I don't know where to begin, let's see....

Monday.....there's the issue of needing access to our money that is in the US as well as needing a bank account in Canada so we decided to see what we could accomplish in that regard. We had been (erroneously) led to believe that Scotiabank was a sister bank to our bank,the Bank of Amercia(no transaction fees for using your debit card, etc.) so that's where we headed first. Nope, there is no relation what-so ever, sister or otherwise between the two, but ...for a sizable fee they would be happy to help us access our BOA money....heading down the road...The Royal Bank of Canada was next on our list as they and Bank of Amercia were one of the two Fulbright-approved institutions. This was a very multi-cultural banking experience as were the only two"westerners"there. Compared to the brightly colored menagerie of men in turbans and sari-clad women, Jim and I appeared quite dull and uninspiring in our jeans and t-shirts

When we conveyed our wishes to the customer service girl were nicely told that we would need to make an appointment for another day if we desired to open an account with them. After politley inquiring if there was another branch location that could see us more promptly they (it's a miricale!) found the time to squeeze us in.

Justin Antwar

Remember that name! This young man was great! He had never opened an account for anyone such as ourselves... .. non-Canadian, non-immigrant.....nobodies and he did a wonderful job. As he waded painstakingly through the reams of paper work he kept saying, "This is such a good experience for me. I've never had to do this before but now I will know how to do it. I'm so glad that you came in!" I told Jim that he reminded me of a middle eastern version of Tony. He looked to be the same age and was just very mature and poised. Two hours later we had an account, the catch was we had to go back to the states , find a BOA branch, and wire transfer the money unless we wanted to wait two weeks for the money to clear. Note to self and other international travelers....bring plenty of cash, a bank draft of the money you want to deposit with you and be able to wait two weeks before you access it. We had no idea...Aren't we glad that my Fulbright didn't take me to the North Pole or somewhere overseas! With only twenty miles between us and the border this didn't turn out to be nearly as frustrating as it could have.



Tuesday

Back to the U.S.

The border crossing wait was just as long as last week but not as frustrating. Within 30 seconds of walking in the door two...yes TWO people asked if they could help us, no lines , no taking a number, no being told to come back another day(really RBC? we just want to GIVE you our money??).... It took all of 2 minutes to get to the bank and another ten for them to wire the money to our RBC account.I like to think of this as American efficiency at it's best!

After we got back to Canada in the afternoon we decided to quit window shopping and just pick a cell phone plan. Much to our dismay we don't qualify to have one because we have not established any credit in Canada. Once we have acquired a SIN or Social IInsurance Number(Canada's equivalent to our SSN) we can use that and our passports to get phones. Until then our neighbor Rene, a colorful gentleman from Quebec, has graciously told us to put his number down when contact info is needed. Jim is going first thing tomorrow to apply for his number and the university is helping me with mine.
We'll be set before long.

Losing battery power,

Tomorrow...Jims job and the view from school!