The Efficency of Canada

Hello everyone,

As you know, yesterday was the all important "become Canadian" day, as I had to go get my Social Insurance Number (SIN), and a bank account. We left around 930am to head to the Canada National Office on their efficient Light Rail Transit (LRT), and when we got there, we had to wait about 5 minutes to meet with a representative. As soon as we got called in, the lady asked what I was coming in for, and I informed her I wanted to get my SIN card. She asked to see my work permit, and then a minute later, I had my SIN number. This is important because it is like a Social Security Number, in that you can't get paid without it. Now that I got my SIN number, I could submit my payroll paperwork and tax forms (yes, I have to be Canadian taxes). Woo-hoo!

We then returned back to campus, and went over to the Bank of Montreal across the street. We got in there, and they immediately set me up to meet with a bank representative, whom explained the whole banking process to me. The main differences from most banks in the US is that you can't use your card like a credit card, as they do not attach a Visa or Mastercard symbol to the card, so it is purely a debit card to be used at an ATM. Another difference is that they let you withdraw $500 a day from the ATM, and they make up to $1000 available to you when you deposit a check (Navy Federal only allows up to $200). Direct deposit was setup for me, so my paychecks will be immediately put there. As for my paydays, everyone gets paid monthly...which was weird, but it will be a nice paycheck come June 30th, and I will receive the rest of my paycheck on July 30th before I leave...so there is no hassle of getting paychecks after I leave! Who knows, I might even leave some money up here, just in case the economy doesn't get better...it could be the new Cayman Islands!

Today was a good day, as I had nothing scheduled! I slept in until about 10am, and grabbed lunch. After lounging around the room, I decided to start my exploration of Edmonton. I walked through the massive campus, and just kept going towards the Saskatchewan River, which runs through the middle of Edmonton. I crossed the river on the underside of the LRT bridge, which was setup for pedestrians and bikers. Once on the other side, I asked someone how to get to the downtown area, and they told me to go up this sketchy road. Of course, I did, and ended up at some Royal Palace place...they even had "Royal Bowling Grounds" that were not to be stepped upon. I figured I should probably leave, so I asked someone how to get downtown, and they said to go through the Palace grounds, and downtown was on the other side. I made my way up the palace grounds, and went by many dressed up people. It looked as if today was National Get Married Day, because it seemed as if there were many wedding picture areas throughout the palace, so I tried to get around them without ending up in any pictures. I got to the top, and there were even more people dressed up, but it looked as if it was a high school prom. So again, I implored my blending in skills (wearing my VT hoodie and jeans) and going away from the palace area. After that, I wandered downtown, so many shops and reasturants, and finally decided to head back. I took the LRT back to campus, and then went to Sobey's (their big grocery store) to get food, and returned to my room.

Overall, I probably walked about 5 miles today, and it was very cool, weather-wise! My goal over the next two months is to learn to use the metric system in everyday life...as it gets annoying not understanding what people are talking about with Celsius and Litres...and once I learn this system, the english system will be removed from my usage, as it is so inefficent...there's a rant I could go on...get ready to talk in metric people! One last thing, cheese is expensive here...more to come on Monday!