I met a Belgian couple that sells Leonidas chocolates in their shop (currently the only Leonidas shop in Western Canada). Two weeks ago, I helped them sell chocolates at the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival. As a student I used to sell Bamix kitchen mixers on fairs in Belgium, and it was good to be 'back'! (And it showed in the sales figures!).
By the way, Bernard Callebaut's (brother of Barry Callebaut from Wieze, Belgium) has had a chocolate business in Calgary since the 80s, its bankruptcy is the talk of the town.Some pictures of my last hike. Don't laugh at the shorts! The snow would disappear a bit further, and the weather was very nice. 
(click the panorama to enlarge)
Going hiking again tomorrow, with the Calgary Outdoor Club. Really handy, because they carpool to the mountains, which is great since I don't have a car here. Also, through the Club I'm hoping to meet the people who do this. It looks SO ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIC that I just HAVE to do this. I mean, don't you get goosebumps just looking at this? So I'm looking for people who are experienced at this, and I hope to meet them through the Club.
In other news, I moved downtown and am sharing an apartment with 2 Mexicans. Nice balcony in the sun, and a golden opportunity to become fluent in Spanish. To give you an idea how fabulous my Spanish is: a few years ago at a job interview, the interviewer asked, looking at my resume "¿ah - tambien hablas español?" to which I stumbled several words in Spanish, probably with huge thinking pauses in between every one of them. My performance must have been impressive, as he replied "Nice! Where did you learn Spanish? On your last trip to Spain?" (no, nitwit, I spent 2 friggin years on coursework!!!!)
The above picture is the evening view from our balcony, with the Stampede stadium in the background. The next two are just random shots of Calgary (I've begun to keep a camera in my jacket at all times):
The bread here sucks, so I finally bought a bread maker. A local brand, and the bread comes out amazing (no 'cooked' bread, papa!).
Luis, my Mexican apartment mate just looked over my shoulder, recognized the bread maker in the picture, and is now laughing his butts off, haha!
P.S. if you ever need a blog, the service I'm using (Google) comes highly recommended. It just decided to omit 2 pictures. I'm now uploading them again, and I already know they will appear in the wrong place AND in the wrong order. To rearrange them, I'll have the exquisite pleasure to mess with the HTML code. The minute window I'm typing this displays a generous half-a-picture at a time, or, in other words, from the carrots in the above picture to this very line. It's especially great for people abroad who are bored: putting up a few words & pictures will keep you busy for an hour, if not more! You guessed it: I can't recommend this product highly enough!
You're a real Canadian now, wearing shorts in winter!
ReplyDeleteAs for the bread -- I find the meat sucks here too. Beef is awful, milk is like water and eggs are not as delicious as in Europe. *sigh* I miss visiting.
Leonidas --> Have you ever had Voisin chocolates in Lyon, France? They're probably some of THE BEST I've ever had, with my feeling that Leonidas comes in 2nd (sorry, it's how I feel!)
Your commitment to Spanish is making me want to practice my French more. I really should finish those tapes..
@FB: it may depend on the EU country, but I prefer Alberta beef (free range) and milk (lower temperature treatment) over the Belgian ones.
ReplyDeleteVoisin chocolates: *makes mental note* Anyway, I'm more of a chocolate than chocolateS fan.
Spanish: it's the "get 30% off the price if you buy now" principle in action. Knowing that you only have a few months to talk with these native speakers, gives a sense of urgency. I didn't have that when I lived in (French-speaking) Brussels and thought "I should work on my French sometime". Never did that, of course :-)
Mmmmmmmm, Breadmachine bread. Remember when we used to make these? :-)
ReplyDeleteDude, I am so x 10^23 excited for your arrival and to hear all your epic adventures! Btw, is it possible to bring your hiking pictures? <3 them!
ReplyDeleteAlso, what bike size are you? I wonder if you and my dad are the same.
bounce bounce bounce!
PS
I know exactly what you mean - in California, you'd think my Spanish would be excellent and instead it's totally mediocre lol... all the time in the world to fix that! (And WOW Sean just nailed me and said that my English is mediocre - I insert 'like' btw every word ... oops...)
@David: damn, you're right! :D
ReplyDeleteI believe you introduced us to bread machines (my parents must be at their 5th machine by now!)
@Allison: oh, I'm just as much looking forward to it (10^24)! Talking about hiking views, today was a class apart, Yosemite-like. The weather is awesome (and supposed to stay like this for the rest of November - hard to believe, and it means at least a few more hikes).
Not the slightest idea about my bike size, except "big" ;-) but if it fits your dad or Sean it should fit me (we can always adjust saddle height, which is a 2-minute job).
Prachtige natuurbeelden, Frederik! Enig... In Vlaanderen kunnen we alleen maar dromen van zo'n wijdsheid!
ReplyDeleteJah... je Spaans... Een opportuniteit alvast. Al werk ik al jaren aan mijn Engels, zonder al te veel vooruitgang...
Werkt je bakoventje nog altijd even goed?
o ja (broodje komt pas uit bakvorm na wat afkoelen maar dat verhaal kennen we he...)
ReplyDeletecallebaut = pure networking, bro ;-)
ReplyDelete