Monday evening – the actual holiday part of the holiday weekend.

I could get used to this lifestyle of low-level laid-back leisure. Sleep in, play some video games, do some reading, cook a couple of quick meals, chitchat with the landlords about the hike they went on. (I didn’t know there were any hiking trails in this here suburbia.) Binge-watch a TV show while browsing random stuff on my phone… Life is good.

Today is Thanksgiving here in Canada. I’ve written this before (usually while glancing at a large Canadian flag I’d hung over my window), but I am so very, very thankful to be here. It wasn’t an easy move, and even without the pandemic, that first year was rough on multiple levels. With the pandemic… well, short of an actual world war breaking out, this is the highest difficulty level I can imagine as an immigrant. All worth it, though. Canada isn’t perfect and it’s got some issues of its own that it needs to work on, but it’s far better than either of my two previous countries. Thanks for having me, eh.

I’ve been reading up on other folks’ experiences in the immigration-related subreddit, and they’re getting those coveted calls to schedule a biometrics appointment for their permanent residency applications. Based on what they wrote, that’s being done in FIFO order, which means I should probably get that phone call either this week or shortly thereafter. One of the last few hurdles to cross to solidify my status here. And then it’s just a couple more years to become a Canadian citizen… I can’t wait.

In covid news, the US Senate has decided that debating the qualifications of a new Supreme Court judge is more urgent than smaller, less important things like passing a covid stimulus bill for the tens of millions of affected Americans. Priorities, eh?.. I’ll never get tired of saying this: thanks for having me here, Canada. Je t’aime.