So! Now that my life has begun to resemble some sort of normalcy and my state of limbo is minimal, I figure it's safe to post a mini-blog:
It is official: I can legally work in Canada as of 3pm today, whew!
I spent the past week with my family in Charlotte, enjoyed probably my most favourite Thanksgiving ever, and received my work permit at the Calgary airport on my way in to Canada. Today I got a SIN (sort of like a SSN in the States or a PPN in Ireland) and Bema can put me back on the payroll, woot!
Tomorrow, I have a meeting with a tentative new roommate, so we'll see how that goes... but Ev said she won't mind if I stay here a bit longer. :) I would like to have a place of my own, though, and this place is nearby (for Calgary) and affordable (for aywhere!) -- and if I were to take this place, I would be living with 3 other Christian girls in their 20s.
While I was down in Charlotte, my grandparents - RON and Pat Brown* - and I took a day trip to Columbia, SC, where I plan to take my PhD starting next fall. We found an apartment** for me about which I am thrilled!!! I also had the priviledge of taking a tour of my grandparents' childhood haunts - they grew up about a mile from my Columbia apartment - and really enjoyed my visit. I think I'm going to like being closer to home :)
And finally: I am obviously going to have to change the theme of this blog, since I no longer live in Ireland and can no longer publish my Irish memories as I live them. I may start to relive my Irish memories that I did not put on here before... I just thought I would warn anyone who is actually interested! If I take tips from MayB, I may be able to come up with some pretty good material for a post every once in a while - I am one of those people who need a prompt, and life in Calgary is not quite as exotic as life in Eire... sorry to any Calgarians reading this!
If you have any ideas, let me know, but I may start up a x365 of my own... who knows?
Love to everyone!
* You have to be a family member to get this... but now all of internetland knows who my grandparents are :)
** Here are some highlights of the place:
Free 24 hr. Gym
Free Internet Cafe
Free Shuttle to Campus
42' TV in all living rooms
Hardwood style floors in select units
High speed Internet and Basic Cable in all units
Resort Style Pool and Spa/Tanning Bed
Walk- in closets and Private bathrooms in every bedroom
I have no idea why the bullet spacing is so wonky... forgive me.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. You have no idea how excited I am that you blogged. You need to do this more often. And get posting Ireland memories that you haven't posted yet!! We want more! We want more!
ReplyDeleteAnd dude, that apartment looks great. I'm totally going to visit you once you live down there. Maybe I'll finally go to a North Carolina camp or something.
Miss you!