Canada, eh!

So this is the last post I am writing in Canada for quite some time. I shall be heading back to Germany tonight on AC 876 - let's see if they've got disco lights again

It has been a packed time and I guess I met more people in these two months than I ever met before in a comparable period of time. Oh, did I tell you that I used to be a shy person? Well, at least I seem to have found ways to cope with that trait.

As I look back onto the past two months, here are some things that I really like about Canada:

• People generally seem to be more open than people in Germany. This might of course be influenced by the fact that everybody uses their first names when communicating. I also have gotten used to the little "how are you today" conversation at the beginning of each transaction. Let's see what happens when I try that on German shop assistants...
• Although (or maybe just because) it was winter when I came to Canada, I really like the landscape: the wide fields, the forests, the snow... Often, on my rides through Ontario, I would get the felling of somehow knowing how much greater it must be in summer.
• I also like the fact you can go shopping almost any hour of day, any day of the week. In fact, I was surprised to hear that there are some stores that are not open 24/7
• Turning right on a red light. Very time-saving, I wonder why we don't have this in Germany, as we're said to be oh so efficient...

The list of things I didn't like too much is much shorter:

• Tim Hortons coffee. Don't go there. It tastes like metal. Besides, they do not know what Coffee Latte is. And don't even try to get a Cappucino - it will be Vanilla-flavoured. Check out Second Cup instead - they have some decent coffee there and they know how to make a Latte.

There are a number of people that really have made my stay really memorable:

Thanks to Christian and Linda, Jeff and Nancy for so generously hosting me when I came to Ottawa.

Thanks to Ian, Mike and Wayne of the Eclipse Foundation for connecting me with so many people.

Thanks to Lynn for taking me on the Ottawa tour, that was a fun day out!

Thanks to Peter and Gisela Weidelich and the fine people at the Sunnyvale Baptist Church for giving me a spiritual home for the last few weeks.

Thanks to Simon and Anneta for spending Sunday before EclipseCon with me in San Francisco and for giving me a lift!

Most of all, thanks to Ed Merks for hosting me at his place in the probably most difficult time of his life. Ed, I owe you.

Oh, and thanks to everybody who reassured me that they couldn't figure out where I come from by just listening to my dialect

You all have given me a sense of being welcome to Canada. Although I am really looking forward to returning to Germany and seeing my family again, I am feeling like I am leaving a new family behind.