Before the first winter has come and gone, the tropical flower droops. One such frangipani is Wayan Sukirta. A native of Bali, husband and father, he arrived in Kelowna to work in a specialized area of Indonesian teak patio furniture and antiques which contributes to a fast growing business of Sun Country Furniture. Wayan is known in Panestanan, Ubud, his home village, for his ability to find a shipper with available quota, get shipments moved before deadline, locate carvers amidst temples in sprawling villages such as Tampak Siring (known also for its fossil ivory carvers), negotiate financial deals for Javanese antique furniture and organize last minute shipping containers as well as run his own taxi business. Working hard in Canada proves easy for Wayan. He is indispensible to Carol Dodge of Sun Country due to his expertise with the imports of specialized Indonesian products.

“So how do you like Kelowna?” I ask.
“My work is good. I’m busy in the warehouse.”
“Do you plan to stay? You have a two-year visa.”
“Maybe I’ll stay till October.”
Surprised, I point out that October is less than a year away. I try again,”How do you find Canada?”
“Bersih, indah (clean, beautiful), kerja bagus (work is good) tetapi satu, dingin, kurang teman, kesepian (but for one, it’s cold, not many friends; I’m lonely).”

Wayan has left not just family but precious moments of Bali life. After the daily second mandi (bath) at 5:00, the sun still warm but without malice, Wayan strolls hand in hand with friends through the paths of the rice fields. There’s chatting on street corners, buying ‘bakso’, meatball soup from passing vendors and hunting ‘balut’, eel in the surrounding rice plots. Every few days is witness to a moving gamelan that musically embraces your heart and makes your blood rush. It follows the ceremonial procession to the temple with Wayan’s friends in bright orange, yellow, gold sarongs; processions are preceded by lazy afternoons of weaving palm fronds for offerings, and, with a perfect balance of life, exciting exchanges with foreigners exporting to Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, London…

Not giving up, I tease another comment about Canada from him, “What else?” In his kindly Balinese way, he remarks on Canadian doctors. They are fast and efficient. A silence falls, but it’s comfortable. I offer to take him walking. Yes, he would like that. In Bali people walk with their children, but here they walk with their dogs. I smile apologetically, for I am a model of his observation. My dogs are just waiting for their 5:00 walk to the lake, while my son is nowhere to be seen.

As Wayan is Hindu, I mention the temple in Kelowna. Wayan is not adverse to a tourist’s visit, but he explains that the temple here is not Balinese. He prays everyday in his room although he doesn’t have a padma kecil, home temple. He can’t make the flower offerings here because there is not ‘daun kelapa’, coconut tree leaf or ‘cempaka’, jasmine flower, with which to weave. ‘I will try to use the flowers here’, Wayan politely suggests.

We finish our tea in the Balai (a Baliness style raised gazebo imported by Sun Country) and say “Sampai Jumpa”, until we meet again. I check in a few weeks later. Work is still busy for Wayan. He is enjoying selling and delivering orders, but the flower is losing its color. Wayan repeats the departure date of October. Another tropical flower burned by the Canadian sun.

“My family is here” Heather explains. “Kelowna is home base for me”. She emphasizes that it is the familiarity of Kelowna that pulls her here. Yet, she recognizes that she has seen it grow with the speed of the popularity of Facebook and become cosmopolitan without having a hard edge. The valley, she is convinced, is full of friendly and easy-going but ambitious, play-hard, work-hard types.  Although born in Vancouver, Heather’s family has lived on Okanagan Lake for 26 years. “I have great history and memories with Mount Boucherie and Okanagan College, skating and skiing…and over the years taking in the growth of the wine industry which easily rivals Sonoma and Napa. Last week in fact, in a Vancouver restaurant, friends enjoyed a multi-course meal paired with five wines…all Okanagan wines. “I felt proud eavesdropping on their delight.”

Clearly, being called by Kelowna muses is a catalyst for Heather’s career shift. “It was my goal to split my time between Canada and the United States. I have just come from California where I have lived for the last seven years. I was working in the corporate concierge field but was drawn to work seriously with indexing. Index writing. You know, back-of-the-book… index writing.” One evening, last year, when Heather, recently single, was looking at options of which career she would follow and in which country she would reside, decided to not choose an ‘either/or’ attitude but say ‘yes’ to all choices and allow the vision to unfold.  Freelance indexing has afforded her this dream. She revels in the detail of indexing books, without being nailed to one office. Freedom. Moreover, this career sidestep from employee to freelancer has opened the possibilities of living in both Kelowna and California.

Heather is quick to clarify, “I’m Canadian and did my first degree at UBC.”  After world travels and fashion merchandising in Montreal, Heather landed in Florida and ultimately settled in California. Her heart continued to lead her to study indexing at the University of California, Berkeley.

Now the pendulum is swinging back again bringing Kelowna another American citizen, a very appreciative one at that.  She notes that Kelowna is a great stepping off point in starting a career. Because her clients will not necessarily be based in the Okanagan, she points out that coming back gives her the flexibility to start freelancing for clients anywhere in the world. The way the global economy is headed, one needs to be adaptable, not focused on nine to five. Achieving that work/life balance is about job sharing; it is telecommuting and flexible work hours which allows for quality of life. Kelowna, with its predictability and security can be a foundation for this modern lifestyle and a gateway to the world.

Finally, after quiet thought, Heather insightfully points out that living in a place like California is wonderful but one does not have the passing of the seasons, the markers. In fact, in California time seems to slip by unnoticed. Not so in Kelowna. “Kelowna and its seasons provide a sense of new starts, renewals, energy….. I feel like I have two homes.”