More wierd things about Canada

1) Canada's economic strength is based on their money being less valuable than the U.S.
We watched a show on (public) TVO on the economic future of Canada. It wasn't surprising that much of the consensus hinged on the U.S. economy; it was surprising that the Canadian dollar being lower than the U.S. would be an economic advantage, since the U.S. (and also other countries) would then import more from Canada. 

2) "Buy online... with debit!"
One of my favorite laughs these days is the "Buy online with Visa debit" commercial. "How to buy online with debit", the announcer says, and various antics ensue with carrot cake ingredients, before an Amazon.com page is shown, with someone entering their debit card information to buy a cookbook. This is a classic example of the 10-year Canadian delay. Whereas debit cards have been equivalent to credit cards in the U.S. since roughly 2004 (according to my memory), Canada is apparently just catching up to the trend.

3) Polar vortex non-sensation
My sample size is small - about half a dozen Toronto friends - but their reaction to the Polar Vortex of early January, with temperatures nearing -40 C/F (when temps get that low, we're the same), was pretty nonplussed. Sure, it was cold, but nothing to check the news about. This surprised me, since Toronto is on the warm side for Canada. I chalk it up to most Torontonians having lived in Ottawa, Winnepeg, or some other cold-as-balls city earlier in their lives. According to a friend, some Toronto schools shut down, but many remained open. Compared to Northeast Ohio, where every public school, several government offices, and a handful of private companies closed preemptively for two whole days, and it would appear Toronto folks are pretty cold-hardy.

Oh, and we still have milk in bags. That's all for now folks!

Cold Plunge: Anchoring in the New

As I mentioned in a previous post, there's nothing like winter to make you hunker down and just be with what is. Having survived the Ice Storm of '13 (not so bad for me, I'm a snow-belt girl) and the Polar Vortex (hardly a show-stopper in Canada), I'm still much more stunned by the emotional aspects of winter. Vast expanses of glistening ice coating thousands of cat-tails; stark contrasts of white snow against dingy brown grass, seem to highlight the sense of distance from summer, and from places you'd like to go, like home. But they also command attention to the simple beauty of what exists in front of your nose. Freshly baked ginger cookies, visiting friends at home, faces flushed with cold and laughter.

But then, you also have that January urge to re-create your entire world, or at least, improve upon it. For me, January has called me to begin my work as Communications Chair at my church. So far, I am managing the communications (web and print) for a fundraising event in May, and have some other responsibilities coming up. It's been awesome to finally have something to work on, and feel the sense of contribution I've been missing. Last week I met the committee in person, and put in about 2 hours/day on a project.

While it's great to have a sense of routine, I've been feeling a little burnt out on all the newness I've created. After all, I've already had several fresh starts in my life, and moving Toronto wasn't the smallest of them. In addition to adjusting to metropolitan, car-less living, and meeting new people, I also decided to throw in a career change. True to form, I assumed that switching to the Communications field would be easy, since I have a degree in English and some related experience. But as it turns out, and as I should have known, any career change can feel like biting off more than you can chew. That's why I'm keeping my mind open to ways that I can integrate mental health, writing, and teaching into a career that will make sense for me.

When I came to Toronto, I had this feeling that somehow all the various strands of my life would weave together into a cohesive whole. In fact I hoped they would - because looking back, I've lived so many places, and had so many jobs, and I finally wanted to settle down. I didn't really feel a need to re-invent myself, but rather to be who I'd been all along. Instead of going into the "great unknown", I wanted to dig deeper, and unearth a career/life that would fit me perfectly, maybe even permanently. Fortunately, I've had this break from work, and a cozy little sanctuary that is our apartment, looking out over Toronto. So even though I get homesick and stir-crazy, I've taken time to weave the seemingly disparate strands together into a life. I've been writing, looking through photos, going over the colors and textures of the past for clues to the future.

In my post Adventures in Renaissance Personhood, I listed all the jobs I'd had and courses I'd ever taken. Many times I've looked back at my life and thought it was pretty disjointed. I sort of beat myself up for being the kind of person who's had the privilege to explore anything, but rarely followed through. I sometimes think, well, even if I choose a new direction, how do I know it will last? But the thing I realized, is that the directions I've taken were not random. From massotherapy to music, they were all ways of answering questions I had - about myself, about the world. And now, looking through those memories and experiences, I have my answers. It's my own personal treasure trove of wisdom. My one wild and precious life.

So in the deep cold of winter, in the disorienting plunge into the New, what holds you together? For me, it's playing my old songs, writing my little memoir of my 20's, and tying my knowledge of mental health in with the exciting field of neurobiology, which is answering some of the questions I've had since grad school. It's letting go of some "New Year's resolutions" that feel overwhelming (bye bye, French dictionary) and sticking firmly to the ones that help (yoga EVERY DAY - no really!). When things change we tell ourselves stories about what change should look like, how fast, and in what direction. But there's no sense pretending that anybody but me should write my own story - because after all, I'm the one with the pen.

First Christmas in Canada

Sean and I are about to embark on our first Christmas in Ottawa. It also happens to be our first Christmas as a married couple, since we got married 4 days after Christmas last year. It’s been a wild year for us, as we stayed apart for the first 4 months so I could keep working, and then we threw a wedding reception while frantically trying to pack my belongings for the move in June. Since then, things have pretty much leveled out, though of course I’ve been dealing with all the daily adjustments of living in a new city, re-creating a social life, and looking for a new job. I agreed back in September to spend Christmas away from my family so that we could be with Sean’s aging mother, but I didn’t realize how much I would miss my traditional Christmas until it came around. There really is truth in the expression, “there’s no place like home for the holidays.” The reason I know? Because even though the people I’ve met here are beautiful, creative, and caring friends, I still want nothing more than to be surrounded by familiar faces: the music parties, the annual day-after-Christmas hike with my Akron buddies, and of course, my family. So the last few weeks leading up to Christmas have been full of nostalgia and difficult feelings.

Despite that, and while sticking that out, I also see new traditions popping up like crocuses in the snow: tiny, tentative, but hopeful signs of life. Sean has always been into Christmas, but this year the spirit was delayed a bit by his frantic 3 weeks of overtime that just ended on December 12. So we’ve had only 3 weekends to cram in Christmas shopping, decorating and festivities, but we have done a pretty good job, I must say. Not only did we get the living room decorated, bake cookies and buy gifts and chocolate, we’ve actually given ourselves time to enjoy it. Rather than rushing out to see The Hobbit today, we opted to stay in and watch our own movies in the comfort of our home with Sean’s kitschy Santa staring at us. And last night we spent hours talking and dancing to Christmas tunes on the radio. Perhaps partly as a consequence of slowing down, we’ve noticed what it is we really prefer out of the huge variety of Christmas rites out there. Instead of Christmas candy, I opted for Brie, pears, and almond cookies. We learned that, as a couple, we prefer brandy chocolates to cordial cherries. Even though Sean loves Thomas Kincaide ornaments, which I think are awfully cheesy, we both appreciate rustic/handmade ornaments on our tree. And I’ve enjoyed making Christmas playlists combining his favorite Christmas songs with mine.

So with all these new traditions still blooming in my heart, I’m going to accompany my man to Ottawa tomorrow. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, where there is 2 feet of snow and the high for tomorrow is 4 degrees. (4 degrees Farenheit, not Celcius.) Where my family is 10 hours away, but I’ll feel a little more at home knowing we have a kitschy Santa Claus and a box of Brandy chocolates waiting for us, to bring us back to our new tradition.

The Holiday Edition

Lots of people ask me about holidays in Canada, particularly when it comes to non-religious holidays that vary from country to country. So I thought I'd take a few minutes on this day, American Thanksgiving, to address some of those questions which I know are burning in your mind, alongside thoughts of Black Friday and pumpkin pie.

Holidays we have in common: 
Christmas, New Year's, Easter, Good Friday, Labor Day

U.S. Holidays that don't exist here: 
Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, July 4

Holidays we have in Canada that you don't have in the States: 
Family Day: 3rd Monday of February. This was always a great excuse for me and Sean to get together around Valentine's Day.

Victoria Day: Monday on or before May 24 (Queen Victoria's Birthday) to celebrate the reigning monarch.

Canada Day: July 1, anniversary of the confederation of Canada into a single country, rather than as colonies of England; Quebec was also formed on this day. This is our equivalent to July 4.

Civic Day: 1st Monday in August. Just, like, a random day off.

Boxing Day: Dec. 26. As a popular piece of Canadian trivia, Boxing Day enjoys fame completely disproportionate to our knowledge of what it means. The best I can come up with is this: according to Wikipedia, Boxing Day was when employers would give out a "Christmas Box" to employees; or, it named for the "Alms box" in a church to collect money for the poor. As Christmas is a time of "social inversion" - when the poor are once a year entitled to some of the comforts of the rich - these explanations make sense. Of course, the way most of us celebrate is by hitting the after-Christmas sales, showing solidarity with our U.S. neighbors through the rite of bargain-hunting.

And the oddball
Thanksgiving: 2nd Monday in October.  Yes, we eat turkey, and I can confirm, through my attendance at a friend's Thanksgiving dinner, that Canadians also eat cranberries and pumpkin pie on this day. Since nothing happens here on the 3rd Thursday of November, "black Friday" doesn't exist (except as a day for some Canadian retailers to attempt to curtail cross-border shopping). I don't miss Black Friday, but I do miss the four-day weekend and the general Christmas anticipation that a November Thanksgiving builds up.
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So there you have it - my guide to Canadian holidays! Not so different, really. By the way, thanks to everyone who has shown cultural sensitivity by wishing me Happy Thanksgiving in October... and just so you know, I'm not opposed to Thanksgiving wishes more than once in a year! 

Mission: Jobsearch

The month of October has been a busy one on the profession-searching front. First, I found out from Service Canada that I am not only allowed to volunteer while here, but I can also apply for jobs. And if I get a job offer before I get my visa, then the employer can sponsor me for a Temporary Foreign Worker work permit. This puts me in a position of readiness to at least start putting myself out there.

Immediately, I found two volunteer positions I was interested in. They were both writing positions for environmental organizations - Evergreen Brickworks and Permaculture GTA. But, as is my custom when I’m not entirely sure of something, I hesitated. In the meantime I was quite busy with recording a demo CD for some musicians I’m working with using borrowed equipment. The duress of recording under deadline got my workaday nervous system back online, and it felt good. Having completed the demo, I turned back to my job search. I spent two-and-a-half days on my resume, filling in my experiences in college as editor and production manager of a magazine, and emphasizing the media-related tasks in my other jobs. I realized that the parts I enjoyed about every job were as follows: designing curriculum, teaching, designing, and writing. Given that my design skills are stuck in 2001 (we used Quark Xpress and MultiAd Creator), I realized that Communications is probably the best field for me. With my English degree and plethora of experiences teaching, creating handouts and flyers for various settings, and generally being a good communicator, it wouldn’t require much extra training. So, I returned to the job hunt.

After some easy searching, I applied for 3 jobs in communication: two for the non-profit sector and one for a professional HR association. I feel really good about the nonprofits – one is a mental health research facility, and the other is Ronald McDonald House. I’m still looking for more, particularly in the environmental or mental health fields. It feels like a perfect match for me to use my communications skills to help the common good.

Strangely, all my life I’ve been encouraged to be in the spotlight, particularly as a teacher and singer. I suppose I’m ambivalent about it: part of me likes the attention, while part of me feels overwhelmed by it. The health problems I’ve developed in recent years have put more of a damper on my ability to be “on”, both as a musical performer and as a counselor, where presence is the penultimate requirement. Although I’m not entirely pleased about it, I’m surrendering to my body’s wisdom for the moment by taking some downtime. Being in the spotlight has always been a bit much for me, so maybe it’s not the best way for me to work. After all, I’ve always enjoyed getting things organized behind-the-scenes: planning my lessons, making flyers (ooooh!) and tinkering with my song lyrics are a lot more fun for me. So for now, I’m envisioning myself in a job where I get to spend more time on that stuff. And if I crave attention, I can always find an open mic night.

In May, just before moving here, I met up with my friend Sharon, who was occupying a 100-year-old ash tree about to be cut down to make room for bar parking. As we discussed our respective senses of purpose, I told her I wanted to help causes like hers be represented well in the world. Few things break my heart more than good people being misunderstood because of a poorly-crafted message, stereotype, or sheer lack of information. Now, all of those thoughts seem to be collecting themselves into a mission statement, which looks a lot more like a job.

This is It, Folks.

The cold snap we’ve experienced these past few days, with temperatures dropping into hat-and-gloves weather, has had three effects on me:

• I have an incredible craving for cheesecake
• I’ve gotten a bit depressed and existential
• I’ve realized that where I am is where I’ll stay for the next while – so it’s time to hunker down and get comfortable.

The first two are predictable, but the third is a bit of a surprise. I live in Canada, folks. By the time the crocuses bloom again, I will quite probably be a Canadian Resident, which is a few cents shy of a citizen. That means I’ll be working, socializing, and making my home in a foreign country.

Crazy!!!

Of course, I’m responding with all my typical practical wherewithal, by making lists of small items we need to make the apartment comfortable. I’ve planned a final trip to Ohio to bring over the rest of the books and things I’ll want for the winter. But the real adjustment is emotional: This is it, folks. For real. I’m practically Canadian.

I’ve been here since June, soaking in Canadian TV, Canadian radio, Canadian comedy (it’s kind of different, let me tell you), and somehow, I’m getting used to it. It doesn’t help that I keep saying “eh” in various grammatical/semantic contexts.  Or that I don’t even notice the weatherwoman’s Scottish accent anymore. I didn’t even get mad when I had to pay $6 for a birthday card last week! But thankfully I still have a bit of my American-ness. I think it is crazy how polite Canadian police are on TV. I still get slightly riled up at the price of cheese. And I still do a double-take when I see someone on TV who has crooked teeth.

But seriously, I know very little about Canada so far. I know it is very, very big, that I live in the most fertile part of it, that we have lots of coal and water, and that Stephen Harper is a bit of a menace. I know Toronto is the most diverse city in the world, the job market is very competitive; I know where to get locally grown food and where to meet with friends. These are salient pieces of information but the whole story isn’t filled in yet. Immigrating to another country, no matter how “similar” to your own, is a big deal. You catch bits and pieces like someone hearing a conversation in another language (metaphorically), but you have to wait months or years before you can have a real give-and-take in that conversation. So far it's felt like an experiment, but the big adjustments are ahead—getting a job, citizenship, and finding a way to participate in Canadian civic life, which I suspect is more complex than Americans like to think. But hopefully the journey will continue to be fun, polite, and ridiculously expensive, eh?       

American Standards

Let me make one thing clear: I'm from Northeast Ohio, and in the rust belt, you just don't pay much for anything. In Akron, a post-industrial rubber town, it's possible to have a decent middle-class life (including house and car) for $70,000 a year. I know a couple who bought a home for $60,000 and are living quite happily as musicians with a single full-time income. Fairlawn now seems like a magical land to me, because you can get discount groceries at Marc's and in 5 minutes be at the Mustard Seed picking out a bunch of organic kale - which would take all day in the city. Or, on a Saturday, jog up Smith Road to Akron-Peninsula and hit the Farmers' Market. You can get high-quality jeans at TJ Max and in 15 minutes be at the Village Thrift snatching up Summit County's best vintage sweaters for $3 a piece. I never realized how truly amazing this was until I moved to Toronto.

Don't get me wrong, Toronto is amazing. But living here challenges my American "standards" as a consumer. And I'm not alone - Canadians cross the border frequently to buy clothes, electronics and even food in the U.S.. Even though they have to pay duty when crossing the border, they still find it cheaper to shop Stateside. Here are some examples of sticker shock I've had since moving here:

Organic Eggs: $7.59/doz ($3.99 at the Mustard Seed Market in Akron)
House: $503,094 ($155,681 in NEO, according to this article)
1-bedroom apartment: $905/month ($450-600 in NEO)
Auto insurance: $1231/year

By these figures you can start to see that being middle class in Toronto might not look the same as it does in Akron, Kent or Cleveland. This is especially so considering that the median income for Toronto is lower than in surrounding suburbs like Brampton or Peterboro. Sean and I don't expect to buy a house here for awhile, if ever. Not that I'm complaining. I feel quite happy being with my sweetie in a world-class city. I'm just tripping on all the little differences in standard of living. 

This is all pretty tongue-in-cheek though, since I know full well that cheap goods come at a price, ethically. And I recognize that I grew up in a time when interest on credit was at an all-time low. I walked into freshman orientation in 1999 and was literally handed a credit card application. So to me, it's quite normal to be able to have what I want, when I want it. Sean, on the other hand, cringes when he has to "charge it". And for good reason: interest rates in Canada are around 19.9%. Shocking? Perhaps, but Canadians seem to view debt in a healthier way because of it.

The un-availability of media is also surprising. Again, I came of age in a time when digital entertainment was becoming more and more available. Napster, bit torrent, and finally iTunes, allowed cheap or free access to music. I'm used to Hulu, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon instant downloads, the plummeting cost of books and magazine subscriptions - non of which, mind you, is a sign of economic health. But I still feel a little jilted by the disappointing selection on Canadian Netflix, the high cost of greeting cards, and the fact that I can't watch New Girl on demand. If you want media here, you pay.

I guess I was so busy being infuriated by right-wing politics and high-fructose corn syrup, that I failed to appreciate living in the pop culture mecca of the world. The United States has been grinding out intellectual and entertainment product for decades; one only has to listen to a news piece about the Juno Awards to confirm the U.S. is still the gold standard in entertainment. And since the U.S. have the sole right to screw over its own recording artists and print media, sometimes it's free!

On the other hand, my American (read middle-class suburban) standards are being blown away in good ways, too. There's a much higher concentration of everything, including farm markets, good restaurants, and locally-owned businesses. Investigative journalism seems a bit less like a thing of the past. And of course, Canada is known (so far) for having more sensible priorities and a more humanitarian climate than the U.S., which I hope won't be changing too soon.

While I get over the sticker shock of living in Canada, I'm fortunate to have a supportive husband, a few low-budget hobbies like writing and yoga, and a good head for money. But really, there's much more to standard of living than the cheap prices, and that's what makes Toronto worthwhile.