Today, we took the oath of Citizenship and became Canadian Citizens! We are official! No longer are we mere permanent residents, but now we are truly and officially Canadians!
One of our lovely fellow new citizens offered to take this photo of us.
This whole day really surprised me with how BIG it felt, and how emotional it was. Apparently citizenship isn't just this piece of paper. It's....being a part of something. A part of a whole. And it's important. And big. And a really big deal. And today I felt so amazingly proud to be a part of Canada, and a part of the Oath of Citizenship, and just...alive.
It was a long line to get the paperwork sorted - everyone has to present their PR cards and their landing documents and sign a paper that says we give consent to being photographed. And there were 81 of us today becoming citizens. 81!
Once we were all seated and ready, the clerk told us how the ceremony would go - how important it was for us to hear everything the judge said - and how we would stand up, say, “I, __our name__,” to the judge, because we were all agreeing to take the oath of citizenship. The judge then spoke about what it means to be a citizen, an how important it is, and a bit about what makes Canada a great country, and what that means to Canadians. He spoke about the aboriginal people and about the men and women who fought to keep Canada a sovereign nation, and how his father died in service to Canada. Tears! It was so beautiful and moving, and with Rememberance Day coming up...oh my goodness. I think he even teared up a little bit, the judge.
When it was time to begin the oath, we stood up a row at a time, everyone saying our names individually. I let K know that he didn’t have to say his name, but that he could, and I sort of emphasized that he could - because it was really feeling like a big deal to me, and although I don;t want to coerce him, I do want him to know what he is capable of. I went over with him what to say. See, kids under 11, they don’t have to say or do anything if they don’t want to. And usually in situations, K would feel shy….
But it came to his turn, and he raised his right hand, and he said, “I, (his name),” and looked right at the judge when he said it, and I was SO proud! I got all teary and then almost forgot my own name because I was just beaming that he did it! SO PROUD. And he was proud of himself! Then when everyone had said their names, we all repeated the oath after the judge, in both English AND French, and it was so affirming and moving. And the judge had given such a moving and powerful speech about the responsibilities of being Canadian, it was SO emotional - and I really felt like yes, this isn’t just a piece of paper, much as a wedding ceremony isn’t just a piece of paper - this is symbolic of something big and important and REAL, and my big kid just took full part in it and really participated, and it was just….an amazing day. So you see that photo up there - that is what we all looked like the day we became Canadian Citizens. That is an important photo!
I know this judge must do this ceremony hundreds of times a year, but it felt like THIS was the most important ceremony ever, and it didn’t feel trite or overdone….and he was engaging and moving and I cried so many times as he spoke. And I was reminded of why I love Canada so much, and what I love about its citizens. And I am so, so proud to now be one of its Citizens. What a gift.
Our house is officially sold. We will be vacating on August 31st, then taking our belongings to Portland and storing them there for a month while we go visit our family and friends in the midwest. I'm so happy that we're finally getting back to visit everyone after two years of not going anywhere.
Flights are booked. A little tip: look up the flight comparisons on one of those sites that gives you the lowest fares. But once you find that flight, go to the airline website to book it. Because something that you might not realize when you book through those cheap places? Is that itineraries are subject to change not only without notice, but without them notifying you. This happened to us once, and had we not called the airline for something else, we'd have never known they changed our itinerary - we would have missed our flight home. The airlines don't do this, because when you've booked a flight, you've booked that flight. Not the possibility of that flight, or something like it. If I can spare anyone this same fate, it's a good thing.
My upcoming posts might well be about all of my adventures in packing and moving to the US, so be warned. Hopefully I'll be able to offer tips and tricks to others who are moving, maybe someone else will find this useful.
The fun thing about moving is that we get to get rid of stuff. I always love a good purge of stuff we never use, so I have that to look forward to. There is also the Inventory of Everything We Own, which can be informative and interesting, and most useful is that when we're unpacking we know exactly what items are in each box. The inventory is something that was required of us when we moved into Canada, so we are assuming that when returning, the US will also want to know what we're bringing into the country, as they tend to be even more strict about such things.
Of note: the Canadian immigration website is quite user-friendly. If a person is willing to take the time and read the website, pretty much anything anyone might want to know about immigrating is on that website. I mean, really - everything. I cannot say that the US website even comes close. I still have no idea what the requirements are for us moving back into the US, even though I spent a good hour on the website.
I was at least able to contact someone at the DoT to find out what we'd need for our car...though I had to call one number and get the second number, then leave a message and wait for a call back. I think the big difference here is that Canadian government seems to completely abhor phone usage of any kind, ever. There are pretty much zero phone numbers anywhere for people to call immigration, and even when you do find one, all you get is a recorded message with the exact same information that can be found on the website, only less of it. Whereas the US seems much more fond of telephone communication - there are phone numbers everywhere to call for all manner of things, and very little actual information on the website that I can ascertain other than the forms I'll need - only I have to call the numbers to find out which forms.
Sorry if this is totally boring to everyone but me.
Also, see that gorgeous picture above? I found it on the interweb - the photo is linked to the page - and I searched for a way to find the actual artist - Ramona Safree - and see if maybe she had prints of this for sale. Sadly, I could not find anything. I hope she is still painting and selling her work somewhere, because I love her colours and her soul.
