Sunday, November 02, 2008
The time has come to be going
On June 20, 1999 I arrived in Calgary. I cleared Immigration and Customs and laughed when the lady at the money exchange gave me a bunch of different colored money. I laughed again when the guy from the hotel told me Jean Pierre (pronounced like the French pronouce it) would come pick me up. It was 10:30PM when I got to the hotel and the only place open to eat was the Boston Pizza across the street. That was the first and last time I ate at a Boston Pizza.
The next day I reported for work and when I took a lunch break I was asked if I wanted gravy with my fries. "What the hell for?" was my exact response.
Make no mistake, after seven years on the border with Mexico I knew how good I had it in Calgary. I came to fall in love with Calgary.
On September 22, 2003 I transfered to Vancouver. We got lost in traffic before we found our hotel in Richmond. Vancouver had a completely different feel to it. For one, the atmosphere at work was completely different. Almost hostile but it mellowed out a bit. We found a place out in the burbs near Ladner and settled in. Then I met Matthew Good at the airport. I had become a fan of his music in Calgary and now I would become his friend. I would come to be friends with his circle of friends.
What I DID like about Vancouver over Calgary was it's proximity to the U.S. and we would end up doing all our grocery shopping in Bellingham.
In May of this year I would submit a list of five places where I wanted to transfer. My 5 year tour in Canada was ending. I actually got 9 because of a loop hole that was now closed. I was selected by my 4th choice, Salt Lake City. It's a paid move so I sat back and waited.
On October 30, the wait ended. I have now been cleared to move. Along with that notification is a 60 day window in which to move.
I leave Canada on Febuary 1st bound for Salt Lake City.
Between now and then I will post experiences in Canada here in the ol' blog.
On June 20, 1999 I arrived in Calgary. I cleared Immigration and Customs and laughed when the lady at the money exchange gave me a bunch of different colored money. I laughed again when the guy from the hotel told me Jean Pierre (pronounced like the French pronouce it) would come pick me up. It was 10:30PM when I got to the hotel and the only place open to eat was the Boston Pizza across the street. That was the first and last time I ate at a Boston Pizza.
The next day I reported for work and when I took a lunch break I was asked if I wanted gravy with my fries. "What the hell for?" was my exact response.
Make no mistake, after seven years on the border with Mexico I knew how good I had it in Calgary. I came to fall in love with Calgary.
On September 22, 2003 I transfered to Vancouver. We got lost in traffic before we found our hotel in Richmond. Vancouver had a completely different feel to it. For one, the atmosphere at work was completely different. Almost hostile but it mellowed out a bit. We found a place out in the burbs near Ladner and settled in. Then I met Matthew Good at the airport. I had become a fan of his music in Calgary and now I would become his friend. I would come to be friends with his circle of friends.
What I DID like about Vancouver over Calgary was it's proximity to the U.S. and we would end up doing all our grocery shopping in Bellingham.
In May of this year I would submit a list of five places where I wanted to transfer. My 5 year tour in Canada was ending. I actually got 9 because of a loop hole that was now closed. I was selected by my 4th choice, Salt Lake City. It's a paid move so I sat back and waited.
On October 30, the wait ended. I have now been cleared to move. Along with that notification is a 60 day window in which to move.
I leave Canada on Febuary 1st bound for Salt Lake City.
Between now and then I will post experiences in Canada here in the ol' blog.
// posted by sinner @ 2:01 PM 
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