Since we arrived back on Nov 30th it's been all go. I got my PR application in on 1st December, as intended - hurray me. Sadly, there was no snow when we arrived back
so the start of the snowboarding season was delayed, but on the plus side it gave Isaac and Reilly to fill a hole at the side of the house and do some off-roading before we got our first big dump. As soon as the ski hills opened we hit the slopes, giving me my first taste of Ontario skiing. We don't have mountains out this way so memories of Sunshine - and even Cardrona - gave way to what can only be described as ski hills. Sorry, ski bumps. Ah well, a season pass, a decent amount of snow and my lovely snowboard and I'm definitely not complaining.Christmas came round pretty damn fast and it was a bumper haul, that's for sure. On Christmas Eve we went to Isaac's Oma's (German for Grandma) house for the annual gift exchange. This involved everyone bringing one present, up to $50 value, which goes under the tree. Then everyone picks a number out of a Christmas Stocking and whoever gets number 1 goes first in picking any present they like and opening it. The person with number 2 goes next, as is traditionally the way with the numeric system, and they can either open a new present, or they can steal the present that number 1 has, which means number 1 has to take a new present. This goes on, with everyone either taking a new present or stealing anything they fancy from anyone who has gone before. Once all the presents have been opened and everyone has a gift, the numbers are picked again and a second round commences. This is where it gets tactical, with partners, siblings or parents & children ganging up to ensure they keep the best presents for each other. Higher numbers are preferable obviously, because you are less likely to have the present you steal stolen back from you. In the past couple of years, bereft of his sibling and ally Isaac, Reilly has come away from these present exchanges rather short changed, but this year with Imo, Isaac & I all on side, we managed to obtain what we considered the best four presents there - a saw set in a case and set of 12 drinking glasses (Imo); a lazy susan with dip trays and microfleece blanket (Reilly); a slow-cooker (Isaac); an iPod docking station (me). We were made up! It was a fun night and it was nice to finally meet Isaac's dad's side of the family.
Christmas day we had a lovely breakfast and then opened presents here at Imo & Mary Lynn's house - I got a great set of pjs, slippers and the softest greyest dressing gown you ever did see and Isaac & I also got an electric blanket, which is lovely when you live in a place that goes down to stupid-cold. I gave Isaac a t-shirt with some cougars on it, which was supposed to be funny, but he's worn it almost every day since. Then we traipsed over to Reilly's to do a third Christmas there and Isaac opened a gas-powered remote control truck from Reilly and BB guns from me. Boys will be boys...New Year's Eve was Reilly's birthday but he had to work so Isaac and I went to a friend's house, followed by a party in a garage. I must admit to having a bad day that day, was feeling pretty down what with one thing and another, so I didn't feel thrilled to be going to stand in someone's garage with a ton of very drunk people I didn't know, but I'd offered to be designated driver so I went along anyway. The very first thing I saw was a big fat guy stood outside in the driveway, peeing whilst facing towards us walking up the road. Hmmmm, fat guy's cock, I thought to myself, that's a nice welcome. The same fat guy came bounding up to us not 2 minutes later and he grabbed my hand inbetween his until-very-recently-full hands and begun to shake it vigorously whilst introducing himself. Hmmmm. We headed into the garage whereupon Isaac was immediately targeted by a guy who hadn't seen him for over a year, who elbowed me out of the way to get to him, spilling my coke all down my front. Hmmmm. I started mopping myself up with a tissue when the fat guy from earlier appeared behind me and started dry humping me, shouting 'I don't even KNOW this girl!' in an exuberant fashion. Hmmmm. At this point I decided this party wasn't really for me so I took my leave and quietly waited in the car.* Not my best NYE, but not quite my worst either!
Isaac was offered some work at his cousin's appliance store doing some deliveries so he's been over doing that for the few couple of weeks and I've spent my days either snowboarding, catching up with friends or bits and pieces online, reading or playing Reilly's PS3. I can't work, as I'm currently here on a visitor's visa, so until my PR comes through I'm a bit stuck really, but I'm not complaining as it's been all go for the past couple of years so it's nice to take a bit of a break from constantly travelling and planning.
And talking of my PR application, after a month of waiting, my entire application was returned to me a few days ago. As it turns out, I had misread one small section which asked for 'copy 2 of Section A' and had sent a copy of, not the original 'copy 2 of'. Silly me. In addition to this, the letter they sent with my returned application claimed that I had not sent the passport photos I need with my application, though I knew I had. I was very cross and stomped around complaining that I had to go all the way into town to get more taken, before deciding to go through my application one last time and found the envelope with all my photos in it, hidden inside a different section, where it shouldn't have been. Clearly someone at the Canadian Immigration had popped it in there and then 'lost' them. Grrr. Anyway, I got it all in order again, swapped out the copy of Section A for the original and took it down to resend it at the post office. Which was closed for lunch. Bah. I drove on to the big town near us, Orillia, as I knew that their post office was more likely to be open at lunchtime and spent another $22 sending it Priority Post to make sure it arrived back with the Immigration office as soon as possible. In theory this means they will now make a decision within 7 days of receipt, which is great, but this is only stage 1 of many sadly. This is approving Isaac as a sponsor, which since he's a Canadian citizen, over 18 and not currently bankrupt or in jail, should be fairly straightforward. Once that's done they send it on to the London office where they look at all my stuff, get my NZ police check from Australia, my medical details from another office and do UK background checks on me. Given that I am both a good and a healthy girl, they shouldn't find anything untoward! I'm keeping everything crossed anyway and hoping for a swift resolution.
So we're up to date. We're currently looking for a car/truck**, so we can be more independent, and I'm learning all about what you do with snow, but I'm sure that will come out in future blogs. In the meantime, let's be careful out there....
*I feel compelled to point out that I insisted Isaac stayed and caught up with all his old friends, as best he could given the state most of them were in, and did not make any attempts to cut short the evening in any way. I may not have felt able to join in with the celebrations myself at that point, but I am not a party pooper. So there.
**I'm looking for a car, but Isaac is looking for a truck. I guess whoever finds the best deal first, wins.
