Christmas greetings from Prince George!

The snow keeps falling and we've had about 40cm in the last 5 days. After arriving late this year it appears to be trying to make up for lost time. I'm getting used to driving on compacted snow and really glad we bought AWD vehicles. The snow ploughs (great huge things) were caught out a little by the volume of snow we had last Thursday night, the result being several stranded people carriers on the school run the next morning. Everyone pitches in here though with a push and a shove to get folk back on the road. Now there are huge 5 ft tall piles of cleared snow at the sides of the road everywhere around town.

We drove to the edge of town at the weekend to choose and cut down our Christmas tree. We parked up, walked through 35cm of virgin snow, found a tree we liked, cleared the snow from around base of the tree and sawed through the trunk before dragging it back to the car and carrying it home. It really looks good decorated in our lounge now, even more so given the effort to obtain it.

We were invited by a friend to the Prince George Festival of Trees two weeks ago. This is a big annual event where local businesses compete against each other by decorating themed Christmas trees, complete with presents, which are displayed to the public who then vote for their favourites. The trees are then auctioned off for charity. The trees are absolutely beautiful and the event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

It's snow Captain but not as we know it.

Well the snow has arrived. We've had 15cm in the last 3 days and another 5-10cm expected over the next 24 hours. The kids are having a whale of a time and I have to admit so am I. We've made giant snowballs, a family of snowmen and had numerous snowball fights. Temperatures are thankfully still comfortable in the -5 to +2 degrees ballpark. Less exciting is having to regularly clear the driveway of snow. Apparently, if it isn't done regularly it gets compacted, freezes and becomes both hazardous and more difficult to clear thereafter. My neighbours tell me that by the end of winter the piles of cleared snow at the edges of the drive will be as tall as I am. Who needs the gym when you can shovel snow like this? I think I'll probably buckle by the new year and invest in one of those fancy snowblowers. I've also put a winter pack in the boot of my car consisting of a snow brush/ice-scraper, collapsing snow shovel, blanket, torch, drinking water and emergency chocolate rations. If my car gets stuck in the snow I should use my floor mats under the wheels to get traction. How bad can it possibly get? I friend of mine was following another car on his way home out of town though the snow last week. Conditions were slippery and with no street lights out of town the best he could do was stay in the tracks carved by the car in front. He thought he was doing ok until the car in front of him suddenly disappeared into a deep roadside ditch. Thankfully, my friend was able to stop in time and check on the occupant but it was a close call. It all sounds rather frightening but hey, look on the bright side, at least the bears have all gone into hibernation.

Supermarket of the Living Dead

Halloween is pretty big here. Thankfully I could feign ignorance with the "it's not such a big thing in England" argument and hence managed to avoid having to don a costume for work last Friday. "I've come as a grumpy radiologist" I said excusing myself. It's amazing how many ordinary folk, normally well adjusted work colleagues, are willing to transform themselves into their alter ego for the sake of Halloween. It's an opportunity, for one day in the year only, to be someone completely different and a surprising number of people take it! Work carries on regardless, and patients don't flinch a bit which is surprising when you're having your blood taken by a vampire or being nursed by some ugly witch of a sister (no change there some would say). The rest of the community doesn't escape either. The kids and teachers went to school all dressed up and a zombie even rang my groceries through the till at our supermarket checkout.

I had a great time taking the kids out trick or treating on Friday evening with our neighbour and his children. Some people really went to town decorating their homes and gardens with pumpkins etc. Again I was in the minority of parents who hadn't dressed up as well ("it's ok he's from England"). We only went round our area for an hour but we had to curtail the fun early as the children were struggling to carry their haul of sweets from house to house by the end. Some of the other kids, clearly experienced in this matter, had brought their wagons with them. I was unable to see through their costume masks whether these kids still had their own teeth mind you.

Still it was all good fun and the more so for everyone joining in. Maybe next year I'll even brave putting on a costume of my own. Hmmm, better not quote me on that.

There's relocation and then there is relocation

I've just returned from a weekend in Vancouver. Vancouver is great. Great restaurants, culture, shopping, the beautiful backdrop of mountains surrounding the city by the sea and only 50 minutes away by plane. It did rain a little but I had some great seafood at a couple of fantastic restaurants. Sadly my trip was not purely recreational as I was on a mandatory conference for IMGs (International Medical Graduates) where we got to meet each other and together learn how the Canadian and British Columbian Healthcare system works. The lecture content was interesting and I did learn some new things. I was particulary glad that I don't have to do my own billing for payment of my services as this is all handled by the hospital. The most interesting part, however, was hearing all the stories, over coffee and lunch, from other IMGs about their relocation and working circumstances. Some it turns out have had a horrendous settling-in period with hospitals not having completed their paperwork. One hospital denied any knowledge of a new doctor starting and it transpired that the paperwork had been sent to the wrong hospital. Others reported problems with their departments and mentors. Many had trouble with getting credit from Canadian banks to purchase cars and other essentials. Hearing all this just made me feel glad and relieved that our own relocation has gone as smoothly as it has and that my current colleagues have bent over backwards to help ease me and my family into life and work here in Canada. Our banking service has been flawless and we have been surprised again and again with how friendly and helpful people have been. Some of this may be attributable to the local Prince George folk and some may be down to the friendly nature of Canadians in general. In any case I am pleased to be able to say that the process of our own relocation has gone as well as we could possibly haved hoped for and for that we are truly thankful.

I promise to be true to myself...

Well it finally happened. What with the credit crunch, global economic downturn and current atmosphere of gloom and doom so pervasive in the media at the moment, I've decided to make better use of my spare time and take a second job. So what new skill have I turned my hand to? Serving coffee at Starbucks? Burgers at MacDonalds? Well actually, I'm selling cookies. These are no ordinary cookies mind you. These cookies are something of a North American institution, part of the fabric that binds its people, underpins its society and traverses generations. These are Girl Guide cookies. And no, I don't get paid to sell these. My daughter you see has recently joined her local Girl Guide unit and we have recently taken delivery of 2 large cardboard boxes full of the mint chocolate variety. At $4 for a small box, giving to charity never tasted so good. And I am amazed at how these little boxes of goodness sell. Do they really taste that good? What special ingredient in the recipe makes them so moreish? Or could it be that everyone here has a link to the Guides, ex-guiders, ex-leaders, mothers, sisters, daughters etc. The Girl Guides of Canada receive their main source of annual income from cookie sales and people would like to see this institution and what it stands for, continue for generations to come. Whether it reminds people fondly of their own childhood years or encourages the girls of today to strive for a better future for themselves and society, perhaps we can all draw something from the Girl Guides promise which starts, " I promise to be true to myself... ". Hmmm, I wonder what that means exactly.

If you are interested in finding out more please visit: http://www.girlguides.ca/

A Thief in the Night

I was woken up early Sunday by a strange banging noise outside but fell quickly back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when I later discovered our wheelie bin tipped over onto its side and all the rubbish within scattered and strewn across a neighbours front garden. We had had a night-time visitor and a quick glance down the road confirmed that we were not the only ones. Picking up the trail of rubbish into the woods it became clear a black bear had been doing the rounds. September sees a lot of activity from black bears as they try and fatten up prior to hibernation for the winter. It is not uncommon for them to enter suburban areas and raid bins looking for food for this reason. Although slightly disappointed I didn't actually get to see the perpetrator himself (or herself), I was also quite relieved not to have met them face to face. Black bear attacks on humans, although uncommon, are generally best avoided by using common sense and carrying Bear Spray or Bear Mace when out and about in the forest, biking or hiking. Black bears can reach 300lbs in weight and recorded attacks on people usually occur only when they are taken by surprise or encountered in the Spring newly awake and grumpy after waking from hibernation. As for our little night time raid, our visitor seems to have gotten away with it. Hopefully we shall see him or her no more now the bin is safely locked away in the shed. Yet another small difference between living in Worcestershire and BC.

Summer days drifting away

Cycling into work today I felt a distinct chill in the air. This coupled with the increased talk of the rather alarming words "winter" and "snow" around the department makes me think the end of summer is nigh. One work colleague told me today that he turned the heating off in his pool at the weekend which pretty much confirms it. Winter is a big thing here. Compared to anywhere else Canadian winters are hard and long. But life here doesn't stop at a few feet of snow so I'm looking forward to teaching my kids to ski and I could do with brushing up my skating too. Ice Hockey (or just "Hockey") is enormous here. My sons five year old friend across the road plays Hockey for a little league team and flies around on the ice as if he was born on it. Everyone has HDTV here because you can actually see the puck during the game. I can actually picture myself in the beginners skating class now surrounded by 3 year olds. On the positive side, skating is very accessible here. When the cold arrives, they'll flood and freeze all the local basketball and tennis courts so we'll be only five minutes walk from the local rink. Just close enough to pop home regularly and warm up again. At minus 20 degrees (pretty much the norm for winter) I think we'll be needing those breaks fairly frequently.

Taking it easy

I'm still struggling to get used to it, the whole un-busy thing. Starting work at 8 and finishing at 4 means I can still do stuff after work like go to the bank etc. The pace of work is pleasant too. I cover only one modality at a time plus a few plain films and there's plenty of time to look stuff up in books or on the net. It's a 10 minute drive to work or a 15 min cycle when the weather is nice and there is no traffic. Everyone is really friendly in the department and I although I am getting to know people, I still miss the folk in my old department. So what's different? I don't have my own office. "Hot-desking" at modality PACS workstations is fine provided your predecessor clears up after themselves. I haven't a designated secretary and typing is done at a remote site somewhere downtown but you know what? It still all works fine - just different. Oh yes, one more thing, people use the word "awesome" alot around here and it sort of sounds like "ossum".

A Slow Day in CT

So this is it, the long awaited new blog live from BC, Canada. Rumour has it the folks back home I used to work with were hoping for some news. Well here it is - the result of a slow day in CT and a few idle moments (when did I get any of these back home?). Please, please, please post your comments, thoughts and abuse (sic). It would be great to hear from you all.