The Final Countdown!!! - Alright, so sorry I haven't blogged in... oh say a few months. Life's been hectic. A promotion at work, lots of family health issues that have sent me flying back and forth across the border like a bat outta hell flying over hell's half acre.

On one of those trips, I stopped at Canadian immigration on the way back and tried to get a sense of whether I would need to renew my work permit or if my landed status would come through in time. They, of course, could give me no definite answers saying, "Your best bet is to put in for the renewal anyway. It's only an extra $150."

"Only" an extra $150? I don't know how much immigration officials are making these days but that $150 is my share of at least 2 weeks worth of groceries!!! But, what choice did I have. So more papers, more money, more letters. I had already plunked down $200 for the medical exam (which, by the way, consisted mostly of making sure I was breathing and knew my own name) and almost $500 for the "landed fee." Add that on top of the several hundred I had already spent in fees, all the costs associated with getting fingerprints, police checks and transcripts and the $1000 for the lawyer for my work permit... I seriously could have half of a down payment for a small house by now.

But then last week, when I returned from being on holidays for a week, there, sitting on our coffee table, "IT" was... the letter congratulating me on being accepted for landed immigrant status. "IT" consisted of 2, double sided pieces of paper, rather sloppily stapled together (with only about half the written material actually pertaining to my specific situation).

So, according to "IT", I need to go the immigration office in Buffalo on any given Tuesday or Thursday between the hours of 8-11 a.m., "surrender" my passport and they will "make all efforts" to return it to me between the hours of 1:30-3 p.m. on the same day. At that point, I will need to officially "enter Canada" before the expiry date or risk having to start all over from scratch (don't fret, I'll be getting my ass over the border as soon as they put the passport back in my hot little hands).

My partner wanted to take the day off from work and come with me, bring the camera and celebrate the moment with me. However, "IT" said I have to present alone, which is kind of a bummer because I know I'm going to get all emotional and start crying and whoever gets me at the immigration office at the border is going to have seconds thoughts about letting some blubbering "whacko" in.

Even though the paperwork part of this process will be wrapping up soon, I hope to keep up on this blog (no, really, I mean it this time) because in actuality, my acculturation is only just beginning.

12 Months and 12 Days - That, my dear friends (and strangers who might have ventured a gander into my world), is the length of time that passed between when I sent my application for permanent resident and when I was told I get to move through to the next stage. For 12 months and 12 days, with the exception of being sent my case number, I have heard not a word, not a peep, not a grunt or a groan from Canadian immigration. Lemme tell ya, it's a bit nerve wracking knowing that that much of your personal life is in a file and you have absolutely no control over the when's, where's and how's of trying to make a permanent life for yourself (see my June 1, 2006 entry about the amount of paper work and costs). Perhaps this is good "purgatory practice," (or at least it could be for those who still believe in that sort of thing).

So, what is this next stage? Well, it involves an "immigration medical exam," another letter of reference from my current employer, and, surprise!, a couple hundred more dollars.

Now, I shouldn't really complain about the money. One of the only things the current Canadian prime minister has done that has broken with his role as a Bush-like mini-me was to lower the "right of permanent resident fee" from almost a thousand dollars to just under five hundred. I am still quite grateful that I have the resources to be able afford this. I know there are families out there who have to scrimp and save for years just to get one person in.

Another aspect I should also be grateful for is that in the cover letter that was sent along with the next set of papers to fill out, I was informed that at this time, I am being exempted from the interview portion of the immigration process. From what I've heard, this will shave quite a bit off time-wise from my process (because over 12 months of stoney silence isn't quite long enough to rattle you).

As to the "immigration medical," I have the form I'm to bring, I went a got 2 more "passport size" photos to bring with me and I have found a "designated" doctor in my neighborhood that I need to call this week. It looks like it'll involve chest x-rays, blood tests and who knows what else. I suppose I'll more to write on that later... just hoping it's not as "detailed," if ya know what I mean, as the documentation I had to provide, especially since I think the doctor I can get into the fastest is a man. Ain't no man seen my "bits and bobs" since my pediatrician and I'd like to keep it that way, especially since immigration has info on just about everything else in my life.

Super Bowl Bum-day - I've always been a pro football fan so most years I watch the Super Bowl regardless of the teams playing. And in a year like this one when none of "my teams" are playing, a good portion of my viewing enjoyment comes from the very clever commercials.

However, much to my dismay, watching my first Super Bowl "abroad," it seems that the game as it is streamed into Canada does not have most of the commercials that have become as popular as what's happening on the field. Pretty much the only "product" that seems to have made it through is Bud Light, and the ones of theirs I'm seeming aren't that funny which makes me think they're not the ones being shown in the States. Most everything else is Canadian based or "stuff" I've already seen.

I guess instead of Monday morning quarterbacking I'll be Monday morning surfing by trying to find the "real" Super Bowl ads on the net.

Is there a doctor in the house? - So about a month ago my crap-tacular knee went again (got to love genetic defects) and the strangest thing happened. I went to see a doctor.

Yep. Isn't that totally weird? I had a medical issue. I went to a walk-in clinic that is 2 blocks down the street (which, by the way, is a clinic that is open 7 days a week). I told the front desk receptionist an old knee injury resurfaced. I showed her my government medical insurance card. I waited about 45 minutes (which was less than my average wait for my doctors in the U.S. even with an appointment). I saw the doctor. He wrote me a script for physical therapy and one for an anti-inflammatory. He sent me to the basement for an x-ray. I took the elevator down to the basement. They took me immediately and 2 x-rays later, I was on my way.

The total amount of time from when I walked in to when I walked out was less than 90 minutes. The total cost: $15 and change for the meds, which after my employer's prescription plan kicked in, came to less than $4 CND.

I kept thanking all the receptionists, doctors, nurses and technicians as if they had performed some kind of multi-organ transplant on me using their own organs. Each person I thanked looked at me like they thought I was a bit "touched," until I explained, "I'm from the U.S. and just moved here a few months ago." Once I uttered that phrase, they all smiled proudly and gave virtually the same response, "Oh, yes, that would explain it. You're not used to having health care are you?"

They all said they couldn't understand why a country with as many resources as the States couldn't provide basic health care for all of its citizens. I told them it wasn't that we couldn't. It's that we didn't want to.

There's this crazy concept at work here. If you give people access to medical care while they are well and/or in the early stages of an illness, you can save money down the road versus waiting until the sickness is too much to manage and then having people show up in the emergency room where the cost of treatment is much, much higher and people without insurance still can't pay.

Now, don't get me wrong. The system here is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Keeping docs and nurses has been a bit of an issue and there are waiting lists for certain kinds of procedures and surgeries. I know that there are some Canadians with resources who are going to States rather than wait. And of course, we pay much higher taxes for this government service.

But, I have to tell you, as one of those Americans who has gone for stretches of time without health insurance, it sure is nice to not have to hold my breath and live with the fear that I am one illness or accident away from complete ruination.

News-a-tainment - Between the two years I spent commuting and the now 7 months I've been living here in Canada, one of the things that still fascinates me is the difference in what and how American news stations present versus Canadians ones.

In the morning, I generally flip between CNN and CBC (the main national Canadian news station). Although they both might be reporting on the same news item, I end up coming away not only with different information, but with a different feeling. First, I find that I end up knowing more about the topic from Canadian news. It's made me realize how much American news sources leave out. Second, the "spins" are also different with the American news reporting, even from the more "liberal" sources (don't get me started on Fox "news"), being more to the "right" than the Canadian ones.

Then there's the issue of "balance." By this, I don't mean "right" versus "left." What I'm talking about is balancing stories that directly tie into the country versus reporting on stories that involve the other billions of people and places that share the planet with us. I've become so aware of how nationalistic even the "world wide news programs" are in the U.S. I probably hear as much about U.S. politics in Canada as Canadian but with U.S. reporting there is no such reciprocity with any other country. No wonder most U.S. students can barely find their asses on a map never mind some country where "those poor children" are starving and whatnot.

I'll be honest, getting to view U.S. policy through the eyes of another has on more than one occasion made me more embarrassed than I already am. I wish that the average American could have the chance I've had to step outside of the U.S. media machine and get some perspective. Maybe then people would be more appropriately outraged at what's going on in the world and the U.S.'s role in it.

Get Me to the Church on Time - Yesterday my partner picked me up from work quite agitated.

"Those fuckers!" she exclaimed, "Those fucking fuckers are at it again."

Not sure if she was talking about the raccoons that keep spreading our garbage over our lawn or what I asked her cautiously, "What fuckers, dear?"

"Harper and those fucking right-wingers are trying to put same-sex marriage up for a vote again. It's been settled. They can't just do that, give us rights and then take them away."

I grimaced and nodded solemnly. You see, as a queer American, I've been down this road before. You know, the one where others get to drive or walk on the pavement with shoes and you get to walk in the same direction but barefoot over stones.

I've certainly spent many a day in the state capital convincing "my legislator" that having a law to make it illegal to fire me, kick me out of housing or deny me access to public places because of being queer was called "equal rights," not "special rights." I've also been in the situation when a municipality passes some kind of domestic partner or civil union status and you and your partner have to decide quickly whether or not to do it because you're afraid that within a short time they'll rescind it and you'll have missed your window.

At any rate, all last night my partner alternated between fretting and being furious. I tried to be re-assuring but the only thing that I managed to say was, "Now you know what it's like to be a queer American, not knowing from one legislative session to the next how secure your rights really are." I don't think it was quite helpful but it was better than sharing with her some of my old war stories and sending her into full-blown panic.

So, between fits of emotion, we tried to also think practically. A million questions floated around for both of us. "What if they vote to re-open this? They said even if the law gets changed they wouldn’t declare those marriages already done invalid. Should we rush to city hall before they have a chance to vote it out? Or do we chance waiting until we think we're ready?" Let me tell you, it sucks to have to contemplate the timing such a life changing and deep commitment based on the agenda of the far right. Talk about a shotgun wedding. She's right, they are fuckers.

Neither one of us was feeling good about rushing off to get a marriage license under these conditions. One of the things I have loved about moving to Canada is that we have had options... to get married, to be listed as common law, to be considered single. But having marriage potentially yanked was sending us both into a bit of a tizzy because there are some legal perks to the whole business which we'd at least like the option of having (and no, at this point, I'm not going to get into the whole debate about whether or not marriage is good for the queers. I'll be the first to discuss in what ways "marriage" has the potential to lead the queer community to be co-opted by the androcentric heteropatriachy if we're not thoughtful and authentic. I'll save that for another day when I'm not worried about losing my rights... again).

Anyway, by the end of last night, we decided to table any further talk until we saw how things shook down today.

This morning, all the reports were predicting a healthy defeat. A number of key conservatives were complaining about this being a waste of time because they even felt it had been settled a year ago and everyone had moved on. And unlike most Americans in the last several major elections, Canadians saw it for the smoke screen it was.

By the end of the day, the predictions were proven right. The bill to re-open the debate was solidly voted down and my partner would be spared any further parallel experience to what queer Americans go through on a daily basis. God bless Canada!

Tawkin' Turkey - So here it is, American Thanksgiving Weekend. One of the most heavily traveled weekends of the year in the U.S. A time when families gather to break bread, gives thanks and sometimes put the "fun" back in "dysfunctional."

But, of course this past Thursday was just like any other Thursday here in Canada since Thanksgiving here is in October. It was a bit surreal for me, being at work, dealing with clients, colleagues and case managers while trying to squeeze in long distance phone calls to my parents and other relatives before their big tryptophan filled feasts got under way.

This is the first time ever I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my parents. Since I'm still technically on probation at work and, at the moment, my ability to stay in Canada rides on my work permit, taking 2 vacation days wasn't an option I wanted to consider. So, throughout the day I convinced myself it wasn't a huge deal anyway. I mean most of the family is spread around so it would be a really small gathering anyway, much smaller than Christmas. And besides, my mother said don't bother coming home because I was just there 2 weeks ago because of some health issues my dad was having.

But, I have to admit, despite all this rationalizing and how happy I am living with my partner in Canada where I have more rights as a queer person than back in the States, I was definitely aware of my "otherness" in way I haven't been thus far. I think had I been overwhelmed with sadness or loneliness or guilt, I could make sense of that. But instead, I was completely caught off guard by this strange low-level melancholy. You know, that kind of "it ain't easy being green" kind of feeling. It makes sense I would feel this for American Thanksgiving since this is first major U.S. holiday I've experienced which doesn't have a Canadian counterpart close by calendar-wise. Iguess despite all my bitchin' about U.S. politics and "attitudes," teh States will always still feel like home in some not so bad ways too.

On Arrogance - It's no big secret that I'm not a huge fan of the current American administration (or perhaps I should say " 'Merican 'Ministration" to fit in with the times). When I've traveled abroad in the past, I've often tried to distance myself from other American tourists, who are often boorish and embarrassing. Let me tell you there's nothing like watching a bus load of women from Texas descend upon some European gift shop with three poor employees who look as if they are witnessing the Chainsaw Massacre right in front of them.

Anyway, now that I'm living in Canada and am seeing America consistently through a different set of lenses, I find that I'm more abhorred than ever before about how we Americans conduct ourselves in arenas much larger than an unsuspecting boutique.

Here's the latest example which was all over the news recently in Ontario. An American citizen was convicted in Buffalo of a sex crime (apparently he couldn't keep his hands off his 15 year old female students)and was given 3 year probation. However, without checking with Canadian immigration, the man was told by the U.S. judge he could serve his probation in Canada, where is family lives. Gee, that's a little presumptuous isn't it? Can you imagine the uproar if it was the other way around and other countries were wanting to send their convicted sexual predators to the U.S. without asking because they had family?

The man was stopped at the border and given an immigration hearing because it turns out he has permanent residence status in Canada. The person in charge of the hearing went against all the other Canadian officials and let him in (which of course is something the Canadians will have to sort out) but, I still can't believe the audacity of the judge to put this sentencing forward without consulting with the Canadians.

*sigh* Ya know, as of late, when someone up here asks me where I'm from, I taken to saying, "So before I tell you, I'll just say up front, I'm sorry, for everything. I'm American." I just wish those with some political clout could take some ownership too.

Take me out to the hockey match,
Let me push through the crowd.
Buy me some beer and some fattening snacks,
I won't bother to button my slacks.
So it's root, root, root for the home team,
If they lose we'll find someone to blame,
So it's check, slash, skate towards the goal
At the old hockey game!!!

Yeppers, this past weekend for I took part for the first time in perhaps one of the most sacred of all Canadian rituals: going to a hockey game.

Some neighbors down the street gave us tickets to the annual "Legends Match" in which a group of Hockey Hall of Famers (or Hall of Famer quality players) get together and play a hockey game for charity. Apparently it's a really big deal and these folks' careers are folkloric in nature.

Considering I was raised in the NFL/AFL tradition, I suppose I appreciated as much as ble the action on the ice. However, what I found more interesting was watching people and the crowd dynamics.

Now I'm no expert what so ever on sporting events of any kind. I was forced to play in the pep band for high school football games and that's about it. But, from what I could tell there were many of the same elements that you'd expect from sports fans. People dressed in their teams' outfits; lots of beer and opportunities to clog your arteries; and the usual amount of generalized and play specific hootin' and howlin'.

But there were some interesting differences for me. First, on two occasions, complete strangers asked my partner and I to watch their "stuff" while they went foraging for food and/or bathrooms. Dude, seriously, I was flabbergasted. I can't imagine anyone I know living in NY who would ask strangers to look after their expensive coats and cameras. Despite having been here nearly 5 months, the friendliness of Canadians is still unnerving to me (see my July 7, 2006 for some of my early thoughts on this specific topic).

Second, the Canadian organizers of this match included women alongside the men as both players and coaches. It was so empowering to see them out there on the ice as equals with the men and even more empowering to see the number of young girls in the stands wearing hockey jerseys from the pee wee teams they play on.

Third, I'm still thrown off by not always being barraged by homophobia and by being "seen" as a queer person. An older man in his 60's struck up some chit chat with us that ended up with him joking with us about not necking in the bleachers and about how politically correct (or not depending on who you are) the word "dyke" is. THEN! as if having this older man being so comfortable having these kinds of conversations with us wasn't cool enough, the entertainment between periods was the Nylons, a well known gay men's a cappella quartet. Can you imagine this being the half time entertainment at the NFL All Stars Game or the Superbowl?! Man, the responses to that would make the ones to the "Janet incident" look like people just calling in for the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Election-o-rama - Ahhh, it's that time of year, the leaves have turned all those beautiful hues; there's a chill in the air that let's you know it's time to pull out your favorite sweaters; and neighborhood lawns are festooned with a cornucopia of placards enticing you to vote for Hopeful Candidate X or Incumbent Y.

This is my first year experiencing the election season from both sides of the border. I did my civic duty and registered for an absentee ballot. I haven't missed an election since I turned 18. I figured there are places in the world where people literally have killed for the right to vote and that plenty of my sisters around the world can't vote so why would I throw mine away.

Anyway, The Democrats have won the House and Senate and Toronto is in the midst of a contentious mayoral battle. Although I have discovered that "contentious" and "nasty" political fights north of the border look and feel quite different.

Last weekend I had to unexpectedly travel back to the U.S. because of my dad's ill health so I caught the last few days of pre-election media blitz. Having watched this year's elections unfold in Canada and then being suddenly dumped into the States really made me realize how negative U.S. campaigning is and how little the process has to do with the issues.

In the States, it seems that in the 2 months leading up to election day, the only t.v. ads not related to prescription drugs are some kind of mudslinging diatribe of one sort or another. Candidates search out and exploit (or just outright make up) any flaw or sign of weakness in their opponents. And whether or not it has anything to do with the price of tea in China, never the actual "issues," is not nearly as important as it's ability to create smoke screens, buzz phrases and "politainment."

Here in Canada, to my recollection, I haven't seen one t.v. ad for any of the big races, never mind the small ones. And their idea of a contentious public debate is when one candidate says, "I must strongly disagree with what my opponent says on such-and-such an issue."

What? No trash talking? No diverting to get in a dig or two or avoid having one's own flaws jumped on? An actual discourse on the issues? While this approach makes for poor entertainment, it sure seems to make for better politics.

P.S. I've included on my links list one for an organization, "Democrats Abroad" that provides amazing resources and information to help Americans living outside the U.S. to register to vote if you aren't already and to get signed up for absentee ballots.