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Prepare to Log the Planet....
Travel Log
Travel Log
January 2004
The story is long and the bottom line is that we stayed in Canada a year longer than planned. How could we not. Once you've tasted British Columbia, there is no turning back.
Lions Bay was wonderful to us. There are few communities that we have encountered as peaceful, friendly and beautiful as Lions Bay. WE spent a great year there. The kids made close friends, and we learned about Canada first hand.
But we moved on to Vancouver for our second year in B.C. We moved primarily because of work, but we did have the chance to experience two different sides of B.C. This is an incredible city. We finally feel like we know it, and it will always be in our hearts.
So much has happened this year that it would take way more time than I have these days to record. We've trvelled the are, gone to Canucks games with the greatest sports fans in the world, went skiing in Whistler and Cypress and just lived the clear air and beauty.
This may just be the last leg of this grand period of time. It was a trip, and we have no regrets. A lot has changed since tht first entry below. This site was down for a while, but I'll bring it back for the conclusion of this amazing journey.
More to come...
Arrival in Canada
On 2 July 2002 we arrived in Canada. We quickly found our new home for the year just north of Vancouver and began to get aquainted with the city. Within the first few weeks we had so many guests that we were able to tour perhaps the most beautiful city in North America. We had been travelling for seven long months and it was a good feeling to unpack.
But life doesn't always work out as one hopes. With in the first few week there were so few job offers that it looked like we were going to have to start our own business in order to survive. Getting established in new country is difficult, and almost seems not worth it when it's only for a year. Getting the kids registered for school, driver's license, insurance, Costco cards, what have you, it's a pain in the ass.
To make matters worse, the U.S. immigration decided to wreck havoc on me.
As I arrived at the U.S. border, the wonderfully rude U.S. customs guy tells me that it is illegal for a Canadian citizen to bring a car into
Canada without importing it. "But that's waht I'm doing." He writes "Export Violation" on this form and sends
me in to Customs. After telling me that it's a $500 fine, he takes a
look at my documentation for the car and asks why it says that I live
in California. I told him that I don't, but I bought the car there.
Since I have a CA driver's license (which I actually don't anymore
- since it was replaced with my B.C license), it looks as if I'm a
resident of CA, which means I was illegally in the U.S. He tells me
that he can't export the car until I'm cleared by immigration. Remember, I'm leaving the country. U.S.
immigration assumes you are lying and says if I bought a car in L.A. and
I have a CA license, I must be an illegal resident. They put all the
information into the computer and tell me that until I prove that I
have not lived in the U.S., I cannot enter. Now my car is in the U.S.,
but I have to go back to Canada. When I asked them how I can get back
to Canada without my car he says, "Walk." Then the immigration guy
says that the car can be exported by someone else.
It didn't matter that I showed them my Israeli driver's license, Hebrew U. student card, and entry stamps to the U.S., Thailand, etc. It also didn't matter that I had been a permanent resident when I received the driver's license. The idiot was not going to budge. Apparently it's a 9/11 thing. If you're a foreigner, you're dirt (especially from the Middle East).
I went back to customs, and the same officer says there's nothing he can do. I told
him that the immigration guy said that the car can be exported, but I
can't enter the U.S. He says, "You know what? Let me see that."
Stamps the title and says, "You're all set, but never do that again."
He ignored the $500 fine as well.
I was never so happy to reach Canada, where I happily paid the taxes on
importing the car (it was as much as I expected). The Canadians were
incredibly nice. Now the car is registered in Canada.
So now I have to prove to them that I have been living in Israel for the past 20 years, otherwise they won't let me back in. Danna says that's it's no big deal never to visit the U.S. again. But I don't know how my family would feel about that.
After the ordeal, my mother sent me this:
Then God created Canada
And then God created Canada....
Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God went missing for six days.
Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day.
He inquired of God, "Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look Michael, look what I've made."
Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"
"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."
"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth, "For example, Northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while Southern Europe is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot. Over there I've placed a continent of white people and over there is a continent of black people," God continued, pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."
The Archangel, impressed by Gods work, then pointed to a large land mass in the top corner and asked, "What's that one?"
"Ah," said God. "That's Canada, the most glorious place on Earth. There are beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers, streams and an exquisite coastline. The people from Canada are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found traveling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hardworking and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace. I'm also going to give them super-human, undefeatable ice hockey players who will be admired and feared by all who come across them."
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed; "What about balance, God? You said there would be BALANCE!"
God replied wisely: "Wait until you see the bastards I'm putting next to them...."
In protest, there will be no additional pictures from the U.S.
TO CANADA PHOTOS
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Logs so far:
Canada
U.S.
India
To Arambol
To Mysore
To Cochin
To Varkala
To Kakkamoolah
To Madurai
To Kodaikannal
To Thanjavur
To Auroville
To Mamallapuram
To Vietnam
To Thailand
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