https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/tags/culture/ Recent content in culture on Chasing the Rainbow • A Traveller's Blog by Frauke Knappmann Hugo -- gohugo.io en-GB Sat, 16 Jan 2021 15:46:24 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/027-flagging/ Sat, 16 Jan 2021 15:46:24 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/027-flagging/ An unexpected source of money Before I originally went to Canada, I had purposefully applied for a working visa (because, officially, you are not allowed to stay in one spot for more than a months on a tourist visa) without ever expecting to actually make money along the way. I was all the more happy and surprised when Leah offered me to take part in a flagging course, where I was then allowed to make a flagging licence. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/026-processing-animals/ Thu, 07 Jan 2021 12:39:33 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/026-processing-animals/ Without heating, without power, without sewers I already talked about the differences in infrastructure between Germany and Canada in my post about Wildfires, Hybrid cars and Recycling. Here in the Rocky Mountain areas the situation is similar yet still slightly different compared to the prairies. Occasional power outages are no rarity but more something like an (annoying) everyday thing, especially when it turns dark early during the winter months. Seven Pines also has no connection to a public sewer, just a buried septic tank behind the house - which is the reason why we are not allowed to drive over that part of the ranch with a tractor, because the weight and vibrations the machinery causes might harm the tank and the pipes leading to it. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/025-silent-night/ Mon, 28 Dec 2020 12:39:09 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/025-silent-night/ Christmas - A family celebration I found my current host family on workaway, while looking for a spot to stay at for Christmas - specifically with Christmas in mind. I wanted to celebrate at a place with good chances of white Christmas and a family around me that could help me, not, to forget about the absence of my own family, but to at least make the separation enjoyable. And I hit the jackpot with the Peterson family. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/024-highway-language/ Mon, 14 Dec 2020 12:38:32 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/024-highway-language/ Trip to Kamloops, the Second A while ago, John and I got the litter of Boston Boxer puppies to Kamloops, to hand them over to their new owners. And like good Canadian Country folks, we also took the chance to restock on groceries and whatever else was needed in the house. But this trip also had more to offer for me - because John wanted to know how confident and comfortable I am with driving a car, and thusly let me play driver on the way back. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/023-sorting-cows/ Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:42:25 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/023-sorting-cows/ Ready for the Auction House The cows with their calves spent the last few weeks grazing on the fields around the ranch and grew considerably, both in size and weight. For the calves this means they are ready to be weaned and sold - but before we can do that, some other tasks have to be tackled, first. For one, the cattle had to be sprayed with dewormer and - the calves that were going to be sold - tagged with an identification number on an ear tag. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/022-shitday/ Fri, 20 Nov 2020 17:20:42 -0800 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/022-shitday/ There are days, when everything turns out to be shit - in the purest sense of the word. On a ranch, that happens more often than you would think. It started with our (now ex-)neighbours, who had spotted a moose in one of our fields in the morning. With the husband being a hunter and me not having seen a moose in the wild before, they invited me to come along on their search for the animal. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/019-kamloops/ Thu, 29 Oct 2020 16:25:34 -0700 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/019-kamloops/ A new Home The puppies from the first two litters (Irish Wolfhound, Boston Terrier) are now old enough to go to their new families. All puppies are already spoken for, at least on paper. But Canada is big and to get the young dogs to their new owners without it being too much of a hassle for one side, a certain ability in planning is needed. Luckily, most of the buyers live in British Columbia and one place that seemed to be more-or-less halfway between Seven Pines and everyone else, is Kamloops. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/018-moving-cattle/ Fri, 23 Oct 2020 12:24:35 -0700 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/018-moving-cattle/ With the end of the summer, time has come for the half-wild living cattle to move from the summer pasture back home. If a ranch is situated right next to the prairie they are grazing on, moving the cattle home is a lot of work but not too complex. If the ranch is about thirty to forty kilometres away from the pasture and the fasted way there is the highway, then the whole thing gets complicated very fast. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/017-thanksgiving/ Mon, 12 Oct 2020 17:39:14 -0700 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/017-thanksgiving/ Celebrating with the Family In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated yearly on the second Monday of October - a celebration comparable to our “Erntedank” (harvest-thanks), except that Thanksgiving is a lot bigger, usually used as a chance to meet up with the family and celebrated not on a Sunday but on a Monday which is a bank holiday in all of Canada. George usually celebrates Thanksgiving around the time he also starts finishing up the guest season, with the helpers and neighbours. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/011-saskatchewan-flower/ Sun, 06 Sep 2020 11:57:51 -0600 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/011-saskatchewan-flower/ Plants of the Prairie The prairies are a very primordial biosphere, open steppes with cold, hard winters and hot, dry summers. This climate also reflects in the plant life here. Different kinds of grasses, sagebrush and small cacti shape the picture of the region around La Reata. George, who is interested in plants himself, takes part in a prairie preservation project for the part of the prairie that belongs to him. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/009-open-rodeo-kyle/ Mon, 24 Aug 2020 10:29:20 -0600 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/009-open-rodeo-kyle/ Small rodeo, big audience Summer for Ranchers usually means two things: harvesting, and Rodeo. Nearly every smaller town oragnises a rodeo once a year where cowboys and rodeo riders can compete in different disciplines. But Corona drew a big, fat red line through the rodeo season, too - nearly all events have been cancelled, because of the spectators a rodeo usually draws in. But one of the neighbours of George decided to organise a small rodeo while following the Corona requirements - with a maximum of 150 spectators and as many participants as register (because this number is not restricted even with Corona sanctions). https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/007-saskatchewan-wildlife/ Tue, 18 Aug 2020 09:28:01 -0600 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/007-saskatchewan-wildlife/ Europe and North America Unlike Europe which offers little room for wild animals due to the dense population - and where animals are very shy even in less heavily populated areas - spotting different wild animals in Canada is nothing unusual. Especially during dusk and dawn you can see pronghorns, white-tailed deer and mule deer, during the day different bird of preys and smaller game like jackrabbits and gophers. Wildlife of the Prairie The prairies are home to a great variety of animals you can’t find in Europe or that have been pushed into hard-to-reach areas in Europe. https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/004-travel-the-lake/ Tue, 28 Jul 2020 09:00:01 -0600 https://chasing-the-rainbow.hurin.ch/en/posts/004-travel-the-lake/ …is an enjoyable adventure! After the weather being too hot for one, two days to properly work outside - you needed to go back inside for half an hour to cool down after working for 20-30 minutes - one of the neighbours invited us to spent the day on the lake with him and his wife, no work, just to relax a little. We gathered a few things for picknicking, enough water for the day and a couple other things you might need out there on the water.