It's already been a year — and what a year

The actual anniversary occurred on Sunday. I can't believe a year has flown by since I arrived at the Calgary airport to be met by my fiancé (now husband), who had arrived in Canada two weeks before me.

I now feel at home in Moose Jaw and have got to know the community and its very friendly people.

Certainly a lot of things have happened this past year — getting married for one thing as well as many adventures and exciting activities.

The first thing I had to get used to when I arrived was driving. I drove part of the way to Moose Jaw and had to cope with driving an automatic for the first time, driving on the right (or wrong in my opinion) side of the road, handling a 4x4 and turning right on a red light.

Now I love my Ford Escape. I love it so much I want to take it back to England with me when we return in two years time but the cost to fill it with petrol would be astronomical and I don't think it would fit down the narrow roads — parallel parking would be a nightmare.

I remember first arriving in Moose Jaw. I had previously been worried it would be a typical north American town with only box stores to its name. Driving off the highway that was disappointedly my first impression as I was met with the car garages, Canadian Superstore and fast food chains.

But my view soon changed as I arrived downtown and was pleased to see the murals and older buildings.

We've also got used to driving long distances. We thought nothing of driving 10 hours in a day back from Panorama last week much to the horror of my friends back home.

But one thing I will never get used to is the amount of space. I still find it incredible you can drive for hours and hardly go past a single house.

Our first Canada Day was spent in Moose Jaw and we visited Buffalo Pound — something we've now made a tradition as we also visited Thursday.

We stayed at 15 Wing for the first few days but later moved into our house. I remember feeling much more settled when our luggage arrived from England and I could unpack.

I spent a while sorting things out like a social insurance number, health card and driver's licence.

I also spent a lot of time looking for a job and just before we flew home from our wedding in September, I was told I had a position at the Times-Herald to come back to after our honeymoon.

One of the first community activities we took part in was Motif — which is coming round again soon. I remember we really enjoyed discovering Happy Valley Park and also cycling to Connor Park.

It took us a while to work out which supermarkets to use for different items. We now use one place for bulk items and tend to visit a couple others for the rest.

And I've gotten used to our extremely large fridge to put all the food in. Goodness knows how it will fit back in our fridge at home. It's tiny in comparison.

Of course the biggest change was when winter hit. The snow was such a novelty as were the more than freezing temperatures. At least we know what to expect this year.

We certainly enjoyed the winter months — watching hockey, ice-skating outdoors and getting properly dressed up for the cold.

We've had a very good first year in Moose Jaw — and we're looking forward to the second and becoming even more "Canadianized."

Rebecca Lawrence can be reached at 691-1258.