Surfin'

Well, I have made it through 2 weeks of this couch surfing Seattle adventure with about 14 weeks to go. It is kind of fun living life week by week, taking people's generosity as it comes, doing my best to reciprocate, and staying wherever there is a space for me.

Arriving in Sumas on Wednesday, September 9, I made myself a little nest out of sleeping bags in the corner of my mom's living room and slept there until leaving for Seattle four days later, a Sunday. It was good to chill with my mom and bro, to see that they are doing OK, and to join them in looking forward to better days.

Since then I have been sleeping on Gen and Bobby's couch. Gen and Bobby are two good friends from my days at University of Washington. I was a bridesmaid in their wedding a couple of summers ago, the same summer that Jen and Cassy got married (not to each other). I have really enjoyed staying with these two, mostly because I have missed spending time with them over the past few years. They have been so generous in sharing their apartment with me and have joined me in going with the flow for a couple of weeks.

Gen and Bobby's lease allows them to have guests for up to 14 nights, so I will be leaving here on Sunday and moving to Lindsey's apartment. Lindsey is the twin sister of my best friend from elementary/middle/high school, so we grew up together. We both moved to Seattle right after high school and have helped each other out with a couple of different housing situations. Since her lease lets her have guests for up to a month, Lindsey is going to let me stay on her floor until the end of October. It'll be nice to be in one place for a whole month, and to have my own set of keys (Gen, Bobby, and I have been sharing 2 sets of keys).

From there, I'm not sure where I will stay, but I'm not too worried about it. Things have had a pleasant way of falling into place since my immigration interview. I really couldn't ask for a better situation while I am here.

It has been so good to know, to really know, that God is taking care of me in a beautifully communal way. That God is letting all of us, near and far, take care of each other in community.

I am...

Here is a quote from my first day back at rich kid daycare...

"Oh, I have that game on my iPod touch."

-boy in kindergarten

Bum

Last night I took my brother out for pizza and, as we were leaving, they gave us two free large pizzas. I'm taking it as a sign that I will be very good at being a bum this semester.

Motion Movement

I'm in Sumas right now, being reminded that there is not much to do in Sumas. The house my mom is renting is literally 2 blocks from the border that I cannot cross without convincing an immigration official that I won't stay in Canada illegally.

I go to Seattle on Sunday and start work on Monday. My living arrangements are still being sorted out, but I think I might just couch surf and, if there are a few gaps, I can always bunk at the young adult shelter that exists in the basement of the church I go to in Seattle (don't judge - I think it would be adventurous).

As for my mental state, it is a little shaky, but experience tells me that I will survive. I am generally flexible and easygoing, but I put a lot of energy into getting ready to go back to school this semester and most of that got thrown out the window after my immigration interview last Tuesday. That still stings.

I will admit, though, that my stress level actually went way down after my interview and I am really glad that it is finally over. Even though I am still getting over what happened at the interview, I've at least had the motivation to figure out what to do about it. This summer was really rough and I am so glad it is done even though I am not where I was expecting or hoping to be.

I am ready to full-out tackle these next three months with whatever strength I can muster up. I'm going to work my face off, ace my classes, and do everything I can to get ready to apply for a study permit at the consulate in Seattle. I know I will have days where I won't be this motivated, where all I will want to do is hop on a flight back to Calgary, but right now I have to force myself to be excited about everything (rejoice always, right?).

I get to take a couple of classes that will transfer. I get to go back to a job that I loved. I have some incredible friends in Seattle who aren't going to let me be miserable for three months. These are things worth being excited about.

Puzzle Pieces

Things are working out.

I have a flight to Abbotsford booked for Wednesday. I'll spend a couple of days with my mom, then head to Seattle.

I'm going to take 2 classes this quarter at a community college in Seattle. I already got a letter guaranteeing that they will transfer to the university here in Calgary. I'm about 95% sure that I will be back in Calgary for winter semester. (The 5% is intended to account for the unpredictability of immigration officers.)

I got rehired for my old job at the daycare! The current daycare director doesn't know me, but the principal likes me a lot, and her recommendation was enough to get me that job.

The only hairy thing remaining is housing. I'm looking into what is described as a "small sleeping chamber" that is ridiculously cheap and in a kind of cool sounding cooperative living house. The room itself sounds... primitive (I think that is too nice of a word), but I'm not picky and it'd be really nice to save some money by living simply. We'll see if that works out after I actually see the place in about a week or so.

I really REALLY want to sincerely say thank you to everyone who has offered encouraging words, their couches in Seattle, prayers, phone calls, text messages, hugs, spontaneous visits, advice, and lots of love. What started out as a really crappy week actually turned out to be not so bad and, even though I'm gonna miss Sam and Co. like crazy, I think I'll be OK.

How are you guys so amazing? It blows my mind.

The interview

I went for my interview with immigration on Tuesday. I presented all of my financial information and it was going really well. I was ridiculously prepared, I looked professionally awesome, and I even bothered to take my eyebrow ring out for the occasion.

Then, at the very end of the interview, the officer totally caught me off guard. She told me that there was almost no chance she'd be able to grant me a study permit. Apparently, the course I took last semester as a visiting student was not a class that you can take as a visiting student. I honestly still don't fully understand the rule I was breaking, but she informed me that I had violated the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

When you violate the IRPA, you can't receive any sort of permit or visa for 6 months from the date of the violation (which, for me, is in mid-October). You also must leave Canada as soon as possible.

So, the night class that I took at Ambrose last semester got me in trouble. I had no idea that I was doing anything wrong and still think the information on the immigration website is misleading, but ignorance is not a good excuse for these sorts of things.

That is my story.

If you ask me how I'm doing, I will most likely say that I am OK. I'm really not OK, so I am sorry if I've lied to you about it. I'm trying so hard to be cheerful but I absolutely hate all of this and I am honestly a total wreck. I don't really want to go into why this is so hard for me right now, so I'm just going to end here.

Age old question...

Where can I find a sweet job with amazing pay?

(I am leaving Canada.)