~Nini~

Mike and I are going to finally convert over to a flat screen lcd tv today. We're gonna go to Best Buy and make friends with a nerdy sales boy.

I highly recommend a Panasonic.

Just be sure to arm yourself with a Lysol cannon when you go! Those nerdy sales boys don't always wash every day

Kathryn, you should post that quiche recipe! It sounds quite yummy, and I'm always up for trying my hand at quiche making.

Tonight's dinner is homemade beef stew, braised with beer. Num!

Oh dear gods am I pooped. More reading manuals and orientation stuff today at work. I snuck out of the building during my lunch break and browsed the neighbourhood a bit - they have an Asian supermarket just around the corner! I am really thrilled - I can do some dry goods shopping on the way home!

They swapped my homebound train to an express train for the end of the route, so I ended up waiting an extra half-hour for the next one.

My boss (and her boss) didn't look too happy when I told them my keys were missing, but they didn't look very upset either, so I guess that's my freebie mistake for the month.

About the exercising... Carla and Nev, you girls go! I completely understand how hard it is to get back into gear, I've been slowly getting active again after a year of being mostly sedentary. Walking to and from work (via train) really has helped, and I'm doing a night fencing course at the local high school - I'm enjoying it so much, I might start taking classes at the academy near work.

Mrr, I think I'm babbling at this point. *heads to bed*

My first day at work was okay. I sat around reading manuals all day, for the most part - no hands on training, unless you count the hour I spent at the front desk with the main receptionist. My friend tells me that they only made me read the manual because they put in a "do not spork yourself in face" clause there, and they want to make sure I read it so that I can't sue them later when it happens

Today I had the day off, but I somehow lost my work pass and key somewhere... and after backtracking my steps within a ten-mile radius I can't find 'em. My boss is going to be pretty unimpressed, or laugh. Either way, I'm completely kicking myself right now.

Bee and I went to an Italian restaurant tonight for dinner - our calamari appetizer was underwhelming, his entree was good, mine wasn't. Then we headed to the brother-in-law's and played Wii and ate Dibs ice cream for dessert.

Yep, I saw everything from ripped jeans to suits and fancy dresses as well. We wore jeans and nice shirts to the interview; the counter hid us from the bottom down, so they didn't even see our jeans.

Tonight I'm making Chinese five-spice beef. Three hours on the stove, and the house smells like a spice rack.

I think socialism is a great concept. I believe in working for WE not ME. I don't get why its so wrong to some people.

I think some people still have this idea that historically, socialism was very much a "bad thing" - if I'm not mistaken, the Nazi party started under the banner of socialism - and therefore they don't want to be a part of it. How often do you hear communism being equated with socialism?

Personally, I love the concept too, but I'm not going to argue the point with a bunch of ignorant people. I just know that I'm wasting my breath

and you are not giving up your Canadian citizenship if you become a US citizen...

I only meant I would feel like I was figuratively turning my back on Canada, not literally.

I won't become a US citizen, as I could never "absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen"....I love the U.S., would love to be able to vote here and my husband would love for me to become a citizen, but I will always, always have allegiance and fidelity to Canada. I couldn't make the above required statement in good conscience.

Yea, I think this pretty much sums it up for me too. I am conflicted, as I know my husband's family would really like for me to have citizenship in order to vote, but that sole reason isn't enough for me to want to get U.S. citizenship. I don't feel like I'm really missing out on much else by remaining as a permanent resident... maybe I'm missing something?

I feel in a sense that taking up citizenship here in America would be like turning my back on my Canadian citizenship, and I feel like I would be betraying my mother's efforts towards obtaining that years ago - maybe that sounds sentimental, I dunno As practical as it is for me to obtain U.S. citizenship (for ease of travel, moving, etc), I would also like to have the same loyalty to America that I have for Canada. At this point I don't feel that... then again, I have five years to reconsider my decision.

The jury is still out for me.

Yay Netflix! We're on the 3-a-month plan right now, but we're probably going to downgrade to two soon now that I'm returning to work. I love how they have TV shows on there too - we completely geeked out on Battlestar Galactica awhile back

My funny thought this morning was that, among other things, I'm going to be so thrilled that I don't have to look at GWB's ugly mug at work and other state and federal agencies any longer

Urgent (24 hours) is $70. Express (2-9 business days) is $30. For either service, you'll have to show proof of travel, like an itinerary so they know when you need it by.

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/urgent.aspx?lang=eng

I think we applied for my passport via Express on a Tuesday and managed a Friday morning pick-up.

I prefer black teas with a hint of flavour (like vanilla, peach, blackberry) but for some reason I've never liked earl grey. I think it's because of the bergamot that a lot of tea companies like to infuse it with

That cat is adorable. I'm so glad you guys finally brought someone home.

A cup for me please!

(We're the only folks that drink hot piping tea in the entire county, I swear...)

Hubby was extremely skeptical of the homemade green bean casserole, but I won him over. I fear there's a subscription in my future...

Any who, I know what you are saying about losing your identity. I defined myself as Canadian and British for the most part. I try to buy my tea online and british sweets when I can, but it's not the same as having my mum brew me a cuppa after dinner. Ya know? There is such a big British backing in Canada that no matter where you turn, you usually can find someone of British decent.

I think the worst part about moving away from home was my mother's home-cooked Chinese meals. You know, mini versions of the Wedding Banquet. I truly miss that so much. I even miss being around my own crazy family because they reflect a culture that I can barely find out here, and that's saying a lot!

My passport expired shortly before I had to attend a family wedding back home in Vancouver. We ended up crossing into Canada through border crossing after flying into Seattle. During the chaos of the wedding, I had my photos taken, and we applied for my passport in person; we paid a bit extra to have it expedited, but I didn't really trust it being sent back to my US address, so I picked it up from the office. Since I was applying in person, I was allowed to use the Simplified Renewal form and had my mother as my guarantor. The folks at the office were completely understanding about my situation, helped me figure out the best solution, and had absolutely no issues with renewing my passport; they allow you to renew it for up to a year past the expiration date before they get twitchy. I highly recommend this route if you're able to do so

The other alternative, if you aren't able to go back to Canada to get it done, is to have it mailed to Passport Canada in Quebec - that's the only place they'll accept the mail-in applications - however, getting the photos done properly and signed is a bit of a hassle especially with the guarantor rules, and you have to mail the old passport back, so she'll be without for awhile.

Oh jeez... *hugs to Krikit and Carla* Both of you put your feet up when you can. I hope things turn for the better soon.

I'm wondering what all of you expected things to be like.

Hrm. I guess for me, I didn't expect my homesickness to be so severe - in my childhood, I'd lived in Hong Kong for five years - and while I didn't expect things to be the same, I felt at least like I would have a sense of control over my life. Well, as you know, this process doesn't really give that to us but at least I felt optimistic enough that I could take on all those challenges head-on and not feel daunted.

I've been here in PA for a year now, and it took us almost as long to realize that I was not adjusting well to the move. I didn't have a car and we live in the 'burbs, so I was basically stuck in the house all evening while my husband was at work; he was also missing a great deal of the way things were at our house due to his work schedule, and in huge denial about how hard it was for me to be living with his parents. AOS was giving us a hell of a ride, and I wasn't successful in landing a job that would facilitate us getting out of a difficult living situation. I was at the point where I wanted to pack my bags and go home; nothing was working like I'd expected or hoped it to, and I felt like my independence had been completely stripped from me.

As a visible minority (I'm a first-gen Canadian-born-Chinese) things have been interesting. I'm not saying that my neighbours have never seen an Asian before, but... let's just say I don't blend in around here Among other things, I get asked a lot about how I like the local Chinese food. Don't get me wrong, no one's being offensive, but I'm not used to people focusing so directly on my ethnicity; back in Vancouver, it wasn't a big deal, but here it's like I'm the local oddity. Then I tell folks that I'm Canadian, and it really makes them blink a little, because they assume from my fluent English that I'm native to the USA.

At least for me, I feel like I've been uprooted from two cultures and I'm starting to lose grip on my dual identities. We've found ways to compensate for that (shopping at the Asian supermarket, going to Chinatown in the city, trips back home to Vancouver) but it's not the same. I wouldn't have expected it to be, either, but it still stings a bit, because I feel like the things that made me, me, were left behind. I am just hoping that with this new job, I get into some semblance of my old routine back home that will make me gain back some of what I feel has been lost.

Ugh, I feel like I hopped on the pity wagon for a long ride too. Sorry about rambling. *hops off*

I'd have moved to Antartica to be with the love of my life Gene, and have never regretted my move.

If anyone heard that funny burbling noise in the background, that's the sound of my heart melting.

Thinking chicken (haven't decided how to dress it yet) and homemade green bean casserole. I found a recipe in Cook's Illustrated that I'm dying to try out

Depends on what the rules are for obtaining marriage and drivers' licenses in your state. In PA, we applied for our marriage license the day after I entered the country (they only needed my passport), and married a week later. I opted to apply for my SSN and DL after I got married, just so I wouldn't have to go back to those places more than I had to. To be fair, I couldn't do much before them either! Obtaining my DL required my SSN, being added to my husband's benefits and our joint bank account required my SSN... list goes on.

I completely agree though with the ducks in a row analogy. I had a whole chronological list of things that we had to get done, in a specific order, because without the preceding one I couldn't move onto the next.