A New Challenge!

Posted by Ian On June 5, 2009

I'm pleased to announce that I have started my own little company - mare ad mare, which is latin for 'sea to sea' and part of the Canadian motto (check the cover of your new passports). Our goal will be to build a fresh new brand of clothing for Canadian (and wannabe Canadian) girls. I will be using this blog, much as I have in the past - to continue showing people around the globe (over 50 countries now!) what it's like to be a Canadian girl, tracing the footsteps of our 3 girls as we explore more of this great place we call home.

Un petit baiser

Unique shirt for Canadian girls

'Gimme a little kiss' - says it all. Now for big girls! Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

JUMP IN!

Fall shirt for Canadian girls

A big pile of leaves for you here! As a Canadian summer turns to fall, the leaves change colours and then fall off the trees. Kids rake them up and play! So go on, Jump into Fall with this Orange T. Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Pass the Marshmallows!

Summer shirt for Canadian Girls

Summer in Canada is the time for camping, camp fires and of course - Marshmallows! Get ready to go roast some in this summer yellow T. Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Spring...Finally!

Spring shirt for Canadian Girls

After a long Canadian winter, spring can never arrive too soon! Pull on this Spring Green T and go planting girls! Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

It's not ALWAYS cold in Canada...

Winter shirt for Canadian Girls

How many times have you had to tell someone that it's not always cold here? Well, sometimes it is cold - but to make your point, grab this little winter blue T and let them know that it's not just snow and ice up here all the time! Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Un petit baiser

Unique shirt for Canadian girls

'Gimme a little kiss' - says it all. Girls, grab this little white T, and go get your kiss ;-) Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Showing posts with label New to Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New to Canada. Show all posts

Back to school!

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Just as it appears as though summer might actually make an appearance, the kids headed back to school yesterday.

It's so different from how I remember it - maybe it's because I was in a french immersion program, or maybe it's the new class size limitations - but there weren't 4 different classes for every single grade. We didn't need to wait for the first day to find out who we had for a teacher, or who was going to be in our class... I went to school from year to year, with the same group of kids. We knew who the teacher was for the next grade, and that was going to be your teacher the next year.

In this exploding area of Ottawa however, even with a new school opening up nearby to take a good chunk of the kids - it's still school-yard chaos on day 1. Papers posted on the walls for all the kids to see which class they're in, and for the older students - they had to wait to get into the gym to get their assigned teachers and classes... I can only imagine what kind of crazy the gym would have been for that. It's a brand new school, only a few years old - but they've put an addition on it now, and have 10 or 12 portables in the yard to hold all the kids. Of course they're still building a pile of homes in the area too - where the heck are they going to fit them all?!?! More great city planning Ottawa.

What's more amazing, is the names on the class lists... The ratio of boys to girls is at least 4:1 and the names, like the area, is so diverse. There's a ton of new canadians in the area, from Indian to Russian, Muslim and Chinese - the regular old 'canadians' are the minority here. Where I grew up, they used to have seperate areas in the class lists for Mc's and Mac's on top of the M's. Not quite the same problem here. Meghan said she had a few new boys in her class, one who's first name was Zhang, the other who's last name was Zhang ;-)

But the girls seem relatively happy with their classes and teachers, so here's to hoping for a good year for them!

bummer summer though...


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6 month anniversary

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I received a nice little note over the weekend from our friends that had moved to town from Germany. I wrote a little about their arrival back in February - New Canadian and since then, they have settled in somewhat and are enjoying our rather crappy summer, but are definitely looking forward to some heat... Hope this week is good, as their kids and ours are on a week long summer camp with the YMCA.

Back to the note... he had wanted to post it on the blog, so I was more than glad to oblige!

Dear Ian and Sara,

Today, I completed my first 6 months in Canada! These months have been hectic and challenging but surely enriching. Even though they are dark clouds in the horizon and lot of uncertainties, we still think that coming to Canada was a great choice.

We enjoyed our very first Canada Day celebrating with your wonderful Canadian family and hope to take pleasure in many more such days in your generous land: Canada.

We thank your family for all you have done to help us settle down and feel at “home“ in this new Country, Continent, Culture and all the things that come along. We have travelled and lived around the world: France, Japan, India, Belgium, Germany (where we first met) and now Canada… We sound like professional travelers? Yet every move is tough and consumes a lot of energy. But this time it has been smoother, and this is thanks to the McMartin family, for their time and goodwill in helping us.

Thank you, Merci

Arabinda and family


I hope that they continue to enjoy their lives here, especially as the 6 month 'honeymoon' phase fades in the rear view mirror... the next 6 months will contain another decent chunk of winter. The first winter is nice, unique - all good, but I guarantee that next winter they'll be cursing the snow, after having shovelled for the 100th time, just like everyone else!

For now, I'll let them enjoy the summer (as crappy as it's been so far) and let them know that we were very glad that we could help them get settled, and we're even happier that they're here to stay.


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A new challenge

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I've never been one to sit around and wait for things to happen. Being 'unemployed' for the first time...ever...has given me more time than ever before to look at new opportunities. And really, with the current economic climate, you have to look at anything and everything. I've always wanted to own and operate my own business, and recently I've been wanting to try something a little different that the IT world that I've worked in my whole life. I've also wanted to expand on my comfort zone - work on marketing, branding, accounting, business management, sales, design...etc and I want to produce something that I can touch and feel...more than just 1's and 0's for a change.

With all that said, I'm pleased to announce that I have started my own little company - mare ad mare, which is latin for 'sea to sea' and part of the Canadian motto (check the cover of your new passports). Our goal will be to build a fresh new brand of clothing for Canadian (and wannabe Canadian) girls. I will be using this blog, much as I have in the past - to continue showing people around the globe (over 50 countries now!) what it's like to be a Canadian girl, tracing the footsteps of our 3 girls as we explore more of this great place we call home.

I have built a website at www.mareadmare.ca to display the shirts, provide links to the blog, where to buy and colouring pages. Take a look - let me know what you think!

We're starting the brand through 5 Tshirts, 4 of them representing our 4 seasons. We've taken elements of Canadiana and boiled them down to a fun design and a cute saying. These designs are kid approved, and have been updated through some great feedback on an earlier round of ideas on this brand. Special thanks to XUP, Jenn and others who commented - Hope you like the changes!

The line
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Spring...Finally!


After a long Canadian winter, spring can never arrive too soon! Pull on this Spring Green T and go planting girls!












Summer - Pass the Marshmallows!


Just in time for summer. Summer in Canada is the time for camping, camp fires and of course - Marshmallows! Get ready to go roast some in this summer yellow T.










Fall - Jump In!

A big pile of leaves for you here! As a Canadian summer turns to fall, the leaves change colours and then fall off the trees. Kids rake them up and play!

So go on, Jump into Fall with this Orange T.









Winter - It's not ALWAYS cold in Canada.


How many times have you had to tell someone that it's not always cold here?
Well, sometimes it is cold - but to make your point, grab this little winter blue T and let them know that it's not just snow and ice up here all the time!





A kiss - Donnez-moi un petit baiser!



'Gimme a little kiss' - says it all.
Girls, grab this little white T, and go get your kiss ;-)











In stores near you
We will be looking for retail partners to sell our line across the country, but for those who don't have a retail partner nearby (or are located abroad) - I've setup an etsy shop for the moment.
If you know someone or a store in your town that might be interested - please let me know! (I'm great with kick-backs! )

First showing - Westboro, this Saturday!
This weekend - we will have a table at the Westboro Garage Sale at Dovercourt! Not the most glamerous start, but figured it would be a good opportunity to get out and get some feedback on the shirts, see what kind of success we might be able to have... I hope to have the girls there helping me out (in between dance lessons). We'll be handing out colouring books for those poor kids that had to be dragged out to the garage sale - hope to see you there!

I'm pretty excited to get this going (finally after it being in my head for almost 2 years now...). I'll be updating the blog with business notes too now - hope you don't mind, but it should be an interesting journey. Can't wait.

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New to Canada - part deux

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Continuing the tale of our 'New to Canada' friend, we went house hunting and car shopping last weekend. He was looking for a home to rent in our area - so the kids could go to school together (ease the impact a bit).
Managed to see a few places on both Saturday and Sunday - some weren't in the right area, others not available just yet, but then we managed to look at a place that was perfect!

It was the right size, in the right area, the right price and AVAILABLE! We were very lucky to find one so quickly - but glad it worked out so well.

I took him to the local Toyota dealership, and we looked at a few vehicles. At first, we looked at the Cienna - but seeing it up close, it was huge! At least to a guy that had just arrived from Germany, where the biggest cars would be considered average at best here... After speaking with the Rep, we started to look at the Rav4 - was a decent size, and had the option of a 3rd row of seating. Also had 4wd, a nice option for someone not used to driving in the winter here.

For a break - we took him to Tim Horton's! It's basically a religion in Ontario and most of Canada... It's about as Canadian as you can get with coffee and donuts as the main attraction. It was one of the places we used to always insist on visiting when we came back from overseas! Of course it's not quite the same as it used to be - it's owned by the Wendy's burger chain now, but we choose to ignore that point. They just about lost me forever with that stupid Tim card - no longer accepting debit etc... they say it's for speed, but we know better...

For you expats out there - what's the furthest you've taken Timmies? I've smuggled some in my car down to my work friends in Virginia...

Anyways - thought I'd grab some video of the 'occasion'. He seemed pretty pleased with the day, and the treats.



BTW - Peanut Butter is VERY uncommon outside North America. You can find it - but you have to really look, and it's not that good either...
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New to Canada

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I welcomed a new Canadian into town yesterday. We had met him and his family while we were living in Germany, and he has recently accepted a position with a local company - so is brand new to Ottawa, and Canada...

Having just arrived, and not receiving much in the way of help, I was only too happy to assist. We ourselves had gone through this same life-altering move a few times, and so we know what it's like - and it would have made our lives a little easier (and our time more enjoyable!) when settling in those places if we had had someone to guide us through the process and introduce us to our new surroundings a little better.

It is sooooooooo important to get off on the right foot, and not make those first few decisions bad decisions that end up haunting you...

He had been told that our public transportation system was quite good. I don't know if I'd go that far - hello light rail system... but of course, right now there is NO public transit thanks to our 40 day old strike! It's pretty much impossible to get a car rental or lease now... So I offered to take him around to get a few things done.

Checking out the area

I picked him up from his new workplace yesterday afternoon, and gave him a whirlwind tour Morgan's Grant, Bridlewood and Kanata in general. Also got him up to speed on some of the local customs. He mentioned having read 'How to be a Canadian', but I guess didn't cover everything...

So many questions!

Obviously he's interested in some key things - house or apartment, rent or buy, car - lease or buy and those things we can take our time with - you should not rush into those decisions.
But as I showed him around Morgan's Grant, we discussed townhomes, semi-detached, single family homes... coming from Europe where most people don't buy and sell their homes as we do in North America, there's definitely a different approach. Going from a 100 square meter flat (about 1000 sq. feet) to a home in the area that would be at minimum 1500 sq.ft (plus a basement) is a big change.

The sun was setting, but with the streetlights on, I was able to take him by some of the different types of homes, showed him the schools, some of the parks, talked about the local bike trails, skating rinks...etc It really is a nice area to live and raise a family. And in this neighbourhood, you don't have to worry about feeling like a minority - the minority is in the majority here! So close to the tech park, there are people from all over the world living right here. I can go to the park any day of the week and hear ten different languages!

Shopping

After that little tour, he needed to get setup with a few things - namely a cell phone and laptop, so I took him to our Canadian based electronics superstore - The Future Shop.
I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get setup with a phone without a bank account or permanent address, but we managed to go through the options with the sales agent, and he ended up with a Koodo phone, which allows him a little flexibility later, but gets him a phone quick. He also managed to get a nice laptop to stay in contact better with his wife and kids back home. He found it strange to see the staff being so helpful, but quickly realized that as they introduced him to new possible items - the totals very quickly rose!

As we needed to wait for the laptop to be setup with everything, I introduced him to our supermarket - Loblaws. I also had to inform him that he wouldn't be able to get beer, wine or liquor and the supermarket - which gave him a bit of a surprise. So then I had to show him one of my favourite stores... the liquor store...

Still needing to kill some time before picking up his computer, we stopped into Chapters - the Canadian equivalent to Barnes and Noble I suppose, where he picked up a few city maps and some books for his kids. I had to recommend some Robert Munsch books to him, being new to Canada - he's lots of Canadiana to get caught up on - and for kids, Robert Munsch is the king of Canadian kids books. His books are great, and if you get the chance - have a look at this vid - he's slightly crazy, but that's the great thing about him - and when he reads his stories, he's so animated very fun to listen to and watch.



And that was pretty much it for the night... he was starting to fade - jet lag setting in!
If there are new canadians out there looking for tips...just ask!

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    About Me

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    It's not about the money you make, the toys you have, the clothes you wear - it's about the life experiences you go through, the challenges you face and the stories you tell... Having just moved back to Canada (after almost 8 years in the U.S and Germany), we have lots to show our girls and our friends around the world about Canada. We're going to be telling our stories, hope you enjoy our adventures. Mare ad Mare means 'sea to sea' and we want to show the world, from Sea to Sea - this is what it's like to be a Canadian Girl!