no one

I've noticed lately that I've been thinking and saying "zee" more easily that when I first got here. I'm not quite sure I like that

LOL, with my husband, I always say "zed" without a second thought. But yesterday, when I was reading the eye chart for my driver's licence test, I corrected myself after saying "zed" and added "zee", just in case

and I found a grocery store a few blocks down too... I picked up some frozen pizza and some drinks .. saved me some money on eating out.....

Haha, since I'd taken the bus in to Montreal from Toronto, I'd brought my own food along to save on eating out. That said, DO NOT miss out on the Montreal bagels (with cream cheese and lox) or the poutine!!!

Recently received my EAD, so am currently looking for work...

Last year, I commuted over an hour (approx 70-80 min) to work each day to work, and the same distance back home. That was on top of 12-15 hrs work days (I was a first year high school teacher, with a steep learning curve to climb). It was the most exhausting experience of my life.

Now I've promised myself that I'd find work that's LESS than an hr's drive away. If I can have my way, the job would be within walking/biking distance *dreams* This is going to cut down on the number of job opportunities drastically especially since the big city -- San Francisco -- is an hour's drive away (longer with rush hour traffic), but it'll be worth my sanity.

i dont smoke and I'm glad I found somebody who doesn't.

Funny you said that. Smoking would've been a deal-breaker for me.

The only smoke I can tolerate (and like) are campfire smoke and incense smoke

It'll be just like any other day.

We don't like being told we have to buy cards and presents and wait in long line-ups for a very rushed dinner. We like to do nice things for each other when the mood strikes us, not when it's a man-made holiday.

Same goes for us

we first bumped into each in a chat room back in 2002 around this time... so we have known each for about 5 years now

Same here! On Feb 5, 2002 to be exact (we'd checked our old email inboxes years ago, curious to know when we'd first "met")

Since Canada will allow us to keep our citizenships, there's nothing to lose in applying for US citizenship, so why ever not?

Now that our AOS, EAD is pending, I check my account twice a day...once in the morning and then at night. I feel sad when there is no change in our cases. I love to see touches...even though I don't know what they mean.

I never checked once while my AOS and EAD were pending... I'm now with my husband, so why waste time going nuts? That said, I worried needlessly throughout the entire K1 process before I'd received my visa. Worried everyday, but only checked my status maybe once a month. I'd signed up for the email notifications, and status changes didn't require any actions on my part really, so I didn't bother checking that often.

I used to love window seats, but now I prefer aisle because I don't have to disturb others when I need to go to the washroom Nonetheless, if my seatmates are my family/friends, I'd take the window seat!

I'd love it if Aero bars would come to the US. I love the mint ones, and orange

They have them here in northern CA at Cost Plus World Market.

Just curious!

I moved here to Petaluma back in September and want to know if there's any other fellow VJ'ers from around here?

===

*waves to AngelD* Hope you had a safe flight and made it here to Petaluma in one piece!

As for Asian society, I never did understand about their society. And frankly, I do not associate with most of them nor do I identify with any of them, as to tell you the truth, all they think about is the "money/prestige" thing. For example, New Year's to them is "Be prosperous", instead of "spending time with family and friends". I'm guessing that you are on the "happiness" side of the fence with those people (I'm on this "happiness" side of the debate too), which is a good non-Asian attitude to take. Oh, I can go on and on about what I don't like about Asian people and Asian society too (believe me, there are more issues than the money thing too), but I think I'll better stop here, as I don't want any other VJers posting angry messages about this.

Ant

Balance's the key Sometimes I am ashamed of my Asian roots (because of the poor representatives out there), but there are loads of good in the Chinese culture too. You know, values like strong family ties, respect for your elders, crazy work ethics, etc.

Oh, and you know that strict parenting Chinese parents do (e.g. beat their kids, negative reinforcement)? In some ways, I think that works better than the N. American tradition of lax parenting... BUT at the same time, I envy the open communication Jason has with *his* family, because my parents and I just don't talk about personal things... you know, things like relationships, sex, or even how I'm doing at work (uhhh, trying to stay on the topic of employment here! ) So, yeah, a happy medium needs to be found.

When Tao gets mad at me she goes off in Chinese and everything is fine two minutes later. I think she enjoys that I just got my butt chewed and I have nothing to say in return.

Haha, I dream and think in English, but there are certains words, emotions, and phrases that cannot be translated into English very well from Chinese (and this is probably true of all languages). So, sometimes I'd sneak in a Chinese phrase here and there even though Jason's not Chinese

It's also fun when there are English movies with some characters speaking in Chinese. Jason would turn to me and ask if the English subtitles are true to what the characters are REALLY saying.

Hi everyone!

Kurtis received his packet today. I guess it's time to start looking into where to stay in Montreal. I've never been, but I've heard that it's gorgeous in the summer. I hope that there's absolutely no snow when the interview date rolls around!!

So, I have a few questions:

1. Where is the best place to stay, close to the Consulate?

2. How is the public transit? Is the airport accessible by any transit methods?

3. If we were to drive, are the road signs/roads confusing? I hate driving even in Boston--one way streets will probably be the end of me.

4. When do you normally get the visa?

5. Where can I find more information about the Montreal Consulate? I'm reading just about anything I can get my hands on, so any particular post/link that you've found helpful would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for any responses. I'm looking forward to making this Montreal trip a nice getaway (provided it's warm, of course!).

1. As someone without a deep pocket, "best" to me means cheap, clean, and quiet. For my K1 interview last summer, I stayed at McGill's Royal Victoria College, one of the university's residences that's open to the public in the summer. It's a 15 min's walk from the US Consulate. At $56.36/night (incl. taxes), it's comparable to a private room in a hostel.

2. One of my university friends lives in Montreal and he took me around on the subway. It was fun and convenient. I took Coach Canada from Toronto, so not sure about the airport.

3. I didn't drive, but the road signs were not confusing as far as I can remember. I'd say downtown Montreal's easier to navigate by car than downtown Toronto.

4. I got mine the following day (in-person pickup)

5. My K1 experience in Montreal from last summer: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22056

Hi all,

My girlfriend recently had a baby and I want to surprise he and send a gift certificate. she lives in Toronto, Ontario (T-Dot). I am not sure what stores are good for buying baby things in that area of Canada. Any suggestions on stores that I could get a cert. from? If I purchase a certificate here can it be used in Canada....I'm so confuzzled...pls help?

Congrats on the new baby!

Oh man, online shopping sucks in Canada, so it's going to be tough finding a gift cert here that'll work over there, in a B&M store.

I'm not one for mall stores, but Baby GAP have cute clothes sometimes... they have them all over T.O., but not sure if you can purchase a gift cert here and use it in Canada? What about Toys r us?

I know Sephora gift cards from here can be used in Canada, only because my in-laws have given me one Not so great for the occasion, but she could pamper herself with lotions and cosmetics lol.

If worse comes to worst, give her a bank draft, cheque (check...) or something that's safe to send over the mail, and send a personal letter/card with it.

Many Americans make the erroneous assumption that those that immigrate to the United States do so because they are from worse-off countries. I came from Australia. A modern democracy, more free than the United States. Safe, with socialised healthcare and a social security system such that the poor are not forgotten. Only 14 per cent of Americans have passports, thus many of them are ignorant of other cultures/countries.

Agreed. If it wasn't for my husband, I WOULD NOT MOVE HERE. I love my adopted country, Canada. My family is there. My friends are there. I had a career going for me. I have to smile inwardly when people think I want to move to the States because of the great opportunities.

Haha. Sacrifice.

I gave up nearly everything I had when I moved here to be with my husband.

My family. My friends. My budding career.

Granted, visiting Toronto is a 5 hrs' plane ride away (plus hundreds of dollars).

It is worth it though, otherwise I wouldn't even be here.

Jason and I spent a year after our engagement agonizing over the what ifs before deciding on the K1 route. This whole immigration thing was not done on the spur of the moment. Spent many nights crying for what I had to leave behind, marvelling at the disintegration of my well laid-out life plans that I'd created in my mind before meeting Jason, ...

We're going to be working hard at making our relationship work. No way I'm re-starting my life all over again.

Hi Em,

Good luck on your job search. Oh, and I did reply to your PM...see your VJ PM messages for the reply. Yes, I did volunteered in teaching adults and children ESL in Canada for a couple of years. In fact, I even wrote an article that was published in the school paper about that teaching experience. Remind me to PM the link of the article to you if you want to read about it sometime.

As for my experiences here in the USA, well, I am currently volunteering teaching children at a local church here. I taught in the summer at camp, and I am still teaching every week on a regular basis. As well, I am helping out with other church related activities. On the side, I am also writing and travelling around the area. Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy my married life here too, a day at a time. I think "volunteer teacher", "writer" and "homemaker" is sufficient for employment purposes (even though I don't get paid by money, I get paid by seeing how happy others are in being helped out).

That's good that you can work in small groups and one on one situations. A lot of people are happier in this type of more private and individualized situation. I'm glad that you are happy working this way too. As I said before, the happier you are working at something, the less it seems like stressful work. Thus, you get paid in more happiness instead of more money...

Ant

Got your PM.

I wish I didn't have to worry about money and work at only what makes me happy! Jas and I want to start a family a few years down the road and I'm trying hard to balance reality with what-I-want.

You know how many of our peers (esp our Asian friends) are all about climbing the ladder? I have to defend my choices on "happiness vs money/prestige" with them all the time. *sighs*

I actually found my ESL teaching job (and two other part-time jobs) on the local non-profit listserv I mentioned that Rhode Islanders use as an alternative to Idealist. Oh, no...we do have classroom management issues! Sometimes it gets quite exciting! Especially with the population I work with...low-income, mostly single mothers who are receiving government benefits. As part of their welfare package, they have to be enrolled in some sort of educational program to continue receiving their benefits. The most difficult students I've had are young women in their early 20s who have three or more kids and have never worked in their lives, so they're not able or willing to take the classes seriously.

But mostly my students are joys to work with....try checking out adult ed nonprofits...they usually have the infrastructure to support you and mostly pay pretty well. Many places only offer ESL classes as part of what they do, so often the teacher receives no support, no materials etc.

LMAO! Yeah, I can see where there can be classroom management issues How do you deal with these not-quite-adults? I worked with high school kids and it was quite a challenge (but rewarding)!

Thanks again for your advice.

*smacks forehead*

Thanks for the heads-up about stating explicitly that I'm authorized to work here. I'd assumed employers would know that if I'm applying for work here, I'd be authorized to work. Stupid me. Never make assumptions.

I've just started on my job search and it's overwhelming.

If I've already applied for a job and I DID NOT explicitly state that I'm authorized to work, should I re-send my application or add a message saying so? Or just wait and see what happens?

Hey! No problem--It's not like I don't have to bring a huge suitcase anyway! ANd karma is a good thing--lol.

My kids are 13 (boy) and 14 (girl) and his daughter is 9 and he also has an 18 year old son who lives with his mom. We all went to Disneyland last year--I think they would prefer MarineWorld!!

They like real rides-lol

I'm sooooooooo done our K1 package! FINALLY--the thing is 3 inches thick! Sending it Monday from Petaluma! YEay!

I'll be in touch via VJ while I'm there--maybe we can go for drinks or something!!!!

Thanks for all your help--I am sure I'll be looking for more later--lol it seems never ending

Angel

Are your kids excited about moving to CA? I'm not sure how the K1 visa works with kids... do you apply and receive the visas all at the same time? Or are the kids' visas a separate process?

Haha, Jason and I are such kids... we'd bought season passes to MarineWorld for the year

Have fun accumulating all the originals and duplicates (or triplicates) of your paperwork! There's loads more to come and it's safest not to toss anything until you have citizenship.

Bon voyage and maybe we'll see each other in Petaluma!

Hi Em,

I forgot to add to my post:

My teaching experiences believe it or not, have been all volunteer related activities. For example, teaching ESL to adults in Canada, and teaching summer camp children at a church here in the USA. And yes, I enjoy teaching, especially in getting paid by seeing others being happier that I helped them out...

Hope this helps too.

Ant

What are you doing now, in terms of employment? (Still awaiting your long email, btw!! ) I didn't know you'd taught adult ESL in Canada.

Yeah... after one year of teaching regular high school classes, I've come to the realization that I work better with small groups and one-on-one. This will probably mean a paycut for me since I'm no longer in a traditional setting (with unions and benefits and what have you), but I'd enjoy it more.

I put my resume on Yahoo! HotJobs and got a few e-mails back with job interview offers. I also applied for some job openings online. If I were you I'd give it a try.

In the end I got a job in a furniture/housewares store, which I start today, and I'm very excited about it!

I'd tried Yahoo! HotJobs 3-4 years ago when I was still living in Canada, with no results. Maybe it'll be different now that I'm in the U.S. since most of the postings are for U.S. jobs! Thanks

How about substitute teaching?

You could look into "emergency certification" or "alternative licensing" to become a teacher (it's called different things in different states.) Many states have procedures for getting licensed if you have appropriate qualifications but didn't go through the system to become a teacher.

Teacher's aides usually make next-to-nothing.... Subbing can be really hard, but you might get a long-term sub position.

Good luck!!!

Thanks, both I'm not sure how to get these emergency certifications, but will look into it.

Yeah... I've just applied for a teaching assistant job and the pay ranges from $9-$13/hr... $17 MAX (w/o benefits)! Subbing *is* hard, but I think as long as I have a bag of tricks and resources up my sleeves, I can wing it (I've known teachers who don't -- or who are unable to -- leave lesson plans behind for their subs. That must really suck)

What about teaching ESL to adults? I'm an ESL teacher and I get paid quite well per hour, although I don't work many hours a week.

Also, try www.idealist.org for social service, non-profit, and "helping people" jobs. Here in Rhode Island, this site isn't utilized much since we have a local non-profit jobs listserve, but I remember seeing tons of jobs in California.

Ooh, how did you find your current job? I think I'd enjoy teaching adult ESL classes a lot. No classroom management issues, right? Will check out idealist.org now!

My humble advice is to be open to anything and everything. I haven't been able to use my skills in heritage preservation/museums at all since I have been here. My first job was in credit card collections, my current job is in medical records.

I did a lot of internet searching for possible websites:

--temp agencies

--official town/city websites

--craigslist

--local library, hospitals, museums, schools, universities, etc etc

and a lot of scanning the employment section of the paper (Sundays are the best in my city) -- led me to a lot of websites to keep my eyes on

and word of mouth is invaluable -- it's how I got my current job.

I'd also look into the possibility of working as a teacher's aide. My friend is a elementary school music teacher and suggested that to me, the school system she works for is always looking for qualified people. Maybe your teaching cert and job experience would lend itself to the opportunity?

Thanks for the tips! I'm open to leaving the education field, though that's where I'd like to be, if possible. How did the word of mouth happen for you? My in-laws have a very tiny circle of friends and acquaintances, and that's making me feel kind of alone out here. I'm hoping that once my application for volunteer work at the local hospital goes through, I'll be able to meet more people!

I've just applied for work as a teaching assistant in a nearby city... but will keep looking around for more opportunities. I know I'm looking at a big paycut from last year's earnings, but one's gotta start somewhere, right?