Eva goes Canada!

I have longed for this vacation very much, and finally it has arrived. Here I am, sitting in my teenage-room, thinking about the things that have changed, and the things that haven't.

Montreal-winter greeted me on my first evening in Canada... icy roads, freezing wind, and piles and piles of snow were the first things i noticed. Oh my, I am certainly no longer used to this wonderful Canadian cold! While desperately trying to stay warm on the 30 second walk to the car (without any great success), I took a mental note: my Austrian winter coat is absolutely useless - need to ask mom for one of hers! At the same time, I was smiling from one side of my face to the other: that feels like home!

Day two was probably the coldest day I have experienced in over 2 years. We woke up with -25 degrees outside. The sun was out, wind was blowing and the sunset was breathtakingly beautiful! The cold air certainly was too - breathakingly - when I left the house, it was difficult to fill my lungs with this cold, dry air. Coughing was the result of this attempt to breathe... how could I have forgotten how that feels?

After a just one-day absence from the office, I met up with some collegues from work later that evening for an informal Pöttinger Canada Christmas party. As the night went to an end, we witnessed the beginning of this weekend's snow storm. Over a period of appr. 24 hours, we had 30-40 cm of snow. Despite the weather warning and the chaos on the roads, my work collegues drove me home, out to the farm, where we spent an interesting and nice afternoon with my family.

On Monday morning, I awoke to another beautiful sunset, making me wonder whether sunday's snowstorm really happened. The piles of snow aside the roads, the snowed-in cars and trucks, everything made me aware of that very quickly, however. Spending the day with my friend Mary was a lot of fun, and definitely one of the things I have looked forward to in a long time!

Thereafter, I have had more quiet days. Shopping with mom and dad, reading a book all day in my room, driving around the area - that contributed to a very comfortable state of relaxation. With another 10 cm of snow falling last night, and more to come, the landscape looks very pretty in white!

So many things have changed though since my last vacation in Canada just 1,5 years ago. Montreal is growing at an amazing rate. The small town of St-Polycarpe has received a number of new houses. Along highway 40, shopping malls and small companies are coming out of the ground like mushrooms. Amazing if one considers that this area was farmland just a few years ago. Buildings have been refurbished, roads redone. New streets have been built, infrastructure projects have been decided on. I am certain that the next time I will come, the quiet farmland that I have gotten to know will have become just a little less quiet again.

There I am, half way though my vacation in Canada, sitting in my teenage room and thinking about the little and the big things that have changed and those that haven't. I am incredibly grateful for the few days that I get to spend with my family over Christmas, and can't wait for all the discoveries that I will make in the second half of this vacation...

I would like to wish all those who still read my blog from time to time a very Merry Christmas and a successful New Year 2008! Thank you for being such loyal readers of my experiences over the past two and a half years!