Saturday, January 31, 2009

Moving company vs. Canadian Customs

Yesterday I went to Williams Moving & Storage Ltd to see if our stuff was in good hands. I mailed Williams this week and I got a positive reply back from a very nice lady called Dorothy. So yesterday I went up there to collect some paperwork. Dorothy was very helpfull. She gave me a document that I had to give to Customs. So I went to Customs. Everything went ok too overthere and I got the necesary stamps that our shipment was A-OK. So with that stamped form I went back to Williams et voila, everything was ready to deliver. Williams will deliver our shipment on Tuesday. I hope we can pull the boxes of the palets cause our sidewalk is fully covered with snow. So I think we will need to move the 17 boxes inside by hand (again).
I do hope that everything has made it in one piece. But more on that later.
So yesterday I took the new car out for a spin. Since we are in the SW district and Williams was in the NE, I had some 35min of playing time to do on the highway. Good lord does this car have power!!! It so much fun to drive with. You have instant power whenever you need it. Nicole by the way, decided that I should name the car. Well she did it for me, cause I couldn't make up a name. She named the car 'Ginger'. Well if you think about it, that is an appropriate name for a furious red head :))) So from now on, the car is called Ginger and that means she's a girl (again).
So Sarah is still on the East coast of Canada for work. Everything is fine, long days, beautiful place. She promised to send some pictures over and when she does, I'll post'em up here. (or she can do an update by her self) *hint*

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Finally the CSRT4 is ours for real!

Hi guys, I know it's been a while sinds we've updated. Everything is still going ok so far.
So yesterday I was going to get the new car registered and I was planning on picking her up too but red tape decided that that wasn't going to happen. Now what went wrong exactly...
Since we have bought the car in both of our names, I couldn't get the car registered at all cause Sarah had to be there too. That's too bad cause Sarah's on the east coast right now for work. And she won't be in Calgary till the end of February, beginning of March. So I got a consent form from the registry office that basicly said 'I, Sarah, give Ollie the right to register the car in both our names'> Stupid stuff if you ask me. But anyways, I've scanned the document in last night, sended it to Sarah and luckely the filled in form was in the mail this morning. Wooptiedooptie.
So this mornig, got rid of the rental (it was also a Caliber) and got the SRT4.
OH MY GOD! This car is awesome... Too bad it was really warm today (7C) so everywhere you looked there were puddles of brown dirty melting water. So drove the car home, had a little bit of fun on the highway. And needless to say, the car is already dirty. Damn.
So here are some pictures. ENJOY cause I am!!!


Friday, January 23, 2009

Caliber SRT-4 is ours!

Today it was a big day for us. We bought the SRT-4!!!
The dealer wasn't to keen on selling it to us with a finance (cause we haven't been 'established fully', and we needed to have a co-signer) but when we said that we were willing to pay the whole price in cash, tables turned for the better.
So we are the proud owners of a Dodge Caliber SRT-4.





So with a new car, you need a new insurance. Back at home we went to our insurances and begged for a form of some sorts that prooved our driving record. But in Alberta that form doesn't count (or you have to be from the UK). So basicly, we have a very high insurance rate, cause, again, we haven't have the 'proof' we need (allthough I am driving for over 13 years now). We start from scratch, ouch!
Also we went to get our drivers licences. A simple swap, whohooo!!!
So the only things I have to do are: go to the bank for a certified cheque, go to the incurance company and wrap things up there, call the dealership, go and get our license plate and get the car!!!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

iPhones and cars

So a little update on our situation.

Today we went shopping for cars. Well, we knew what we wanted so we entered the Dodge dealership together with Chris and Nicole. Buying a car overhere is a LOT different then buying one in Belgium. We saw the salesperson, the head of sales, the financing guy, etc etc. Luckely, Chris was there to hassle a deal for us (he's the best with numbers) and he made a pretty good deal for us. (yes, Canadians do bargain for cars) So we almost bought a red Caliber SRT-4 today. The SRT-4 is the Caliber Sports model, full option, 285hp, turbo charged. We even got a fabulous test drive. Powerful car!!! Something else then my little Peugeot back home.
So now everything is in the dealerships hands. Hopefully our financing gets approved. We should give the guy a call tomorrow after 1pm.

On the other hand, we bought 2 iPhones today. So we both have new cell phone numbers.
Also we went to the registration office to swap our drivers licenses, but we have to go back tomorrow, because they need to see an official document (or documents) that state our new address. They want proof we live were we say we live (or something). Again very different then in Belgium. And we don't have to do any theoritical test or driving test!

Here are some pictures of our "basement appartment" ;)





O, and these are the flowers we recieved from Ann & Yves. Thanks a lot guys!!!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

We have arrived in Calgary!

We made it! We arrived in Calgary at 4.45pm after an excellent flight with Air Canada. We were a bit worried about immigration... They mostly ask difficult and annoying questions but not this time! Everything went smoothly and at 5.10pm we were officialy landed immigrants. Next step was getting through customs. And guess what, no problems at all! They didn't even search our bags. Luckily we had a very detailed list of the items we were bringing with us and items that will arrive later and the "custom lady"was happy.

Once we got out of the custom zone Nicole and Chris were waiting for us. What a surprise! Picking up the rental car was pretty funny. We reserved a car via the internet, we got a chevy impala but the keys didn't match with the car. So we ended up with a Dodge Caliber. Well actually we were allowed the choose another car and since we want to buy a Caliber we decided really quickly. No more testdrive for us!

We followed Chris & Nicole to their home but got stuck before a red traffic light. We didn't find them anymore but we are already real Calgarians and drove blindly to their house. And no, we have been there only once and there wasn't even a street.
Chris made us some excellent diner. Olli got his Alberta beef and was happy :)












Today we went to the bank to arrange new bank accounts, we got our social insurance number and explored all the good shops in Calgary. ( more about that later)

Oh, we forgot to mention a big thank you to Chris & Nicole. They arranged their basement for us. We have a tv-corner with sofa and accesories. We have a huge bed, closet,...

And today we received flowers from Belgium! Well, the flowers were canadian but the sender is Belgian. Thank you Yves & An for the beautiful flowers! And by the way Yves, happy birthday!!!




Monday, January 12, 2009

Geslaagde fuif!

Maandag, en we zijn nog steeds aan het bekomen van de geslaagde fuif! 
We waren en zijn nog steeds heel gelukkig dat het ons gelukt is om heel veel familie en heel veel vrienden samen te krijgen voor ons afscheid. Onze avond kon niet stuk!!! We hopen dat iedereen ervan genoten heeft. Want wij hebben dat alvast wél gedaan. Ook in 'den album' staan er vertederende woorden. Zo lief, we waren zondag, toen we het allemaal lazen, écht wel blij dat we zo'n goeie vrienden hebben.
Langs deze weg willen we dus NOGMAALS gemeende dankjewel's verspreiden aan iedereen die er was. Dankjewel om ook onze doos zwaar te vullen! Als we vriendschap konden vergelijken met de centjes die we hebben gekregen van iedereen, dan hebben we een heel pak goeie vrienden! Het geld zal heel goed besteed worden. We houden jullie uiteraard op de hoogte wat we er precies met aanvangen. Maar eerste kosten zullen uiteraard volgende dingen zijn: auto, mac, telefoon (iPhones? mmm maybe), en uitkijken naar ons eigen huis.
Straks gaan we nog onze rekening gaan vereffenen bij 'den brouwer', en de zaal gaan betalen. Deze morgen de lichtinstallatie al teruggedaan. En kijk zie, straks naar de belastingen om het formulier 'personenbelastingen SPECIAAL'. Ben eens benieuwd. O en naar de bank ook, ons centjes 'veilig gaan stellen'.

Ook nog een oproepje. Als je foto's hebt van de fuif. Gelieve die dan door te sturen naar ons mailadres!!! 

Friday, January 9, 2009

1 day to go tot de fuif!

Nog één dagje en de 'megafuif' kan beginnen!!! We kijken hier echt wel naar uit. De laatste weken waren toch wel druk te noemen. Dat is de reden waarom we de blog een beetje verwaarloosd hebben. Maar goed, daar komt nu verandering in.
Alles loopt vlotjes. De bewegwijzeringspijlen zijn gemaakt, de zaal wordt deze middag ingericht, fotoman is ook ok, DJ is in form, enz enz
Gisteren, dankzij het 'Canadese weer' hier, heb ik een sneeuw (en hopelijk ook ijs-) vrij baantje gemaakt in het steegje dat toegang geeft tot de zaal waar de megaparty zal doorgaan. Hels karwei. Maar het is toch gelukt. Beetje zware handenarbeid in dit vriesweer kan deugd doen om de zinnen te verzetten.
Voor de rest hebben we beide nie echt last van stress of zenuwen. Alles loopt zoals gezegd vlotjes. Bankzaken zijn zo goed als in orde, alles wat moet afgesloten worden is bijna allemaal afgesloten, enz enz
Soit, ik ga mijn schoonmoeder nog wa 'meehelpen' met soep maken (lees kijken hoe ze het doet)
Tot zaterdag! You better get your ass over there!!!!!