.Imma Canadian + Canada Day

Last week I took the Canadian Citizenship test at Canada Place in Edmonton.

I've been studying for this test off and on for the past two years since I first applied for citizenship. That is how long the process of paperwork has taken. To say this has been difficult would be an understatement, it's pretty much been a part time job some days getting all of these applications, documents, and requirements done.

You have to be a permanent resident living in the country for at least three years before applying for citizenship, and then apparently you have to wait two more years on top of that?

Anyway... I've learned a lot of stuff about Canada recently. Provinces, territories, national anthem, politics, government, economy, culture, history, symbols, etc. Everyone keeps telling me that I now know more about Canada than most Canadians.

Fun stuff.

I have to tell you something that I hate to admit....

Before I met Air, everything I knew (or thought I knew) about Canada was a complete by-product and result of my love for one particular movie. The infamous "Strange Brew".

It's dumb, but it's also a hilarious movie. Did I really think that one movie could possibly exemplify an entire country full of people? I'd never even considered that.

And so when I first came to Canada I was looking for the things I already knew. Pointing out all of the breweries we'd pass by, people wearing plaid coats, big old vans and Winnebago's I'd see around. And then there's the fact that they say "Eh" sometimes (but I'm pretty sure American's say it more than Canadians by now). I've come to the realization over the years that Alberta, Canada is nothing like the movie "Strange Brew". The people here don't talk like that. I've heard that people in other provinces do out East, but not this one... much to my dismay.

And so I find myself wondering how much the rest of you Americans know about Canada? Or how much you care to know? I knew NOTHING before I came here! Sadly, I never really cared to learn or even expected to come up here. I never even considered going north on vacation.

But here I am.

And here is your Canada lesson #1:

This is where we live:

A little (enormous) city called Edmonton, in the province of Alberta.

Edmonton is the capitol of Alberta and is an incredibly beautiful place. With the huge North Saskatchewan River flowing right through the city, there are tons of deep ravines and trees and trails, and parks all over. It's a historical place too. One of the main things that blew me away about this city is how old it is. It's been sitting up here all this time and I never even noticed it on a map! haha

Another thing that blows me away about Canada is how few people live here. There's just so much space... It's kinda great. We drive for hours through countryside once we leave our city before we arrive in another town.

So anyway, I passed that test last week easy peasy. 100%. The very same test that I stressed about for TWO YEARS only took me about 5 minutes to finish and I didn't break a sweat. In a few months I'll go to my ceremony where I'll do some weird things like pledge allegiance to the Queen and then I become a dual citizen of Canada and the USA. I'll be able to freely live in either country, whenever I want, for however long I want to. And that's pretty much the only perk I can think of... worth it I guess.

You know, I'm really glad Air and I live here. Canada is an amazing place.

And now I give you some photos from our Canada Day 2014:

 

Ames was scared of the sparklers…. he’s turning out to be a pretty timid and scaredy little guy. He’s scared to run through sprinklers. Scared of all loud noises. Too scared to go down the slip n’slide.

    

The funny thing is that after he acted like this through the entire firework show he couldn’t stop excitedly talking about the fireworks for days. “fie-wouks! big! BOOM! I wuv it!”