#16 Natural Forces

Human, unlike other this time not Friday, but already Thursday (in my time) a new post. It also makes sense, because if I experience more tomorrow, this will be an endless entry :D

From Saturday to Sunday a storm swept over the mountain and in the middle of the night I heard a cracking noise, which quickly became louder and then BAM! I'm still alive, I thought, that's good, because it sounded pretty close. The next day I went around my yurt to check the height of the surrounding trees. I actually almost survived them all :D Unfortunately, the last days on the farm were also accompanied by strong headaches and stomachaches, so I spent most of the time in my yurt and didn't do much. But I was fit again for my second-to-last day on Monday. The plan up to this point was that I would be taken to the ferry early on Wednesday morning so that I could manage all the other routes. Monday was accompanied by a little snow, which didn't become dangerous. So we could shovel out the chicken coop properly and fill it again. That's probably the only day of the year when the chicken coop smells good. Afterwards, we brought various "children's trees" and other plants into the greenhouse to protect them from more snow. This day was rounded off with a sauna. I really enjoyed that. I sat there for at least two hours (of course with a few cool-down breaks in between), but you don't want to go outside when you know it's minus two degrees and a cold bucket of water is waiting for you. I definitely survived the buckets of water and so I was refreshed for Tuesday. The farmer informed us (another Wwoofer was supposed to leave with me) that there was a possibility that we would have to leave on Tuesday instead of Wednesday if the announced amount of snow of about 10 centimeters actually came down. On the way to breakfast, it started to snow lightly, but that was nothing. Unfortunately (at this point), all the water pipes were frozen again, so I couldn't wash my clothes anymore. The window in my yurt was covered by the light snow and it wasn't warm enough yet for the snow to melt. Because of this darkness, I was really sluggish and didn't make any progress....then I thought at some point - "now it's time for lunch". So, I went back to Tilly and cooked and ate there. Sluggish as I was from eating, the slow packing continued. Meanwhile, the snow had increased significantly, as had the wind. There were already several centimeters of snow that had to be fought through. After I packed a few things, there was a knock on my door and the Wwoofer, with whom I would be leaving the next day, came in and just said: I have some bad news for you.

By now, a real snowstorm had developed outside and the farmer could not guarantee that he could drive me down the mountain tomorrow morning (for example, if there was too much snow or fallen trees blocking the way). It was less of a problem for the Wwoofer, as her flight wasn't until the next day. So, my departure was moved from Wednesday 6:45 a.m. to "Now". This meant quickly packing my travel backpack, then walking 15 minutes through the snowstorm to the Tally, quickly booking a hotel there, collecting my things, saying goodbye to the farmer's mother, and another 15-minute walk back to finally pack all the remaining things. I was so stressed and also somehow really annoyed because I was so sluggish and caused unnecessary stress. On top of that, it was also a strange goodbye. I couldn't properly say goodbye to some people because everything happened too quickly. That was really sad. So, the farmer left with me and we couldn't see anything. And then, when he also said that he didn't know if he could continue driving because it was really going crazy, I thought to myself that I'm going to die from stress :D We then went down the mountain at a snail's pace and then whoosh....snow and fog disappeared, rain was there. That was so weird, but there was a real weather boundary again and since we were above it, we got the full snowstorm. But even down in the "valley" it was snowing and there were so many cars in the ditch. In one curve there were five cars. Thank goodness for the truck. Then it was time to say goodbye to the farmer and wait an hour for the ferry - fortunately in a room, because there was still an extreme storm outside. It was so strong that all ferries to Vancouver (my actual destination) were cancelled, so I had to spend the night in Victoria on Vancouver Island. During the ferry ride, I was really glad not to see how much the ferry was swaying, but the ride was characterized by strong waves. In Victoria, I finally arrived at my hotel. At first, I didn't understand that I had to pay a deposit of $100 and I thought suddenly my room had become $100 more expensive, also a short moment of shock :D But then I finally made it and it even had a bathtub! And yes, I know that a few weeks ago I talked about saving water and how important it is for our environment and I am 100% behind that, but you know - I am also only human and not a saint :D Sometimes I feel the need to briefly ignore environmental protection, and that bathtub has relieved a lot of stress while I was soaking in it. The next morning, luckily the storm had calmed down and the ferries were running again to Vancouver, so I went 1 ½ hours towards the mainland. Unfortunately, I didn't see any whales, but due to the cold weather, I wasn't outside the whole time either. Afterwards, I took the bus to the airport, because now my first domestic flight ever was scheduled. Honestly, I find domestic flights quite unnecessary and we won't even mention the environmental impact, but flying is hardly avoidable here if you don't have your own car. The bus ride would have taken more than one day with various stops, so financially it didn't make much difference (if you don't consider the unplanned hotel bill in Victoria). Therefore, I decided to fly. At the same time, I also bought CO² offset. This is possible on various websites. Your CO² consumption during the flight is determined and then calculated how much this offset costs. The money is used to finance sustainable projects. I don't care if this sounds meaningful to you. It calmed my conscience a little bit and I support sustainable projects with it.

So, I flew to Williams Lake with a really small plane. By the way, such a small plane is also tossed around very well when it is windier at higher altitudes. That was really intense and the one woman hardly took her cramped fingers off the seat. Really crazy, but probably completely normal. After reaching our maximum flight altitude after about 30 minutes, we actually descended again, because the wind had the advantage that we were much faster. Arriving in Williams Lake, I had to wait briefly for my new colleague Fathi. Fathi came to Canada from Turkey five years ago and is now permanently employed at my new workplace. By the way, Fathi was at the dentist's. This means that if I have problems with my teeth here, I would have to go to Williams Lake. This is significant because my new place is just three hours away by car and that means here: we live in the vicinity (!!) of Williams Lake - because such a distance is really nothing for the people here. When we then drove around a curve after about 30 minutes, Fathi said to me...so, from here on there is no reception anymore. So, comprehensive network coverage is simply not feasible in this country, so this is probably just normal here. But if something had happened to us, well... that would have been it. For example, we only had the first car on our lane after two hours, so waiting for cars can also take a long time.

But why did I actually choose such a remote place in the middle of nowhere in B.C.? Here is a little story:

But it came to pass at a time when some of my former students had not yet been born when I myself was still warming the school bench. When I initially took the bus, we once had a winter that was so cold that when I took a deep breath through my nose, my nostrils froze together. That was really cold.

And that's exactly what I wanted for Canada. I want to have a real cold winter here, which I will probably curse often, but it should be really cold. With this decision to come here, I now have this winter. On the drive to this place it was minus 32 degrees. I have never seen such a temperature live in my life. While Fathi and I were talking about how money is not the path to happiness, an orange flickering appeared on the horizon and then we saw it. There was about a kilometer long strip of forest completely on fire. My second forest fire at minus 30 degrees. HOW?! My new employer explained to us that it could also be that after a certain forest area is cleared, all remaining wood is piled up and burned. But then it must have been a large area. During the drive, we also drove through different settlements. Only people from indigenous population groups live there and no one who does not belong to this group is allowed to live there. When we finally arrived after three hours, the shopping was quickly unpacked and then it was time for me - due to the time - to go to my own cabin. In the evening, I tried to capture the starry sky here, but the light in the cabin was on and the moon was pretty bright. On top of that, it was also just too cold. During the night, we reached minus 40 degrees. However, this is not normal here (at this time of year). Last year, on December 1st, there was not even any snow here, and this is supposed to be the coldest first December in over 15 years. This weekend, it will be alarmingly warm with minus three degrees. Today I was shown the property a bit and now I just enjoyed the sunset with a fantastic view while writing this blog post.

You see, if I had waited for tomorrow, this blog post would have exploded :D

What am I actually doing here and how did I get this job? I will answer that next time.

Samuel