Border Patrol

Bonjour a tous!

If there's any advice I have to give about being a student in another country, it would definitely be:
"Get all of your paperwork done before leaving!"

Today I finally roughed it and made my way down to the Canadian border. What a crazy story I have to tell!!

First off, I made reservations for an amtrak roundtrip ticket to "Rouses Point, NY" (a little po-dunk town 2 miles south of the border). Peter and I made plans to go together. I got up this morning, got all of my stuff together, and got on the metro. Two stations over, I got off and waited for Peter to get there. I got a hold of him, and he informed me that his bus was 15 min late, so he would probably just barely make it. So, off I went to find the Amtrak Station. First, I walked in one direction, to quickly find out I was walking in the wrong direction. I turned around and made my way back in the opposite direction. I finally found the station (which looked like a parking garage) and walked right in. I spotted the ticketing booth and got in line, a few minutes after waiting, I came to realization that I was in the incorrect line. I jogged over to the Amtrak line and picked up my ticket. I got in the MASSIVE line (which seemed to be moving rather quickly) and got on the train. Still no sign of peter. I tried to guide him via text message to the right place, but it was just too late. After getting his ticket and running down the stairs, the train was pulling away. It was too late (sorry Petey).

On to the next part of the story. So I sat on the train for a good hour until it came to my stop (which also happened to be the stop at the border). I waited patiently and about 8 police officers boarded the train to do security (check EVERYONE's passport and what not.) They got to me, and I explained my situation. Then they said, "You'll have to come with us". A litte weary of their request, I sat in my seat and followed directions (waiting about another hour) until I followed them off the train. I then had to get IN their cop-cars (not really knowing where they were taking me) but I was assured , I had done nothing wrong. They then explained that my situation had to be dealt with at the "big" border, which was about 10 minutes away. Kindly, they let me out of the vehicle and pointed me towards "THE BORDER". It looked a little intimidating, that's for sure, but they just said "alright, you're just going to have to walk across. They have a bus you can catch back into montreal, if you want." So I said my thanks yous, and started walking. A few minutes later, I walked up to the window (where the cars drive through), showed the lady my passport, and what I was here for. She wrote me a little yellow slip and pointed me towards the immigration office. JOY! I walked over to immigrations and gave them my papers. They told me to sit down and wait. Not long after, I was issued my study permit after I had walked all over the building, doing as I was told. Then, I asked around to see if there really WAS a bus that went back to montreal. I was pointed in the right direction, across the street. A few people were waiting outside. I walked over and asked around to see what the deal was. Everyone else had a ticket and they told me I could give the driver 20 CAD and he would let me get a ride. Holding on to what others said, I had to believe that that was true. I waited for about 1/2. A bus arrived! Everyone on the bus got off and went through immigration. I was then informed by the driver that thiswas the ONLY bus coming through that was going to Montreal for the entire DAY and that I could only get a ride if there was room for me. I sat and prayed my little heart out, hoping there would be a spot left. I only had 25 dollars left on me, so I was also banking on the ride only being 20 CAD. It was true! After everyone got back on the bus, a seat was available for me. I was so relieved! I was allowed to go back to montreal (with my study permit in hand!)

So there you have it, a little taste of Canadian immigration! There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but I just sat back, took a deep breath, and went with it. Now, I'm sitting at the table in my lovely apartment.

Tomorrow, I have to go to school to get all of my schedule stuff worked out and then I'll be ready to start! It has been such a learning experience already and I've only been here for 15 days. I can't imagine what's in store for me!

If you've made it this far, you're a trooper! Thanks for reading, more updates to come!

aurevoir!

Bring it on, Canada!

Hello again, all!

Another update here...
Today, I got a cell phone! If I had of gone straight to Virgin, it would have made things a lot easier. Here I am, thinking you have all these documents that must be shown, but then, there's the world of prepaid! Yessss. I get reception in my apartment too, which is exactly what I need. I'm really glad I don't have to run up my parents phone bills anymore! Anyway, looks like i'll be hanging out at the apartment by my lonesome for the next few days, Ali went to Toronto for a little mini vacation (or in Canadian's terms "holiday") before school starts.

The next few things to do on my list (most importantly) are:
Go to the border (aghhh!!!)
Meet with my Advisor (hopefully tomorrow)
Get a Bank account (maybe tomorrow too?)
Buy books
Get a student metro pass (process looks scary)

I'm hoping there's a way I can find a bus that goes to the border, looks like I have some researching to do! (ew.)

I can't believe there's only a week left before school starts!! It's gone by so fast! Hopefully I don't get TOO stressed out when it all begins. It's like I'm going off to college all over a again, such a strange feeling.

Well, I guess thats all for now. More updates later!!

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from about a week or so, In Canadaland.
Some are of the Hostel I stayed in (Auberge de Paris)
Thanks for letting me steal these Jenna!

My Very First Entry!

Ok,

In Courtney fashion, I always have to start doing things late. I have been meaning to create a blog for everyone to read as I am away (studying in Canada) but of course I have to put it off until later. So here it goes...

I have just moved into my apartment (with the lovely Ali) and it feels wonderful! For the past 2 weeks, I stayed in a Hostel called "Auberge de Paris" and it was an amazing experience. Yes, It was expensive, yes the showers were not particularly "up to par", yes a crazy Turkish woman decided to turn up the heat full blast every single night we were there-but overall- it was a great experience. I had never stayed in a hostel before. If you are unfamiliar with the whole "hostel way", basically what it is, is a place where lots of people (from all over the world) come to stay and enjoy the city they are visiting. There were about 6 bunks in the girls dorm (meaning I shared a room with 12 girls). Not particularly my cup of tea, but it worked out quite well. I met about 6 german boys, 4 irish boys, 3 Australian guys, a couple from Colombia, a couple from England, a few people from Spain, a guy from Dubai, a guy from Korea, a guy from China, some Slovakian girls, a few from France, and a bunch of Canadians! It was really amazing! Everyone was really nice and so outgoing. We went out with different people every night we were there! I feel like I'm already poor because I spent so much money on food and necessities, but now I'm settled in to my very own apartment!

Immigration has been crazy, and now they are telling me I have to somehow make it all the way to the border and "re-enter" as a student (which seems pretty unethical to me) but c'est la vie, I guess...

It was crazy when Jenna and I got to our hostel because (little did we know) we were stuck right in the middle of a francophone section. We might as well have been in France! Everywhere we went, people would address us in French-talk about awkward-but it was definitely cool to have that little bone thrown in the spokes. I feel like I'll definitely be learning a lot of French while I'm here (maybe I'll even be fluent).

That's the update for now, hopefully this test run wasn't too scatterbrained!

Au Revoir!