From Canada and Back

Two of our suitcases have broken and I accidentally left the key to another suitcase stored in Oslo with my family in Finland. Surely this is a sign that it is time to go home!

We have been in 15 different countries - Korea (airport only), Singapore, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Japan, USA (Hawaii), India, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Germany (airport only), Norway, Finland, and Sweden, in 7 time zones, and on 29 airplanes and now we are about to go back to Canada!

A lot has stayed the same since we left but in many ways we are returning to a different world. While we have been away friends and family members have gotten married, broken up, filed for divorce, gotten back together, had babies, and finished their degrees. Our country (quite unexpectedly) has a new prime minister and (of course) taxes have increased. Our house is rented until June so we will be homeless for a while.

We are different too. We know so much more about the world and subsequently about our own country. Charles said that we changed a lot while we were in Sri Lanka. I guess we will find out just how much when we try to fit back in to our old lives. Collectively we have lost 45 pounds, have suntanned skin (although according to Suranga our tans are fading), I have more grey hair, and Robert has some new pranks (which likely caused the grey hair!) Most importantly, we have made so many wonderful new friends.

We arrive in Vancouver at 2:10pm, exactly 1 year since Rob left Canada last year. We are looking forward to a family dinner at Rob’s brother’s house tonight. I will travel tonight to Kelowna with my family. I will stay there for a month and work on my dissertation. Rob will stay with his brother and goes back to work at his old job tomorrow morning. And then….who knows!

Look out Canada here we come!

Lots of fun!

We stayed closer to the city of Ostersund with my cousin Katrin, her partner Gustavo, and their kids (Gabriella and Sebastian). Here we enjoyed delicious dinners cooked by Gustavo, and dance shows performed by Gabriella and Sebastian

On Sunday Katrin took us to a museum, which keep us all entertained!

Ostersund, Sweden

I spent two rather uneventful days in Uppsala, Sweden while Rob attended meetings at the university. We went to Ostersund, an area where my grandfather’s relatives live, for the weekend.

Many members of my family are in horse racing business. They breed, train and race horses. We spent an afternoon at the farm, touring barns, meeting racehorses, viewing racing prizes, looking at old family photos, and eating delicious homemade soups, breads,and cookies.

Prize winning horse, Tiger Tamboro


My dad’s cousin, Carl.


Katrin’s summer villa at the farm.


The family “bakery” where special flat bread is made.

Shopping with Camilla

We spent the day shopping with my cousin, Camilla. One of the best things to shop for in Finland is glassware. Although it is heavy and easily broken I am not daunted (hey - I bought rock carvings in Zimbabwe to pack home!)



Rob finds a new look.

Seeing Swans

Relatives, Håkan and Kenneth took us on a behind the scenes tour of the new Nautor complex where they work. Here luxury Swan sailboats (some as long as 160 feet) are built and launched.

A fine day for a swim!

My family invited us to join them for a “swim” which means alternating between paddling in a hole in the ice on a frozen lake and then sitting in a hot humid sauna. A far cry from the beaches of Sri Lanka!



I felt fairly confident that I would survive the ordeal having experienced my mother's Canadianized version of this event (alternating between sitting in a hottub and rolling in the snow). Rob however, was a bit skeptical. Leni did not help matters when she asked "do either of you have any heart conditions," with a concerned look on her face.



We did indeed survive and had a lot of fun but this is definitely one of the craziest things that we have done on this trip!

Staying at Leni’s

We are staying with Leni (my mom’s cousin who is like an auntie to me) and her husband Håkan.

Me and Leni


We arrive just in time for the baptism of Leni’s Grandson, Isaac.

Bennäs, Finland

We spent Easter weekend with my mom’s family on the West Coast of Finland. My mom was born in Finland and immigrated to Canada when she was 6 years. This is my fourth trip to see my relatives. I am reminded of my grandmother as I eat stringy yogurt, like she used to make, and sample breads from family recipes passed down though the generations. I see my grandfather in the faces of his relatives and am reminded of all his grand stories.

More has changed in past five years since I was last in Finland than in between any other of my visits. There are four new babies in the family and one new (adopted) child. Since I was last here my auntie has passed away and my cousin also lost her partner to cancer. More than anything, people living in Finland seem to have more access to the world. All of my relatives now have high speed internet in their homes, and with more expendable income and airlines offering cheap flights, my relatives are traveling like never before, and many will visit us in Canada in the near future.

Jyväskylä, Finand

Rob had more meetings in Jyväskylä, Finland, a high tech, university town in the centre of Southern Finland. Here we were able to visit my friend Marco and his family, whom I had met at the DIGRA conference in Vancouver last year. They served us Mämmi, a rye based Finnish dessert served at Easter, which we were told was an acquired taste but actually was quite nice.

Best of all Jo, my life long friend from Vancouver Canada was in Finland on business (she works for Nokia) and she came and met us in Jyväskylä for the weekend!

Oh No!

It is so cold here that my glasses just snapped in two! (It also could be related to the face plant that I did into the bathroom wall in Singapore!)

Tromso, Norway

We took a fast ferry (which, unlike the so-called “fast ferries” in BC, really was fast and efficient) to Tromso, a university town, on a neighbouring island. Rob met with Signa (whom we had met in Colombo!) and her colleagues at the university and I took the opportunity to do some research for my dissertation.

Signa and her partner Frode were excellent hosts and even took us for a wintery gourmet picnic by the sea, certainly a highlight of our visit!


We could not believe the infrastructure in this most northern town. There was a large hospital and well established university. Rob was fascinated by the networks of underground tunnels that ran across the island, which included round-a-bouts, as well as parking lots! We were also impressed with the in ground garbage system in Signa’s complex. Residents put their garbage in vacuumed sealed containers and then a garbage truck comes and sucks out the garbage through under ground tunnels!

Looking for Family

We flew up north of the artic circle in search of relatives of Rob’s grandfather who had been born on the small island of Harstad. I anticipated that the island would be remote and difficult to access. Back in Canada I imagined needing to take trains, ferries, and sea planes to get to this place; however it was incredibly easy to get to the island, requiring only one direct flight from Oslo. Harstad was so beautiful and quaint, but far from remote.



We saw the church where Rob's Grandfather was baptized but we couldn't access the old city records because it was a weekend. Rob text messaged all people with his grandpa's last name who had mobile phones and were listed in the Harstad phone book. We received a few nice replies but no one was related to his family. So we will have to do some more research and come back another time.

The church where Rob's Grandfather was baptized

First day in Norway

We arrived in Oslo Norway on a beautiful, sunny, bitterly cold day (or so it seemed to us!) We were grateful that we had been able to purchase some winter clothes in Colombo, including jackets, toques, and mitts. We also bought boots at the airport in Johannesburg after seeing the recent snow fall in photos sent by my relatives in Finland.


Olso is a beautiful city with elegant architecture and stylish people. Even the beggars look clean and well-dressed, sporting high quality ski jackets and matching toques. They looked as though they could have blended at any fashionable ski resort, such as Whistler. I laughed thinking about the contrast of the people begging on the streets in Sri Lanka and India and Olso!

Olso is likely one of the most expensive cities in the world! Rob paid more for his cab ride to the university than some Sri Lankans make in a month. We are now on the “Norway diet” – eating little because of the high cost of food.

Victoria Falls

We traveled to Zimbabwe (and later crossed the boarder into Zambia) to view Victoria Falls, the biggest waterfall in the world. Unfortunately the water volume was so high we could not get near the falls without being drenched in water. Also there was so much mist it was impossible to see the centre of the falls.


I laughed at this statue commemorating David Livingstone’s “discovery” of Vic Falls. I bet the people of Zimbabwe were extremely grateful that a white guy came to “discover” these falls which are 2 km in length (twice the size of Niagara Falls) and make a roaring sound for miles away.

Not a good sign

We laughed when we first saw this sign on our first day in Botswana, thinking that it was a mistake or strange unfortunate combination of services.



Unfortunately, funerals are all too common in Botswana, which has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world. While we were in there, many people around us experienced the death of friends and relatives. When we arrived in Gaborone, Caroline was not able to meet us because she was attending a funeral. Our game cruise was cut short because the boat driver received a call informing him that his sister had passed away. While staying with Olga her cousin died and later while we were driving her to pay her respects to her relatives, she received a call to inform her that her friend's son had hung himself that morning. (We were supposed to be at that woman's house for lunch but had to cancel because of the death of Olga's cousin.

The high rate of HIV infection has also been connected to the rise of so called "passion killings" when men murder their partners and then often commit suicide. I am told that these "passion killings" can occur because of suspicions of cheating, anger related to the disease, and when women threaten to leave their partners because of affairs or a positive diagnosis.

"Dressing like a Christian"

Olga wanted us to accompany her to church today. Rob was hesitant since we did not have any nice clothes with us, but Olga assured us that we would be fine in our casual travel clothes, and I was keen to experience the singing and dancing.

We arrived late but just in time for the Priest's sermon on "dressing like a Christian". He preached the virtues of being well dressed, exemplifying one of his uncle's two wives who was so preoccupied with money that she dressed in rags. One day she accompanied a daughter of the uncle's other wife to school. The girl was so embarrassed by her poorly dressed step-mother that she introduced her as the family's house maid! The priest went on to shame the members of the congregation who showed up in church wearing "the same clothes that they would wear to the cattle ranch". (Rob and I sunk lower and lower in the pew.) The priest drew everyone's attention to a young man in the audience, wearing a three piece suit. "Now this man was dressed like a Christian!" The suited man raised his fists in the air, basking in the recognition.

Rob and I hoped to make a quiet exit after the service however before the service was over, Olga had arranged for the priest to announce the attendance of her guests from Canada. We had to go to the front of the church (in our "cattle ranch clothes"), were handed a microphone and asked to address the 200 people in the congregation. Luckily, the members of the church seemed less concerned about clothes than the priest, and were kind and welcoming.

Olga - "Dressed like a Christian"


There are different "clubs" in Olga's church (can't remember the correct name) and the members wear matching uniforms. Unfortunately, these costumes, made of think material, and including heavy capes and matching wool hats, were not designed for the African winter, let alone the African summer!

Typical Batswana Food

Daphane heard that we wanted to try some local food so she cooked us the most delicous Batswana lunch, including chicken (boiled, rolled in spices and baked), carrots in a sweet sauce, salad, and samp, a tasty, filling dish made from corn and beans.