Books, movies, etc.

A few things I'm reading...

Dead Centre: Hope, Possibility, and Unity for Canadian Progressives
Jamey Heath
Interesting, especially for one who doesn't (yet) understand a lot of the details of Canadian politics.

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America
Chris Hedges
Recommended by another soon-to-be expat. Compelling. Reminds me of the Huey Long quote, "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the American flag.''

Differences That Matter: Social Policy And the Working Poor in the United States And Canada
Dan Zuberi
Nice piece of scholarship, but readable for the non-academic interested in the issues.

Mercy Among the Children
David Adams Richards
Recommended by a guy in New Brunswick - Richards, now living in Toronto, has set many, if not all of his fiction in New Brunswick - this is truly the most depressing book I've ever read. I don't know if I'll finish it.

The Birth House
Ami McKay
I don't read much fiction, but I couldn't put this one down. One of my favorite books ever, and that's saying a lot. As an aside, I was fascinated by the choice of covers, Canadian vs. US. Check the links. The Canadian hardcover had the woman holding her belly. The US hardcover was a bench in front of a house. Found that curious. Again, I loved this book!

Aside from the kids' flicks (e.g., Flushed Away, Charlotte's Web...) that I see, I don't often get to see movies. Over break I made a point, encouraged by l-girl's post, to see The US vs. John Lennon. I highly recommend it. I also saw All the King's Men (Sean Penn) which was okay. Yesterday I tried to watch The Battle of Algiers, but turned it off after about 45 minutes. It was fascinating. The parallels to today, as many of you no doubt have thought about, are more than striking. But, I just couldn't watch any more of it. Which reminds me, I had the same reaction to last week's issue of Newsweek, "Voices of the Fallen." I am just so sickened by the course of events it leaves me both outraged and hopeless.

In a word: r-e-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n

Travel, travel!

It's that time of the semester where things get crazy busy and one starts counting the days until Commencement. In particular, I'm thinking about travels. A few things have come up in that regard and I'm just thrilled.

As some of you know, I travel to Seattle and Victoria beginning on 8 April. I'm really looking forward to meeting some of you in real time and to just being in places I enjoy so much. On 2 June I leave for Trier, Germany to teach a two week seminar (Social Inequality: The United States) with one of my colleagues. I've booked a ticket to Luxembourg - it's closer than Frankfurt - via a 9 hour layover in London. I fly back on 16 June, via a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam. Enough time, barring the unexpected, to run into town(s) for a bit. I really wanted to return via Amsterdam so that I could bring back a stash of old Gouda. Hmmm, maybe stash is the wrong word to use in this context!

While I've known about the trip to Trier for a while, the real unexpected aspect is that I decided to go to Stockholm for the middle weekend. I got a ticket on Ryan Air - an adventure in itself - for 74 euro. I was even able to book reasonable accommodations - no small feat. I have two students who just returned from a semester in Sweden so they're giving me their tips on prioritizing what to do. And, although it's hardly "tourism," I don't know that I can resist going to IKEA just to have been in one in Sweden. Lame, I know...

I get back on 16 June and two weeks later we fly into Halifax! We'll spend a couple of days there - including going to the Tattoo on Canada Day! Then, we spend a few days near Wolfville/Port Williams. Later that week we're going to Fredericton, NB to check things out. We return to Halifax on the 10th and fly out on the 12th. Can't wait!

The only "glitch" in the plans, thus far, is that, apparently, flying in and out of Great Britain they permit you only to carry your wallet, ID, and meds on board. Everything else is to be checked. Thus, I won't be bringing my laptop on that trip. Since I'm not only changing planes, but carriers, I just don't want to risk checking it. I'll have to rely on Internet cafes - generally not a problem in Europe - to post now and again.

So, that's the latest. Right now it's dreadfully cool and rainy here. But, summer is coming! I've got more to post that's less upbeat, but I think I'll save that for later. Nothing personal, just the dreadful state of current affairs. Hope all is well with you!

Friday Evening

Not much news. A week ago we had just landed. Can't top that.

Looking forward to meeting up with folks in Seattle and Victoria in early April. I have a feeling that the next few months will just fly. And, that's great because I can't wait for our trip to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in July. Can't wait. Did I mention that I can't wait?

I'm thrilled beyond words to have landed and to be one step closer to getting to Canada, but I wish that there was more I could actually be doing! I can't really do much regarding the move, etc. until it's closer. If anything I should be working on the house every day, but can't do that very easily with 6YO under foot. Summer projects, summer projects. Unfortunately, the housing market has really taken a hit. I'm not terribly confident, given the state of affairs in this country, that things will pick up much in the next year either. Oh, well, easy come, easy go...

Well, that's it from sunny Saint Paul where it was 65 degrees today. Hallelujah!

The Wolf

This is one of the coolest things ever...

Last Saturday, we had just come through the border, back into Minnesota. We were listening to one of our favorite CDs; one we picked up in Winnipeg a couple of years ago. It's Aaron Burnett's "Call of the Wild," a CD really meant for kids, but very fun. The song, "I'm a Wolf Hear My Howl" was playing. We were "howling" along. All of a sudden, a wolf loped across the road about 40-50m in front of us. I've seen lots of coyotes, lots of deer, and even several bears, but I've never seen a wolf in the wild. I could see clearly that it was definitely a wolf. It was truly one of the coolest things ever.

I think we'll have to adopt the wolf as our family totem. Check this out: "Because wolf is a teacher and pathfinder, he comes when we need guidance in our lives. . . . Wolf teaches us to develop strength and confidence in our decisions." I thought that was oddly appropriate to having just landed.

Welcome to Canada, have fun!

Greetings from Thunder Bay, Ontario! Here's an account of yesterday...

We left the house around 8 am. After picking up bagels we were on our way. Since we had 6YO and our dog with us, we stopped at Gooseberry Falls State Park, Split Rock State Park, and Grand Portage State Park along the way. You turn into Grand Portage about 100 m in front of the border. We were walking the trail back to the falls when I promptly fell. As I was going down I was thinking, "NOTHING is going to keep me from being able to land today!" That is, land in Canada, not on my ass. Short of some sore body parts this morning and a strawberry on my knee, all is well.

We approached customs, gave the fellow (who looked about 12) our passports and explained that we were landing. He was a bit confused, but then got the idea, did his thing, and directed us to parking. We went inside, told them what we were doing and they directed us to the Immigration window. A nice officer took our paperwork and he, too, was confused. Our paperwork indicates our original destination of Vancouver and we were providing a Nova Scotia address. That lead to a few questions. I was, being neurotic anyway, really nervous! He checked every detail on the COPR and then gave all the other paperwork back and said to go to the Customs window. The guy there was very nice, though he did look closely at the Goods to Follow list and asked a few questions about the B4. He then said, "Few people are this prepared" and seemed pleased. After that, which took about five minutes, we had to wait. And wait. And wait. And my blood pressure went, I'm sure, higher and higher.

With all the posters about traveling with children, missing children, etc. we both thought that maybe they were running a variety of searches. Even though we all have the same names we hadn't thought to bring the birth certificate showing that we are both, in fact, 6YO's moms. We waited. 6YO whined. And we waited. At one point he called me up and asked for a phone number he could put down. After almost an hour - and I was getting very anxious having read about those who breeze through the process - he called us up. He asked, in a friendly way, if we were legally married. I said, "Yes, in Canada." He replied that "a lot of folks were doing that." We initialled that we hadn't ever been convicted of a crime, signed that above statements were truthful, and signed the COPR. He showed us how our passports were stamped indicating permanent resident status and gave us the carbon of the COPR. He THEN said that we were the first people he had ever landed and that that's why it had taken so long, adding that he had to do some reading! Whew! I was thinking, ya' know, it would have been okay if you had told me that to begin with! He then said, "Welcome to Canada, have fun!" Rock on!

So, over an hour after crossing the border, we were on our way! I would have liked to have been able to "enjoy" it more, but after all that time on the road and the wait I was just relieved.

We went on up the road to Thunder Bay and checked into the hotel. Lo' and behold, our dear and sneaky friends, G & D, had called ahead and paid for our room. Is that sweet!?! We ordered multi-grain pizza for delivery - do we know how to party or what - and ate in the room. We had planned to go in the pool, but 6YO was content watching a DVD and we were exhausted. But, I wasn't too exhausted to make a quick run to Chapters to feed my habit.

I got back around 10:30 and crashed.

BTW, just about every single person I've passed in the hallway says, "Hello." As P said, that may take some getting used to...

6YO and P are in the pool now. I'm going to get us packed up. We plan to get breakfast, stop at the Canadian Superstore (which I confess to loving so don't tell me anything bad about them) stop at the cheese farm outside of town and head back. I have to be ready at 8 am tomorrow as I've volunteered - way before I knew we'd be landing - to help with a school event.

That's it. We're permanent residents. I can't quite believe it. It's still sinking in that we got through all the hoops and did it!

More soon!

Tomorrow, tomorrow...

Early tomorrow we will pile into our rental car and head north about 300 miles to Pigeon River. The hotel we're staying at is supposed to have wireless so I'll post an update when I can. Hopefully the next time I post we will have landed!

Regarding Landing

Seems like for 10 people there are 10 different experiences, but...

The instructions for landing suggest that one should have everything like marriage certificate, birth certificates, diplomas, kitchen sink, etc. on hand. BUT, I've never seen anyone's description of landing mention having to drag out anything of the kind. Anyone out there care to share their thoughts.

Similarly, did anyone run into issues with Goods to Follow such as being asked for photos of jewelry, etc?

I'm typically obsessive about following instructions to the letter, but I don't want to go digging through things unnecessarily, taking and printing photos unnecessarily, etc.

We have, at the ready, passports with visas, COPR, proof of funds, and (soon) Goods to Follow lists. Anyone think we should have other stuff on hand?

Thanks!

The Eagle has Landed

Sitting right here, on the dining room table, are three US passports each containing a Canadian immigrant visa that is good until 5 January 2008. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. Hard to believe! I stayed home this morning because I had a feeling they would arrive. I heard the mail carrier, saw the brown envelope, saw "Canada" in the font I know so well... I can't quite believe it. 647 days from filing the application. As one acquaintance said, you wait and wait and wait, and wait some more and then, whoosh, you've got 'em! Okay, back to breathing and off to work!

Later: So, being one of the most risk averse people I know... we're thinking that rather than wait until our summer vacation to land we'll drive up to the border and "land" so that it's done. Ironically, the only free weekend we have coming up happens also to be the weekend closest to the second anniversary of our Canadian marriage. So, that's fun, too.

Question - I seem to recall reading that there is some form to get if you anticipate having to re-enter Canada before your PR card arrives. Does that ring true to anyone out there?

Thanks - now back to gazing at my visa... -)

Decision Made

One might be inclined to find it anti-climactic, but not me! I had heard, for ages, that CIC e-client was updated on Mondays. Whether this is true or not, I don't know. But, I checked this morning anyway and, whaddya know, it reads...

"We started processing your application on June 13, 2005.

We transferred your application to the Detroit office on June 13, 2006. The Detroit office may contact you.

Medical results have been received.

A decision has been made on your application. The office will contact you concerning this decision."

We, of course, already sent our passports and they are on their way back to us. But, it is still VERY cool to actually SEE the above on the CIC site. Last week is still said, "The Detroit office may contact you." Woo-hoo!!!

Have a fab day!

Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" now!

If you read one thing from here in the next year, please read this. And, be sure to go here, too.

Though I've not yet seen any coverage in the press, yesterday, Marty Meehan (D-MA) was scheduled to reintroduce legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Regardless of what you think about the military or military service, this is bad law. Bad, bad, bad.

This photo, from the second link above, is priceless - shrub visiting and honoring a war veteran, not knowing that the man he is visiting is gay.

Thanks!