Snow Falling on Bamboo and Waiting Periods

It was nighttime and I was just leaving Gamelan rehearsal at Simon Fraser University when I walked out into my first Pacific snowstorm. I guess I was the only truly surprised person in the group, as I did not know that snow on the Burnaby Mountain Campus is quite common and these snowflakes were right on schedule for this time of year. As my ride, Tony, drove down the mountain, the flakes turned into wet snow and finally drizzle. there was nothing more during the drive home. Nevertheless, by midnight, the snow had made it down to sea-level (or close to it). Not much stuck overnight, but as we looked through the clouds today at the mountains, they were mostly covered in white. Sorry that I don’t have a good photo; I’ll try and get one tomorrow, if we get a little more light (it was very overcast today, except for the clearing at sunset). It certainly looks incongruous to see the snow through our bamboo trees on the terrace. Almost like seeing Mt. Fuji from some pagoda. Maybe not.

Some Good News from Immigration
Today I had an email message from the Human Resources person at the company where I hope to work. The Immigration ‘Opinion’ that we were waiting for had been approved (thank goodness). While I jumped on this as a a sign that I’d imminently be working, she wrote back that this is just one step in a process that is still ongoing, so I’ll need to wait just a bit longer. I should know more tomorrow, but it is unequivocally a step in the right direction. After seeing that the average wait for various types of application on the Canadian Government’s Citizen and Immigration Web Site was anywhere between 38 days and 8 months, anything that is a bit more concrete is a good thing. I’m not starting work tomorrow, but we are making progress, and the wait now probably will not be 8 months.

Canadian Current Events (and what they mean to us)
So, the ‘No Confidence’ vote came down upon Canada’s Liberal Party who are currently in office. Pam and I cannot stop shaking our heads in disbelief at how big a deal is being made of the relatively small Sponsorship scandal, when you compare it to the rampant and open corruption in the US when we left; the whole scandal seems like something that Tom DeLay would do in a typical week of business in Texas or Washington D.C.

Still, it’s yet another example of the superiority of the Canadian system to the US; if the public and opposing parties have a strong enough reason (like catching them red-handed in illegal activities), a lame duck government can be swiftly voted out of power. The wait for the ‘Holiday Season election’ scheduled for January 23, 2006 (a month and 25 days from today) stands in stark contrast to the distant horizon of three long years that Bush and his fellow criminals and incompetents are guaranteed before the US can finally be rid of their stench. Three years to stick it to the poor, give handouts to rich cronies, rape more of the land, water and sky, stack the Courts with right-wing lunatics, sacrifice more lives in their meaningless and cruel war, write hate into the US Constitution and all-in-all make a mess of things.

I may be impatient for my wait of a few weeks now, but that three years feels like an eternity.

Showtime is Off Limits to Me

I found out something fascinating when I tried to find out about an upcoming Showtime Network ‘Masters of Horror’ that apparently makes a not-too-subtle jibe at Ann Coulter (the Right Wing’s Queen of Venom). If you’re not in the United States, any page on the Showtime web site looks like this: (click on this graphic to see the full size page I see).
Apparently Showtime has information that it doesn’t want foreigners like me to see, I guess. I’m disappointed. A show that used to air on Showtime was among my favourites: ‘Dead Like Me‘, which is now showing on Monday nights here on the (basic cable) Showcase channel. It was also shot here, and I’m now watching it to see when I can pick out scene locations. Dead Like Me was abruptly cancelled because (as I learned later) new owners of Showtime hated the show, which was a real shame. It had some of the most interesting ideas, a great and quirky musical score, a very appealing actress as the lead (Ellen Muth), and Mandy Patinkin, who is one of those actors who I could watch read the phone book and love every minute of it.

‘Allo. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.‘
(Ring a bell?)

Ah, Vermont. Still My Favorite State

Apparently the Bush Administration is so thin skinned that they start to harass a teacher in Vermont who dares include some (purposely humorous) anti-Bush Language in a vocabulary quiz. Vermont remains one of the saving graces of the US for me. Hey, if I could invite them to join us in Canada (by, er, joining Canada), I would.

More Reasons for Staying

When stuck for a blog entry, the experts suggest a variety of inspirational devices, including the ever popular: A List.
So, without further ado, here are a few more reasons why I’m happy we moved here (besides the ones that brought us originally). Most of these were a pleasant surprise:

1. Health Insurance: Even when paying for it privately, the cost is a fraction of what we paid back in the States, and coverage is better. After I get my work permit, I’ll get it for even less. I did know about this, but it sure does make a difference now.
2. Corner Gas, a hilarious CBC sitcom that is set in Saskatchewan and is droller and has better acting than most US comedies I’ve seen lately. (Actually, I don’t think I’ve regularly watched a US sitcom on a regular basis since Seinfeld, if you don’t count The Simpsons.)
3. While I’m talking about the CBC, I’m also a big fan of Music and Company with Tom Allen, Canada’s national morning classical music program. Allen is smart, funny, and without a doubt the best classical music DJ I’ve ever heard. He is never pompous, snooty or condescending, something I’d always found with all of those NPR and even worse, Classical-format stations (like WFLN in Philadelphia and WCRB in Boston), which were what I would would call ‘Snob Radio’. They played mostly Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky and probably served the purpose of providing stuffy sonic wallpaper for Doctors’ waiting rooms. Tom Allen makes each morning a little better, which is just about the best complement I can think of making to a total stranger.
4. The Emily Carr School Annual Student Art Sale: While I’m not in the market this year, I can foresee getting something next year, as there was a ton of really good art at bargain prices.
5. Dollar and Two Dollar coins: Finally, change is worth something again. And I really like the heft of the Toonie (Two Dollar coin nickname). Canadian paper money is in different colors for different denominations (imagine that!) and has little ridges for blind users. I seem to remember something about US bills having that too, but they don’t seem to be as easy to find as the Canadian ridges.
6. Decent TV News: The CBC is much better than CNN, and the stories are not just about crime all the time. We’ve seen a few documentaries that are really excellent. We do get CNN and MSNBC here. I’m happy to say that Fox News is not carried by our cable company, but unfortunately I’ve seen it beaming their brand of jingoism and hate on the TVs in bars and restaurants.
7. Better Educated People: Actually, the median level of education here feels higher. I’m not sure I can back that up with actual statistics (and I’ve not been able to find anything substantial yet), but I suspect that it is partly true . I experience that in all sorts of little details (clever headlines in the paper, more sophisticated TV commercials, chats about more than the weather with cashiers, waiters and barbers, and a host of other little things that eventually you begin to notice. This may be pervasive enough for a post of its own, but I’ll finish this list first). Anyway, no one ever says they want their MP or even their City Councilor to be someone they can imagine having a beer with.
8. BC Hydro: Who’d ever guess that I’d actually like my electric company (which they call Hydro here). I find their web site pretty well designed, and it lets you check your bill before the paper one arrives. No surprise there, but it also includes a tool to determine your consumption trend. Electricity also costs a lot less than we used to pay in Boston. I fear that this bargain won’t continue much longer, but for the time being I’m glad we have it.

I’m sure it won’t be long before I have an equally long list of things from the US that I’m surprised I miss, but so far it’s mostly just food - Emma’s Pizza (no surprise there), cheap red wine that doesn’t taste like vinegar, whipped unsalted butter, Atlantic cod - Pacific cod has a much stronger fishy taste. For now, to use that phrase that kicked around for a while in the earlier part of this decade (and probably came from Caribbean patois): S’ all good.

The ISS and American Thanksgiving

Today I went to a place that I had discovered almost by accident a few weeks ago, the ISS or Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia. It was a small building at the edge of Yaletown (which to the uninitiated, is the rapidly growing southeastern end of the city that looks remarkably like parts of Manhattan - no wonder they shoot so many movies that are supposed to be taking place in New York City there). According to the pamphlet at the front desk:

The ISS is a non-governmental organization that receives funding from the government to assist immigrants and refugees in different ways.

Our mandate at ISS’s Settlement office is to help you adjust to life in the Greater Vancouver area. We understand that moving to a new country can be very stressful.

Our team of professionals can guide you, in over 25 different languages, through the many challenges and opportunities that Canada presents. Our services range from providing:

• temporary housing
• information, orientation, and
• referral assistance.

When you have a question, we will share with you different options/ideas so that you feel confident to make a decision. If we can not help you directly, we will do our best to ensure that you are linked to other services and resources.

The referral information is just what I needed. I entered and told the receptionist that I was there to get some information on health insurance, and she told me to take a seat in the waiting area. It was nearly full, with people who looked like they were predominantly from Africa and the Middle East. I sat next to a guy with a Rastafarian hairdo under a cap. I doubt if anyone else in the room was a native English speaker. After a short wait (about 15 minutes or so), I was met by a very helpful and patient woman named Rita who I found out was from Ghana (via Senegal). In the coincidence department, I learned from her that prior to coming to Canada, she had spent about 6 months in Takoma Park, Maryland in the early nineties. She preferred Canada, she said, because it was far more ‘peaceful’ here.

We also chatted about the talking drums of her native land, as well as the usage of the word ‘partner’ here to denote one’s spouse or gay partner. Rita felt that it was a delicate way of hiding whether one was gay or not, because in certain parts of the country one could be still be shunned, and the term ‘partner’ allowed someone to hide their sexual orientation behind a gender-neutral designation. After providing me with some helpful referrals and phone numbers, Rita wished me well and I offered the same to her.

I’d have to say that the whole experience was humbling. Pam and I are very lucky to come from a rich country, with resources, family, and skills all working in our favor. We have so fewer problems than the people who were at the ISS, I suspect. In fact, I learned from Rita that there were people living in refugee camps for over a decade, waiting to get into Canada. Some had children while living in the camps. It made the few weeks I’ve been waiting for my work permit seem a little less important. Nevertheless, we are immigrants as well, and the folks at ISS made little distinction that I could discern between me and any of the others who were sitting, making phone calls, reading the free newspapers, and getting information from the staff there.

I came home just as the rain was ending and the late afternoon sunset made one of its frequent appearances. I had gotten some extra groceries for dinner, including some frozen whole cranberries, which I later made into cranberry sauce. Yesterday at Granville Market we picked up two breaded turkey ‘breasts’ (really cutlets wrapped around stuffing) with sage and cranberry stuffing from the Turkey farm stand, as well as some sweet potatoes. I baked the potatoes and turkey, and made some peas with pearl onions (had those lying around from a couple weeks or so ago for a beef stew).

Pam and I both called family dinners in the East, where everyone was finished with their Thanksgiving meals. In a little while, we lit the fire (well, turned on the switch and the gas flames leapt up, right on cue). It wasn’t a huge feast, but it was tasty, nourishing, containing turkey and cranberry sauce, and fine for just the two of us. Many past family gatherings in different combinations and locations make me want to hang on to this American tradition more than some of the others. I hear that most Vancouverites observe the time-honoured ritual of driving down to the outlets just south of the border tomorrow, for the big sales that are the starting gun of the Holiday Shopping Season. It’s hard to get much of a Norman Rockwell glow from that, I guess.

At any rate, Happy Thanksgiving, America, from two immigrants to Vancouver, BC.