I hadn't planned on emailing daily, just to reassure you all. However, just for some laughs, I thought I'd share day two in Canada....
It all began at about 12midnight when Daniel awoke and asked why it was dark when it was already morning. Before I had a chance to explain, Laura was up complaining that Nathan's coughing and snoring was keeping her up. (They're all sharing a room). Four hours later and we finally had them back to sleep. We crashed into bed and the next thing I know Howard was yelling, "Oh no! nnnoooooooo!!!" It was 10am and he was late for his first day of work. Ten minutes later and he returned with a ghost like look on his face. Our car had been inpounded (Loooong story!) At that point Nath walked in as white as a sheet and nearly past out. He was in tears and in pain and shooting a temp. To cut a long story short, Howard did not go to work but went on a grand adventure with Laura and Daniel in tow to retrieve our car, while I went on my own adventure with Nathan and one of Howard's work collegues wife to explore the Health system in Canada (which by the way is not too bad). Nathan has two ear infections and an infection of the throat. The doctor said he would have had a pounding headache and gave us two courses of antibiotics (not the norm apparently) because he was concerned that I might not find a drug store (chemist) and wanted him to start them straight away.
It is presently 10pm, the kids are still lying wide awake in bed as the sun is as bright as they are. However, we are blessed. We have our car, Nath is hopefully on his way to recovery and we still have smiles on our faces. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.
Love from your adventuring friends, the Ebans.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Update #1 - We made it!
Hello dear friends,
Well we made it FINALLY. I'd like to say it was all smooth sailing but alas it was not. Now that I can look back at it and laugh, it doesn't seem all that bad and what's more it makes for a great story.... and you all know how I love a good story!
So the story begins....
Our plane to Canada was delayed due to strikes at the Domestic terminal. When we arrived in LA we were told that because we were late we could not transfer our bags onto the conveyor and would need to take them across the airport (a good 15mins walk) to book them in. This might not sound that bad, but Daniel was about the only one in the family who had managed to sleep on the plane and it was now 1:30am Brisbane time, LA airport is bussling and we had 10 suitcases to move a fair distance at a quick pace if we were to make our flight. The kids were real champs. Laura pushed a trolley (nearly took out half a dozen people!) the whole way. We finally arrived puffed only to find out we were too late and after standing in line for who knows how long, they eventually booked us on another flight in seven hours! Every time we went through a check point, Daniel would ask,"Are we in Canada now?"
We found a little corner and Laura slept on a row of chairs and Nathan slept under the chairs. Daniel of course had slept and was full of life, so Howard and myself took turns sleeping and watching Mr Energy. Just when we thought that we had made it through the seven hours, they announced that the plane had been delayed another two hours. We finally made it to Canada but then got stuck in immigration with a rather straight faced officer who wanted to know what was ssooooo special about Howard that required him to move his whole family to Canada and why their engineers couldn't do the job! At this point Daniel pipes up with, "This isn't Canada, is it Mummy?" I gently tried to tell him that it was, but he replied, "This can't be Canada." The stern faced man just looked at him emotionless. Well we eventually got through customs and finally made it to our accommodation at 2am Canadian Time. We had been travelling for 32hours!!!
It had been ten hours since we last ate so Howard decided to go for a quick walk to see if he could find some food. To cut a long story short, someone tried to sell him crack, he got lost and he got stuck in the sister building for 45 mins. He returned rather frazzled with some pizza and commented that maybe we should have waited till morning. To say we crashed is an understatement but it describes how we slept.... oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.... we slept in the wrong unit.... but that's another story. The unmade beds should have been a clue but we were so tired we didn't really notice.
It's been a lovely first day in Canada. We've had lots of fun exploring, freaking out on the roads and trying new foods. It was rather strange putting the kids to bed at 7:30pm in bright sunlight. It is presently 9:30pm and looks like it is lunch time. Jet lag is confusing enough as it is without new sun habits to get used to. Oh, it's going to be such a big adventure!
Oh while i remember,
Our address (in 9 days time) which is where we will live for the year is....
628 - 25 Ave NE
Calgary AB T2E 1Y5
Canada
Hope you are all well. God bless.
Love from your friends the adventuring Ebans (Howard, Shona, Laura, Nathan and Daniel)
Well we made it FINALLY. I'd like to say it was all smooth sailing but alas it was not. Now that I can look back at it and laugh, it doesn't seem all that bad and what's more it makes for a great story.... and you all know how I love a good story!
So the story begins....
Our plane to Canada was delayed due to strikes at the Domestic terminal. When we arrived in LA we were told that because we were late we could not transfer our bags onto the conveyor and would need to take them across the airport (a good 15mins walk) to book them in. This might not sound that bad, but Daniel was about the only one in the family who had managed to sleep on the plane and it was now 1:30am Brisbane time, LA airport is bussling and we had 10 suitcases to move a fair distance at a quick pace if we were to make our flight. The kids were real champs. Laura pushed a trolley (nearly took out half a dozen people!) the whole way. We finally arrived puffed only to find out we were too late and after standing in line for who knows how long, they eventually booked us on another flight in seven hours! Every time we went through a check point, Daniel would ask,"Are we in Canada now?"
We found a little corner and Laura slept on a row of chairs and Nathan slept under the chairs. Daniel of course had slept and was full of life, so Howard and myself took turns sleeping and watching Mr Energy. Just when we thought that we had made it through the seven hours, they announced that the plane had been delayed another two hours. We finally made it to Canada but then got stuck in immigration with a rather straight faced officer who wanted to know what was ssooooo special about Howard that required him to move his whole family to Canada and why their engineers couldn't do the job! At this point Daniel pipes up with, "This isn't Canada, is it Mummy?" I gently tried to tell him that it was, but he replied, "This can't be Canada." The stern faced man just looked at him emotionless. Well we eventually got through customs and finally made it to our accommodation at 2am Canadian Time. We had been travelling for 32hours!!!
It had been ten hours since we last ate so Howard decided to go for a quick walk to see if he could find some food. To cut a long story short, someone tried to sell him crack, he got lost and he got stuck in the sister building for 45 mins. He returned rather frazzled with some pizza and commented that maybe we should have waited till morning. To say we crashed is an understatement but it describes how we slept.... oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.... we slept in the wrong unit.... but that's another story. The unmade beds should have been a clue but we were so tired we didn't really notice.
It's been a lovely first day in Canada. We've had lots of fun exploring, freaking out on the roads and trying new foods. It was rather strange putting the kids to bed at 7:30pm in bright sunlight. It is presently 9:30pm and looks like it is lunch time. Jet lag is confusing enough as it is without new sun habits to get used to. Oh, it's going to be such a big adventure!
Oh while i remember,
Our address (in 9 days time) which is where we will live for the year is....
628 - 25 Ave NE
Calgary AB T2E 1Y5
Canada
Hope you are all well. God bless.
Love from your friends the adventuring Ebans (Howard, Shona, Laura, Nathan and Daniel)
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