Glasgow callin

Heya folks, Glasgow calling! Just a wee check-in: We are adjusting back to the swing of working as much as we can and trying to save a little money. Carli-Ann's work has been great, if not a little hectic cycling all over the city, but I've met lots of great Scottish folk. I am now working at a few places which I may have mentioned before: with a social care recruitment agency that sends me out to a care home for seniors with dementia, and also to work with seniors in supported living accomodation where I get their groceries or clean their house or do their ironing or sit and chat and have tea and cakes (alot of tea and caking) which I really enjoy. For the month of March I am also nannying for a lovely family while the mother recuperates from surgery: 2 year old and a 5 year old, both boys who are teaching me how to say words "properly". I did a few shifts in a daycare with a temp agency, but I don't know if I will continue with them or not, I'll keep them as backup for now. And on April 10, I will be starting to work with the woman in Dumfries who I first contacted from Canada, pending my reference check. I will be working as her Personal Care Assistant like I did in Ireland, which I really enjoyed. That will be working 7days on straight and 7 off, so it will be a bit intense, but then that leaves us with alot of time on days off to explore Scotland and Britain. And we can only work until the middle of August anyways, so that only is for 4.5 months. We will still live in our flat in Glasgow, but I will commute to Dumfries weekly (about 2 hours on the bus or train). The only scary thing is that the first week that I am on, I will have to drive her in her van to and around Leeds, on the left side of the road, through a thousand "roundabouts" (traffic circles) and steering from the right side of the car! But she has agreed to get me a few professional driving lessons before I start, so hopefully I will feel a bit more prepared by April. Cycling alot is getting me used to the left side of the road again.

Mike is getting alot of catering work with a different temp agency, and is getting to know the city very well via the cycle paths. He has been working in Scottish Power, for an Indian wedding, at IKEA, and on the university and college campuses around town. He says that working in a new place every few days is stimulating for the brain, like brushing your teeth with your left hand!

We went out to Dumfries near the English border last weekend for the job interview and to stay with a Couchsurfing host in a nearby village. His mom was the village post mistress, and he rode a unicycle: I love the quirkiness of our hosts and guests! We have already hosted about 6 people from Hospitality Club and Couch Surfing, and have quite a number lined up in the coming months. He took us to the village pub for a pint, and the place went dead quiet when we walked in and everyone stared at us, just like in the movies! Then he drove us to Carlisle to go bowling, and the next day we went to a castle that was hosting the Scottish Final Sled Dog Racing on its grounds. No snow or sleds, but other than that, same idea as what you would see in Canada: dogs pulling tricyclish rigs, or mountain bikes, or scooters. We are heading up to Loch Ness for some monster-scouting for Carli-Ann's birthday this weekend, and are right stoked to go to Italy for a week at the end of April to see Carli-Ann's Grandma Betty who will be there on a tour!

We still have no flatmates, which is a wonderful thing as there are two other rooms to be filled and it has been six weeks now that we have had the place to ourselves! But we are quite convinced that as soon as we really settle in, that is when a stranger will appear in our kitchen and mess up our bathroom.

Wish us luck on our monster-hunting, and to all of you really thinking of visiting us in Scotland (Heiko, Daniel, Berna, Morten, Matt), you only have till August 18 to do it!