Welcome to Winnipeg

Hi from "Espresso Junction" at The Forks in Winnipeg. I dropped Claire and her new little friends at the Health Sciences Centre this morning for the second part of her "C.A.P.E." exams. Formalities formalities. I don't think those of us who aren't doctors can fully appreciate how annoying this type of thing must be for them. Imagine finishing something as difficult as Medicine, and working as a doctor for years (like 35 of them for some people) and then some stupid country says "We don't REALLY believe that you are a good doctor. We are too lazy/busy to assess you ourselves, so we make it your responsability (and expense - sheesh) to prove it to us. Yes we need you all desperately, but we aren't going to make an effort."

Okay, so Canada isn't a stupid country, but its easy to get annoyed when you bust your hump to get to the first COMPULSARY day of the exams only to have a half hour "Dont cheat" talk. We made a big effort (I picked Claire up from a 24 hour call with the car packed already and drove like a ... South African to get here on time), but there were people who had an even harder time getting here. It's silly. You can have a cheque cleared over night though, so its all good.

What else? Well, day one was quite a stressful drive, an awesome hotel room, and then a bit of KFC. Then we went to find somewhere to do a bit of shopping (Yorkton has very little worth buying) some eating. We found a lovely little place called "Confussion corner" on a very confusing corner and sat down to find THIS on the menu.


We asked about it, and apparently its some kind of "citrus vinagarette" or something. We suggested they change the name.

Yesterday was pleasant enough - Claire did her first hour long oral exam and I explored Winnipeg a bit. Nice place. We got told by everyone we spoke to that its rubbish, but it really isn't. Feels nice and international and cosmopolitan and first world. Pretty in places too.


The contrast between the winter and the spring is striking. We spoke to two other South Africans doctors on the way to the exam this morning (we gave them a lift from the hotel) and they were saying it struck them too. The one guy said that they used to use a "lake road" but now the lake is water again they have to drive round. And that took only two weeks to happen.

Well, enough of that. I've had 4 espressos now and used up more than enough bandwidth at the cafe, so I'll leave it there. Still have loads of "city-ing to do, so will get on with it.

That is all.