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Part 2: My Life in Canada: April 2000 - December 2002!

April 2000 - December 2000: I started to explore this beautiful place and visited many beautiful places together with Michael. I started to look around for a job. But first I had to register as a nurs in Canada, otherwise I wouldn't be able to work as a nurse. I could start with supervision (on an interim permit), but I didn't mind as long as I could work. The registration process was a whole lot. First I had to an English exam en then a nursing examen...of course they need to know if my English is sufficient enough to work and if I know my nursing properly. I met some nice people and found a few good friends. There is one girl that was in some sort of the same situation as I was...she is from Switzerland and she moved to Canad to live with her boyfriend too. We go out on a regular basis, we enjoy exploring the city and find some lovely nature spots not far from the city. She is familiar with Vancouver because she went to school here for 1 year in 1997 (that's where she met her boyfriend). This way I learned my way around in the city and to use all the public transit available. We like to go downtown for some walks or shopping and then from there we go to the beaches with great views over the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. Or we go into the mountains for some real long walk in the forest. A great way to pass time!


     
Our living room and dining room


Michael and I like go to the city or to the beautiful parks for walks. We like to go hiking up in the mountains or walk on the beach while we enjoy a wonderful sunset. We just love to sit cuddle up on a bench at the beach and wait to see the sun go down while we enjoy each others company. We also like to go to a movie or watch tv together or even go to play some tennis...whatever we feel like! Life can't be better! I enjoy my life with Michael to the fullest and we are very happy together. Michael is the love of my life and he feels the same way. We get along so well and our love gets stronger day by day.


     
Michael and I in Vancouver


Michael and I went on holidays in July 2000 with his parents to a beautiful lake about 500km from our place. It's a family get together because Michael's mother her sisters and brother from Calgary also come to this lake. For them it's also 500km so it's kind of in the middle. So, I met some of Michael's aunts and uncles for the first time, they are such great people...I get along with all of them. We all rent a cabin beside each other and enjoy our time by talking, swimming in the lake, sunbathing and just relaxing. The weather was fantastic, sunny and very warm (30-35 C - 80-90 F). It was a great week. Then Christmas was coming...it was my first Christmas without my parents, which was pretty weird. We spend Christmas at Michael's parents place and it was great. I did miss my parents very much, those are just days you think more of them then usual.


        
Michael and I with the family at Mara Lake


January 2001 - December 2001: I wasn't able to go on holidays in Belgium yet because I only had a temporary visitor visa. I didn't want to take the risk to go home and then I might not be able to re-enter Canada. I talked to my parents about that and they really felt like coming to us in Canada. Wow, that would be so great. This way they would be able to see how Michael and I live, where we life, how it is over here and all that. So, my parents deiceded that they would come in May of 2001 for 2-3 weeks. It was wonderful...I missed them so much and I enjoyed every moment that they were here. Michael was off for 2 weeks too so we had all the time to show them around in this beautiful area. My parents loved Vancouver, they thought it was a very beautiful city. But they also enjoyed the beautiful nature that we showed them! Their favorite spots were downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park and Queen Elizabeth Park(beautiful nature parks)! And then also Whistler, the ski resort about 2 hours driving from Vancouver. They also liked Victoria on Vancouver Island. They had the time of their life! It was so hard again when they had to leave. But Michael was a great comfort, he gave all his attention to me and soon I was feeling much better. My parents arrived home safe and sound and we phone every week and e-mail every week. My dad learned how to use the computer and how to e-mail so we can send some pictures which is really nice. Sometimes we wouuld chat on MSN Messenger. That was fun.


        
My parents and us during their stay with us in Canada


In July 2001 we went on a holiday again to Mara Lake, the lake we go to for the family get together. It was so much fun again and great to see everybody again. In October Michael and I went for a weekend to Kamloops where we stayed in a Bed & Breakfast. We were close to Sun Peaks Resort (very popular for skiing in the winter), but there was no snow yet, so we went for some hiking up there. It was a wonderful weekend, we enjoyed it very much. Then Christmas came around again and Michael was off for 2 weeks..that was great as we did a lot of things together. Christmas was spend at Michael's parents place again. As usual that was great, lovely dinner and a nice evening. I still miss my parents on these kind of days. Well, once in awhile I am really sad and miss everybody back in Belgium. It makes me sad, but then on the other hand I have the love of my life by my side and live in a wonderful place. I try to stay in touch with my closest family and friends in Belgium as much as I can. Michael is always there for me and always knows how to make me happy and make me smile again! Michael treats me like a princes and he makes me so happy! He is always honest, always attentive and always there for me...what more do I want?? I feel like the happiest person on this planet whos is love by the most fantastic man in this universe!


        
Another stay at beautiful Mara Lake


January 2002 - December 2002: Oh yes, I am still happy over here and still together with Michael! We are still enjoy our life to the fullest. Half of Januari I received a phone call from one of my best friends and former colleague Eva from Belgium. She was wondering what I was going to do next week. I thought she was going to set a time to phone me so we could talk a bit longer. So I told her that I had nothing to do...she says "Well, then I will come and visit you for a week". I couldn't believe what I heard...she wanted me to find a small hotel to stay and she was going to visit us for a week. I was soooo excited and still couldn't believe she was going to come. Then I told Michael about it and since I would be home all week and he was at work we decided she could stay with us. Eva arrived on the 28th of January 2002, we had a big snowfall the day before she came. It was so good to see here and to have her here for a week. We did all kinds of fun things together. We went shopping, we went for long walks...we had a blast. Michael took us to a few nice places in the weekend as he was off so we could go a bit further. It's a week I will never forget. It was hard to say goodbye again, but we will keep in touch!


        
My friend Eva during her stay with us in Canada


That summer one of my teachers from nursing school was coming to Canada for a trip through British Columbia. They would be in Vancouver for a few days, so I met up with them and I took them on a tour through Vancouver. We visited the main parts of downtown Vancouver including the waterfront and Gastown, we also went to Stanley Park where we walked around on the seawall to enjoy all the beautiful views over the water, the mountains and the city. We also drove up to Mount Seymour where there was still some patches of snow to see. The view from up here was also wonderful. After that we went to Lynn Valley which is a beautiful place with a free suspension bridge that crosses over Lynn Creek and takes you into the lush green rainforest. We were lucky as it was such a beautiful and warm day! It was fun and we had a great time. They were off for a trip of 3 weeks through British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies. So, we would meet again for dinner after they would be back in Vancouver from their trip through the Rockies and before they would leave Canada to go back to Belgium.



        
Some photos from a day with my teacher and family in Vancouver


At the same time that my teacher and her family was touring through BC and the Rockies we went to Mara Lake again for a week of fun. The weather was just fabulous...hot and sunny. We spend a lot of time on the beach relaxing by the water and enjoying the weather. It was so good to see the family again and to spend endless hours talking by the bonfire at night about all kinds of stuff. We went for our usual walks every day as well as some visits to nearby towns like Enderby, Sicamous and we also went out to the beautiful city of Vernon to do some shopping and some walking. The whole week at Mara Lake was so nice again and we enjoyed ourselves very much. It was so relaxing and so much fun!

After our week at Mara Lake Michael's parents went back home and we went the other way to take a beautiful trip through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It was my first trip to the Canadian Rockies...I was soooo excited to see this wonder of Mother Nature. I had read about the Rockies and seen many pictures on the internet of these amazing mountains and the blue glacial lakes. On postcards and photos on the internet these lakes look so super blue...hard to believe that it is real! Well, we were going to found out for ourselves how blue these lakes really were! We rented a mobile home in Golden where we stayed for about a week. From there we drove to the different areas of the Canadian Rockies. We spent time in Glacier National Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park, Yoho National Park and Banff National Park. My goodness I had never seen anything like it! The lakes were indeed as blue as they portray them on postcards, posters and photos. You have to see it with your own eyes to believe how blue the water looks. If it weren't for the high mountains with snowcapped tops you would think you are at a tropical beach somewhere. The scenery in the Rockies is absolutely stunning with high jagged peaks and those crystal blue lakes. There are also some very beautiful waterfalls and rivers to admire. We walked several hiking trails to see other places than only the main attractions.



        

        
Some beautiful photos during our trip through the Canadian Rockies


In the summer I met a girl from Belgium online through my website. She was looking for some information on Vancouver and British Columbia as she bumped into my website. She wrote me an e-mail to ask a few things about Vancouver and its surrounding area as she was going to be visiting here in September. We started to e-mail back and forth quite a few times. After that we ended up chatting on msn messenger where we really got to know each other quite well. Since she was coming over to Canada all by herself she was wondering if we could meet up for some coffee. Well, why not...that sounded good to me and so we made arrangements to meet after she would have arrived in Canada. She gave me a call and we hooked up in downtown Vancouver. I showed her around to English Bay beach, beautiful Stanley Park and the popular areas of downtown Vancouver. We got along great and had a good time. After spending a day with her she was telling me about her plans to visit Vancouver Island and then take a trip to the Rockies and back. She wanted to meet up again after she would be back from her trip. Once she was back in Vancouver she gave me call and Michael and I went to see her again. We drove this time and were able to show her around a little more to some interesting places in North Vancouver like Lynn Headwaters, Ambleside Beach and other parts of Vancouver. It was so nice and I gained a new friend because of all this! It was too bad to see her leave again, but hopefully we would meet again in the future while I would be in Belgium for a holiday or if she might return to Canada for a trip. In any case, I was happy to get to know her!



        
Some photos of Bibi with us during her trip in Canada


Then it got even more exciting by the end of the year as my parents had decided to come over to Canada and spend Christmas with us. They arrived on the 6th of December and stayed until the 27th of December 2002. That was so great. This trip was really one that they enjoyed to the fullest as it was their second time. They felt more comfortable with the whole trip and kind of knew what to expect this time around. The first week Michael was still working, but I was off for the whole time my parents were here. The first week my parents and I went to a few places and enjoyed the malls and shopping more. All the beautiful Christmas displays were displayed everywhere, as well inside as outside. The first week we took it easy as my parents were still a bit tired from the long flight, it takes almost a week to get fully over this jetlag. We made a few plans to do some real fun stuff that are especially nice to see around Christmas. One thing I definitely wanted to do was take them up to Grouse Mountain on a sunny day and after a snowfall on the mountains. Grouse Mountain is one of Vancouver's local mountains located in North Vancouver. Boy, we sure got lucky that snow was falling on top of Grouse Mountain in the first week that my parents were here. Of course we got all rain down here as it's not so cold at our place then up on the mountains, but that's ok. We had the chance to drive to Grouse Mountain the second week on a sunny day. It took about 15 minutes driving to the parking lot of Grouse Mountain from our place. From the parking lot we had to board the Grouse Mountain Skyride, which is a gondola that takes you to the top of the mountain. Once we hit the top of the mountain we were in winter wonderland and the evergreens looked so beautiful all covered in snow. From the top of Grouse Mountain we had some amazing views over the Greater Vancouver area, the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver Island in the distance and even the mountains in the USA. We enjoyed watching people skating on the pond and people that were enjoying some skiing, snowboarding or just walking around. Inside the building there a movie showing about the history of Grouse Mountain and the scenery of British Columbia (the province we live in). Of course we waited to see the sunset and we took the Skyride back down when the city lights were coming on...what a sight!



        
Some photos of our afternoon on top of Grouse Mountain


It was so great for me to be able to spend Christmas with Michael, my parents and his parents. We also took my parents on a tour to see all the houses that were packed with Christmas lights, I think they loved that very much. My mom thought is was so beautiful to see all those Christmas lights. We also took them to some beautiful lakes that were surrounded by mountains. We did some walking there...it was really nice. This were 3 weeks that we will never ever forget!


To continue with my life in Canada ---> CLICK HERE --->

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