Corona times

Since travel is not recommended due to the current situation, we have decided to look for a job in the eastern part of the country and finally found one. Therefore, we set off from the small town of Milo towards Toronto 3 weeks ago. Instead of traveling across the country, it has unfortunately become "only" a drive through Canada. Nevertheless, the 5000km were very beautiful. The route runs through a total of 4 provinces. From Alberta, it first leads through Saskatchewan. The first route takes us from Milo near Calgary all the way to Winnipeg in Manitoba. Up to this point, the Trans Canadian Highway passes countless farms. The landscape essentially does not change. Flat farmland on the left and right. Winnipeg, on the other hand, surprised us with its size and appearance. The city is considered the gateway to the prairies when coming from the east. For us, it is therefore the exit from the flat land. The city has about 700,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the province of Manitoba. The dominant industries in the city are manufacturing and financial services. The province is characterized by agriculture in the south and uninhabited regions in the north, where polar bears can be observed in late summer. Unfortunately, we only spend one night in a beautiful house and continue driving the next day. The next route takes us to Thunder Bay, a beautiful city with 100,000 inhabitants, located on Lake Superior. The "lake" is more like a sea, about the size of Austria, and offers a wide range of activities. The landscape changes significantly in Ontario. The route becomes curvier and follows the waterfront of the huge lake. A very beautiful, partly hilly route. After another stop in Sudbury, we finally arrived in Brampton.

Brampton is a suburb of Toronto with 60,000 inhabitants. The neighborhood reminds us of typical North American suburbs, as seen in movies. The majority of the population here is from India and works in the Greater Toronto Area (Greater Toronto Area with about 6 million people). We now live in a basement apartment with 3 rooms. The landlords are very nice and helpful. We were gifted with a bottle of whiskey and Toronto t-shirts. Unfortunately, the entire region is a bit more expensive and can be compared in price to cities like Munich or Frankfurt.

Our new employer is a huge tree nursery. It takes us about 15 minutes to drive there. If there wasn't a corona, we would probably have to plan at least 40 minutes. Our landlord usually commutes 90 minutes to work. The rush hour is currently suspended. The tree nursery is glad that we are there. Like many businesses in Germany, it relies on guest workers from Mexico and Jamaica. However, this year they can only come gradually and then have to go into a two-week quarantine. Similar to Eastern European harvest workers, they do a job that we don't want to do, for a wage that we wouldn't accept. The work consists of simple tasks such as driving flowers from A to B, bringing plants out of hibernation, pruning, weeding, etc. Since the beginning of the week, I have been working with 6 Mexicans. We plant in pots and put them in greenhouses. The men are usually here for 6-8 months, sending the majority of their money home and usually living in provided accommodations. Some have been coming here for decades. The money they earn here is several times the annual income in Mexico or Jamaica. They give up many friends and family and work 6 1/2 days a week. From my point of view, not exactly a fulfilling life, but I can't assess the situation in their home country. I occasionally converse with the people in a few sentences of Spanish. The atmosphere is always good and Mexican music is playing in the background.

In addition, there are some young people from the area working here who cannot currently attend university or are earning some money. A good thing, because despite the lockdown, we get to know a few new people.

During the week, we work from half past seven until half past five, so we don't do much on the side. A bit of sports, cooking, and watching series together is currently popular. On weekends, we play a bit of basketball or relax in the garden. Maybe next week we'll take the car to the Niagara Falls...

First, we will continue working for a few more weeks and then see what the situation brings. Paul wants to go back to Vancouver, Jordan doesn't know exactly what to do with himself yet, and I have to slowly start taking care of selling the car. Unfortunately, the majority of the travel part is canceled in the east, but that's not up to me and can't be changed. You can always come back to travel later.

By the way, winter has finally subsided and we can partially work in t-shirts. After 8 months of cold, that was much needed ;) And in a little over a month, we'll be going home :)