McGill: the day before

It's day one now, free internet till Sept 12, when I'll have to start paying for it. Anyway, my record for the day before is below. Today was much better, but will probably only put it all down tomorrow or the day after. Meanwhile, entertain yourself with what's below.

We leave the house at 345, get to the airport slightly after 4. I thought I’d be early, but I was wrong; the terminal is packed. Apparently lots of Singaporeans are headed for NYU and U Michigan and are also taking the same flight as I am. Run into two platoon mates who are there to see other friends off, and also into one of my PCs headed for U Mich from my NS days. My friends present to me a photo collage. It's real nice, and I really appreciate it. Will get a photo up asap.

The stopover at Tokyo was uneventful. The flight from Tokyo to Detroit is bumpy, and we were in the clouds a lot. No personal TV screens on this 10 plus hour flight, so I try to catch a bit of sleep and read my book. It’s called “Everything Bad is Good for You” by Steven Johnson. He examines the positive impact of the various forms of mass media around us now, including video games, TV, and the Internet. His arguments are pretty simple, but pretty well substantiated. Halfway through the book now, and I find it pretty easy reading.

At Detroit, I am greeted by an unfriendly American immigration officer, Grudzinski. I present my Singaporean passport to him, and he asks me where I’m going.

“I’m in transit, going to Canada” I reply.

“What for?”

“I’m going to be studying at McGill.”

“Do you have a CI-something or other form? (I forget the name)”

“Are you talking about an acceptance letter?”

“No, I’m talking about the (whatever he calls it) form”

Emphasis on "No", like he is talking to an idiot. I let it slide.

“Well, I don’t have one.”

“Let me see what you got from your University then”

So I hand him my documents. He digs p the acceptance letter and is satisfied. Stupid prick. Then he asks me for my student visa.

“I don’t have one”.

Why does he want my student visa anyway? What has a Canadian document have to do with American immigration?

“Why not?”

“I’m a Canadian permanent resident”

“Well, then you should have said so earlier” he scowls.

Well, gee sorry, but how was I supposed to know that the fact I was a Canadian PR (not citizen) was relevant to the US immigration authorities? Anyway, he asks to see my PR card and returns me my Singapore passports, saying “we don’t have much use for this now do we?”. Sacarstic ass. Then, right after examining my PR card he asks to see my Singapore passports. This guys is a real pain in the butt, and I curse under my breath in hokkien as I leave the counter.

The connecting flight to Montreal was fortunately, pretty short. There was this pesky kid behind me who kept kicking my seat, and his dad did nothing whatsoever to stop him during the entire flight.

Anyway, get to Canadian immigration, which is overloaded because of a number of delayed flights. At least the lines kept moving, and the officer who greeted me was much friendlier than the stupid asshole in America.

Meet up with the parents, and load my stuff up into the car. When my dad inserts the ticket into the machine to pay for the parking, the machine says the card is not readable. Great. Ask for assistance, and sit in the car . Some guy behind us tries to help, but the machine just can’t read it. We let the guy pass us, and the car park attendant comes. He tries the card, and it is still unreadable, so he gets my dad to follow him to sort out the problem.

When we finally get out, we grab some dinner – extremely oily fries, a charo ( I think that’s how you spell it; basically pita bread with some lettuce, garlic cheese and meat.) and a smoked meat sandwich. After that, we go looking for a hotel to stay in. wander around Montreal, and miss Sherbrooke street entirely, where there are a number of hotels. Get thoroughly lost, then stop and ask for directions. Get directions to Sheerbrooke, and find out that all the hotels in Montreal are full. The lady at the front desk helpfully helps us call hotels in the vicinity, but no luck. Looks like my parents aren’t the only one accompanying their kid to University. It is about 11 at night by the time we manage to get a room with her help. Get directions and set off.

The highway we are supposed to take is congested, at like 1130 at night. Wtf. Never mind, inch our way towards the hotel, only to find that there are some road works along the highway we are supposed to take, and the section of the highway that is closed includes the exit we are supposed to take. Get lost again, regain our bearings, and find an alternative way to the hotel.

In the room, open my bag and find that my wash bag is covered in shampoo. Stupid me. I forgot to empty out my shampoo bottle a little before packing it since it was brand new, and the changes in air pressure have caused the bottle to overflow. Toothbrush and razor now smell like my shampoo. Fortunately only one shirt has shampoo on it. Too tired to think, so I try to clean it off with a wet towel since it is only a little spot, and end up making it worse. When the shampoo gets wet it starts to lather. Damn. Leave the shirt in the toilet, together with the wash bag. Plan to pack both items into a plastic bag and sort it out when I get to my dorm tomorrow.

It is late by the time we settle into the hotel room. We checked in at 12 midnight, so guess tomorrow won’t be a late day. The way things are shaping up, it looks as if I’ll be missing orientation after all as I’d like to go to Niagra Falls with my parents. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. Suling tells me freshman orientation (or FROSH, as it is known in McGill) is a waste of time anyway, that the whole making friends thing doesn’t happen because everyone gets so pissed drunk they forget who they meet. I seriously doubt that, and actually don’t mind going for oritentation to see what it's like, but it looks like it ain’t going to happen.

It’s late now, move-in is tomorrow, and will probably leave for Niagra with the parents on Friday. Hopefully things get better from here. This is not a great start, but I am still excited by the prospect of starting school. And the one thing that strikes me is that the people here are pretty friendly and helpful, even if you don’t speak French. So it isn’t all bad, just mostly so. For now, at least.

It will get better.

Stay tuned for updates.