"Why would anyone want to go to Canada?" I was asked 5 years ago when I decided to file for Canadian Immigration, my answer to that was every time I visited that place it left a new magical feeling that lasted years, maybe it was its nature, or maybe the fact that when going out in Canada you are really just going in; a melting pot where all nations, colors and walks of life meet.
It all started when I first visited Alberta back in the 90s, I was blown away by how systematic everything was, roads, zoning, education, shopping, how all those different kinds of people learnt to co-exist in harmony, with all their different accents, cultures and backgrounds. It was then when I decided that one day I will move in.
I held that thought for years till I revisited Canada again in early 2003, this time I went to Ontario, very different than Rocky mountains of British Columbia or plains of Saskatchewan or fossils or deep snow of Alberta, Niagara falls or Ontario Lake or Toronto, all were different.
Union Station, the Go-Train, everyone is reading on the 2 hour ride from home to work, and then the couple of minutes walk along University Avenue in the morning rush with all those different kinds of people, everyone with a cheerful smile heading to a different job, plan and life but yet all our paths overlap.
Having hard time learning my name, I enjoyed the different unique way everyone tried to pronounce it, loved the food, the talks and stories, such good memories.
"Your license and registration" the pleasant Ohio officer with his husky voice, woke me up from those memories and dreams to hit solid cold reality that I am still a day away from realizing my dream..."What do I owe this pleasure to?" it happened that I was just a little bit over the speed limit again, one day after I was just clearing another speeding ticket in my home state.
He instructed me to go to the courthouse in that little Ohio town right at the next exit, as they don't have a website and most probably they will end up issuing an arrest warrant if I don't pay after I leave to Canada, so I did, drove over an hour inside that little pleasant town.
"What are you smiling about?" asked the court clerk, she didn't know that no matter what happens nothing will change my state of mind or the peace I have found by just holding onto the thought that in a few hours I will cross over to a distant dream I waited for over 5 years.
After leaving Dallas, Memphis, Cincinnati and now heading towards Buffalo, I have already driven through 7 states, a timezone, even a season.
Having just recently learnt how to use Google Latitude, I kept it on all the time, to have my friends and family aware of my current location and specially my nephew as to him it was a game that he liked a lot, my uncle is a moving dot on the map, YaY!
"Why are you driving backwards?" a text message from a coworker and a good friend read, he was following me on latitude at the time I was caught speeding and then heading back towards the court. I smiled, someone is actually following me, I never thought I deserved to be of any importance to anyone?
"Welcome to the state of New York, use EzPass for Toll..." the sign read, I am now just a few miles away from the border and the weather is already magnificent, on my left hand side is the lake extending as far as the horizon can take it. Reminded me of the last time our little gang visited New York and how we drove down from Washington to Philadelphia to Manhattan, such a nice group. I wanted to remember this, maybe I won't be seeing any of it again in sometime, it was a mixed feeling of happiness and sadness.
...Stay tuned for more
It is great to finally realize your dream. Dream on, brother.
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