Late Night Ramblings of a Future Faux-Canuck

So, its just after midnight and I'm so tired, I just can't sleep. This has been happening a lot lately. It turns out that moving to another country is complicated, time consuming, and often very emotional. Its hard, all this zig zagging across the country. Its hard finally feeling like you belong somewhere and then finding out that you are moving again. On the brighter side, though, it is exciting. Its exciting to be going somewhere for meaningful employment, and exciting to get to live in a different country (albeit one where they supposedly speak the same language).

Butthe logistics! If I could just get a straight answer from anyone, life would be much much simpler. For example: my work permit is only temporary, and if I don't win the job come February, I will be moving back to PA, to the very same address where I am right now. Now, do I have to re-register my car in Calgary? I know that I have to change my insurance, as that cute little gecko doesn't go to Canada. But can I get Canadian car insurance and keep my car registered in PA? I'd sure like that, at least until February. But no one seems to be able to tell me where to go to ask such questions!

Ok, perfect example number two: I went to the bank the other day to ask a few simple questions about exchange rates, savings accounts in Canadian dollars, and how I should best convert some of that to US dollars. So I waited for the guy in the office in the bank. He finally deigns to look at me and says, "So you wanted to change your address?" And I reply, "Well, kinda. I'm moving to Canada, I was hoping you could answer a few questions." (Keep in mind, everyone, that this is a HUGE bank. This isn't some podunk bank that no one has ever heard of. This is a BANK.) And he says, "Oh, I don't know anything about that." And I say, "Can you at least point me in the right direction?" And he shrugged. I can see why this guy got an office.

So I have an ING savings account. And as I was leaving the corporate bank I was just mentioning, I remembered that there is an ING cafe on 17th and Chestnut. So I figure, "what the heck?" And I walk in. The girl behind the counter offered me a cup of coffee which I politely declined. I told her my situation, though. Said I'm moving to Canada, was wondering how I could best go about moving money around with currency exchange rates. And while she didn't have the answers, what was more important was that she told me to go to the ING corporate website, look up ING Canada, and then if I didn't find what I was looking for, I could call the number. Now, I probably could have come up with that on my own. But the fact is that rather than shrugging me off, she could at least offer me tools to help solve my problem. That's service. And that is rare.

In other news, I bought a christmas tree ornament... er, I mean, I bought a descant horn! Well, I haven't really bought it yet. But I'm going to. Its a Karl Hill, and it plays good. Real good. Kinda funny to own two horns, but kinda neat, too. The first is like owning a really nice sports car. And the second is like owning a really small, really nice sportscar. :-)

Ok, enough bs for one night. I can't believe you read this far into this one.