Houston, we have lift off - Well, I'm here, I'm queer, I'm still unpacking.

So for those of you keeping up with my little saga, I have to say, the process getting into Canada with all my worldly possessions was quite anti-climactic. The actual drama occurred the morning of my move and trying to load up the moving van and get the car and hitch attached. I was fortunate that I had some amazing friends who not only had strong backs and a high tolerance for the amount of crap I have but who also had savant-like visual-spacial sensibilities.

I took a different route into Canada than I normally do, which was a bit of shot in the dark but I thought about as well calculated a risk as possible. I went with the unknown route in because I heard it was far less busy than the one I usually take through Buffalo. So, after leaving, I drove North for about an hour and a half with my partner, my cat, this 17' moving van and car in tow (I now have a whooooooole new appreciation for truck drivers) and reached the border with a knot in my stomach. Although I knew my paper work was in order, my life works such that I was convinced that they would tear apart my van which had been packed as tightly as a pimento in an olive.

However, when I reached the border, the woman at the booth stated, she didn't think I'd need to do anything since my permit was only for a year but I'd better stop in the office just in case. After managing to park the monstrosity I was driving, my partner and I went in the office. After about a 4 minute conversation, they determined that I would only need to submit lists of belongings and so on if I was coming in for the first time as a permanent resident or on a work permit longer than 36 months. It actually took longer for them to tell about where the bathrooms were and how to get to the nearest Tim Hortons.

That's it.

No search.

No other questions.

Just, Welcome to Canada!!

So, now I'm hear and up to my eyeballs in the new job, the new place and getting to "be" with my partner without the commute. I'm already having lots of adjustments (some more along the lines of observations and some just mind bending shifts) which I'll write about over the next few weeks.