I am a big Canada Fan, so I thought I might celebrate Canada Day with you while sitting at home. There is a national virtual Canada Celebration happening and if you miss the live streaming you can watch anytime on Canadian Heritage’s facebook and youtube accounts. I just picked my virtual Canada Day Celebration Kit – the Maple Leave Arts and Culture kit – only Canadians can come up with something like this. Continue reading Happy Canada Day 2020
What I like most about Halifax besides all the festivals that are going on all summer long are the colorful houses and hidden small little coffee shops and street art paintings. I find out about new places every week. Continue reading Coffee Shops and Houses in Halifax
The weather is perfect for the Buskers Festival 2019 that started on wednesday this week. They expect 300.000 visitors to come down to the waterfront and enjoy street art performance at it’s best.
Friday night we had a storm unfortunately and they had to cancel the shows (I had to run into a bar to protect myself from getting cold in the rain), but I saw four performers yesterday: Pogo Fred from Boston, Lisa Lottie from the Netherlands, a Movement Flow groupe from Austria/Switherland and bits and pices of the show by a magician.
Continue reading Halifax International Buskers Festival 2019
I could write about a lot of things, but I would like to use the 30 minutes that I have today to talk about homesharing. Since I arrived July 4 I moved 4 times. Homesharing by far is the most wonderful way to experience a city and it’s people and I would like to say thank you to Judy and Tosh for sharing their house with me and to Lyn for sharing her flat with me.
The 33. Halifax Jazz Festival came to an end. The weather was perfect almost every night and the audience seemed to have a great time. Monday night was the Volunteer Appreciation Party at the Museum of Natural History. Never recognized this museum before althrough I bike down this street quiet often.
I kept myself busy this week. Tuesday evening I went to a Musical Improv Show at a venue called Good Robot Brewing Company on Robie Street (Northend). They have a nice little beer garden and a little stage upstairs. The interior design gives you the impression of being on a ship or in a huge beer barrel kind off.
Had a short night at the HI Hostel in Halifax, so went for a walk to the Farmers Market again and decided it would be a nice day to go over to Dartmouth. Haven’t been there since 2012 and I can use the ferry for free with the Jazz Festival Vontunteer Pass.
True magic just happened in the smallest venue in Halifax (as I assume / 40 people in the audience maybe). 1313 Hollis Street hosts the Creative Music Series. I simply saw a sign announcing a show tonight that was called: “The Dance Of Sound, The Sound Of Dance” and I thought right away that this sounds like something I would enjoy and the show was just about to start. I literally was entering the space three minutes before 8 pm and it was like a calling.
These guys made my day. A bunch of incredible talented musicians, a vocal singer (and story teller) and two dancers played two sets of improvised music together and the two dancers transformed these inspiring waves of notes into movement. There was a saxophone involved and two guitars, a cello, a drum set, a mouth organ, a few other instruments and a vocal singer doing amazing things with her voice. They all grooved together on waves of harmonic and disharmonic tunes that I would doubt could be repeated again. One could feel the strain, the happiness and the curiosity in the music as they improvised together and there were two dance scenes, that I particularly found stunning. Continue reading The Sound of Dance at the Halifax Jazz Festival
(slightly different German version below)
Hi There! Latest news live from Steve-o-Reno’s Coffee Shop in Halifax – the vegan chili and the coffee has been great. It’s been a week since I arrived and I wanted to write down some thoughts, but haven’t found the concentration to do so. I have had some up’s and down’s this week. Volunteering for the Jazz Festival was great. It’ s good to support such a big music festival and I had a great time listening to Tim Baker for example. The volunteer coordinators Brennan and Gina are really friendly and I had a fun time with the site crew as well. Helped with cleaning and spent hours on the main entrance gate handing out over 19 years old bandages. It was really interesting to meet and great about 800 people. You only have a few seconds to interact, but it’s amazing how different these short moments are. From people who smile to people who are not in a good mood you get everything. Either it clicks and you joke around or it doesn’t. Also met Laura and Chris a few times, because they also signed up for volunteering. Did some unpacking for the bar team as well and the garbage that is produced was frustrating (we live in a PLASTIK world). Not sure if they could just decide not to sell stuff that is packed liked this.
(German version below)
Seems as if EVERYONE in Halifax is active in the summer! I went to a free Yoga class on sunday morning (10 am at Point Pleasant Park) and the park was crowded. Mostly joggers, dog owners and bikers. In fact I couldn’t really enjoy the yoga class due to several dogs interrupting (if you do a downward dog yourself and a dog is running across the grass you get a bit nervous that something might lick your face…). It would be great if dog owners would keep there dogs on a lead, but well…Besides it was just to sunny for me and I had that weird feeling again (in my feet this time). Continue reading Yoga, Aerials and Jazz
(German Version below)
Departure from Germany worked out very well:
and I have stolen the headline from a cookie package of a very well known fast food chain in North America (perfect examples for Denglish). Welcome to Canada!!! What is special here is the smell. You can smell the pine forest, when you set foot on the ground. I have had a great flight with a perfect view over Germany, France, the Atlantic and Nova Scotia. Keeping in mind that I arrived in Canada only 48 hours ago and I would say I am doing well. I stay at Laura’s brothers house and sit the cat Hector and take care of all the plants. It’s a very nice house and I am very thankful, because the hostel would be way less quiet. They are on vacation for about two weeks, so that gives me time to find a room for July/August. As I know Halifax already it’s very easy for me to get around and that definitly makes a difference. I don’t have a social insurence number (SIN) yet and I wonder if the pre-paid card that I bought today was a good choice, but hi they say: don’t worry to much about it. Service Canada was a bit surprised that I showed up to ask for my SIN a day after I arrived. Well I am organized…I am German. 🙂 They havn’t received the information from immigration service (airport) yet it seems (I am in the system however and I got my open work permit without any problems). You would think it can’t take that long from one computer to another, but who knows…maybe the two administration departments are not connected directly and data privacy plays a rule here. Anyway they asked me to come back on monday and they hope that they can access my profile by then. At least I learned that it’s gonna be the same SIN that I had in 2012 (valid for a lifetime). I wish I would know, if I have it in one of my old folders back home. Always keep your SIN folks, if you move back and forth between two countries.
Pre paid phone plans are quiet expensive – compared with what I am used to in Germany. I ended up buying a card from chatr (40 $ plan per month for free calling in canada and free international texting and 2 GB data). To be honest I was tiered and just wanted to buy something that would give me a canadian phone number. The advice I got from (in my case) very young staff in two different shops was very poor. How is it even possible that people work in shops – ergo are supposed to sell plans, but need to ask their manager via whats app about my questions , while I am standing right next to them wondering…mondern times I guess.
I have had a nice evening volunteering for the Sing Along Film screening of “Greese” yesterday in the Public Garden. Laura was impressed that I havn’t been here 24 hours yet, but already volunteer. 🙂 Well, it’s one of the things I like to do in Canada and it’s a great chance to meet new people + we got free Pizza.
Besides I am struggling a bit with everyday challenges like not knowing how to use the shower (left, right, push, pull…no marks whatsoever) or the stove. Everything that you take for granted at home might be a little bit different in a foreign country (measuring units; the way you lock the doors). And it seems I have an allergy, but don’t really know what causes the symptoms (swollen numb fingers, itchy burning hands all of a sudden…symptoms disappear after 30 minutes). Happend to me a few times by now over the last 48 hours in different situations. Might be something in the water, because today I also had some rash on my legs and belly after I went swimming in a lake (Chocolate lake in Halifax). I think I remember that I already had problems swimming in that lake before (back in 2012 / not always, but sometimes…I like that lake)…I just forgot about that, but the problems with my hands are totally new. Any docs out there, who have a hint what might be special here in Canada? The lake water was crystal clear. I haven’t used insect repellents with DEET, because I know that might cause problems. Will see. Have a good sunday everyone!
Ich bin gut in Kanada angekommen. Hatte einen sehr schönen Flug mit perfekter Sicht über Deutschland, Frankreich, den Atlantik und Neuschottland. Wenn man den Flughafen verlässt und das erstmal tief durchatmet richt es extrem nach Kiefernwald. Man sieht ja im Landeanflug, dass Nova Scotia eigentlich nur aus Wald und Seen besteht. Noch bevor ich ein Auto aus dem Flugzeug sah, habe ich ein Boot gesehen. Dafür das ich erst seit 48 Stunde hier bin, läuft alles ganz gut. Ich wohne in dem Haus von Lauras Bruder. Sie sind ca. zwei Wochen im Urlaub mit dem Segelboot und es passt ganz gut, wenn jemand sich um Hektor (die Katze) und die Pflanzen kümmert. So habe ich ein paar Tage Zeit ein Zimmer zu finden. Das ich Halifax bereits sehr gut kenne macht die Sache einfacher, als wenn man völlig fremd das erste Mal in einem Land ankommt und ein Arbeitsvisum beantragt. Ich bin ja Wiederholungstäterin.
War am Freitag auch schon bei Service Canada, aber irgendwie konnten sie die Sozialversicherungsnummer noch nicht ausstellen. Sie waren schlichtweg überrascht, dass ich einen Tag nach Ankunft schon auf der Matte stehe, aber da kann ich nur sagen: Ich bin halt organisiert. Man würde ja denken, dass es von Computer zu Computer nicht lange dauern kann, aber wer weiß. Wahrscheinlich liegt es am Datenschutz. Jedenfalls soll ich Montag wieder kommen. Immerhin konnten sie mir bereits sagen., dass es die alte SIN sein wird, die man wieder aktiviert. Die gilt ein lebenlang und wird kein zweites Mal vergeben. Also liebe Leute, die ihr vielleicht auch mehrmals zwischen zwei Ländern hin und her pändelt. Heftet die Sachen ab. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich diese Nummer noch in irgendeinem Ordner in Deutschland finden würde.
Das zweite Must have ist hier eine kanadische Telefonnummer. Leider sind auch die pre-paid Sim Karten viel teurer als in Deutschland und blickt man bei den vielen Anbietern und x verschiedenen Möglichkeiten einen Monatsplan abzuschließen nicht durch. Es ist jedenfalls deutlich teurer als in Deutschland und mich wurmt, dass man fix pro Monaten etwas bezahlen muss – sprich das Guthaben jedesmal zum Monatsende weg ist. Ich habe mich jetzt für einen 40§ Plan entscheiden, weil man da 2 GB und kostenlose SMS auch ins Ausland mit drin hat. Anrufe hingegen sind nur innerhalb Kanada drin und sonst recht teuer. Am Besten man nutzt skype und whatsapp oder doch wieder eine dieser internationalen Telefonkarten.
Gestern Abend war ich Volunteer bei einem Filmabend zum mitsingen kin den Public Gardens. Gezeigt wurde der Klassiker “Greese” und da kamen so um die 700 Leute. Ist eine nette Möglichkeit, um Leute kennenzulernen, ich habe den Film gesehen ohne mich anzustellen und es gab Pizza. Was will man mehr. Laura war beeindruckt, dass ich da schon als Volunteer tätig war, wo ich doch kaum 24 Stunden im Land bin. Sie war mit ihrer 89 Jahre alten Mutter und Chris da. Sommerkino ist einfach schön und das Wetter war perfekt warm.
Ansonsten kämpfe ich ein wenige mit den üblichen Kleinigkeiten die im außereuropäischen Ausland plötzlich doch anders sind als Daheim. Von “merkwürdigen” Wasserhähnen in der Dusche, über andere Türen und Fenster bis hin zum Ofen, den ich nicht an bekomme. Überhaupt alle Küchengeräte, die hier vorhanden sind, erschließen sich mir nicht sofort, aber fragen hilft. Leider hatte ich auch schon mehrmals eine allergische Reaktion auf irgendwas in den letzten zwei Tagen. Juckende, heiße Handinnenflächen und geschwollene, kribbelnde, taube Finder. Kommt ganz plötzlich und vergeht dann wieder nach ca. einer halben Stunde. Heute hatte ich auch Probleme beim Schwimmen im Chocolate Lake hier in Halifax. Ausschlag an Beinen und Bauch. Ich erinnere mich dunkel, dass ich da schon mal Probleme hatte…ich mag diesen See und war da öfter 2012. Es muss irgendwas mit dem Wasser zu tun haben. Anders kann ich mir das derzeit nicht erklären. Falls jemand eine Idee hat, was hier in Kanada anders sein könnte – Hinweise gerne an mich. Habe kein Spray gegen Mücken mit DEET verwendet, denn da weiß ich schon, dass das Probleme bereiten kann. Mal sehen, wie sich das entwickelt. Allen einen schönen Sonntag!
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