Catching Up

So, I've been catching up on my blog reading. I only have "we move to canada" left.

I don't write comments very much because often my feelings are "me, too" which seems uninspired. And I'm often pretty late. And other folks have already left the same comment I was thinking. So, I'm mostly a lurker. But I do try to keep up with the blogs listed here. We are becoming a little community. "Moving to Vancouver" suggests we all need to have a gathering in 2007 in Canada, as Canadians (PRs). Sounds good to me.

I talked to my eldest brother yesterday. His wife claimed Irish citizenship because her grandparents were born in Ireland. (Apparently, one can do that, at least for now.) And they've done it for the kids too, based on their mother's status. So, now my brother is applying for his Irish citizenship as the spouse. Citizenship, not permanent resident. They will have European Union passports. Wow. He just had to one-up me. :-) But seriously, they're not planning on moving; it's to give them options for the future. And while I'd love to have an E.U. passport, I am very happy and excited about moving to Canada. It's not just what's there; it's what Alan and I want. While we wouldn't be looking if we didn't have "issues" with the U.S., we want to be in Canada. (Am I making sense here?)

I've been thinking of what we could be doing -- concretely -- in preparation for a possible big move. So, I've started on a project on transferring our movies on video tape to DVD. Mind you, this is not pirating, as we own a legitimate copy and are just changing the medium for our own private use. (Of course, I don't know what to do with the tapes once I'm done.) DVDs weigh less and take up a lot less room. From four boxes to one album on a shelf.

We also are starting our places and activities list -- the "do while we're still here" list. And we crossed off our first one: the Puyallup Fair. We've lived in Seattle nine years and we've never been. So, well, it was a big fair and now we've been there, done that. You know, not that we're big into the PDAs in Seattle, but out in the world beyond the city, I sure feel like an outsider and a citizen of another planet.

Reading the goodbyes of Nick and Mason, I had this realization: Alan and I have pretty shallow roots in Seattle. Yes, we have a few friends, but I joke that we'll probably see more of them when/if we live in Vancouver than we do now (because we'll have to be more deliberate about it). Neither of us have jobs that are meaningful. I love our apartment and I will miss it, but it's not the same as if we owned the house of our dreams. It's weird to realize that while there will be a lot of stress in moving, saying goodbye won't be part of that.

I think that part of it is that we're homebodies and our diversions tend to be indoors, at home. Another part is that Seattle did not turn out to be the bastion of liberalism that we had heard it to be. Everything is relative; perhaps Seattle is practically communist in the U.S. political spectrum. In Canada, it might fall somewhere between the Liberal party and the Conservative party. (From what I know -- and I still have a lot to learn -- I'm an NDPer.)

Well, I guess it goes back to that alienation I keep mentioning but never really elaborating on. :-)

But it is my hope that I will be an active community member in Vancouver, where it feels at least that I will have a voice. And my family will be recognized.

Sometimes I get scared that I'm expecting too much or that I'm being naive. There was a post on the yahoo groups I read (see links list) that listed something like "8 reasons not to immigrate to Canada." I have to admit that it did raise some fear in me. The logical side of me says that this is a person with sour grapes that expected too much to be done for him and that the facts he listed were not the whole story. But the emotional part of my brain worries.

This post has been somewhat disjointed, a collection of stuff rattling around in my head. I've made a list of topics for future posts that I hope will have more depth. :-)