Olga

Now and then, just to get away from Cochrane and its dismal restaurants -- think Mr. Mike's and Macdonald's -- we drive into downtown Calgary to lunch at the grand, old Palliser Hotel.  It is a favourite, the food is excellent and I love lobby bars and restaurants for people-watching.

Yesterday, Olga, the charming young woman who seated us (I always ask the server his/her name and give ours; it ups the level on both sides).  Noticing her accent, I asked where she was from.  "Ukraine", she replied.  "Oh, when did you arrive?"  She told me she had come to Calgary in April, because of the war.  Naturally, that launched me into journalist/interviewer mode, she being the first refugee from that war I had ever met.  

Olga had been an air traffic controller in Kiev and her husband a commercial pilot.  She was also eight months pregnant with a three-year-old son to take care of.  But there she was, not taking welfare and working an early six-to-two shift at the hotel, while her husband had signed on as a pilot with Sunwing airlines.  After obtaining a university degree, Olga then had to train to be an air traffic controller for another two years.  "We had a wonderful life in Kiev, a beautiful apartment, family and friends," she said, "But we had to leave everything behind to get to safety."  But did she complain?  No.

So, here they are and I predict they will be very successful here in Calgary.  Her husband will move up the ranks at Sunwing and Olga will eventually get hired as an air traffic controller here.  Surprisingly, she said they would be moving back to Ukraine when it was again safe.  Somehow, I doubt it.  Nevertheless, I was very impressed with these two.