oh Canada, why are you so cold?

Wow, 3 weeks are already over. I can't believe it! And so far it's been amazing. Despite the weather. It took me a while to get over the cold and clouds, but I think I've made it :-)
So how do I put into (not too many) words what I've experienced in Canada so far? I will limit this blog to the first 2 weeks in Calgary & surrounding. Let me start with my hosts: Dan and Jess. They were amazing. They managed a good combination of managing my tourist expectations and showing me how their life in Canada looks like. In short I would say: sports (watching and playing), beautiful nature  (driving through and hiking it), food & drinks  (hmm craft beer) and of course friends and family (unbelievably welcoming).

Then let's spend some time on the city of Calgary. My home for 2 weeks. My first impression was not very good. I flew in seeing no mountains (cloudy gray day) and being shocked by northern American industrial areas. Not very charming. And everything just big: Streets, houses, car parks. So it took me a bit to actually like the city for more than its proximity to the mountains.
My highlights were (I'll give it a Top 5):
- as a tourist attraction definitely the sound bell music museum. Beautiful place with great architecture and really cool interactive museum. Not only did I learn a lot about Canadian music, I also tried to learn drums, bass and mixing. Big fun!
- Cycling along the river. If it would have been a little bit warmer I could have enjoyed it even a bit more. But as well like this I could see that despite Calgary being a Metropole it has nice places and nature. And obviously wed always ended up in a bar or on a patio with great craft beer.
- The Flames game at the Saddledome. Being introduced to baseball and hockey by Dan & Jess already in the Netherlands, it was quite different to see it here.  I guess baseball & the Blue Jays made it to my heart quicker due to the challenge of understanding the rules (still impressed how everyone seemed to be more happy than annoyed about my millionth question about the rules). So for the Canadians who read this: I am a proud owner of a Donaldson kids size jersey now :-) Getting back to my point of live hockey: I struggled with hockey on TV. Rules quite straight forward and I kept losing track of the puck. Live was quite different. As a German I was very surprised that half of the spectators arrived only within the first 20 minutes of the game, so after its actual start. So as well the atmosphere in the stadium got better and better. Latest when it got to overtime, which means in hockey less players on the ice and more action, I got hooked. So I am happy to announce that I was there when the flames finally won their first game of the season. Big fun!
- Adult night at the science center.  Sounds dodgy? It definitely is a lot of fun. Imagine a serious museum, but you are allowed in the kids zone to explain science plus drinks. There you go. Fun. And some good speeches. Part of out was as well a 'movie' like in the IMAX. We made a tour to the milky way and saw how stars are born and die.  Pretty freaky after a couple of beers.
- Last but not least: live music! An open mic night helped my to fight my jet lag in the first night. And I would say that this sort of event can be quite painful in Germany or Netherlands. Here even the not so good act was still pretty good. And of course the live music festival in the blues can was a highlight.  Not only did I get my first baseball cap from Jess's mom, it was a great evening with great music and lovely people.

But that was by far not everything I did! I've learned a lot about the First Nations in the Glenbow museum, ate amazing Dim Sums, visited a hose cutting show (cowboys, yeeha) and participated in a clue (for the Germans Cluedo) game night with Jess & Dan's friends.

I've also done 3 amazing day trips. I needed a bit of getting used to the fact that that also means a lot of time in the car. All the 'I' in this section means Dan and me, thanks again for being a great tour guide:
- I've visited Banff where I did a beautiful hike around lake Louise. Lucky me that it is off season and only about 100 tourists were there. Did a beautiful hike through snow up to the tea house, which was closed since, well today.
- I've made a road trip to Drumheller with beautiful rock formations. You don't want to know how many pictures I took!
- I've visited Dan's hometown Volcan. Due to it's name out became a Star W... äh Trek village. Hilarious! Highlight of my day was to get Dan into a costume and pose with me. No seriously, the most amazing part was the visit of the Huterite colony. if you don't know anything about them Google it. German descendants, like the Amish kind of stuck in the past traditions and being very religious, but really modern when it comes to business. Unbelievably friendly and amazing people. Dan's mom used to work there as a substitute teacher and made my visit possible. The school class gave us a tour through the colony. Amazing! I impressed the priest that I was able to read the old German bible (with the weird S) but couldn't really understand their speaking (they explained to me it is low German, whatever that is). Their chicken cages (we are talking about thousands) convinced me once more to only buy free range eggs from now on). But their freshly baked hot dogs: I don't have words for their deliciousness.

And last but not least 2 great weekend trips with Jess & Dan together:
- weekend trip number 1: Canadian thanksgiving at Dan's families cabin in Elkwater, cypress hills. While I found the drive there mostly boring (I heard it may take you up to 3 years to start to love the prairies) the place itself was impressive. Beautiful lake, great view back on the plains. The highlights: tobagoing (or something like that), meaning sliding down the snowy hill on a kind of yoga plastic piece, thanksgiving dinner with the Anderson family, hiking with Jess and Booster through the snow, Boosters (dog) tricks, among them: Bang and he played dead, and last but not least bingo at the community center. I won 12 dollars! Which left me with +3 if I take off what I've payed for playing. Wohoo!
- And then a weekend in Jess's aunts apartment in Invermere.  Again a beautiful drive through the Rockies, some beautiful hikes, delicious draft beer, baseball & hockey on TV and my highlight: hot springs! They were officially closed due to maintenance of the path, which no one cared about on a Sunday. Beautiful and non commercial. Hot pools in the mountains on a cold day. What more do you need?

WOW, I think I am way over 1000 words and still have only given you a very condensed version of the two weeks in and around Calgary. As you may have noticed I had a great time. I thick what is still most vivid to me is the beauty I found there and what amazing people I (re-)met. For me the chitchatty way of Northern Americans was always strange and seemed superficial to me. I have revised my opinion and believe in the hospitality and the friendliness I've encountered in my first two weeks. I think I'm ready to conquer the next 2 months more or less on my own.

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