Merry Christmas from Canada
Morgan was going to write some blog posts from Canada himself. I started them off for him and asked him to fill in some blanks but apparently, he’s not very good at writing about what he’s been doing. So, you’ll have to put up with updates from me rather than from Morgan himself.
Things seem to be going well. He has been applying for loads of jobs but so far competition is really tough and he hasn’t had any luck. I guess people are unlikely to be hiring over the Christmas break so hopefully, things will pick up on the job front come the New Year.
We have been having weekly FaceTime calls from him and Banff looks lovely. It’s always blue skies and snowy scenes from the river where he calls us.
Canadian A&E
We did have another message a couple of weeks ago asking us if he could call us as he didn’t know how the health insurance worked and thought he might need it as he had to go to A&E!! Just what we wanted to see in a message!
He looked OK once we were on a FaceTime call with him though and I chatted to him as he walked to the hospital. He had been ice-skating at the ice rink in Banff and had fallen over, smashing his nose and dislodging some teeth. The people at the rink had administered First Aid and were going to call an ambulance but Morgan decided he would walk to the hospital as he wasn’t sure how much an ambulance would cost or how he’d pay for it. Hence the call to us about the health insurance!
He looked fine and was walking and talking as normal and could breathe through his nose so it didn’t look as though there was too much wrong with him. However, as he’s in Canada all on his own we still told him to get it checked at A&E. Had he been home here with us I don’t think I would have bothered with that.
The doctors said that he may have broken it but as he was breathing fine there was little they could do. They just told him to take it easy and to go back if he started having trouble breathing – pretty much what we had said really. They did tell him to go to the dentist about his teeth, but I don’t think they would have done anything eother, other than tell him not to eat challenging foods and to let them settle back in. None were chipped or knocked completely out of place, so we told him to leave the dentist for now, unless he felt he needed to see one urgently.
All seems to have settled down now. Morgan hasn’t been ice-skating again yet though. Not that we know of anyway! At least he is getting the full Canadian experience, including trying out the health service.
Hot Springs, Frozen Lakes and Ski Slopes
The things that we have heard a little about have been a trip to the Banff Hot Springs, where he and a friend had a quick dip. It’s good to see that he has at least been doing some of the local tourist attractions as well as looking for jobs. There’s not hundreds of things to do in Banff, especially on a budget but he has been doing a few.
He’s been on a few little walks around the town and along the rivers as well, and seems to know it quite well now. He also seems settled in the hostel and has a bed booked until the New year. It’s a little more expensive over Christmas, but they do a Christmas Dinner apparently. Morgan has also been back and forth to Canmore a few times in search of employment.
Other than that he has been on a trip to Lake Louise. He went on his own and had a little explore and then has recently been on a ‘learn to turn’ snowboarding lesson there with his friend too. The lesson was a really good deal at $70 for a whole day of snow-boarding lessons, all of the kit rental and the lift pass. The bus trip from Banff to Lake Louise was free as well. He seemed to enjoy it and will hopefully go back for the next lesson in the series which is also at the reduced rate of $100.
Talking of deals, following in his Dad’s footsteps he got whiff of some free food at a local church where they were doing a chilli night. As he’s currently looking for a job and will run out of money soon if he doesn’t find one, the offer of free chilli was too much of an opportunity to miss! Unfortunately, when he got there it was all shut up and there was no one around. I suspect he had the wrong place or the wrong date really, but it was worth a try!
That’s about as much as we know at the moment but he seems to be quite settled and is enjoying it. He’s willing to do anything for work and is willing to travel anywhere in Canada for it too, so something should come along in the New Year. Fingers crossed it does as it would be a shame for him to start running out of money and have to return before he gets properly going. It’ll be weird over Christmas home here without him but I’m sure we’ll have a FaceTime call on Christmas day – modern technology makes it easy to keep in touch at least.
