I Made It!
There was a moment in Edmonton, where I wondered if I was going to actually make it. After all, immediately after I blogged about the joys of leisurely packing, my dog went and injured herself and a faulty guage on my Jeep informed me that it had no oil left... So my leisurely day of packing turned into the usual day-before-leaving crisis management mode *sigh*... But that's not what endangered the trip. You see. there was this customs guard in Edmonton...
Guard: "Your passport and customs declaration."
I hand them over and a short inspection by the guard shows, "You haven't signed it." Obviously, I'm guilty as charged and now his job is to determine whether I'm a criminal bent on his country's destruction, or just really, really stupid... He hands the card back and a pen so I can sign it. I present them back feeling like I'm in the sixth grade again during a visit to the headmaster's office.
Guard: "What is the purpose of your trip to Washington?"
Q: "Ah vacation, er leisure..." I'm still feeling flustered. There is a long silence as the guard looks me over and I'm getting the feeling that he hardly regards a vacation as a sufficient reason to visit Washington, a city that hosts more than 20 million tourists a year. Then suddenly,
Guard: "Where are you staying?" I'm getting a little pissed now because the address is on the card I had given him.
Q: "With friends."
Guard: "What nationality are these 'friends' of yours?' You literally can here the sneer when he says the word friends.
Q: 'They're Canadian". I'm getting past pissed and am approaching active irritation...
Guard: 'They're Canadian and they live in Washington, DC?" He is incredulous, obviously imagining a major conspiracy that he's just uncovered.
Q: "Yes, that's correct," I let a little steel flow into my voice. "They work at the Canadian Embassy there."
Guard: "Oh." He obviously hadn't considered that possibility and another long silence stretches as he decides whether to pursue it, but finally decides against it. "When are you returning?"
Q: We're coming back on July 8th.
Guard: "WE? Who's we??" He demands. Obviously a number of replies spring into my mind, each more sarcastic than the last but, with difficulty, I smother all my natural impulses and respond with the unvarnished truth.
Q: "I'm travelling with two friends."
Guard: "Where are these friends of yours?" Clearly, I'm making this all up...
Q: "Over there." I point over my back to where Duncan and Allie had been undergoing their own interview. Actually, though I didn't realize it at the time, Duncan and Allie had long concluded their own interview and I was actually implicating another couple in my conspiracy to visit Washington on leisure... But with one more long look at me, the Guard stamps my passport and tells me I can go.
Fortunately, ever since I've arrived in the US, people have been very friendly and welcoming. I will have more on how I spent Canada Day at the Canadian embassy with pictures in my next post!
Welcome to the USA!!
There was a moment in Edmonton, where I wondered if I was going to actually make it. After all, immediately after I blogged about the joys of leisurely packing, my dog went and injured herself and a faulty guage on my Jeep informed me that it had no oil left... So my leisurely day of packing turned into the usual day-before-leaving crisis management mode *sigh*... But that's not what endangered the trip. You see. there was this customs guard in Edmonton...
Guard: "Your passport and customs declaration."
I hand them over and a short inspection by the guard shows, "You haven't signed it." Obviously, I'm guilty as charged and now his job is to determine whether I'm a criminal bent on his country's destruction, or just really, really stupid... He hands the card back and a pen so I can sign it. I present them back feeling like I'm in the sixth grade again during a visit to the headmaster's office.
Guard: "What is the purpose of your trip to Washington?"
Q: "Ah vacation, er leisure..." I'm still feeling flustered. There is a long silence as the guard looks me over and I'm getting the feeling that he hardly regards a vacation as a sufficient reason to visit Washington, a city that hosts more than 20 million tourists a year. Then suddenly,
Guard: "Where are you staying?" I'm getting a little pissed now because the address is on the card I had given him.
Q: "With friends."
Guard: "What nationality are these 'friends' of yours?' You literally can here the sneer when he says the word friends.
Q: 'They're Canadian". I'm getting past pissed and am approaching active irritation...
Guard: 'They're Canadian and they live in Washington, DC?" He is incredulous, obviously imagining a major conspiracy that he's just uncovered.
Q: "Yes, that's correct," I let a little steel flow into my voice. "They work at the Canadian Embassy there."
Guard: "Oh." He obviously hadn't considered that possibility and another long silence stretches as he decides whether to pursue it, but finally decides against it. "When are you returning?"
Q: We're coming back on July 8th.
Guard: "WE? Who's we??" He demands. Obviously a number of replies spring into my mind, each more sarcastic than the last but, with difficulty, I smother all my natural impulses and respond with the unvarnished truth.
Q: "I'm travelling with two friends."
Guard: "Where are these friends of yours?" Clearly, I'm making this all up...
Q: "Over there." I point over my back to where Duncan and Allie had been undergoing their own interview. Actually, though I didn't realize it at the time, Duncan and Allie had long concluded their own interview and I was actually implicating another couple in my conspiracy to visit Washington on leisure... But with one more long look at me, the Guard stamps my passport and tells me I can go.
Fortunately, ever since I've arrived in the US, people have been very friendly and welcoming. I will have more on how I spent Canada Day at the Canadian embassy with pictures in my next post!
Welcome to the USA!!
posted by Quynn at 3:25 p.m.
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