#WeAreWinter

I love it--the hashtag that has caught on for so many Canadians following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. I never expected to be so caught up in the games either, but here I am.

In the Philippines, very few care about the Winter Olympics. We are followers of the Summer Olympics all the way. This year, we have our first Winter Olympian in the figure skater Michael Christian Martinez, and he has brought a huge sense of pride to Filipinos around the world, as well as increased the popularity of the Winter Games in Filipino homes. But this was never the case before Sochi. My husband therefore, found it quite understandable when I vehemently expressed that the Winter Games were lame and no one cared about them. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I now know the truth. The Winter Games are awesome. It's like watching one adrenaline-pumping extreme event after another. One week into the games, and I'm hooked. My husband is amazed that I now know more Winter Olympians than he does.

Canada has been doing really well in Sochi. And as I have adopted this land as my new home, I am extremely proud of how the Canadian athletes have been doing. I am so excited, you can see it through my Facebook profile and Twitter feed. In fact, I seem to be more excited by the Winter Olympics than your average Canadian.

Among all the Canadian athletes, figure skater Patrick Chan has amazed me the most. He is so good! His silver medal finish just a couple of days ago was almost devastating. He was so close to the gold! But despite finishing only second, he has won the hearts of so many Canadians all over the country

There are still a few days left in this year's Winter Olympics and the best is yet to come, with games such as Curling, and Ice Hockey still under way. Here's hoping that Canada will kick ass! #WeAreWinter, after all.

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The Landing

When you come to Canada as a permanent resident, you're often referred to as a "landed immigrant". It doesn't matter if you've visited the country before on a tourist or work visa, you're only "landed" when you enter the country as a permanent resident. This status is coveted by a lot of people, especially Filipinos.

Because my husband is Canadian, acquiring the permanent resident visa for me was relatively easy. I say relatively because all I needed to do was prove to the immigration officials that our relationship is real. I didn't need to speak French, have amazing work experience, or come up with "show money" to get my visa. Despite that, the application was not without difficulty. It was still a long and painful process.

It took exactly 9 months  from the time Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) received my application to the time I received my visa. This time frame excluded the more or less five months I needed beforehand to come up with all the required documents. When your life is on hold and you're away from a loved one for this amount of time, it isn't easy. It was probably one of the most stressful times in my life.

When I received my visa on November 29, 2012, the stress wasn't over. My medicals were set to expire on December 19, and as per Canadian immigration regulations, your visa expires when your medicals do. That only meant one thing--I had to land in Canada on or before December 19! My husband quickly purchased a ticket for December 11.

I crossed the Pacific on Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 106, flying direct from Manila to Vancouver. It took all of eleven and a half hours. Holy crap! I thought that flight would never end. It wasn't really bad, it was just boring. The plane was an older Airbus A340 that didn't have Audio/Video On Demand, so I basically just sat there, trying my damnedest to sleep because that seemed to be what everyone was doing. Of course, I came ready with a netbook + movies and books, but when the cabin is dark and everyone seems to be asleep... let's just say I didn't have the heart to turn my reading lights on.

Thankfully, despite some major turbulence over Alaska (hello, Sarah Palin), we arrived in Vancouver safe and sound, and even twenty minutes ahead of schedule. When the airplane's wheels touched the runway, I had tears of joy. It was only then that I finally allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief.

The Vancouver International Airport is beautiful. It's new, not crowded, and well laid out. After I got my luggage, I had to go through the border guards. This was the most important step of all--these guys had the power to allow or deny my entry into Canada. Fortunately, it was a breeze. There were no lines, the immigration officer got impressed with my English, and even spoke to me in Japanese when he learned I once lived in Japan. It took all of five minutes. I was finally landed!

My husband was right there, waiting at the greeting area. Finally, we were together! And then, for my first meal in Canada, I had a sub from an airport branch of the Canadian icon, Tim Hortons--a very, very fitting welcome meal, I say.

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Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Wala pa gihapon among allowance! Ano ba toh?!? Graveh na ha! Graveh na talaga!

Hay, naku! Anyways, I'm at the IT center again, and while I was coming here, it was raining/snowing. It wasn't that cold, but it was snowing. It was kinda nice though, and even a bit sentimental, because it's also probably the last time it's gonna snow here. It's unbelievable, but it's already March!!! We've been here for 6 months, and we've only got 5 more to go! I can't believe Spring is just around the corner and the cold weather is almost over! I could still remember last November when the weather was still starting to get cold and I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. PHEW! It's really a relief that it's not gonna be cold anymore, but I'm sure, when I'm back home, sweating buckets because of the heat, I'll miss and want the cold weather! Hay, ang buhay nga talaga!

I hope muabot na among allowance, because at least, ug naa koy kwarta, I can get stuff to entertain me!

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