with them.
Ollie, Ciaran's cousin, arrived two weeks ago. He's got himself a job in a bar already. He's living with us for the moment.
We went to see Piranha 3DD. I wouldn't advise it. Oh, and don't judge me, it was free. Prometheus on the other hand was deadly.
We've made friends (mostly Irish and mostly from the hostel we stayed in).
I played beer pong for the first time in my life with the lads upstairs. I seem to get better at it the drunker I am.
Ciaran had an Engineering interview last Thursday which went really well until the part where they sprung a test on him. It was on stuff we haven't studied in a year.
I bought a guitar. It's black. I'm learning from the internet.
I watched Six One on RTE Player on Saturday and saw Caoimhe on it.

There she is!

 

That's it really. For all of you back in Ireland, it is currently 18:38 and it's 21 degrees Celsius. Hahaha.