How a broken car influences my daily life ...

I'm still sorry, for the moment, I wasn't able to finish my previous blog entry. I'm kind of busy, soon I will have my second midterm exams. So I will just keep you updated on what happened last week. (Entry on Banff Trip should still be updated soon)

As you read I was pretty sad to lose my car. Not that I love cars so much, but here in Winnipeg a car is something like a piece of freedom. You can go everywhere at whatever time you want, with the transit that's kind of impossible. And also i had a hard time to accept that I did an error ... I wasn't able to sleep well after the accident and I spent a reflective Sunday.

However, on Monday I already felt better, and I overcame more or less this bad experience. So, Monday morning I had to go to the insurance to make a claim. As I arrived at the insurance claim centre, the employees told me that I could do my claim by phone. So I called the hotline, explained on how the accident happened and what persons were involved. I got a appointment for a face-to-face discussion on the following Thursday. Monday was also my first day back at school after the reading week.

On Tuesday my roommate gave me a ride to have a look at my car and to get my personal stuff. I was pretty curious to see my car, in order to evaluate if it would be a write off or if the insurance would repair my car. The car was brought to a huge parking lot (where many other accident cars are located) close to Transcona.
I was suprised to see on how much my car was damaged. However, I still hoped that they would repair it.

On Thursday I had to go the insurance company as mentioned before. After a short conversation with the insurance agent she told me that my car was a write off. The repairs would add up to more than CAN 13,000, yet my car wasn't worth this amount of money. Thus, I was sent to another insurance agent, who did evaluate the value of my car. Finally, the insurance is pretty generous and will pay me approximately the amount I spent for the car.

Friday, I was invited by some friends of Sylvain for playing Taboo. Taboo is a game where you try to get your team guess the secret word without using some predifined words. We had lots of fun, for most of the group were international students (of Egypt, France, Germany, Switzerland and also Canada ;) ) and sometimes we even didn't understand the secret words. Later on, I was pretty lucky to get a ride home.

On Saturday I started working on a paper for my organization theory class. Nevertheless, I spent most of the day going over ads in the Canada Auto Trader magazine, in order to find a "new used" car. Unfortunately, all the cars I called for were former accident vehicles. Thus, I wasn't able to find a car that fits my expectations. At night I was invited to university by Shinya, he organized a room party ... and finally over 15 guys spent a cool night in this one residence room!!! As a consolation my friends made me a present: A new red car ... a toy car *smile*

Unfortunately, I already had to leave for 11:30 p.m. ... did a short ride by bus and finally took a taxi to get home. The last bus in direction of my area (St. Vital) left university already at 8 p.m.

The next day I went to badminton with Chrissy. Luckily I got another ride to university (thanks!!!) ... we played a few games and had some fun on the running track. Later on, I continued working on my report and also did some other homework.

Life goes on ... I'm lucky for it's not so cold and with exception of the weekends, shopping and leisure it is ok to use the Transit system; nevertheless, I still used to tell: "Fries and Ketchup are complements, as Winnipeg and having a car ..."

Banff Trip Review

Hey sorry guys, I felt a bit powerless this week and that's why I also didn't update my blog. Now I'm well again, and I have lots to tell you. Let's start with a review of our trip to Banff.

Friday, two weeks ago, my roommate drove Sylvain and me to Polo Park, where we had to take the bus for Banff. When we arrived at the parking lot there was no bus there, also in the following half an hour we couldn't see any bus. However, after around 40 minutes the bus arrived and our trip could start. The bus trip to Banff took about 17 hours (including breaks) over a distance of approximately 1450 km.

Trip Winnipeg Banff

Banff and its surroundings

When we started our travel in Winnipeg some guys decided that we should have some good movies, so we already did our first stop after a couple of minutes at the video rental shop :)

Blockbuster movie rental shop

Later on, we had some fun watching the movie "Not another teen movie" (this movie on a trip with a church is kind of fun *smile*). In Brandon we did our first break, and had the opportunity to have dinner at A&W. Afterwards, it was time to fall asleep. I brought my own pillow and all in all I slept pretty well until sunrise next morning.

Sylvain, me and my pillow ;)

Sunrise in the nowhere

We already were in Alberta when I woke up. Along the street I could discover oil pumps, I've never seen that before.

Oil pump in Alberta (source: http://folio.photosource.com/)

After breakfast at Tim Horton's (try the toasted bagels, they are awesome!!!) we drove along the Canadian countryside. As usual you see the flat country and there is nothing, nothing, and nothing ...

Canada's nowhere

... until we suddenly saw the Rockies appearing.

The Canadian Rockies in the background

About two hours later we already arrived in Calgary.

Calgary, Alberta

In Calgary we had the opportunity to see some of the places where the olypmic games where held in 1988.

Ski jumping hill (olympic games of Calgary, 1988)

After Calgary we did a last stop before reaching Banff.

Our bus

We also got our week schedule ... let's have a look!

week schedule

And finally after a long trip we reached the National Park of Banff.

Entrance to the National Park of Banff

To be continued ...

My worst day in Canada

It was 11:43 pm ... I was driving home my friends. I approached a corner (on which I intend to turn left), the lights are red and I stop the car. The lights change to green; I start my maneuver. Unfortunately; I forget to look out for cars of the opposed direction ... I drive slowly ... and see the fast approaching Taxi (~50 km/h) in the last moment. I try to brake, crash, it's already too late ...


Fortunately; nobody is hurt. However; the car seems to be a write-off. The nose of the car is completely destructed and the engine leaked. For sure we had lots of luck ...

Yet, I was very upset, for I knew about this hazard. I was afraid of red lights since I arrived in Canada. The reason is that they are differently positioned and also there are some other traffic rules. Thus, if you're not fully concentrated you will have wrong instinctive reactions ... and that's what happened tonight.

Now life will continue without car ... we will see if I will buy another one. For sure it will be hard to go back to Winnipeg Transit and Shopping by freezing temperatures sucks too ... Nevertheless; I love Canadians: Immediately after the accident, one lady stopped and offered us to sit in her car in order to avoid the cold. Furthermore, she offered to give us a ride home ... it's so nice to live in a country with such helpful people!!!

Banff Trip

Pictures of Banff Trip online ... review follows soon!

Bye Bye ...

I'm a bit in a hurry, I'm preparing for my trip to Banff.


This morning I heard at the radio that highway 1 is closed in Saskatchewan because of icing street conditions. That's actually on our way to Banff, so I hope they will clean the street until we will come.

To my friends in Switzerland ... good luck on the exams ... I'll keep my fingers crossed!!!

I wish you a great week ... I will be back next Friday ... cu soon!!!

There is a colder city in the world :)

This is probably the coldest city in the world:

Norilsk (Russian: Нори́льск) is a major city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It obtained the city status in 1953. It is the northernmost city in Siberia and the world's second largest city (after Murmansk) above the Arctic Circle. Norilsk and Yakutsk are the only large cities in the continuous permafrost zone. Norilsk is also the northern-most city with a population over 100,000 on the planet. Population: 133,436 (2004); 134,832 (2002). (Wikipedia)

Where is Norilsk?

(http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/asia_ref_2003.jpg)

Climate information for Norilsk
(http://www.climate-zone.com/)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	-29	-32	-16	NA	-5	6	15	10	2	-3	-18	-26
Avg. Max Temperature	-26	-29	-13	NA	-2	8	18	12	5	-1	-16	-23
Avg. Min Temperature	-32	-35	-20	NA	-8	2	10	6	0	-6	-22	-30
Avg. Rain Days	0	0	0	0	2	6	8	9	4	5	0	0
Avg. Snow Days	6	5	6	3	7	2	0	0	2	9	8	7

Climate information for Winnipeg
(http://www.climate-zone.com/)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	-17	-12	-5	3	11	17	19	18	13	5	-4	-12
Avg. Max Temperature	-12	-6	0	10	18	24	26	26	21	12	1	-7
Avg. Min Temperature	-22	-17	-10	-3	3	10	12	11	6	0	-9	-17
Avg. Rain Days	1	2	3	4	10	10	9	8	7	8	2	1
Avg. Snow Days	12	9	8	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	9

The exams are over ... I'm ready for holiday ...

I just finished my exams today ... now I'm ready for Banff. Our trip will start this Friday at 7:30 p.m. ... we will travel for around 20 hours, so we should have enough time to talk to some new people :) For my trip I need some special stuff, and I'm lucky: My roommate lend me a backpack and a Canadian Friend (thanks Stephen!) lend me an air mattress ... the only thing I have to buy is a pair of snow pants, for I forgot mine in Switzerland.

Last Thursday I had to prepare for my exam, and actually I can't remember if I did something else (I should update my blog more regularly).

On Friday I had my exam at 6:00 p.m., afterwards I met my friends. On the way to my car we had the crazy idea to jump into the cold snow ... that was really fun even if it was pretty cold (- 25° C.) and it almost froze our fingers. After warming up in the car (what took a while), we went to an Indian restaurant having dinner. At the buffet I had to try every single dish (that made the plate pretty full) and everybody was laughing at me; however, this was a good experience. After dinner nobody knew what to do ... so guess ... yes, we went to sing karaoke again. It seems like we all get good karaoke singers and as always we had lots of fun.

On Saturday I met Nick (the canadian exchange student who is going to Winterthur/Switzerland). We went ice skating on Assiniboine river for about and afterwards we had dinner at the Earls. I'm curious about his experiences he will do in Switzerland ... he will leave on February 22nd.

On Sunday and Monday I was studying most of the time. Yet, there was enough time for a run ... Sunday was a beautiful day and I enjoyed going outside and to run on the snow covered streets. On Monday I did some shopping with Shinya and he had a funny experience ... Shinya likes chocolate, so much that he spent more than 9 bucks for chocolate. Actually, we didn't know how much is 100 grams ... we both were looking for 100 grams ($ 2.88/100 grams) ... and Shinya ended with 330 grams ... Finally, I still hope he loves Swiss chocolate :)

Yesterday I spent most of the time with studying ... most of the stuff was to memorize (I hate that). My roommate is actually doing some renovations in the house("he pimps up his house *smile*); he lets repainting the walls in the entrance area and he also lets building a stonewall around the chimney ... by this opportunity I met the painter and we had a funny conversation. He is a guy from Italy who came to Winnipeg 45 years ago ...

Ups it's already time for my class (2:30 p.m.) .. Cu soon!

Test

Test

Getting busy ...

Yep, it's already time to get serious again ... I already had my first exam yesterday (Tuesday). Next exam is on Friday, and then two the following week on Wednesday ... so I try to be serious and to study.

Actually, I'm really proud to stay in Canada this year, for it is the warmest January they ever had. The Winnipeg Free Press wrote today:

"The past 31 days will shatter records across the province as the warmest January ever recorded in Manitoba ... Winnipeg's average of daytime highs and nighttime lows this month was -7.5°C, a full 10 degrees warmer than normal.

The reason for the balmy weather is a shift in the pattern of global air currents. Normally, an Arctic low settles over Hudson Bay and sends temperatures tumbling into the deep freeze. But this year, the Arctic low shifted to Eurasia, where countries from Russia to Italy are battling the winter norms we generally endure."

Haha, as you see my Swiss friends actually enjoy cold weather and we got something like Swiss Winter weather. The time I arrived in Winnipeg I used to tell people that kids usually believe in Santa Clause and in the same way I believe in warm winters ... as you can see ... dreams can become true *smile* ... ok, the Winter is still not over, let see first what comes next ...

As you could see on the pictures in the Photo Gallery we enjoyed our Saturday afternoon in the Forks. That's a famous touristic area in Winnipeg, we already went there many times.

The Forks by night

It was really fun to skate on the trails, for the Assiniboine River had been opened for skating ... so you can skate down the river for a few kilometres.

Skating Trail on Assiniboine River

Afterwards, we went to Finn's Pub to have dinner. Later on, we spent our night at the Shannon's Pub and enjoyed some good rock music.

Two cool guys ;)

This Sunday I got up at 9:30; I went playing badminton with Chrissie, Yui and Olivier. Unfortunately, there was a gymnastics competition and we could play only a few games. After a few badminton games we had to spend our remaining energy in the Gritty Grotto. That's a running track (228 metres long!!!) in the basement of the Frank Kennedy building. In the afternoon I started learning for my exam on Tuesday.

On Monday, my day was filled with classes and learning ... nothing more.

On Tuesday, as I told already I had my first Supply Chain Mgmt exam. I think it worked well; however, I was a bit confused over the short essay questions ... the questions looked like ... "Name the 4 key aspects of supply chain management" ... I answered the questions in point form and was wondering on my neighbour who was writing and writing and writing ... I hope I didn't misunderstand! Later on, I felt like cooking ... I baked some potatoes topped with melted cheese and two pieces of pork wrapped in aluminium foil. The potatoes smelled great; however, the meat didn't meet my expectations.

Today I had lunch with Sylvain; we enjoyed some Chinese food at University Centre (there is a new food corner in the first floor of University Centre). In the afternoon I had my swimming class, wow was really exhausting, later on I relaxed by watching the "Rundschau" (unfortunately not in English), got dinner (fish sticks with frozen vegetables and an avocado), did some homework, updated my blog ... and now ... it's time for bed! Good night!