10 years! What the...?

It was recently brought to my attention that my ten-year high school reunion is quickly approaching, which begs the question, "What the...?" Seriously though, where did those ten years go? I did NOT expect to be where I am now, doing what I'm doing...that's fer darn sure. But, in a roundabout way...I am totally happy with the way things turned out. My life has been rather nomadic since high school, living in Toronto, Baie-St. Paul, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Seattle. I have two degrees, both of which I'm using in my current job (woo hoo for not wasting 6 years in school). I have traveled across the country and around the globe (but not as much as I would like to). And I have fun and interesting friends scattered all over the world. Life is good.

To the present...this weekend was Memorial Day in the US. Definitely less somber (or is it sombre?) than Remembrance Day...more like Victoria Day without the "2-4s" and the fireworks. (Except in Vancouver where they only have fireworks during the fireworks competition...)

I went to Folklife...a huge music cultural festival down by the Space Needle. To give you an idea of the range of acts they had at this festival, the best things I saw at the festival were a funk-and-soul marching band called March Fourth (they entered on stilts and had napkin dancers!), a guitar trio (name forgotten but they were awesome), and a breakdancing troupe. Also saw a lame hip-hop show, and learned how to Balkan dance (well, sort of) to Jessica's father's Balkan polka band (he plays the accordion). I also had Kenyan food and danced in a drum circle. Fun times...Will post photos later. I have an awesome one of the Space Needle at night.

Anywho...work time!

Things that make you go...hmmm...

I got a letter today from Revenue Canada with a form for me to fill out: Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada). Seems so formal...Physically I have left, I suppose...but emotionally? Oy...The hardest question was "How long do you expect to live outside Canada? Number of days ___ Number of months ___ Number of years ___ Leaving or left Canada permanently and no plan to return to Canada ___" Hmm...excellent question. My TN (work visa) is only for one year, so it expires in October...but I will likely re-apply for another year. And how long can I realistically work at my job before slicing my wrists with a 200-page deposition? Maybe 3 years? I'm happy here, and if Seattle were in Canada I would not think twice about living here forever. But permanently? Yikes...I don't know. I wrote in "unknown".

Other strange discoveries made in the last week:
1. Seattle is not (as I have mistakenly thought for the past 6 months) on the ocean. It's not even close. I thought that on the other side of the islands that are in Puget Sound (e.g. Bainbridge, Vashon) that there was ocean and that the Olympic mountains were on those islands. WRONG. Apparently there is a rather large land mass, called the Olympic Peninsula past those islands. The Olympic Mountains are on the Olympic Peninsula (go figure!). Anywho, to avoid future embarassment, I should probably look at a map within the first six months of (or preferably before) moving to my next city.
2. They don't have Coffee Crisp in the U.S.
3. They don't have J-cloths in the U.S.
4. "Tea towels" are just "kitchen towels" in the U.S.
5. Americans never tire of making fun of my accent. (Actually this is not a new discovery...but I thought the novelty might have worn off by now.)

Tomorrow I am picking up a book from the library called Flaubert's Parrot. I am WAY excited!! I can't remember what the plot is, but the title sounds freakin' awesome!