Xmas in Canada

Well.. so Xmas away from home is a little strange, but Jaimes folks have made it much better than I thought it would be... that and Lauren adopted a polar bear for my xmas present.

So for Xmas eve, Jaime, Shaun (Jaimes bro) and I travelled to Calgary to meet Jaime's mums side and see a bit of Calgary. To be honest I didn't see much of Calgary apart from the airport and a poker table. I played about 6 hrs of poker on Xmas eve and it was great fun. Met Jaimes grandparents, again called Baba and Gitou, her aunt, Georgina and cousins Britney and Kim, as well as a demon poker player Brad and Kim's boyfriend Jason (who gave me a load of information on Japan - thanks!).

After the fourth game, being beaten by either Brad or Jaime's Grandma (who suspiously kept pulling aces from nowhere) I finally broke even with 2 all ins. (I apologise to those who don't know what an All In is. ) I think all should know how to play poker and poker table and chips will be one of my first purchases when I get back to the UK!

Anyway the night was great fun and the 3hr journey to Calgary was well worth it!

Xmas day started off a little early as we drove back to Edmonton at 7am to arrive back at Jaimes with enough time to get showered before the troops arrived.

Included are some photos of Patricia and Jerry's family. They were a good laugh though they did take the pi$$ out of my accent quite a bit but then hey I understand the english accent is much classier than the canadian! (vicky pollard being a prime example!).

Quickly before I forget I must mention Ukrainian food:-

• Pyrohy or varenyky or perogies are dough pockets filled with potato, or potato and cheddar cheese,or kapusta (sauerkraut), or cottage cheese, or blueberries, orcherries, or ... They are boiled and vaguely resemble Italianravioli, or Polish pierogi, or Jewish kreplach, or Chinese wonton.They are often served with onions and sour cream. Mmmmm.The term "varenyky" is currently the standard throughout Ukraine.However, descendents of pre World War I settlers to Canada from WestUkraine, use the term "pyrohy." The Canadianized version isusually labeled "perogies."

• Holubtsi are Ukrainian cabbage rolls. The filling is mainly ricewith a tiny amount of hamburger (unlike other East European cabbagerolls which are mainly hamburger). Cabbage leaves are steamed tomake them soft and then the filling is added. The holubtsi areplaced in a large pot, covered with tomato soup (or sauce) and baked.

They are all very nice!

Anyway time to go -- merry xmas!