'Time flies when you are heaving fun', 
is an ancient and well known saying. It seems only a couple of months ago that I boarded a big blue bird, not Pino, at Schiphol airport, bound for Canada. And here I am back in the Netherlands spat out by a similar blue bird, writing this last blog. Yep, cause I cannot write about 'Howiddiz in Canada' when I am not actually there. Journalist do it all the time, I know, but I am not a journalist. What better thing to do than ponder how my stay in the Fraser Valley has been? Nope, cannot come up with one myself either.
is an ancient and well known saying. It seems only a couple of months ago that I boarded a big blue bird, not Pino, at Schiphol airport, bound for Canada. And here I am back in the Netherlands spat out by a similar blue bird, writing this last blog. Yep, cause I cannot write about 'Howiddiz in Canada' when I am not actually there. Journalist do it all the time, I know, but I am not a journalist. What better thing to do than ponder how my stay in the Fraser Valley has been? Nope, cannot come up with one myself either.
I have been asked numerous times whether I was going to stay in Canada? This often prompted the question what advantages Canada has over the Netherlands? As with many things there are 'pros and cons. From a philosophical point of view, it all depends on what you want from life. Are you in to nature, then Canada is 
a great place to be. No traffic jams when hiking, cycling or driving through national parks. And there are real wild animals, that can kill you. Compare that to encountering a fox or badger. Plenty of space to lose yourself in a variety of outdoor sports as well. Undeniably, from this point of view Canada is the way to go.
a great place to be. No traffic jams when hiking, cycling or driving through national parks. And there are real wild animals, that can kill you. Compare that to encountering a fox or badger. Plenty of space to lose yourself in a variety of outdoor sports as well. Undeniably, from this point of view Canada is the way to go.
On the other hand, for those among us that do not have rich parents from whom a lot of money can be inherited, won the lottery or had a windfall of another kind, it still means that work has to be done to get bread on the table, preferably with a spread as well. Sitting behind my desk in my apartment in Surrey was no different from doing the same in the Netherlands. And like in the Netherlands, you have to fight your way through traffic to get to work as well. No need to go to Canada for that.
Canada is not particularly cheap either. Paying the bill after filling my basket at Superstore, often made me wonder what I actually had gotten for the amount paid. Petrol on the other 
hand is dirt cheap. How on earth is it possible that Rutte still has not gotten his finances in order when he is raking in a huge amount of money via petrol the Dutchies put in their cars. Canadians only pay € 0,70 per liter. Nope, no typo. And the myth that Canadians travel huge distances is not entirely correct either. Most of the people living in or around Vancouver, more or less stay there. Only in the summer, when campers are wheeled out of storage, do the distances traveled increase. Much like the Dutchies that tow their caravan to the Riviera in southern France. The trip that miss P. and I took last year to Fort St. John, 1300 km north of the Fraser Valley, is not taken by many Vancouver residents. Mind you, most of them have never been out of the valley in their entire life.
hand is dirt cheap. How on earth is it possible that Rutte still has not gotten his finances in order when he is raking in a huge amount of money via petrol the Dutchies put in their cars. Canadians only pay € 0,70 per liter. Nope, no typo. And the myth that Canadians travel huge distances is not entirely correct either. Most of the people living in or around Vancouver, more or less stay there. Only in the summer, when campers are wheeled out of storage, do the distances traveled increase. Much like the Dutchies that tow their caravan to the Riviera in southern France. The trip that miss P. and I took last year to Fort St. John, 1300 km north of the Fraser Valley, is not taken by many Vancouver residents. Mind you, most of them have never been out of the valley in their entire life.
Having said all this, I felt quite at home in British Columbia. Also because my family living there felt the urge to feed me every now and then to save me from starvation. Hospitality is written with a capital 'H' over there, something many Dutchies can take as an example.
It is therefore that I can say wholeheartedly, 'I'll be back'... Ps.
I hope you have enjoyed the glimpses of the Fraser Valley given via this blog as much as I have, writing them. All the best in 2015. Do the things you want, not what people want you to do.
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