A Year Ago...

As I see posts on Facebook about people moving down to Charlottesville and see the evidence of moving trucks in Ivy Gardens, I can't help but remember the intense stress I put myself under this week a year ago.

I know that I really shouldn't admit things like what I'm about to admit in any sort of public forum, but in the hopes that it could help someone else, I'm just going to be honest and vulnerable. Anyway, the worst moment of my pre-move week was the emotional breakdown I had in the Alberta Registries office (Canadian equivalent of the DMV) when I discovered that the new-to-me car I was registering was still listed as leased... Not a big deal in ordinary circumstances, but a big deal when you are trying to drive it across the border in a cross-border move.

Among the other "adventures" that I went through at this time last year were having to get a new I-20 issued two weeks before my move (something I discovered while I was in Iowa for a friend's wedding), realizing that there was no way I'd be able to fit everything into my car and ultimately vacuum sealing anything that could possibly be shrunk and a very intense border crossing in which I had to tell my sister that playing the Arrogant Worms song with the chorus "burn, burn, burn the White House" would not be appropriate border-crossing music. (Referring to the War of 1812, not any sort of Canadian terrorist plans!)

Before I get to a suggested survival plan, I'm going to let you in on the punchline - everything was just fine. I got the right papers to take "leased" off my car registration. My sister turned off the stereo. Although I had to go in to get "processed," the merciful border guard did not attempt to open my vacuum-sealed trunk. And everything was A-OK.

Anyway, the best thing I did in my pre-move week was turn off my cell phone, leave my laptop at home, and head to the Canadian Rockies for a few days of camping, hiking and relaxing with my best friend. So, while most of you (and yes, this blog post is targeted at the Darden Class of 2012 - both of you who are still reading my posts!) may be tempted to check and re-check those lists of things to do, do yourself a favour and get away to RELAX! I'm not going to remind you of what's in store over the next few months... but trust me, relax while you can. :-)

International Food Festival

One of the best things about Darden is the international student population. Every year, there is an International Food Festival, and the organizers claim that it is the best event of the year.

After participating last night, I would concur.

Flagler Courtyard was transformed into a global village, with booths set up for India, Columbia, Argentina, Italy, Japan, Thailand, and many, many more countries. Each of these countries featured students dressed in their traditional country garb and, more importantly, serving traditional country cuisine. It only took a few tables before I was completely and utterly stuffed. I would swear that I was done eating until I walked past the Russian booth, where my friends forced blinis into my hand. Then someone would tell me that I absolutely HAD to try the noodle dish from Korea.

Delicious!

After the dining portion of the evening, there were traditional performances from each country. While many would probably decree the Egyptian belly dancer was the best (a girl from the fabulous Section B), my favourite was the Japan presentation. The first lord was played by a guy in my section, who was lulled to sleep with wine by someone who promptly stole the bird. (For more on that, read my previous entry.) After that, there was some sword play and some sumo wrestling to determine who would win the bird. It was quite hilarious.

One of the biggest questions I got all evening was: where's the Canada booth? So, my question to all my fellow Canadians, what would you deem traditional Canadian food so I can have a booth next year? The only thing I could come up with is poutine.

Observations on the South of the 49th Parallel and South of the Mason-Dixon Line

After living in the South for just over a month, there are a collection of observations which I have been gleaning about cultural differences between life back home in Canada and life here in Virginia.

1. Service staff are incredibly friendly down here. I don't know if it was the intense labour shortages in Alberta due to the oil industry, or if it's a cultural thing, but I have consistently had great conversations with the grocery check-out clerk, the lady ringing me through for my oil change, the women running the tills at Cafe 67 and generally everyone I encounter.
2. The accent gets less noticeable. I have become accustomed to the usage of "y'all" in everyday language, though I have not adopted it myself.

And now, some observations on the differences between Americans and Canadians.

1. Americans don't know what a "toque" is. I don't know if it's because it's not cold enough that they need a special word to denote the distinction between a hat worn in the cold from one worn to the Kentucky Derby, but when I've used the word "toque" I get blank expressions. (Note to Americans: a "toque" is a woolen hat worn in the winter used to keep the head and ears warm.)
2. Equally blank looks come my way when I pronounce the last letter of the alphabet as "zed" instead of "zee."
3. Even though I said "eh?" when I lived in Canada, it is either more noticeable here because of the Canadian stereotype or I actually say it more, for the same reason.
4. I am having a hard time getting out of the habit of using Canadian spelling, even though my spell-checker gets mad every time I type "labour."
5. Health care is a big topic of discussion here. I get asked a lot about the Canadian system, and am never entirely sure what to say. On the one hand, I can't fathom living in a place where if you get sick, you're SOL. On the other hand, with the population differences, and certain strengths in the US health care system, there is no way the Canadian system can be applied in the US. Americans find it hard to believe that the thought of two-tier health care evokes such strong negative reactions for Canadians.
6. Speaking of politics, I explained to someone last night that the Canadian political system is generally more left-wing than the American system.

And that is all for now...

Orientations and Adjustments

The past week, as suggested by the title for this post, has been filled with orientations and adjustments. I debated writing several blog posts about each of these things, but as another day has zipped by and I am long overdue for bed, I think I'll just try to get to the meat and pull it all together.

International Student Orientation (referred to hereinafter as ISO) was interesting. On the positive side of things, it was really great to meet my classmates that are coming from all the different corners of the globe. The perspective that they bring will absolutely enhance our learning experience. I say that with sincerity, though it is something I heard day after day in ISO. Though there were sessions that I didn't find useful personally (i.e. US etiquette), what I enjoyed was trying to see North American culture through the eyes of my foreign-raised classmates.

Technology Orientation was the other orientation of the week. This one definitely frustrated me as some miscommunication ended up costing me an extra $100 in setup fees. I also had a lot of my settings changed, programs uninstalled, and files moved. However, I have now located all the missing files, reinstalled the programs I need and am really appreciating the whole Microsoft Exchange setup that we have going at Darden. I must admit that I got addicted to Meeting Requests while in the workplace, and now I can send meeting requests to my professors, career consultant and classmates. There are some great tools, and the technology process at Darden certainly evidences a strong commitment to excellence.

And finally, adjustments. There have been a few:

• "For here" vs "To stay": every time I eat fast food in an American restaurant, I want to reply "to stay" to the question "for here or to go?"
• Heat and humidity: my wardrobe has been completely altered. I now wear skirts and camis or sundresses. However, since most buildings are air-conditioned, a cardigan or sweater is necessary to bring along.
• Busy social schedule: There is something happening EVERY night. Tonight I decided to ignore the party and stayed at home watching a movie with my roommate.
• Stores: There are a lot of new stores in the US that are really fun. I've always heard that shopping was better in the US, and today I experienced it firsthand. We went to Williamsburg, where there is a large outlet mall, and stocked up on almost all the clothes necessary to last through Christmas. I even bought a great new suit, which I will get a lot of mileage out of over the next few months.

Monkey Wrenches

One thing that I am starting to learn is that blips in the plan are God's way of reminding me to depend on Him.

After attempting to sell my car and pretty much giving up, I had three people express interest in it today. I am leaving in a week... so within a week, I will need to change the tires on my "new" car, get a stereo installed AND change over the insurance and registration. Oh yeah, and did I mention I will be gone to the mountains for two and a half days?

The nice part of this plan, though, is that my sisters, who do not drive standard/manual transmission, will not have to worry about getting stuck in some traffic jam on the highway. More importantly, I'll be able to bring more stuff along.

The last week has been filled with preoccupation with someone else's stress and I've been helping to tie ribbons around bottles and scrolls, decorate reception rooms and remind my friend, the bride, not to stress. But as I'm sitting in the Omaha airport, getting ready to head back to Edmonton and some semblance of "real life," the details are pressing in again. Unanswered emails in my inbox will need replies, cars will need to be sold, and trunks will need to be packed.

But the subject of this blog posting is "monkey wrenches," so I would be better served to talk about the other big monkey wrench this week, though it was quickly resolved. After checking off the big item of "visa" from my list a few months ago, I got an email from the international students office asking for a document ASAP. (To make a long story short, I changed my funding, emailed to see if I needed to send them anything a MONTH ago, didn't get a reply [or follow-up] and then this week, they requested a document.) Since I'm a relatively meticulous planner, this threw me off, and suddenly I had visions of not being able to leave Edmonton on time and having all my schools plans go down the drain. (My imagination is apparently overactive.)

Thanks to my mom, and my careful filing of important documents, it was all taken care of and a new I-20 is on the way, or maybe even already arrived.

Another Moving Headache

For the past week, I have been in Iowa getting ready for a friend's wedding. Being focused on that all week helped me to keep my mind off of the stress in my life, but last night, it hit that I am moving in just a week, and I had a total freakout.

Anyway, this morning, we all went to get our hair done for the wedding. Since the Wireless Company that I want to get my mobile device through was located in the same strip mall as the salon AND there was lots of time left waiting for other bridesmaids to get their hair done, I apologized to the bride (or got her blessing, however you want to look at it) and walked down the mall to see if I could maybe, just maybe, get a phone now so I have one on the drive down.

Here's some background: I called Wireless Company and explained my situation. What I was told was that a) I wouldn't be able to get a Virginia number in Iowa (but, since I'm relentless, I tried anyway) and b) they would have to charge me a deposit, but could put in a dummy code for my social security number since I don't have one.

So, I went down and said what I had heard on the phone, but was told a) they could totally get me a Virginia number and b) the system wouldn't let them enter a dummy SSN.

Anyway, I don't have a phone, and am torn between just giving my Canadian SIN to Wireless Company in Charlottesville or trying all over again. Because the problem today was not my location, but my lack of SSN. So frustrating!

In other news, the wedding was beautiful.

Check, Check, Check

After working all of last weekend, a lot of the items on my Outlook to-do list turned red on account of being past their due dates. But today, I finished the last of my pre-enrollment modules, so I am well on the way to having everything done by the end of June.

Sadly, since it has been 10 years since I've done high school math, I actually had to take part of the math test twice. It's funny how we attempt to save time by not reviewing the material, then have to take it again. I hope that my score on the assessment doesn't have any material effect on my grades, since it wasn't my best showing. What can I say? I'm still in summer mode. I'm glad for two weeks of orientation to get myself back in study mode.

The other BIG thing on the list is selling my car. I consider myself a decent negotiator, but I really don't have weeks to spend playing games and haggling over the price. I'm thinking of pricing my car just over the base minimum that I plan on selling it for. Any car selling experts out there with some advice?

Well, I'm exhausted. The countdown is 15 days left of work before vacation. Next week will be really nice, with just two days of work, Canada Day, another two days of work, and then the weekend. In three weeks, when I finish work, it will be time to rush hardcore into vacation. As it's been over a year since I've had a real vacation (don't know if you would count travelling to MBA programs as a vacation, though it was a fun trip!), I'm definitely looking forward to some extended time off.

Canadians and US Student Visas

Okay... this is the part where I share my story so that if any Canadians entering the US to go to school happen to be reading this, they will avoid my stress.

With all due respect to the US, while Canadians are pretty much immersed in American culture from early in life, Americans just don't really think of Canadians at all. This isn't a dig at Americans, it's just something that makes sense when you consider the population and influence of the US vs. the population and influence of Canada.

Anyway, there is an agreement between the US and Canada called NAFTA which basically makes trade rules different between the countries than between all other international countries. For a long time, Canadians didn't even need a passport to go to the US (or Mexico, for that matter). Since 9/11 this has changed, but the change has been gradual and hasn't even been fully implemented.

This is a really long explanation for my short story. I was always under the impression that acquiring a visa required sending away your passport to get a visa stamped in it. This process, if affected by red tape, could take an unknown number of days.

My best friend is getting married in Iowa on July 24. I want to be down there a week ahead of time to help get ready and throw lots of parties for her. However, since you need a passport to fly into the US, I was under a ton of stress hoping that I would get my passport back in time.

Well... in an effort to expedite the process, I went to see how the whole interview booking process worked last night. After entering all my information, I got a message saying I didn't need a visa to enter the States.

So, I emailed the international students office at UVA (which has been quite helpful, by the way!) and got the reply this morning that I only need my I-20, not a visa in my passport.

Which is a relief... but I wonder why I stressed so much!