Winter is Here! Am I ready?

Please welcome our newest teacher, Ms. Kerrie, to the VVA Family! She brings with her a spirit for fun, creativity, and exploration! We love her ready-for-anything attitude, just how Via Vita rolls. And we love that she focused her blog post around snow - as it has been fun seeing her go from loving the snow to being done with the snow. Welcome, Kerrie! We are thrilled to have you join the VVA Team!

After finding out that I received my visa to come and work in Canada after living and studying in the UK, the first thing that I thought about was having a reality I have always dreamed about… snow! We got a ‘good’ snowfall about once every 8-10 years, which compared to Canada is a light flurry. Little did I know the reality of it all would brush off very quickly. Seeing the possible temperatures, I realised I would have to dress like a big marshmallow in order to function on a daily basis (thankfully I’ve been acclimatizing pretty quickly - 0 degrees is no longer cold but merely mild). Never thought I would love snow pants and snow boots more than any other item of clothing in my two suitcases and tiny house closet! 

Winter is seen as a very magical time of year, with the holidays and fairy lights all around; drinking hot chocolate and most importantly getting to spend time with family. Since moving here, I haven’t had my family around to enjoy the traditions over winter that we have been creating year upon year since I can remember. This year is definitely about creating new traditions and on top of that a new lifestyle (soon I’ll be saying the native lingo before you know it, eh). 

Since starting at Via Vita, the one thing that has always stuck with me was the word family. Via Vita prides itself in acting as one big family and they have definitely fulfilled. Via Vita has definitely become a family to me since I started here and supporting me to create new traditions such as community week, the Christmas dinner and singing carols. I never thought that my British quirks would fit in so nicely with a bunch of Canadians. 

When I moved here, Kate and I also brought up our tiny house (a major 2 year project for Kate). It was a rocky start especially down at Peggy's Cove - we had no idea what it was going to be like in the winter. Now experiencing it, I love the house to pieces but there are many times that I wish we had a normal apartment (having to fill up our interior 25 gallon tank with 5 18L bottles every couple weeks, having to shower at the gym so we don't use excess water until we get well access or having to turn on our portable heater for as long as possible until we go to sleep so the house stays warm over night). Peggy's Cove is a beautiful and peaceful place to live but it's going to be such a nice feeling not having to drive down it in snowy weather! Despite all the struggles we've had starting this new adventure, I can’t wait to finish off this winter in style, continuing to accumulate more and more traditions in years to come. 

Cheers to that!

Ms. Kerrie