start with unpacking, end with food

Ugh, unpacking. We are no longer in Ontario but finally, after (almost) three weeks, in our apartment, our home, in Gatineau, Quebec. We arrived Sunday night and have been unpacking bags, boxes, giant tupperwares and wedding gifts ever since. Now, the M.O. is to organize and settle in: we've been to Costco, Walmart and Ikea with lists for everything from kitchenware (cutting boards, sponge holder, canisters) to bathroom stuff to normal household things (tide pen (spilled red sauce on my new favourite shirt last night), tin foil, saran wrap, food, etc. At Ikea today we looked at bedroom furniture (we need new stuff), and bought a desk and a chair for a total of $150... not bad. I'm feeling better now, but definitely had some jammers throughout the week: I'm sick of packing and unpacking all the time and feel (sometimes) that with all of this stuff that we have to cart around and deal with I'd rather just live in a tent in the woods (sometimes); I haven't found a doctor here, so I was a bit stressed about that (solution: go to UOttawa clinic tomorrow morning) and lastly, I miss my friends and wish that I'd had more time with people in Vancouver.

So, a funny thing: my default language is still set to Japanese. In the grocery store yesterday I sort of bumped into someone and she said something in french and I said "sumimasen" - wrong language there missy. The french thing is so far so good, and I'd say that I understand around 60% of what people say and I know for SURE that I'd understand more if I could either speed up my listening comprehension or have everyone talk half as fast. Hmmm... the solution there, I believe, is to study, which I plan to do. Unpacked wedding gifts: we are using our toaster on a regular basis and yesterday, I baked bread in our fabulous new bread maker! YUM! Thank you Tukker family. After ploughing through a few loaves of Savary Island's delicious soda bread in West Van, we decided that WE will experiment with a few soda bread recipes... and of course with many of the other deliciously named recettes (cinnamon swirl bread and pesto focaccia loaf coming right up). I've also been making my way through a cookbook that Carla, Chris and Layne gave us, The Flavours of Canada: A Celebration of the Finest Regional Foods. There are lots of informative little blurbs about regional and provincial ingredients, chefs, inns and hotels, noted restaurants and restauranteurs, food get-togethers, celebrations, festivals and more. It is a great book - something to get out of the library and peruse, or perfect as a gift to any foodie. Speaking of food, it's time to get supper on the go - we've got to get our new kitchen warmed up! Food... yum.