International shipping charges...are annoying.

So I need boots that don't weigh 7,000 pounds for shorter treks through the snow. I spent a good half hour looking for a non-Uggly pair that could actually hold up to winter weather. Then I found out New Brunswick import charges would be $24.44 with a $10 shipping rate. On a $60 pair of boots. Worth it? I think not. Thank you for nothing, Zappos.com.

I need to stop blogging about boots.

Canadian Politics 101? Not really.

We-hell. And you all said the culture shock would be minimal (I don't know who "you" is, but let's pretend I have a reason to be defensive for a minute). Obviously, you've never jumped to a third year/fourth year course in Canadian politics after coming from a school that hardly gives a damn about Canadian/any other country's governmental happenings.

I have a hard enough time hanging onto US politics as it is, but at least in an advanced course, I would understand most of the references. I was having to over-exert my attention paying skills during most of the lecture to understand anything that was going on. The professor is a Senator from New Brunswick, and also the former Lieutenant-Governor, and the guest lecturer was Dominic LeBlanc, a Liberal MP also from New Brunswick. I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen--I suppose nothing more from myself--but it was just a tiny bit overwhelming.

Granted, I do know something about the Canadian political system. I've read a bit, watched some CBC, talked to some friends. So I can give you a basic overview of how the system works and what each political party stands for. But I'm going to have to do a hell of a lot of background reading.

Just when I was thinking maybe I could quietly drop the class, the professor, after talking about our upcoming class on Barack Obama, said, "And I understand we have an American student in the class!"

I could feel the star-spangled shame rushing to my cheeks as my hand raised in spite of itself. The moment people find out I'm a student at American University (here AND in the States) they think I must be a political aficionado. I have a hard time convincing people that's NOT the case. I'm not even a poli sci student (and what I should be is a literature major). My curiosity just gets the better of me and I sign up for courses like this one, hoping to hide in the back like a silent sponge. I guess that won't be happening.

I suppose I should stop blogging...after all, it's 11 PM and I have an entire country's worth of knowledge to catch up on. Fortunately, I'm set to go for a little while from some Tim Horton's coffee. Maybe that will increase my capacity to absorb Canadianness. We'll see.

You know it's cold when...

WeatherBug has the image of an igloo next to the daily forecast.

You walk outside and your nose ring freezes.

Even though, as a silent statement against the bleach-blond, Ugg-wearing zombie clan of the US East Coast, you NEVER wear snowboots, you find yourself needing to put them on every single time you walk outside.

You're in Canada in January (oh, right!).

Food discoveries of the week

Butter tarts! With raisins! I found these cute little pies at dessert and asked the girl I was with what they were. She suggested they were butter tarts--and having never had one and not being one to pass up trying any food that has "butter" in the name, I took one. Then when I went back for late night (an awesome 2-hour period wherein the meal hall reopens and serves all sorts of delicious things--tonight was a mussel bar), I took another one. I've often thought that something pecan pie-ish without the pecans would be delicious. I was proven correct.

Also, blueberry ale! Now, I like most kinds of beer, a few wheat varieties excepted, but you really can't go wrong with frozen blueberries floating in a lovely brew that tastes faintly of...yup. Blueberries.

Next, we have ketchup chips. As much as I love salty and potatoey junk foods, these were not my favorite things in the world. To someone used to kettle-cooked barbecue potato chips, these didn't quite measure up. And they were sort of purple...

Lastly, Coffee Crisp. A Kit-Kat like candy bar with coffee. And bigger than Kit-Kats. Where could you possibly go wrong?

And on a completely different note, I need to get some skates because I fully plan on being better at skating when I leave than I am now.

Indoor photos

So it's too damn cold to go outside and take pictures right now. They keep saying I'll get used to it, and I'm sure I will, but for now, my wussy self is opting to stay planted next to her portable heater.

But just below is the (crooked) view out my window....and to the right, the flag that keeps throwing me off. One of these days, the fact that I'm in another country will stop surprising me.

More to come, je vous promets.

My fellow Americans...

Some initial observations:

1) Canadians do not say "eh" all that much. At least not here. I've heard it tacked onto the end of sentences a bunch, but it's not like they're spouting off "ehs" with every verbal turn.

2) Sackville has a lot of stuff going on for a tiny town. I know, I'm new, and I'm told I'll get over the "everything's awesome!" honeymoon phase, but there's a lot of stuff crammed within a few square miles here. A movie theater, a drugstore (Pharmacie Jean Coutu--how cute is that?), a bitchin' thrift store complete with skis and rusty ice skates, like 3 or 4 pubs, a hardware store, a tucked-away theater, a diner, and this campus has bjillions of buildings. And if you go to the end of Bridge St. and take a look at the landscape--it's HUGE!

3) When it snows in DC, the students freak out, stare out the window, and speculate for hours about whether or not the next day will be a snow day. When it snows here, no one even blinks. They're telling me that, comparatively, this is not a lot of snow. There is more snow here than I've seen in my lifetime.

4) I've never really even owned a pair of snowboots. Here, I think I'll be wearing them most of the time.

5) It's cold here, so the people make up for it by being a lot warmer, and you'll only be an outsider if you work really really hard at being one.

6) Even the graffiti seems nicer. I saw some yellow paint scrawled on a wall that said "Don't be afraid." And there was one in Moncton that said "Pompous faggot"--not at all friendly, but certainly articulate.

7) Thrift stores freakin' ROCK, especially in countries and provinces where the tax rates make you gasp. I bought a mug for $0.49 today.

8) When I first came to Canada (Quebec City), I thought that Aero chocolate was the coolest thing EVER. It's in the vending machines downstairs, along with some other crazy stuff (i.e. dill pickle flavored chips).

9) Blueberry beer = THE BEST THING EVER. Also Canadians know WAY more about US politics than the other way around (I knew this already, but it really hit home tonight).

J'suis ici! or...Je suis ici!...or whatever the correct abbreviation would be

So for those of you who know what a nervous twitch I am, you'll also know it's because I'm a HUGE scatterbrain and forget things like it's my life's goal. Every single travel experience I've had over the last several months has been accompanied by some near-disaster that included me losing something (my wallet, my phone, my passport, my boarding pass, my keys) or leaving something behind.

Today, I had the distinct pleasure of 1) Finding all my travel documents and having to keep them together all day, 2) Taking a Super Shuttle to BWI, 3) Bringing along ALL my stuff for an entire semester, 4) Catching a flight at 12:45 to Detroit, 5) Catching a flight from Detroit to Newark with a 42 minute layover while switching airlines, 6) Remembering to exchange currency and having to run between concourses within 25 minutes, 7) Catching a flight into Moncton from Newark.

I know, I know...it was a stupid booking, and I would have been better off flying directly out of Newark. But you live, you learn. Anyway, the many many steps left many many places for disaster to happen. And I was absolutely convinced they were going to lose my luggage, they weren't going to let me through at the border (my passport expires in late June), I was going to lose my wallet, my boarding pass, or my passport, and/or I was going to miss a flight. So I spent the entire day checking and double checking that I had everything. And there was a lot of running around in the airports to make sure I got to where I needed to be on time, so I was a sweaty mess all day. Since I hadn't (haven't) eaten since 10 AM, my hands were also shaking.

In fact, I psyched myself out so badly that when I went to change currency, I was in line and almost had a nervous breakdown because I thought I'd lost my wallet. Turns out it was in my sweatshirt pocket...in a sweatshirt that I was wearing...

But everything went smoothly. I got to everything on fine, I got through customs OK, I found a taxi, checked into a cheap hotel (I forgot hostels existed, otherwise I would've gone with that route), and I'm sitting here in Moncton too excited and worked up to sleep. I'm here!

And of course, my iPod started playing "God Bless the USA" as we flew into Moncton (God only knows why I have that in my collection)...but the next song on was by Les Cowboys Fringants (which, while a Quebecois group, was better than the previous song choice), so it made up for it...and then I came here, switched on the CBC, and some woman was singing the Star-Spangled Banner...but it was for a hockey game, so I guess that's OK, too...