international paperwork conqueror!
Yes, that is my new official title. Why? Because I am now a permanent resident of Canada!! :D :D So flipping excited and relieved and just all around thrilled to be done with this process at long last. Brad and I got up early on Thursday and left for the border around 9. The drive down was pretty smooth, and there wasn't much wait at the American side of the border. When the officer asked us how long we were staying, I told him we were only crossing so I could turn around and come back, which we did. Zero wait on the Canadian side, and the officer there gave me the little yellow slip of paper I needed to go inside to immigration. I handed them all the paperwork, and of course, the woman then told me to go sit down, she'd call me up when she was done. Which is always the part that makes me the most nervous, just sitting and waiting while immigration looks at all my documents. I was really grateful to have Brad there with me for that part, because we just chatted while we waited, and it helped distract me from being anxious. Then she called me back up, asked me a couple questions, and had me sign the confirmation of permanent residence. "As of this moment, you are a permanent resident of Canada" and you should have seen the grin that was instantly on my face when she said that. I may have jumped up and down a little after we walked away. :)
So yeah! I'm permanent! I even went to Service Canada and got a brand new SIN that doesn't start with a 9 anymore! I will get my permanent resident card in the mail in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I'm good to do whatever; the only thing I can't do is vote. I brought my CPR in to HR on Friday, and am just waiting to hear back from them as to what else needs to happen for me to switch to a permanent position at work. It's seriously such a huge relief to know that this is done, and that I'm here, for real, and they can't kick me out. I can work wherever, I could get a legit summer job instead of just babysitting, I could get EI, I can have benefits all year round, etc. etc. It's just a wonderful feeling, and I'm really really happy that I'm done with immigration bureaucracy! (Well, at least until I decide to apply for citizenship, but that's 2 years away still so we're not worrying about that now!)
Me at Niagara Falls, just after we finished at immigration. I'm a PR now!! :D
The reason it's taken me till Sunday to write about this is that I was actually super busy from then until now. I had previously agreed to babysit Thursday night (before I got my CPR in the mail), so after Brad and I went to Moxie's for a nice dinner to celebrate, I had to go do that. Friday I worked during the day, and then the Relay for Life was that night. When I got home, Brad said we needed to go to the store so he could pick up a few things to make me treats to take with me to the relay, which was really sweet of him. He made me these ridiculous dessert things - double stuff oreos, twisted apart, with a Reese's peanut butter cup stuck inside, then the whole thing dipped in chocolate and crushed oreos. Yummmmmmmm. I don't even want to know how much sugar was in them, but they helped me stay awake and were super delicious so that's all that matters. Also, he had extra melted chocolate after he'd made me the treats, so we used that to dip some strawberries. Chocolate covered strawberries are pretty much the best thing ever, so I was definitely a happy camper.
The Relay for Life went well. I don't think I've mentioned anything about it here, but I was part of the Downtown Knit Collective's team, and instead of walking the track all night, we knit (or crocheted or spun) the whole time. I didn't know anyone on the team besides Erin, who's in my knitting group, but everyone was friendly and easy to talk to. There was tons of food available, as well as lots of booths with free things like henna tattoos (I got one on my hand!) and massages (never found that tent, but it would've been nice!). As the night went on, there were other activities available, like karaoke and relay races and . . .
Yes. Sumo wrestling. And it was every bit as much fun as you think it would be. Also completely hilarious. I'm so glad Erin and I decided to try it. There's a video available here for your amusement.
The relay was from 7 pm to 7 am, and I actually managed to stay up the whole time, though around 5 am, I really started to get tired, and felt like I would fall asleep at any second. I had driven to the relay, because for one, I had a lot of stuff to bring with me, and for two, taking transit would've meant three different buses and an hour and a half travel time, but driving home after it was over was pretty scary. I was SO tired and out of it at that point, I really don't think I was a very safe driver. Thankfully there's very little traffic on the roads at 7 am on a Saturday, so I did make it home without incident, but not really something I want to do again. I slept until about 12:30, got up feeling absolutely awful, stayed awake for all of an hour, and then slept on the couch for another hour or so. Felt a bit more human after that, and Brad and I were able to get some work done on the garden before I had to leave for babysitting at 5:30. So that was yesterday, and today was errands and cleaning up around the house until now.
I will leave you with one final picture.
You know your cats are spoiled when you spend $75 on a piece of furniture for them. Thankfully, they both seem to really enjoy it and have spent a lot of time on it since we got it. Otherwise, I might have had to kill them, lol. Okay, time to go do some more laundry. Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Oh, and I'm a permanent resident now, YAY! :D
So yeah! I'm permanent! I even went to Service Canada and got a brand new SIN that doesn't start with a 9 anymore! I will get my permanent resident card in the mail in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I'm good to do whatever; the only thing I can't do is vote. I brought my CPR in to HR on Friday, and am just waiting to hear back from them as to what else needs to happen for me to switch to a permanent position at work. It's seriously such a huge relief to know that this is done, and that I'm here, for real, and they can't kick me out. I can work wherever, I could get a legit summer job instead of just babysitting, I could get EI, I can have benefits all year round, etc. etc. It's just a wonderful feeling, and I'm really really happy that I'm done with immigration bureaucracy! (Well, at least until I decide to apply for citizenship, but that's 2 years away still so we're not worrying about that now!)
Me at Niagara Falls, just after we finished at immigration. I'm a PR now!! :D
The reason it's taken me till Sunday to write about this is that I was actually super busy from then until now. I had previously agreed to babysit Thursday night (before I got my CPR in the mail), so after Brad and I went to Moxie's for a nice dinner to celebrate, I had to go do that. Friday I worked during the day, and then the Relay for Life was that night. When I got home, Brad said we needed to go to the store so he could pick up a few things to make me treats to take with me to the relay, which was really sweet of him. He made me these ridiculous dessert things - double stuff oreos, twisted apart, with a Reese's peanut butter cup stuck inside, then the whole thing dipped in chocolate and crushed oreos. Yummmmmmmm. I don't even want to know how much sugar was in them, but they helped me stay awake and were super delicious so that's all that matters. Also, he had extra melted chocolate after he'd made me the treats, so we used that to dip some strawberries. Chocolate covered strawberries are pretty much the best thing ever, so I was definitely a happy camper.
The Relay for Life went well. I don't think I've mentioned anything about it here, but I was part of the Downtown Knit Collective's team, and instead of walking the track all night, we knit (or crocheted or spun) the whole time. I didn't know anyone on the team besides Erin, who's in my knitting group, but everyone was friendly and easy to talk to. There was tons of food available, as well as lots of booths with free things like henna tattoos (I got one on my hand!) and massages (never found that tent, but it would've been nice!). As the night went on, there were other activities available, like karaoke and relay races and . . .
Yes. Sumo wrestling. And it was every bit as much fun as you think it would be. Also completely hilarious. I'm so glad Erin and I decided to try it. There's a video available here for your amusement.
The relay was from 7 pm to 7 am, and I actually managed to stay up the whole time, though around 5 am, I really started to get tired, and felt like I would fall asleep at any second. I had driven to the relay, because for one, I had a lot of stuff to bring with me, and for two, taking transit would've meant three different buses and an hour and a half travel time, but driving home after it was over was pretty scary. I was SO tired and out of it at that point, I really don't think I was a very safe driver. Thankfully there's very little traffic on the roads at 7 am on a Saturday, so I did make it home without incident, but not really something I want to do again. I slept until about 12:30, got up feeling absolutely awful, stayed awake for all of an hour, and then slept on the couch for another hour or so. Felt a bit more human after that, and Brad and I were able to get some work done on the garden before I had to leave for babysitting at 5:30. So that was yesterday, and today was errands and cleaning up around the house until now.
I will leave you with one final picture.
You know your cats are spoiled when you spend $75 on a piece of furniture for them. Thankfully, they both seem to really enjoy it and have spent a lot of time on it since we got it. Otherwise, I might have had to kill them, lol. Okay, time to go do some more laundry. Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Oh, and I'm a permanent resident now, YAY! :D