Archive for the Category ◊ Expat Life ◊

23 Aug 2008 Heynabonics
Author: Gail |  Category: Humour, Local Colour, Videoclips  | Leave a Comment

I’ve spoken about the dialect of northeast Pennsylvania before, but now I’ve got examples! I heard about this YouTube video when I was driving to Philadelphia last weekend and listening to the radio station David and I always tuned into, besides NPR. The DJ mentioned that his friend made this video poking fun of the local dialect, and I just now remembered it and went digging for it on YouTube.

You probably won’t find it amusing unless you’ve heard it from the natives, but I can tell you it is SO SO SO true. (Helma, back me up here! You say “dooper”!) David slipped into this dialect now and again, but never for very long since he actually liked words… and not mashed up word combos. He was pretty good with accents: Yiddish (his grandmother spoke Yiddish), Boston, New York City, even Long Island (his cousins lived there), but he never failed to crack me up with the Heynabonics.

04 Jul 2008 Happy Birthday, USA!
Author: Gail |  Category: David, Expat Life, Politics + Economy  | 2 Comments

oh say can you see...

May 31, 2008
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

Here’s to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…”

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15 Apr 2008 U.S. Border Policy Enforcement Needs Reform
Author: Gail |  Category: Expat Life, Politics + Economy, Rants  | 6 Comments

* rant alert *

I have opined time and time again that U.S. border guards (at both airport and land points of entry) are ill-informed, inconsistent, and have far too much discretionary power.

Here’s another example of what I’m talking about:

U.S. border guards bar skilled Canadian from his job – CBC, March 31, 2008

Technician says increased protectionism at U.S. border is unfair

I still get upset when I’m reminded of how much time, money, and sheer energy David and I spent trying to follow the stated policies of U.S. Immigration to the letter in order to get married and be together. We had an immigration attorney working for over a year on our case (who I only finished paying in December 2006; visa application fees and such are nonrefundable) and did everything he instructed us to do to secure my visa — including being forced to live apart during what we learned later was a critical time in David’s health.

When I think of how much of a difference I could have made by just being there for David, getting him to the hospital and taking care of him in July 2005 when his lymphatic system was under attack and his symptoms were intensifying (night sweats, back pain, etc.), I can’t help but get angry at this system that’s supposed to PROTECT its citizens but is in fact turning them and their families into victims of nearsighted bureaucracy gone mad.

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19 Feb 2007 Scranton’s Claim to Fame (Before “The Office”)
Author: Gail |  Category: David's Writing, Expat Life, Flickr, Other Photogs  | Leave a Comment

...the hill that leads into Scranton, Pennsylvania
…the hill that leads into Scranton, Pennsylvania by blynaffit

Click on the picture for the answer. Thanks to blynaffit for letting me use her picture.

See also David’s description of his city from the Flickr group “Praise and Curse of the City” two years ago:

I love that my immigrant grandparents made a life here, and my memories of their house across from the park and the museum, and hearing my grandmother’s Yiddish as a child. I love the railroad tracks and the boarded-up coal mines and the slag heaps. I love the careless accents and the affability of my neighbors’ voices. I love that there are soaring cities to the east, and endless forests to the west. I love that we still have our original chrome diners and our wonderfully awful newspaper, and one remaining human elevator operator. I love that Harry Chapin sang a silly song* about our town.

I hate that so much was lost when our city fell ill, around the time that I was born, and the youth and optimism that bled away over the years. (I love that health is returning, though.) Sometimes I hate that my city isn’t quite big enough, so that foreign films and foods and people don’t find their way here. I hate that the nearby farms are turning into housing developments, gated communities full of New Yorkers, wealthy and imprisoned. I hate the inept, corrupt and – worst of all – unimaginative public officials.

I love and hate the idea of leaving it, someday. I am Scranton.

*30,000 Pounds of Bananas.

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16 Nov 2006 Otherworldly
Author: Gail |  Category: David's Writing, Local Colour, Videoclips  | One Comment

One of David’s best days during his illness was September 10, 2005, when he had enough strength to attend a model airplane fly-in and airshow in Waymart, a visit to nearby St. Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, and tuck into the barbecue at Kundla’s Open Pit BBQ.

Dave’s Logbook: OK, back to the fun!

He wrote about St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Monastery, founded in 1905, but I wanted to share a video I shot of the bellringers and the ethereal sounds that surrounded us while we were on the grounds. The volume of the bells took us by surprise, but once we realised where they were, we were struck by the quality of the ringing, the echoes that reverberated through the countryside air. I filmed in a circle, to try and capture some of it.

At the end of the clip is the familiar sight of David with his bright orange 207 CAP hat. Even when it was worn and faded, he still loved to wear it.

I was fascinated by the monks and wanted to photograph the movement of the robes as they walked, but I was too shy to ask if I could take their picture. I tried following one at a distance, but he was too quick for my lens. Maybe I can find a local monastery and do a shoot there.

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04 Oct 2006 A Bit of Canadiana For All the Expat Canucks
Author: Gail |  Category: Culture + Society, Expat Life, cameraphone  | Leave a Comment

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Specifically, Neil, Breigh, and the newly-married Tanya. I’m conveniently located near the CBC Shop, purveyors of fine Canadiana for possible Christmas gifts. I’m taking requests!

23 Sep 2006 1,400 Miles or 2,253 Kilometers Later
Author: Gail |  Category: Expat Life, USA  | One Comment

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After returning to Toronto for one day after three weeks in Vancouver, I got in my car and drove from Toronto to Scranton, Scranton to Ambler, Ambler to Philadelphia, Philly to Scranton, Scranton to Rhinebeck, then Rhinebeck to Toronto in about six days. On Wednesday alone I drove about a third of that — 2+ hours between Scranton and Rhinebeck, then 7+ hours from Rhinebeck to Toronto. I spoke to Gigi’s Papa when I was east of Syracuse and he didn’t think I would be home before 2am, but I was in our underground parking by 01:10.

He also thinks I’m crazy for never using cruise control.

I’ve made three of these ON/NY/PA road trips since the end of May, and this drive home was the easiest. Oddly, though, the trip south last week really dragged. It seemed to take forever to get out of Toronto, and it continued that way until I turned south off Interstate 90 (part of the New York State Thruway) to head south along the very familiar I-81. For some reason, as soon as I see that sign for Binghamton (the last major town before the Pennsylvania border) it feels like I’m on the home stretch to Scranton, but in reality I’m not much further than halfway!

After my interrogation at the U.S. border on our way to Buffalo a month ago (just thinking about it still spikes my blood pressure), I smartened up and dug out the papers filed away that I had in a binder when I moved to Toronto. I put the binder back together again that contains supporting documents, eg. estate papers, marriage and death certificates, car importation, etc., so that NEXT time a USCIS officer gets “confused” with the details of my story and decides it’s easier to make accusations I’m going to simmer down and hand over that binder. In fact, I really should just make it easier for them and draft a one-page outline of events, with a table of contents.

Sarcasm never works at the border, so I’m keeping it all here, you see.

As I was driving to the border, I decided to skip the Lewiston crossing altogether and headed directly for the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls. Which was a good move, I discovered, when I waited less than five minutes to reach a booth and was waved on through after three questions, the last one which was: “Are you the registered owner of this car?” I thought I was going to get the usual “Why do you have PennDOT stickers with Ontario license plates?” — but I didn’t, so I think I’m going to keep using Rainbow Bridge as my regular point of entry now. Maybe the officers have more sense there, or the spray from the falls works like Evian spritzer to make them more relaxed.

20 Jun 2006 The Difference Between Inconvenient and Downright Ludicrous
Author: Gail |  Category: Expat Life, Rants  | 8 Comments

Inconvenient: Canadian banks will hold a U.S. dollar cheque issued by a U.S. bank for up to 30 days before clearing it.

Ludicrous: American banks won’t accept a U.S. dollar cheque/check issued by a Canadian bank, fullstop. Or any bank in the world outside the U.S., for that matter.

I have a U.S. dollar bank account. I can write cheques in U.S. funds. But no U.S. bank will accept them. Does this make any sense at all?

09 Jun 2006 20lbs of Cat Food, Sir
Author: Gail |  Category: Critters + Creatures, Expat Life, Hugh  | 4 Comments

Canadian border
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Friday, June 2, 01:45

Canadian Border Services officer: “Where do you live?”
Me (stifling yawn): “Toronto and Vancouver.”
Officer: “How long were you in the U.S.?”
Me: “Four days.”
Officer: “What goods are you bringing back to Canada with you?”
Me: (pause) “Cat food*.” (Neither Rachael nor I bought anything.)

The officer looked away for a moment, trying to decide whether I was jerking his chain he should continue his line of questioning and pretend he didn’t hear me, or if he should probe for more absurdities and maybe poke around the car.

About 30 seconds later we were on our way, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“At least he didn’t frisk the glove compartment and find the big bottle of Hugh’s pills I can only get in the U.S. because it isn’t on the list of federally approved drugs in Canada.”

Can you imagine the delay? The explanations? After driving all day, I didn’t want to imagine.

I also didn’t want to imagine what kind of excremental mess was awaiting me at the apartment from Mister Hugh, a.k.a. The Most High-Maintenance Expat Kitty Ever. He’s got the costliest poop around.

* Hugh can only eat two kinds of food, and both must be purchased from a veterinarian. Hill’s Prescription Diet K/D (Kidney Diet) wet and dry. Every other kind, including other Prescription Diet cat food for old cats or oral care or to treat furballs, are available in pet stores but disagree with his digestive system. The wet K/D is to mix with his daily capsule, and the only kind he can generally keep down is the chicken flavour. THIS FOOD IS EXPENSIVE, and I save a bit of money if I buy it across the line. With the pills I have no choice but to order them from the compounding pharmacy in Wilkes-Barre; they’re that obscure.

19 Apr 2006 Irony in Lake Ariel
Author: Gail |  Category: Local Colour, Tales of the Absurd  | 3 Comments

I was looking for that photo I mentioned in the previous post, the first one I took of David, and I found this.

It’s a shot I took back in October 2004, the weekend we met. We were on our way to Cherry Ridge to take out the Tri-Pacer, and Lake Ariel is one of the towns we pass through to get there. I don’t remember exactly when the sign was taken down, but I’m certain it isn’t there anymore. In fact, I think the shop does other business now.

This photo is part of my set of signs — bizarre, funny, misspelled, provocative, or just plain eye-catching signs I’ve happened upon.

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