Settling In

It has been a while since I have updated. It's been a whirlwind past few weeks!  We made the final move from our temp housing to our new "digs", September 15th.  The cats still don't know if they are coming or going, but we hope they realize there will not be another car ride anytime soon!   We are all still in our adjustment period, but we know this will soon pass and we will finally, be settled.

I've never really been a fan of Ikea; actually, it hasn't been a store I ever thought about. Ikea is now our friend and slowly, becoming our enemy.  I love their concept of storage and have found some really great deals on some much needed storage pieces.  My Niece, shopped there a few times and told me how it all worked; write down what you want, go pick it out and check out. Simple, right?

So, off we go with our little blue and white inventory checklist and little pencil in hand, which they provide, to do our shopping.   We walked, and walked, and walked....it's a seemingly, never ending maze which seems to not make any sense at all.  When you see the little white dotted lines on the map, it all becomes clear, kind of like smeared mud on a window pane.

After 5 hours, yes, that's correct...5 hours and a full inventory list, we proceed down to the warehouse and check-out.  Out of the many items chosen to purchase, one was a chopping block with 4 drawers(pictures will be posted later of all our "wares").  A few items like that were "special", meaning a sales associate had to give us a print out to take to the checker and we didn't have to pull it from the warehouse.   Since we don't have a truck, we decided to get it delivered along with the other many other items on our list; then we proceeded to the delivery department.

We were thinking since they were in another area,  we just give them the little blue and white inventory list, they ring it up, we pay, they pull from the warehouse and deliver.  Yeah, that is SO NOT the way it works!  We had to go back, figure out where everything was; load it on these little carts; and take it all back to a cashier. By this time, they were now closed and did not want anyone going back in the warehouse area to get their items. We did manage to grab in a flash, with the help of an associate, the few meager items they did have in stock.  It reminded me of that game show, "Supermarket Sweep"!

We checked out, stood in line again for the delivery; paid for that SEPARATELY, then went home. Whew!  I'm tired all over again, just from typing that!

If you have never bought anything from Ikea, then you have no idea of the complex directions they have for the assembly.  There are no words; only pictures. If you don't arrange the pieces just like it shows in the booklet to get it ready to assemble, then you will find yourself staring intently at the "picture book" for a while.  I've found, when it gets to that point, just walk away, pour a glass of wine and kick back in a comfy chair.  Also, no matter how tightly you close your eyes and click your heels together, when you open your eyes you realize you are home and the items are still laying there, in pieces, all over the floor and not put together.  How much wine am I drinking?  Maybe not enough!

It will all get finished and soon, as we are having house guests in 2 weeks!!!

Off to pour a glass of wine and get in my comfy chair.  In the immortal words of Miss Scarlett O'Hara: "I won't think about this now, I'll think about it tomorrow".

We have our "stuff"!

Hallway Entrance

Clearing customs for our household items was quick, easy and painless.  The only thing they really wanted to know was, if we had any guns, knives, pepper spray (which I think is illegal?), explosives, plants, any type of soil, fruits and food.  I told them what food we brought and well, you already saw on my FB post how that conversation went!

Kitchen/Hallway

To the right are some "before" pictures. I'll post the "after" pictures, next time!

The delivery went about as smooth as possible. The movers were very nice and professional.  They put together our new couch(which is much smaller than the one we left behind) and Bill's new computer desk - all for the price of a cheap lunch!  Then they unpacked and put things in the rooms they were supposed to go in, all while I plugged in each section of my Christmas Tree(yeah, I brought it!)to make sure it worked, which it did!  After I tested it all, the movers even re-packed it back in its storage bag - which is a major pain!

Kitchen

There was only one casualty, and that was a 16x20 picture frame and the glass shattered. The frame thankfully, was still intact!  I was/am very pleased with this moving company, as we had a horrible experience with another company from way back, when we moved home to Texas from San Francisco!  I would definitely recommend them to anyone!

Living Room

Now, the hard part begins; where to put all of this "stuff".  We were very careful in our decisions of what to bring, as we knew the apartments here are much smaller than our condo in Austin.  We only brought about 1/3 of our things and are struggling where to put it.  Even though we have a corner unit, the apartment is not square; it has many strange, odd, angles.  One word of advice; if you are going to rent a place here "sight unseen", the pictures on the website are not what you will get...unless of course, you are getting the penthouse apartment!  We did tour this property when we were here in June, but we really don't remember it being this small.  Another lesson learned!

One thing we know to be a very true statement is; Ikea will soon become our best friend.  I'm sure they will love us for life after all of the things we are going to have to buy there, to store our "stuff" here!

We are paying extra for a parking space in the garage, and let me tell you...it's a challenge to get the car in the space.  I'll blog about that next time!

Here is a video I took of the end of a 'Flash Mob' ballet performance we saw from our balcony.  The La Joute Fountain below our unit is a gathering point for things like this.

Stay tuned next week, for more adventures!

Tropical Storm in Montreal...are you kidding me?

Today, it has been raining all day. Now, before you get yourselves all in a twist about the weather we are having here, know this; if Hurricane Irene wouldn't have hit the East Coast, we wouldn't be getting rain today, which I know most of you so desperately need!

After it caused mayhem along the coast, it seemed to turn Northwest and Montreal obviously, was part of the tour date. We are on the outer bands of the storm, but at times, we've had high winds and sideways rain.  We can't believe we moved from Texas, all the way up here, only to be getting remnants of a hurricane, turned tropical storm. Who knew?!

Yesterday, we went to the Jean Talon Market, which is much bigger than the Atwater Market.  There are SO many vendors, and you won't break the bank buying veggies and fruits.  Next time, we'll either take the Metro or get there early - as parking was a nightmare!

This next week will be a busy one. Bill starts work tomorrow and I'll be busy trying to navigate getting us set up with electricity, cable, clearing customs for our household goods and arranging delivery.  With any luck, we'll have our things delivered  this Thursday and I can start the process of making our new place, a home.

I still have to arrange the car inspection so we can get our car registered, and get Canadian car insurance.  We haven't changed over our cell phones either.  That is on Bill's to do list!

More later!

Finding our feet....

The past couple of days were sort of hectic, however, we managed to get a couple of things checked off the long list of things to be done.  

We applied for the Canadian Social Insurance Number, which is used like the Social Security Card in the US.   We also applied for National Health Insurance, which we found will take 3 months to "kick in". We know it will take a bit to get used to and to understand, the health care system they have here.

I've already had to make an appointment without the Health Insurance which we will have to pay out of pocket for;  the fee is $75.00 for them to open/start a file, then a $165.00 consultation fee, plus extra for any lab work, which they can't tell me right now, about how much that will be.  Wowza!
 
Kona and Kei-Ki seem to have settled down and relaxed a bit.  I think they are realizing that they won't be put in their carriers and going for a car ride anytime soon!  We have the windows open today, as there is a nice breeze, and they are thoroughly enjoying it!   We couldn't do that in Texas!

I didn't think to pack any light jackets or sweaters for the evenings here, which have been a bit nippy!  I was keeping tabs on the weather before we left and it didn't look like it was going to turn cooler. I was thinking 'oh, it's going to be warm"!  Lesson learned!

Off to research car insurance, and find a place to get Bill's hair cut!

Stay tuned

Atwater Market

Today we visited the Atwater Market. We were told it was about a half mile walk from our temporary house, but it turned into a 2 mile trek. However, the walk was well worth it as the market was full of fresh fruits and vegetables.

All of the produce is outside, while the breads, wines, cheeses and meats are inside the market. There are 5-6 butchers who feature different kinds of meats, chicken, duck, sausages and other assorted proteins.

After our long walk we were pretty hungry, so we ended up splitting a very delicious puff pastry stuffed with a chocolate mousse and then drizzled with chocolate.

Here are some shots from the outdoor part of the market, showing off some of the great stuff for sale.

We've heard that the Jean Talon Market has even more great stuff. We will be sure to venture there next week!

 

"Houston, The Money's have landed!"

Finally, after four very long days, two very stressed out cats, and two very exhausted humans, we arrived on Friday afternoon.   We got the keys to our temp housing, and started to "set up camp".  It's a nice place, but the more we're here,the more we're glad it's only temporary.  Things are either broken, or don't work how they should. I am keeping track of everything, just in case they try to charge us!

View from our new apartment

We both feel as though we have jetlag, without ever stepping foot on a plane.  It's only an hour time difference, but I am guessing the stress of the past few weeks, has finally caught up with us. We've rested up a lot this weekend, as we have a busy week ahead of us.  Lots more paper work to fill out, forms to sign, things to do, places to go and people to see.

We did venture out today and went to Costco!  Yeah, that's right, they have 3, count 'em, 3 Costco's here!  I hate Wal*mart (they are here also) and I was very happy to find one of my favorite stores close by.

We did hit a bumpy road on our adventure to Costco - it seems in Canada they don't take Visa Debit Cards at Costco, like they do in the US.  We had to scramble around and try to find an ATM machine (and get it to work in English) while our stuff was at the checkout line.

Thankfully we got our money and our Costco goodies!

Blogging from the road!

It's been crazy these past few days!  We left Monday evening, spent the night in Burleson, TX, where we met up with my parents.  We didn't leave until around 1130a on Tuesday, but the visit with them was worth the time we lost on the road.

Tuesday, we stopped in Jackson, TN, for the night.  We're glad we did, as that was an hour outside of Memphis, so we avoided the morning traffic!  Last night, we stopped in Mansfield, OH, where all the restaurants seem to close up shop at 9p!

Today we are on our way to  Buffalo, NY, where we will clear US Customs to export our car, then cross over into Canada at Ontario.  Hopefully, we'll make it there before 4p, when they close. If not, we'll be spending the night in New York!

Fingers crossed!

 

Packed and Loaded!

The movers arrived Thursday, packed ,loaded and took off with our things.  I am a little nervous, as the semi couldn't make it down our street (cars park on both sides of the street) nor could it fit in the complex.  They had to load everything on to one truck and then transfer it to the "big" truck.  To me, that's a recipe for disaster and loss!  I spoke with the driver as he was leaving on Friday and said he'll be in Montreal by Tuesday.  Once there, he will take it to a warehouse, where it will sit for an undisclosed amount of time.  We've heard it could take a few days to a few weeks to clear customs.

Now the hard part starts; me packing what will be going in the car, so it will all fit and still have room for us and the cats! 

I almost forgot a very important part of this puzzle...calling the US Customs, to inform them we will be exporting our car out of the US and into Canada.  We have to email them 72 hours before we plan to cross the border; take the endless amount of documents we have and the car, for them to approve. Where we have to cross the border, there's only one point of entry, in that area, we are allowed to take the car for this. The recording stated this fact about 4 times and the customs agent I spoke with, also told me this, about 4 times!    That's a whole other issue to deal with, but sounds pretty painless....I hope!  This info was not in any of the books I read, or in any of the info they sent to us.  Once again, found it looking through the Canadian Customs website.

We are hoping the temporary housing is all set in place, just waiting on our arrival.  We'll be there until our place is ready, the 1st week of September. 

Off to pack...

Here are pictures of our Thule cargo box.  Thanks to Carolyn and Jesse for helping with the install!

Starting the move from Texas to Canada!

We have reached the final week before the movers get here to pack us up and off to Montreal! We are very excited to be starting this new adventure in our lives. 

1950 Miles from Austin to Montreal!

We have been thinking about this prospective move since December, when the company approached my husband about working there. The actual moving process started in May, so this gives you an idea of about how long it will take from when the job offer is accepted and the paper work begins, to when the Visa will come through.  We were told 3 months and that's what it turned out to be!

You can check current Visa wait times here.

There are several books about moving to Canada and they will be helpful, but I strongly suggest doing a lot of your own research, especially if you move to Quebec!  They have their own rules and regulations the rest of Canada doesn't have. You will be tired of reading by the time it's all over, but it will be worth it and hopefully, give you some peace of mind.  Be prepared to fill out lots of paper work.

Since our move is job related, once the Visa came through, we had hit the ground running - they wanted us up there ASAP

Some things I've found out through trial and error.

If you plan to take your car and are on a temporary work visa, according to the Canadian Gov website, you will not have to pay the import tax and duty on the car.  If your car still carries a lien (through your bank or credit union), you will have to bring a letter from them saying it's ok to bring the car into Canada, a copy of the title, and a letter saying it is ok to register the car there.  We found out that you must register your car within 6 months after arrival.  You will also have to do a driver's license exchange within this same time frame.

This info was not in any book or website I read.  I had to read through page after page on the Canadian website to find it.  Then I called them to double check.  You will have to call the US Customs 72 hours before arrival to let them know when and where you are crossing the border.

Also, make sure to have the all the required paper work you'll need to cross the border before you leave for your move.  Pack it so it is easily available when you reach the customs check point.  I made a nice package in a bright colored folder!

One other thing that there isn't much info about.  Apparently, whatever you bring in the country, you must also leave with when you return to the US.  We are not completely sure of what happens if something breaks!  I've read we would have to document the date and take a photo and attach it to the inventory list you originally brought in when you crossed the border.

Stay tuned for more!