Despite the cold, Eric enjoyed his time in Calgary, at the start of September 2015, as a final taste of summer before diving back into work teaching upgrading courses at Medicine Hat College Brooks Campus.
At work he was surprised he was tasked to take over additional courses after an instructor retired at the end of the last academic year. His teaching list now included equivalent courses in: grade 9 science; intro to grade 10 math; grade 10 math; grade 11 chemistry, math, and physics; and grade 12 math.
Eric had hoped to take another trip to Calgary in mid-September to volunteer for Beakerhead Fest, however, stress, and a cold, got to him. Eric made it to Calgary only to cancel his volunteering and meet up with Les (his previous engineering boss) and friend Brent. All in all a short visit.
He had plenty of time to think on his monthly drives to Edmonton (to check in on his house and socialize with friends). On one particular return drive to Brooks in late September, he watched the super-moon pass through part of the heavens, a marvel to see.
Eric’s second year in Brooks was as eventful as his first. Hanging out with friends Jeff, Rej, and Ajay in his free time. With a busy work schedule, he found that participating in Movember meant he could save time and not shave; growing not just a mustache but a whole beard. November also presented an opportunity for him to ensure he had the hours for his permanent teaching certificate, as Medicine Hat College asked if he would be willing to work for May and June. This was to cover a couple courses for his supervisor Vivian while she developed resources. Eric, of course, expressed his keen interest.
His first major highlight of the year was his second Christmas in Brussels, an adventure of adventures. It all started in Calgary, a day before his flight. Although he stayed at Brent’s place for the night, he hung out most of the time at Chinook mall where he got the opportunity to look at and sit in a Tesla; he didn’t drive one as it was only the showroom. With his flight on the official opening day of Star Wars 7, Eric decided last minute to buy early morning (3 am) tickets to the movie, figuring it could help fight jet-lag later. He enjoyed the movie overall, but nothing about it much surprised him.
At the airport he was asked if he wanted to be upgraded to KLM Business Class. As he deemed it a reasonable charge, he decided to go with it. That decision helped a little since he had to rush to his connecting flight through Schiphol airport. Facing a mass of people at passport control, he weaved his way to the front, and once through, rushed to his gate. He had made his connection, however, in Brussels, he discovered his luggage had not, and arrived several hours later.
The rest of Eric’s time in Belgium was less stressful, yet still full of adventure with family: games in the woods for his nephew Sebastian’s 8th birthday, a walk in the grounds of Kasteel van Gaasbeek with the Jones and DeCock families (father David, sister Samara, nephew Sebastian, niece Klara, brother-in-law Geert and his family George, Machteld, Leen and family; visit to technopolis, the science museum with Sebastian, Klara, and David; Brussels town centre a few times; Ghent with David, Samara, Geert, Hulya (visiting from Turkey), Sebastian, and Klara; Bruge with David, Samara, and Hulya; and Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast for New Years. Christmas itself was a wonderful time in Brussels with both the Jones and DeCock families as well as Samara’s friend Hulya visiting from Turkey. New Years on the Belgian coast was a new and enjoyable experience.
He returned to Canada on the third of January 2016; once again he upgraded to business class on the leg of the flight to Calgary, and once again his luggage missed the connection. His luggage continued to have an adventure, going from Brussels to Amsterdam to Calgary to Medicine Hat, then by Greyhound to Brooks before finally appearing a few days after he had returned.
Second semester was a bit lighter on the workload for him as a part-time colleague picked up some of the courses. Eric was still teaching: grade 10 math; grade 11 chemistry and math; grade 12 chemistry, math, and physics. In his free time he made it back to Edmonton to judge the F.I.R.S.T. Lego League competition for the fourth year in a row in mid-January; attended social events with colleagues and/or friends throughout February; watched the Marvel Universe movies and Netflix series in preparation for release of next Captain America movie; and eventually shaving off his beard (at the end of February).
February spring break gave him a chance to return to Edmonton for more than a couple of days. While there he socialized with friends and discussed with Zack and Landon, his basement tenants, about the possibility of them buying his house in the future. Eric’s thoughts on selling his house stemmed from the lack of time he was spending there in recent years, and feeling that the house was anchoring him to Edmonton when work could take him elsewhere.
On the 22nd of March, he woke up with his heart racing as news of the bombings in Brussels came over his radio alarm. A check of his phone calmed him as there was a text message from his sister Samara that the family was safe. Eric was emotional the rest of the day, and several days afterwards as well. Many of his colleagues expressed their concern too, knowing he had family there.
As the college teaching semester began to wrap up in April, he started to prepare for teaching spring physics and math courses in Medicine Hat, including moving into residence there. As part of the change in living situation, he moved unnecessary items back to Edmonton and spent nearly a week between semesters socializing with friends, updating his Edmonton Public School Board application profile, and submitting his paperwork for taxes to his accountant.
The first of May brought a welcome change; a new place in the larger city of Medicine Hat, with a great companion, Sandy Vanderburgh, the new Dean of Health and Science for Medicine Hat college. Eric also met some more people and went on several walks with Brandon (including part of a walk where he went nude, Brandon did not go naked). The May long weekend was a rush; on Friday he went to Medalta ceramics, at the suggestion of his boss Erin, to buy a present for Shannon and Will. On Saturday he attended Shannon and Will’s wedding at Heritage Park in Calgary; it was a little rainy, but a beautiful ceremony and a great time. Spent the night at Brent’s with a morning drive to Edmonton on Sunday where Eric checked in on his house and picked up his bicycle to take back to Medicine Hat on Monday.
Since the drive back on Monday was long, Eric decided to limit the number of times he needed to repeat it. So the rest of his weekends were spent around Medicine Hat doing things like baking, occasional bike rides, hikes with Brandon (with yet another hike where only Eric was naked), and continuing his ongoing job search. His job search lead to a skype interview with Sturgeon High, however not the job itself.
The latter part of June brought much activity. Hearing the news of the Orlando shooting on June 13 made the next several days quite emotional. Participating in a drum circle at Medalta ceramics’ Thursday evening market (on June 16) helped ground him again. The drum circle was one unanticipated surprise going to the market, the other was an art and pottery exhibition opening, both just happened to be on the one day Eric decided to go to the market. After drumming in the drum circle for a bit, he went to the art exhibition. The exhibition was for the artists in residence, and included the collections “May the Forms be With You” by Jennifer Dawes, “The Body Made Restless” by Stephanie Flowers, “Romantic Works” by Adam Lefebvre, and “Buen Provecho” by Alana Wilson. Eric thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer Dawes work, and bought one of the items on show; a bowl that would be his when the exhibition was over in August.
The Canada Day long weekend started early for him, yet was quite busy. June 29th was the day of the last exam, and the day he planned on moving back to Edmonton, even picking up a passenger van the night before. Eric had all his stuff packed into the van and was eager to get going, yet had to wait for his last student to finish writing their exam. Once the student was done, he quickly marked the exam and submitted his final marks, then rushed across campus to residence where he was staying, to get in the van and get on the road back to Edmonton.
His time in Edmonton was short. June 30th he unpacked the van, picked up the Lego kits for the Lego Robotics course he was going to teach starting July fourth. Of course, when one is busy, that is when a mishap can occur. In this case it was three to four of the Lego kits spilling inside the van. Eric took the time to find as much of the Lego as he could, but neglected to ensure all the kits had the correct pieces; he did note the kits that had spilled, so the students could ensure the kits were complete. His rush was due to leaving for Winnipeg later that day.
The weekend trip to Winnipeg was with his father David and his uncle’s brother Matthew for Eric’s uncle Jonathan’s birthday. The drive was in itself an adventure: First of all, knowing about the trip, Eric had rented the van for a couple days and to return the van back in Medicine Hat. On the drive down from Edmonton, where he drove, they hit the edge of a massive thunder storm. The winds and light rain, meant that he had to stay focused on the road, with the wheel almost turned at an angle to stay straight along the road. By Brooks they were ahead of the storm, and by Medicine Hat (far enough away) the storm didn’t affect the change from the van to his car. It was there that he gave up the driving for the day to David, who then drove to Swift Current for the night.
It was an easy jaunt from Swift Current to Winnipeg on Canada Day. The following day was Jonathan’s birthday celebration. Others there were Eric’s aunt Judy, cousins Arden and Paul, and their families.
Knowing he had to teach his Lego Robotics summer camp starting on July fourth back in Edmonton, there wasn’t much time for him to do much in Winnipeg other than be with family. The one place he made it to, along with some of the family, was the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a marvelous place full of much information and was thought-provoking.
Being back in Edmonton for the summer camp also gave him time to catch up with friends, as well as learn that besides his basement tenants Zack and Landon not interested in buying his house, they had found a place of their own elsewhere in Edmonton. Eric was at least content to hear that their reason had to do with him not getting a fair price if they bought the house. This decision gave him the opportunity to consider renovating the rest of the basement, so he started to look at a new, high efficiency furnace, as well as thoughts of how to renovate the parts he had not touched last time.
July ended with Eric at PanFest, which felt different to him without his good friend Phoenix. August started with Samara, Geert, Sebastian, and Klara visiting from Belgium. While the family were in town, Eric accompanied them on an adventure to the Ukrainian Village; Katrina, Kris, and little Josephine also joined the fun. Additional adventures with his nephew and niece included the Telus World of Science with David, and a day at the Fringe Theatre Festival filled with a play and time at the Kids Fringe area. David and Samara were also present.
After he said a fond farewell to Samara and family, he turned his attention to volunteering at the Edmonton Fringe. It was his 25th year involved with the Fringe, yet he decided to take in a minimal amount of shows: 3 to be exact; the kids show with his family, one at the newly renovated Varscona theatre to see how it had transformed, and the one that his newly ex-tenant Landon was performing in to not only support Landon but the playwright Gerald, another friend.
During the time of the Fringe Eric accidentally dropped his Nexus 5, causing the screen to become a partial spider web. At first he thought he would get the Samsung Galaxy 7, but when a web gremlin prevented his paperwork from going through at the Koodo kiosk before they closed, he changed his mind overnight to join the Apple crowd and get an iPhone SE. Samara was a major influence in the decision, like many he’d had in life. When she pointed out that chat with her and the rest of the Brussels gang was easy using Facetime, and that she was giving her old iPhone to David (after also buying an iPhone SE), it made the most sense to him to keep up with the rest of the Joneses.
In the last week of August he quickly planned his annual trip between ordering new windows for the house, applying for a couple job postings (which led to nothing), and other prep for his major basement renovations.
This year his trip took him first to Calgary and a brief visit with friends there. Then out to the mountains at a leisurely pace, stopping in Canmore and Banff. A stop in Field, B.C. to inquire about campsites lead him to a marvelous site overlooking Wapta Falls on crown land (just outside Yoho National Park). The next couple of nights he spent at Illecillewaet campsite in Glacier National Park (B.C.) and a couple of days exploring the national park. We will leave this chapter off with Eric in Kamloops visiting PanFest friends and where he celebrated the end of his 39th year.
