Tuesday 29 November 2011

A cup to your health!




The other day my husband made a surprising confession to me.  He said that for breakfast he had brewed some tea instead of our morning usual timmies (short nickname for Tim Hortons coffee).  Talk about something I had never expected to hear from him!  I mean I had never seen anybody drink as much coffee as he used to.

Coffee is huge in Canada, especially Tim Hortons coffee.  Although McCafĂ©® is becoming more  and more popular.  But Canadians are also avid tea drinkers.  I read in Stats Canada that in 2008 Canadians consumed about 79 litres per person in a year.  That's a lot of tea!  It must be a combination of the British legacy and the large Chinese and Chinese descendant population.  It's great news though since tea has so many health benefits like helping you build stronger bones.  

If you want to know more about the health benefits you get from drinking tea read this article from Canadian Living magazine here.  I just know that when I am waiting outdoors for the train to take me home, it feels great to sip on a warm cup of tea.


Monday 28 November 2011

BC Lions - The New Champions of the CFL

In case you didn't know it Canada has its very own football league.  It is called the Canadian Football League (duh!) or in musical sounding French the Ligue Canadienne de Football.  I admit I did not know this until I landed here.  I thought in football, like in hockey, Canada shared its major league with the US.

Yesterday the BC Lions won the 99th Grey Cup and British Columbians couldn't be happier.   My husband is one of them.  I don't think he is ever going to let me forget that we could have gotten tickets for the game a few months ago (when they were very affordable) but I assured him we would get them later because we had other financial priorities at the moment.  Unfortunately, tickets were going for $1500 a few days before the game.  I know I am going to be hearing about this for a long time.  

This win comes in a great moment to lift the spirits of British Columbians who are still heartbroken about their hockey team not winning the Stanley Cup in hockey.  Even I was cheering for them and I don't understand the game very well!  

Football is big in Canada.  Not as big as hockey of course, I mean nothing is as big as hockey here, but it comes a close enough second.   The CFL is an easy to follow league.  The football played here is supposed to be slightly different from American football.  The CFL has 8 teams divided into the East and West divisions.  Interestingly, the CFL expanded to the US for a few years in the 90s but that wasn't very successful and  in 1996 it became again an all-Canadian League.  I like it better that way.

See the game highlights directly from the CFL website here


My nephew posing with coach Jim Sandusky, a former BC Lions player

Sunday 27 November 2011

"Photographing the World Around You" - My favorite photography book so far

One of my fondest passions is photography.  If you happen to be like me, then you probably also spend countless hours browsing the internet for tips that will help you achieve the awesome images you know you are capable of producing but that for some reason rarely make it to your memory card.  I am going to give you the great tip you've been waiting for and that is read an awesome photography book and put the knowledge into practice right away.  No, don't discard my tip right away!  It works if you pick the right book.

I happen to have found a jewel at my university library and to my delight the author is a Canadian fella.
Photographing the World Around You by Freeman Patterson is by far my favorite book about photography!  It is not the newest book and it doesn't give you a recipe of tips that will magically improve your skills.  But it teaches you the "building blocks of visual design", like the the author puts it.  You know a photography book is good when you look forward to reading it and the pictures are there to give you that aha! moment.  I'm pretty sure you'll agree with me after you read it.  Because what is better than to truly understand what makes a photograph visually striking so that your creativity is focused on what you want to show rather that on how you are going to do it.

I can't wait to put my hands on all the other books he has published.  Just thinking of all the awesome pictures I will get in this very photogenic land gives me butterflies in my stomach!


If you want to know more about Freeman Patterson or buy his books his webpage is here.

I love this picture I took of my husband at Cultus Lake, BC.  I think it has good rhythm and a nice texture going on.  I wonder if Mr. Patterson would agree.



Saturday 26 November 2011

Welcome to my new adventure!

It occurred to me a couple of months ago how fun it would be to start blogging.  I happen to follow some wonderful blogs out there. I like them because, unlike with most webpages, you feel like somebody is sitting right in front of you sharing some knowledge or experiences.  So not being an expert on anything but knowing that I can contribute with something personal to the world I've decided to start sharing about my discovery of this exciting land I have just arrived to and I am loving so much which is Canada.
So here it is, my first post for a blog that will be about all things Canadian mixed up with a little bit of my own experiences in The True North.