where we've lived

I don't need to look at this map to tell you that we've been lucky to live all over the world... I know it. Who knew that volleyball would take us this far - literally.

Beautiful British Columbia!

Even though it's been years and years and years since I lived on Canada's western shores, I still like to think of Vancouver as my home. My parents live there, most of my friends are there, and it's beautiful! It's where I grew up, and I'm always a happy girl when I've got my ticket booked to fly west. Since I didn't give Thetis a link of it's own on the world map, it will get lumped into this BC file for now; it's beautiful there too, and ooooh the more time we spend there the better. It's where we got married - and that extended weekend will forever remain one of the most amazing times of my life. Friends, family, spectacular weather... it was the best! Who knows where we'll end up, but Vancouver - and BC - is definitely on the radar.

Winnipeg, MB

The people! When people talk about Winnipeg they have to mention how great the people are there because it just wouldn't be very nice to say that there's nothing nice to say about Winnipeg. But really, it wasn't that bad there! Okay so the mosquitos are huge and it's ridiculously cold in the winter and the roads aren't the best, but the housing prices are affordable and it's where I met my lovely husband. More than a few matches were made when the men's and women's national volleyball teams were based there, but now that the guys have moved to La Belle Provence, it may be a thing of the past. Anyways! We had an apartment and then a house, and then just the apartment, and now too we have plans to hopefully some day go back and visit.

Bowmanville, Ontario

What, you don't know where Bowmanville is? Pssssht. Bowmanville is the largest community in the Municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, home to the Apple Fest, the Maple Fest, the oldest private zoo in Canada AND Steve Brinkman, born and raised. It's a nice place that is changing fast; the historic part of town is in danger of getting eclipsed by Walmart and a new Smart Centre but I'm sure all will hold steady. We've been regular visitors now that the men's national team is based in Gatineau, just four hours away, and we head home whenever we can. Lumped into this home will go the Crowe Cottage, the Brinkman-Tukker summer abode that holds many a memory for Steve and the Bowmanville clan. We've been regulars there too, and hopefully that can continue, as long as we're within range!

Gatineau, QC

OOOooh Quebec! Who knew we'd ever be calling the province of QC home... but we do! Sort of. Temporarily. While the men's national team is based here, and while Steve is still kickin' the can, Gatineau is home. We like living there - Ottawa is great, and Gatineau Park is be-autiful - but after two four years, we feel like we're still settling in. Whether it's the francais or the fact that you can buy beer and wine in the grocery store or the fact that we still don't have that many friends, we often feel like we're still overseas or away. Too, it might be due to the fact that the team is well, sort of new; many young guys have replaced the retirees that were good friends of ours: the Wolfendens, the Cardinals, the Youngbergs. Steve is the old guy on the team now - after 13 15 years! So it makes sense. And while he's still going strong, Gatineau is home.

Constanta, Romania
2008-2009

Oh Constanta, where to begin? Our experience in this seaside town really proved that people trump place; we had a great group of friends here that made our year top notch. Sure there were challenges: living in the Flora (three stars or four?), getting double-parked by a horse and cart, navigating shoddy roads and crazy drivers, but there were many a reward. Like I said, we had great friends there, and the weather was lovely. The food was okay, coffee and croissants (at Marrone Rosso) were fab and our apartment - minus the serious head thwaps on dangerously low doors - was good. And we had Ron! The closest we have come to owning a dog. Romania is a country faced with challenges galore, and we sure did have an interesting time there!

Roeselare, Belgium
2001-2002

Belgium will always hold a special place in my heart - it was the first place I lived in Europe and my first year with Steve. It was 2001: we'd met the summer before and after a few months apart, I decided to join him in Roeselare and look for a job playing volleyball. I trained with a team a few times, but it didn't look too promising; and then - and then -  I got a call with some good news: there was a team in Spain that needed a player... was I interested in flying to Tenerife for a tryout? So I left Steve and the Sporthaus on Henri Horriestraat across from the Nefertiti restaurant and so began my time in Tenerife. Visits ensued and we both had good seasons - it was a solid year!

Sete + Le Cannet, France
2000-2001+ 2005-2006

I can't really speak for Steve on this one but France was - here's a shocker - one of my least favourite places. Perhaps it's because it was my last year and I really would have rather been with Steve, or perhaps it's because our coach was not the best or hm. I'm not really sure. I had great friends (none of whom were French) there and really, who can complain about living 30 seconds from the Mediterranean? The food was good and I had time off here and there to visit Steve in Cagliari and ? that's about all there is to say about Le Cannet. Sete was Steve's first pro team and I've heard many a story about his enormous balcony and hanging out with Ross; I don't think it was such a bad year for him but, well, we neither of us have been back since. There was good, there was bad, there was bread and cheese and visits and these are things I will happily remember!

Tenerife, Spain
2002-2004

Tenerife was tops - an island! With beaches to be visited year round! We really hit the jackpot with our teams here; after my first half-year Steve was recruited by the men's team down south in Los Cristanos, and that's pretty much all she wrote. I came half-way through the season in Portugal, and then year three saw both of us there permanently - it was bliss! I became very good friends with Steve's Yaris Verso as it took me to and fro from south the north (and home again) every single day. We had visitors, saw mucho of the isla and are excited to one day return to visit.

Castelo da Maia, Oporto, Portugal
2002-2003

Oooooh Portugal. I have so many good memories and must have blocked most of the bad ones. I was there with two very good friends (Anne-Marie and Barb) and that made it so super fun, but the military style training and cold that pervaded life at the gym and life at home was, well, not so fun. Plus, I was not happy to be away from Steve for 8 months of my life, just a year or so into things. BUT people trump place (I'll say this again) and with Ross around too we had lots and lots and lots of fun. I could list my favourite memories now, but that's something that I think I'll save for later.

Indonesia 

2003

 Oh, what a season. I flew to Indonesia eight hours after we - Aguere Exentric (Tenerife) won (or lost?) our last league game in Madrid, and after some deep-fried chicken feet, was given my fluorescent green jersey and taken straight to the gym for game-time warm-up. And I forgot to put my contacts in! Anyways, yadda yadda... I joined Lisa in Surabaya, where we had an amazing time in our house, in and around the highly populated city, across Java and in Bali and Lombok; it was an unforgettable three months. And a paragraph won't do this experience justice... maybe I'll have to start an Indo-log? Indo-blog? If only there were time....

Italy
2004-2006, 2011-2012

Italia, ti amo! The food, the language, the volleyball - it's tops. Living in Calabria was interesting, for many reasons: we were ridiculously tall (people pointed and made no effort at hiding their incredulity), the food was cheap and out-of-this-world delicious, and well, we were kind of living in a place stuck in time - and both good and bad comes with a situation like that. The team was successful, Steve's contract was honoured and I had friends - it was all good! Sardinia (or Sardegna) was beautiful; Mediterranean island? Um okay. I was in France that year but we visited and Christmas-ed together and life was good. And then there was Trento which really was the best (can we go back and stay forever?) and all I really have to say about Italy is... I love it I love it I LOVE it!

Patras, Greece
2006-2007

Greece! You weren't so bad either. And if I didn't have those nagging vegetarian tendencies lurking back there in the dust, it would have been pure heaven. These folk sure do like their meat! And cheese and sweets and coffee - they all have their place in the established culture that is oh so world famous. Patras was our first (whole entire) season together, and it wasn't such a bad place to do yoga, read, cook, eat and travel. We had a few groups of visitors, and Athens and the islands were, of course, on our radar. And our time there left us with many a reason to head back - the people, the food (did I already mention that?) and the islands. There is so much to see and do in this country... oooh yes, we'll be back...

Yaroslavl, Russia
2008

Yaroslavl, Russia: it's three hours northeast of Moscow by way of an unlit, two-lane windy scary road with crazy speedy drivers at the wheel, and where we spent four months of our lives. Hindsight is 20/20, right? So, I'll say that it wasn't so bad. There was a park close to our spacious and well-equipped apartment (remember Steve's tour a la vodka?), and a pool, and I had a few friends. And I experienced the old-style birch branch sauna whipping, and hm. And I had trouble finding a bakery, and security guards followed me around in the grocery store and it was cold and dark and gloomy. But there was sushi! And a pizza place. And we visited Moscow and Steve played in Siberia and survived Aeroflot (Aeroflop), so it couldn't have been that bad, right? No, it wasn't. Whether we'd go back or not is another question, but we're always up for an adventure.

Tokyo, Japan
2009-2010

I don't even know where to start on this one. Tokyo was incredible. If you've ever thought about visiting (or not), visit; this was hands down the most amazing place we've lived! The people, the food, the organization, the everything! I'm not really sure what we expected going in, but it blasted it all out of the water. I had friends (!!), I volunteered, worked, went running, ate amazing food, traveled and we had loads of visitors. I'd like to say that Steve worked like a madman, but I'd be lying if I said that he worked harder than any of the Japanese guys on his team who put in a full day of work before their four (or five or six) -hour practices. Come May (and the end of the season), the team held on to stay in the top division, and, for the first time we were actually reluctant to leave. I can't wait to go back!

Beijing, China

2012-2013

When people ask me what it was like living in China, the first thing that comes to mind is the pollution - it was incredibly polluted there. A close second is this: I could have been almost anywhere, seeing as how I was learning to be a mother of two little kids; Alana was only 8 weeks old when we flew to The Big East. So really, it would have been very different had it been just the two of us. We lived in a posh apartment building, had a pool/spa and great friends downstairs (Freddie and Shanti), and ample halls to run in on smoggy days. Steve traveled quite a bit, so I was thankful for visitors and our friends in 1584. It's not a place that I'm overly interested in returning to, but it was an experience I'll never forget!

Where to next?