We are at another stop on the journey, and this one has us back in Victoria, where we were both privileged to grow up. Darren is attending the University of Victoria and is completing a double major in computer science and geography. This will give him what he needs to work in 'Geoinformatics', which is well beyond what I can explain and given what I saw of his math homework, it is way beyond most of the people that I know.
Darren rides to and from school everyday and is doing at least 20km a day, so he is in great shape. Roy and I went to watch him play ultimate the other night and as luck would have it they were short players so both Roy and I had to jump in, saving the team and giving them their second win (just like Vancouver days). Actually, I don't think I did much more than take up space on the field, but that must count for something! Darren is busy most evenings with homework and studying so I am looking forward to starting my courses in May so I won't be pestering Darren with, "I'm bored" statements all the time. Actually, I have plenty of my own things to work on and books to read.
I start a new job tomorrow in the least likely of places. Okay, maybe not THE least likely place, since I am not working in a mall, a fancy office building, or serving in a restaurant, but I am working at Canada's oldest golf course! Yes, I have been hired as the head horticulturalist at a members only golf club in Victoria. Why did they hire me, you may ask. I don't know. But the superintendent is a very nice man, who is very flexible, so I can work in this position all through my schooling, taking the time off I need for my residency periods (3 weeks in May, November and April), the hours are flexible and the setting is the gorgeous Victoria seaside.
What is quite cool is the way I got the job. No, it's not what you are thinking. I didn't bribe them, or use some other method picked up from my time overseas. The week we arrived in Victoria back in December we were introduced to a lady at church who had a suite for rent. The suite is 750 sq. ft. attached to their house and is on a 5 acre llama farm. Yep, those large, camel like creatures that don't make a sound but spit if they don't like you! There are ten of them and they are quite fun to stare at through the bedroom window. Anyway, so when we went to go look at the suite, we knew we wanted it right away. It backs up onto a large park and a golf course under construction. Though it feels quite rural we are only minutes from Langford, the town where I grew up and a fast growing suburb of Victoria. Even at that, we are still only ten minutes drive from Victoria. Our landlady, who I'll call Sue, was telling us about the former tenant, a fellow horticulturalist, and she thought maybe her job was vacant. So she put me together with her former tenant, we talked and the day before I left for CAR I applied for her job. Sue agreed to hold the suite for us until I got back in mid-February, (God bless Sue), which was amazing since it is very hard to find a place to rent here, and the price is much lower than what others are finding here.
While I was in CAR, the golf course guy, let's call him Steve, called Darren wanting to interview me. He agreed for me to call him from CAR and I had my first interview with him from on top of a hill behind our house in Gamboula in order to get good reception. He asked me to call him when I returned to Canada so I did, had another interview out at the course, and I start work tomorrow as the head horticulturalist. Granted I haven't worked in the temperate zone for 6 years, haven't used power tools for a while, don't remember the names of plants or the seasons (yes, we have four seasons here), I am willing to put my best foot forward. As a good friend reminded me today, just take everyday as a day to do your best, work your hardest and find someone to bless. In no time at all, the journey will have you somewhere else and someone will be all the better for your time in Victoria. Maybe that someone will even be me!
Our new home. We are above the garage.
