Good Evening from Maine!!
Feels weird too say that! St kitts was all I ever knew untill know:)
So just a quick update, I am all settled in here in Portland. I arrived yesterday evening and spent the day running around. Me and my parents made the 7ish hour trip down from Ottawa yesterday. My roomate, who is a good buddy from school back in St. Kitts arrived the night befor me, so he had already settled in by the time I arrived yesterday. Moved my stuff in, got all set up, then went to bed pretty early.
This morning I woke up to meet my parents down at their hotel in town. I live in Westbrook, which is about a 10 min drive from downtown Portland. After breakfast we did some running around. I had done a bit of research into different phone providers in the states, and ended up going with T-mobile. They had a pretty good deal that suited my situation well. It allows me to use my phone in Canada and the States without any problems. We set that up this am, then did some grocery shopping. I also got a flu shot which I forgot to do while I was at home. We need them as we are in the hospitals over here. It cost like 30US.. So if you are a Canadian, get it for free back at home befor you come here. My parents came back to the house, we said goodbye and they started on their long journey back home. It was great for them to be able to see my place right away!! And of course, they tried to buy me as much as they could befor leaving:) After they left, I did some running aroud with Jameison (My roomate). We did grocery shopping mainly. We also drove to campus and introduced ourselves to the staff over there. Also got a bit of a tour! We head back there tomorrow morning in order to register. That is the only thing we have to worry about tomorrow which is nice! Aside from that, my day is pretty much done. Might head out in a bit to do some more exploring, but might just lounge around the house as well. Will have to see!
Crossing the border...
So this was the part of the trip I was looking least forward too.. We decided to cross at the Derby crossing which is one of the border crossing into Vermont from Quebec. The more popular crossing was in Sherbroke, but due to the weather and what not, the better route was going to be through Derby. When we got the the border, which was about a 4 hour drive away, I got to the customs officer and explaned my situation. Since he couldnt take all day to read all the paperwork, he told me to come inside and they would look it over. Thats fine, not a problem. Little did I know that we would spend about 2.5 hours waiting to cross out the other side.. The customs officers did not understnad my situation very well and spent a tremendous amount of time doing stuff on their comuters and humming and hawing over the paperwork. I was a little worried that we were goign to get turned away and would have to figure out some other way to cross. There was a contact number for one of the administration ladies in Maine, but they were not interested in calling her for some reasons. After a litlte while, what I learned was that I left a form that was inteded for students indicating which borders were best to cross at since they are the ones UMHS students will typically use and hence will have the least confusion when crossing. It also tunred out that the border that we were told to avoid was the very border I was trying to cross at.. So you could imagine that the customs guys were pretty ticked off at that to begin with, let alone not understanding my situaiton. This is completelly my fault for leaving that form in the pile that of other forms that the school gave to us to assist in our crossing. At the end of the day, a senior officer arrived, looked at the paperwork, and 10 minutes later cleared me. He appoligized but said that my situation was unique and was not seen very much. He approved my VISA and sent me on my way. Most of that could have been avoided I think.. But O well. When I asked him what I could do better next time, he said nothing. I provide whatever documents I have, and its their job to figure out what we need. Thats what he said. So lets hope thigns so smoothly when I start rotations, as thats the next time I will need to reapply for a B1 VISA.
The bummer was that it delayed us almost 3 hours. It made us completing the rest of the drive in the dark, which is a bummer becuase the views were awsome comign through Vermont and New Hampshire. But I guess I will have to wait for my return trip to see it!!
All in all, not a terrible experience, jsut slightly stresfull. My house is veyr nice, Portland seems to be super nice as well. Once I figure my way around and explore a bit more, I will give you an update on Maine.
Things I've Learned
-The interstate costs money. Even when you dont know you are entering an interstate untill its too late to turn around.
-There are a lot of ambulances driving aroudn the city. Like a weird amount.
-They have Chipotle here! Ive never had it, yet heard so much about it. Next on my list
-People from Maine dont really have an accent in case you were wondering.
-ATM's in the US are expensive when you are a Canadian
-T-mobile has pretty good reception in everytwhere Ive been
Cheers,
Mike
Feels weird too say that! St kitts was all I ever knew untill know:)
So just a quick update, I am all settled in here in Portland. I arrived yesterday evening and spent the day running around. Me and my parents made the 7ish hour trip down from Ottawa yesterday. My roomate, who is a good buddy from school back in St. Kitts arrived the night befor me, so he had already settled in by the time I arrived yesterday. Moved my stuff in, got all set up, then went to bed pretty early.
This morning I woke up to meet my parents down at their hotel in town. I live in Westbrook, which is about a 10 min drive from downtown Portland. After breakfast we did some running around. I had done a bit of research into different phone providers in the states, and ended up going with T-mobile. They had a pretty good deal that suited my situation well. It allows me to use my phone in Canada and the States without any problems. We set that up this am, then did some grocery shopping. I also got a flu shot which I forgot to do while I was at home. We need them as we are in the hospitals over here. It cost like 30US.. So if you are a Canadian, get it for free back at home befor you come here. My parents came back to the house, we said goodbye and they started on their long journey back home. It was great for them to be able to see my place right away!! And of course, they tried to buy me as much as they could befor leaving:) After they left, I did some running aroud with Jameison (My roomate). We did grocery shopping mainly. We also drove to campus and introduced ourselves to the staff over there. Also got a bit of a tour! We head back there tomorrow morning in order to register. That is the only thing we have to worry about tomorrow which is nice! Aside from that, my day is pretty much done. Might head out in a bit to do some more exploring, but might just lounge around the house as well. Will have to see!
Crossing the border...
So this was the part of the trip I was looking least forward too.. We decided to cross at the Derby crossing which is one of the border crossing into Vermont from Quebec. The more popular crossing was in Sherbroke, but due to the weather and what not, the better route was going to be through Derby. When we got the the border, which was about a 4 hour drive away, I got to the customs officer and explaned my situation. Since he couldnt take all day to read all the paperwork, he told me to come inside and they would look it over. Thats fine, not a problem. Little did I know that we would spend about 2.5 hours waiting to cross out the other side.. The customs officers did not understnad my situation very well and spent a tremendous amount of time doing stuff on their comuters and humming and hawing over the paperwork. I was a little worried that we were goign to get turned away and would have to figure out some other way to cross. There was a contact number for one of the administration ladies in Maine, but they were not interested in calling her for some reasons. After a litlte while, what I learned was that I left a form that was inteded for students indicating which borders were best to cross at since they are the ones UMHS students will typically use and hence will have the least confusion when crossing. It also tunred out that the border that we were told to avoid was the very border I was trying to cross at.. So you could imagine that the customs guys were pretty ticked off at that to begin with, let alone not understanding my situaiton. This is completelly my fault for leaving that form in the pile that of other forms that the school gave to us to assist in our crossing. At the end of the day, a senior officer arrived, looked at the paperwork, and 10 minutes later cleared me. He appoligized but said that my situation was unique and was not seen very much. He approved my VISA and sent me on my way. Most of that could have been avoided I think.. But O well. When I asked him what I could do better next time, he said nothing. I provide whatever documents I have, and its their job to figure out what we need. Thats what he said. So lets hope thigns so smoothly when I start rotations, as thats the next time I will need to reapply for a B1 VISA.
The bummer was that it delayed us almost 3 hours. It made us completing the rest of the drive in the dark, which is a bummer becuase the views were awsome comign through Vermont and New Hampshire. But I guess I will have to wait for my return trip to see it!!
All in all, not a terrible experience, jsut slightly stresfull. My house is veyr nice, Portland seems to be super nice as well. Once I figure my way around and explore a bit more, I will give you an update on Maine.
Things I've Learned
-The interstate costs money. Even when you dont know you are entering an interstate untill its too late to turn around.
-There are a lot of ambulances driving aroudn the city. Like a weird amount.
-They have Chipotle here! Ive never had it, yet heard so much about it. Next on my list
-People from Maine dont really have an accent in case you were wondering.
-ATM's in the US are expensive when you are a Canadian
-T-mobile has pretty good reception in everytwhere Ive been
Cheers,
Mike