Canada: Day 1
I am in Canada for work. We took over a company in Canada and I am here to train their contact center and clerical staff. I have been excited for the opportunity, and even more so to go to Canada. I have never been here before! I am in Mississauga, Ontario.
So far, I have never walked so much in my life. My gate at the Minneapolis Airport was SO far away. I didn't know I would need to take the tram until I passed a few tram stations. It was a long walk, so I enjoyed sitting for awhile. The flight went fast, we landed 30 minutes earlier than planned. I sat next to the sweetest woman. She reminded me a lot of my grandma St. Martin. Mostly her facial expressions, she kept raising her eyebrows, I just adored it. We talked a lot on the way. She is from Canada and is trying to become a US citizen. Once we arrived in Toronto, we needed to take a bus from the gate to the customs area. I was overwhelmed with the amount of questions they asked me. They were very concerned for my business reasons for being in Canada. They asked me the name of the company both the US and Canadian names, what I was doing there, who I was training and how I was being paid (whether through Canadian or American funds). I was finally able to proceed to baggage claim. There was another woman who told me to go straight ahead, but made my travel companion go into another screening area. After I grabbed my luggage, I sat there waiting for my travel companion. It took her a LONG time. I wasn't expecting customs to be as much of a process as it was. But such is life!
We finally made it to our hotel, and I love my room. I have a full kitchen, living area complete with a chair, couch, desk, TV and a little table to eat at. Then there is another room full of closets and my bed. Next is the bathroom, with another closest and full length mirror. There is also a TV in my room. It's quite the nice set up. My travel companion and I decided to meet for dinner at the hotel bar/restaurant, but they are closed on Sundays. They do have restaurants that deliver to the hotel and just charge it to your room, and they also have a shuttle service that will take you to nearby restaurants. We went to a place called Kelsey's. I had the most delicious brownie dessert. I asked my travel companion if she preferred pie to brownies, and sadly, she likes pie better.
It is chilly here in Canada. They said it will get to 2 below, I thought Brrrr, but then I remembered they were Celsius, so, it won't be too bad. But it is really windy. I am also adjusting to the Metric system. As everything is in meters in liters. I thought gas was super cheap, until I realized it was 83.3 a liter, not gallon. I also have to remain 9 meters from a door while smoking, I am not sure how far that is, so, I remain several feet away. They also have a beverage tax, I ordered a Dr. Pepper, and with the tax it was like $4! I feel better for having slammed 2 of them.
Tomorrow should be interesting. I am looking forward to meeting our new Canadian friends at work. I also have some homework that I need to do while here. I am hoping to be able to write at least a page a day! Wish me luck.
