The inevitable COVID comeuppance

Well. It turns out the gods of infectious diseases have a pretty twisted sense of humour. I really did not want to get COVID, but I foolishly confessed in public my fleeting hope for teeny tiny positive RAT test to get a break from my heavy work load. And now, SARS-CoV-2 has finally caught me…. … Continue reading →

The Heaviness of Catcall Culture

One sunny afternoon in mid-2019, I was walking home from the physiotherapy clinic when I heard a voice shout out from a car, “heyyyyyyy sexy!” I stopped in my tracks, shocked and confused. It’s not that I have never experienced such catcalling before. After all, I did spend a year of my life in the … Continue reading →

Adaptation

On my first trip back to Australia in 2019, about 9 months after moving to Canada, I was delighted by one tiny detail; I did not have to pack a power adaptor. At that time, all my electronic devices still had Australian charging cables, adapting to their new Canadian sockets via an assortment of boxy … Continue reading →

There’s no place like home

True story: In my younger days I performed in TWO separate school productions of the Wizard of Oz. I have twice stepped into my ruby slippers for costume parties and I have owned the book in both English and French. It’s fair to say I have quite an affinity for Miss Dorothy Gale. Like Dorothy, … Continue reading →

Gratitude and pumpkin pie

A small confession: my third year in Canada and I haven’t yet developed a taste for turkey and pumkpin pie. Give me a lamb roast and a slice of pavlova any day! But if there’s one Canadian Thanksgiving tradition I can really sink my teeth into, it’s the whole, well, giving-of-thanks bit. No doubt, being … Continue reading →

Between one year and forever

“Somewhere between one year and forever” It’s been my standard reponse whenever anyone has asked me how long I plan to stay in Canada. It’s typically accompanied by a non-committal shrug of the shoulders and a look that says don’t ask me hard questions. I recently celebrated that one year milestone with a steep hike … Continue reading →

How are you going?…Really?

I’d been living in Canada for about 4 months before I realised that “how are you going?” is a funny, Australian thing to ask. Further enquiry with colleagues and patients revealed that “how’s it going?” or “how are you doing?” are perfectly acceptable. But the hybrid “how are you going?”… Nope. That’s just weird, apparently. … Continue reading →

Getting my feminist FIX in New York

There was something distinctly different about #FIX18. Walking in to a conference with 95% women felt pretty odd. I was intimidated amongst so many high-heeled, urbanite, overwhelmingly American emergency physicians. This Aussie country GP felt somewhat out of place. It was quite the contrast from the laid back gatherings of my other recent conference experiences. Maybe … Continue reading →

The familiar faces of strangers

Have you ever noticed that thing, when you’re travelling, where you unexpectedly see someone you know out of the corner of your eye? Except you don’t. On second glance you realise you don’t know them at all. They are a complete stranger. This happened to me constantly when I first moved to Canada. My first … Continue reading →

The expat’s arrival checklist

I love a good checklist. I love the sense of order that comes with writing the list, and the feeling of achievement of ticking all those little boxes. Sometimes, I even list things that I’ve already done, just to feel the rush of ticking them off immediately. Since arriving in Canada, I’ve been diligently ticking … Continue reading →