Skating, Snow, Canada: a recap

Well. Sarnia turned out to be no problem at all because we basically didn't leave the house the whole time we were there. We arrived at my mom's at about 5pm on Christmas Eve. My brother pulled up behind me just minutes later, and with him came nightfall and snow. We were both RIGHT on time, in my view, especially as I'd never been to the house before and really didn't want to have to look for it in the dark. It snowed all that night. We had a white Christmas. YAY! It continued to snow all Christmas day. It stopped for a brief window of time on Boxing Day, which my brother wisely used to make his escape back to Toronto, before picking up again. So we did what anyone should do in such situations: we stayed inside for the most part, making good use of the Netflix streaming, and braving the elements only for such critical tasks as shovelling a path in the back yard for the dog and taking a walk down to the lake or around the block to see the Christmas lights. At some point the driveway also got cleared and snowmen were attempted. (Failed, sadly. The snow wasn't consistently of the good packing variety; I think it accumulated in layers that made it impossible to roll a snowman body but still enabled small amounts to be formed into snowballs.)

We made our own escape on Friday, the 28th. Luckily the snow had stopped by then and the roads were clear. The next storm was set to hit on the 29th. And it did. We had another get-together planned for that day at noon and woke up to far more snow than had been forecast. Snow that continued to fall, heavily, all morning. I'm not used to driving in the snow anymore. It was really stressful. Just at the on-ramp to the highway I saw a car off in the ditch and his skidmarks leading there. I almost turned around partway when the snow-covered highway intimidated me. The cars by the concrete dividers that were completely spun around to face into traffic certainly didn't help my confidence. But I didn't turn back. I trudged on and we made it to the restaurant right on time. By the time our lunch was finished and we headed back, the snow had slowed and the roads had been cleared, for the most part. Thankfully. I wasn't looking forward to driving it a second time.

Back in the GTA, we made good use of the fallen snow and took The Little Ninja tobogganing. My dad's ancient giant toboggan, though huge on memories, was nowhere near as good at getting you down the hill and halfway across the field as the new plastic ones we borrowed from a neighbour. The plastic ones had a definite weight advantage - as in, you could get the damned things up the hill while also carrying a toddler who couldn't walk in the deep snow because his legs are too short and he'd just fall over. Which was hilarious for us, but not so much for him. Still. Snow fun? Check.

New Year's Eve, on the other hand, sucked. In fact, it was so bad, it inspired a resolution: I won't be pressured into anything this year. Like staying up until midnight just because it's New Year's Eve. The new year will come whether I watch the shitty shows from New York and Niagara (I couldn't even make myself flip to the Toronto one it was so horrible) or am fast asleep in my bed.

We tried to go skating on New Year's Day. We checked the opening hours, got all dressed up for the cold, propped The Little Ninja into a borrowed wagon and trudged over to the local outdoor skating rink. It was closed. For New Year's Day. Booo. We drove over the next day. I got to try out my new blades and, much as predicted, The Little Ninja stood on the ice for about 4 seconds before demanding that the skates be removed. It was a good start, though, right?

That was about it, really. We saw some people, didn't get to see some people. Went shopping and got some stuff (like the mini eggs I'm stuffing my face with while I write this) and everything fit into our bags, which is always a plus. I guess this trip was pretty successful, all in all. Yay!

Canada hates me

Canada hates me. After the fiasco two years ago, I should have had some idea.

On that fateful trip, at 8 months pregnant and after an extremely long, stressful travel day full of cancelled flights, rebooked flights, slippery roads, reduced trains, defective airplanes, repeated de-icing and a 6 hour delay, I was sent to the Immigration office upon arrival in Canada at 3 in the morning, because I was travelling on my British passport, not on my (long-expired) Canadian one. Apparently (all evidence online to the contrary,) you DO in fact need to enter Canada on your Canadian passport if you are Canadian. They gave me a warning. They put the warning on my file. Sufficiently chastened, I got a Canadian passport a few months later. I thought the troubles were over. 

But no! Christmas 2012, all ready to head out to meet my Dad in arrivals, Santa hat jauntily perched on The Little Ninja's head, we get redirected into the Customs line. For a baggage check. FML. Seriously. Canada hates me.

Although, it also doesn't. The customs guy who checked our stuff COULD have given us an $800 fine. Luckily, he just gave us a warning. Apparently, even if the food you have with you is totally allowed (like chocolate, which no self-respecting country would ever deny you), you STILL have to declare it on your entry form. Even if you're sure. Just declare it. Save yourself $800. Or a warning. :) 

Skating

I've been trying to come up with things to do while we're in Canada. While there is no lack of choice in Mississauga where my dad lives, I'm still trying to find anything worthwhile in Sarnia, where my mom lives. They have no indoor playgrounds at all or family-oriented... well, anything, really. So I've been praying for snow and searching harder and more creatively. And found skating. Sure, The Little Ninja only just learned to walk a couple of months ago, but this cool website called Baby Skates sells (as you would guess) skates for babies. They look like old-school learn-to-walk shoes (like I had when I was a baby) with blades. Cool. Skating times aren't listed online for the three local skating rinks, but I'm sure I could find out when I get there.

But what about when we get home? I'm not forking out $100 for skates TLN can only use while we're in Canada! The Netherlands is a skating nation, or so they claim to be. Their most popular winter sport is skating, no question. When it's cold enough to freeze the canals, the whole country drops whatever they are doing to go skating. Speed skating is well covered on TV and some of the country's most well-known athletes are world-champion speed skaters. It appears to be a huge sport here. Obviously a country with such a passion for skating should be covered in arenas.

Imagine my surprise when a Google search revealed there to be a total of 4 (FOUR!) arenas IN MY PROVINCE. There are two within reasonable driving distance, but, as you know, we don't actually have a car yet. This is ridiculous. How is this even possible? Does this alleged love of skating only manifest when the canals freeze over, disappearing days later with that same ice? Natural ice is definitely a big thing here. But is skating in the Netherlands really restricted to the - maximum - 20 days a year you can skate outside on the canals?! There were (and still are, in fact), 2 rinks (one arena) within walking distance of my dad's house. A (seasonal) outdoor rink is also walkable. There are no less than 12 arenas in his city. Nearby Toronto has 81 recreational skating rinks! 81! As I mentioned above, even Sarnia has 3 arenas (plus 4 other skating rinks, totalling 7)! Yet in the professed 'skating nation' of the Netherlands, there are only 25 places to skate recreationally in the whole country!

Seriously. I'm appalled. To be fair, the fun arena here is open pretty much the whole day (unless someone rents the whole rink at which point you're screwed), but it still costs €7.50 for adults and €6 for kids. This might be why people only skate when it's free, outside. It's only $3.50 and $2.80 in Mississauga (respectively). Hmmm. Still, it's not looking good for our activity schedule in Canada; if I don't buy the skates, we can't go at all. I suppose this also assumes that I will be buying skates there too, or again, no deal. Hmmm. 

***This just in*** a friend of mine says they sell adjustable blades here at the Hema for under €15. Definitely worth taking a look at. They could just save Christmas. 
***AND! Ordered online for delivery to the store only €10.80! Ha! Now for me...***

Christmas stress

There was a time, not so very long ago, that Christmas was my favourite time of the year. And a Christmas in Canada was the be-all and end-all of Christmasses. When I first emigrated, I couldn't imagine missing even a single year. It wasn't until I was married that I had a Christmas anywhere else. We currently have a tentative agreement that we will go to Canada for Christmas every other year. The bitch of it is that my parents are divorced. So, obviously, we can only spend Christmas with one or the other. Back in the day this wasn't such an issue as they both lived in the same city and moving back and forth was easy - we could stay for a week, a day, an hour, whatever. Christmas eve and Christmas morning with my Mom, Christmas dinner with my Dad or vice versa. Now, however, there's a good three hour drive between them. A drive I'd really prefer to only make once. And this screws up the scheduling incredibly.

My parents, both Jedi Guilt Masters, somehow make me feel like shit no matter what I do. I realise that I can't please everyone, but why can't they realise that too? And suck it up. Yes, it's my 'fault' that I live so far away, but it wasn't my fault that my parents split up (ultimately causing this whole mess), or that my Mom moved to the back end of beyond (aggravating this whole mess). Yet I get all the shit. 

We pay thousands of euros and spend 12 hours traveling with a fidgety toddler, (8 hours in a plane with him on my lap, no less,) going clearly out of our way to spend the holidays there with them, then have to rent a car and drive another three hours to visit my mom, and still it's not good enough. Nobody appreciates the money and effort we fork out to do this for them. It's all about who will get us on Christmas. Seriously. It's just a day, people. A numbered square on the calendar. There is NO REASON AT ALL that we can't have a fan-frigging-tastic Christmas celebration on a DIFFERENT DAY. We don't go to church. We're not religious. What the hell difference does it make whether we see X parent on the 23rd or on the 25th or on the 28th? Call it Christmas whatever day it is, have a great time, and enjoy being all together. That's what it's about, isn't it?

Needless to say, my ideal image of Christmas in Canada is quickly eroding. Half the time it doesn't even snow anymore. And the last time we went at Christmas we only made it out of Europe because I am a very good, experienced, determined traveller (Really. I should tell you THAT story sometime). The snow kept almost everyone else wherever they were until after Christmas. And weather conditions like that are always a risk as well. Going to Canada at any time entails the constant stress of living in someone else's house and having to always be sociable and inclusive, the agreeing to see everyone because, hey, we're not there that often, dealing with an upset toddler whose schedule is out of whack (though I hope this will improve as he gets older). I used to go at Christmas because I couldn't imagine it any other way. Now I think it's mostly guilt forcing me back, because I DID decide to live in a different country. Will I ever live that down?

As you might expect from my rant above, I've come up with an alternative. An idea is growing in the back of my mind, one that my parents aren't going to like a bit: maybe we shouldn't go to Canada at Christmas at all. We can go in the summer. It's warmer, there's more to do, and no one cares which days we go where as long as both my parents get to see us. In fact, it would work out cheaper and FAR more convenient for us even to pay for them to come here, especially after this year, as The Little Ninja will then require a seat of his own. Also, as of January, we will have a car, so no one will have to rent one or suffer public transit. Then Mom can come one year, Dad can come the other, and WE don't have to go anywhere. They each get to see us at Christmas twice as often as they do now, and I don't have to stress as much (obviously this would still entail a substantial suitcase of stress because I am not a comfortable hostess, but I digress). The idea hasn't grown so big, yet, that I would consider mentioning it to my parents, but we'll see how the holidays go...