I drove all of the way to Ottawa today and it was raining quite hard once we arrived in Ottawa. The rain was pretty bad and it made driving a bit difficult with very poor visibility. I think it was best that I was driving and not Melanie as she does not like driving in the rain. I tend to drive a bit more aggressive than Mel and i think that she would have preferred that I did not drive as fast. I was able to see and I believed. our car has great tires so I had traction and was rather comfortable with the drive. Once we arrived at the hotel there was a torrential rainfall so we waited a bit and walked to the restaurant when it was a light drizzle. The restaurant was about a 10 minute walk away and I did not have much of an issue getting there. While at the restaurant however I started to get extremely tired and I really wish that I had some of my energy gels with me. They would have helped me out a lot when going back to the hotel. I am quite tired at the hotel and my body feels quite exhausted. I think that I will rest in the hotel, since it is pouring rain outside. I am not sure if Mel is going to go venture out or not. On the drive here we saw quite a lot of police cars out either ticketing or helping people who got into accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was eating quite well in the drive here, but at the restaurants it was tapas and I do not think that I ate as much as I could have. I was too tired to really eat very much. There are a lot of good restaurants by us so I will try and go to some. We ate at a tapas restuarant tonight which was good. The cost was much higher than the cost of tapas in Spain to the tune of approximately 4 or 5 times the cost. The food was good though and everyone enjoyed it. My mother in law who does not like seafood at some grilled octopus and enjoyed it, I do not think that we will convert her, but she stepped out of her comfort zone and ate some. I am not sure if my water intake has me the minimum requirements and I am tired and would like to go to bed early tonight. We will be going to see the nuns tomorrow and we will go to a bakery first and then bring the nuns some treats. Apparently there are 100 nuns there so it will be difficult to get something for everyone. If I had known I would have prepared in advance. I think that in the future I will send something to them there as a gift. I will need to think of something to send there. They are suppose to host us for lunch, but we will not be able to eat there as Xavier needs to leave at noon to get to the arena so he is there 90 minutes early for his game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We traveled to Sudbury by way of BC, with stop overs in the Manitoba before we arrived in Sudbury in the dead of winter. I think that the cold was a shock for my parents. Growing up in the heat of the jungle, this was quite different for me, but I managed to adjust. When we first arrived the people at the church had a plan for us and they made sure that we followed this plan. My dad was not allowed to work and in the first year he was told that he had to learn English as his job. That was what he had to focus on, which looking back was probably the right move. Considering what he had to go through I think that this was difficult for him. He had to figure out hot to take care of his family in all sorts of situations and then he is thrust into a situation where he is reliant on someone else to provide everything. When we were in the refugee camps it was similar but different. In that situation you are just a number and no one really cares how you do. Once we arrived in Canada and were in Sudbury, we had people checking in on us and making sure everything was good. I think that it was different in this situation. One of the first jobs that my father did was building fiber glass canoes. I am not sure how long he did that, but I know that he did that for awhile. One of the church members was involved with Cecil Facer, the institute for rehabilitating boys, and my father worked there for a bit as well teaching. He was provided work opportunties and was given the tools to succeed. The church did not bring him here and let him try and adjust on his own, they embraced him and helped him out. Our family is Buddhist and I think that initially we were brought to the church, but we were never forced to change our religion. Interestingly my brother who was born in Canada is the only one baptized, but he converted as an adult and not as a child. Growing up my sister and I learned about and went through all of the lessons and steps for everything. We just did not do it. I appreciate a group that will provide you lessons but do not try and force you to convert. While we were going through all of this, there was some internally drama and strife within our family that I did not learn about until much later that explained why certain things happened. i will relay the stories at a later date and it will shed light on why certain decisions were made in our lives. I think that it is amazing that a group of people could come together with the intention of trying to give another family a chance at a better life. They had to make some sacrifices and it is a lot of work that may not be appreciated. Things like this I think have shaped the way that I look at things such as help out others when you can. I would not be here without the kindness of others, so it is difficult to not reciprocate. I think that it helps that both sets of our parents are similar. The amount of random strangers that my parents help is amusing. Mel’s parents are the same and her father will randomly interact with strangers all of the time and help them out. When we go camping at provincial parks, everyone there seems to be willing to help each other out, so it is nice to see that culture sustained there. I am looking forward to going to see the nuns tomorrow and the start of our tournament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mel and I are quite similar. On the drive here Mel hotspotted her phone and worked as much as she could. As soon as I arrived at the hospital I opened my laptop and started work, and in the morning we will both be on our laptops doing work. Xavier has a wonderful work ethic as well and we are probably setting a bad example for him. I know that the kids think that I work all of the time. While driving here we had to explain to Xavier our roles and what leadership does. It was rather amusing and entertaining. Hopefully the kids pick up our good habits and understand what we do not do well in and stop themselves from doing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I drove all of the way to Ottawa today and it was raining quite hard once we arrived in Ottawa. The rain was pretty bad and it made driving a bit difficult with very poor visibility. I think it was best that I was driving and not Melanie as she does not like driving in…<\/p>\n