Pirates of Japan?

Continuing my From East to West video series, I talk a bit about Japanese pirates. Actually, my daughter was pretending to be a pirate in the park while I talked about packing and throwing out garbage. Enjoy the video!

I’m going to try to get these videos done over the next month. Once I’m all caught up with these, I can work on the more travel-related Japan videos that should have a much broader appeal.

Let me know what you think about these videos in the comments below. If you want to see the entire playlist, you can go here. It’s in reverse chronological order.

My Last Visit to Kamakura

You may remember some videos I made about our move to Canada. The last one I did was exactly two weeks before our move. I found it difficult to do the other videos because of a lack of time and motivation. However, since I’ve been working on my YouTube channel quite a bit lately, I’m feeling the motivation to get those videos all finished. So, here is the next video in the series.

In this video, we visited Kamakura for the last time. It’s probably my favourite place in Japan, especially since I lived there for four years, but also because of the history and beautiful places. Enjoy the video!

What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

We Have Boxes!

After a lot of waiting and frequent checking of international package tracking, most of our boxes have finally arrived. But there are still a couple more en route. They’ve been released to Canada Post, but haven’t been delivered yet. Probably next week.

My family is feeling on a bit of a high today. We got a lot of things we’ve been waiting for. My daughter got many of her favourite toys. My wife got a lot of Japanese things, including sauces and spices for food. And I got a box of books.

With all these boxes finally arriving, I’ll be able to go through my books and figure out which ones I sold and which ones I still have. I’ll be able to reconstruct my library. And once I’ve got my office sorted out, as well as bookshelves, I can give you a tour of my books. That will be great.

Week in Review – May 1, 2016

Welcome to May! A lot has happened, and lots to tell. And boy is it going to be a hot week this week.

Reading

I haven’t done any. It’s been too long. I need to start reading every day again. I just need a quiet place to go.

Writing

Like reading, I need a quiet place for this. I hope to arrange that this week.

Languages

I did a bit of Esperanto studying, but not a lot.

Canada

This is the area with the biggest news. My wife returned to Canada and is now officially a permanent resident of Canada. Now there are a few things we have to get ready for her, as well as get some other things done. Also, I had an interview for a job!

Videos

None at all. However, I have an idea for YouTube. Since I was an English teacher for eleven years, I may do some brief, and hopefully fun, videos related to teaching English. You know, simple one point lessons.

The Blog

After a slow month, I’m going to try get things back up to speed this month.

Studying

Not at all.

The Next Week’s Goals

I’m going to try get some weekly series going again. In particular, Quick Facts. I’ll start up another next week. Some other things I’m going to try doing are some book reviews, a TV review or two, and start up my restaurant review blog. Already went to a restaurant, so it needs a review!

How was your week?

Week in Review – April 25, 2016

I don’t know where to start. It’s been a crazy week. So much happened so fast. Not much was expected. At the moment, I’m taking care of my daughter with my mom and sister for a few days. You’ll see why.

Reading

None done, but I got some new books! They arrived last week, and I made a post about it.

Writing

Again, nothing written. Soon, though!

Languages

Still studying Esperanto. I’d like to speed up my study of it. I should get back to work on French, too.

Canada

Here’s where things got crazy. My wife got an email from the Manila visa office saying that they can’t send her decision package to Canada. We were dumbfounded. Why? Apparently, they could only send via courier to Tokyo. Well, after trying to figure out if the visa application centre in Tokyo could courier it to us, we found that they couldn’t, and the deadline was far too close to arrange any delivery method. So my wife is currently in Japan. That’s right, she went to Japan just to pick up the mail. She got the decision package, and told me that the envelope has our Canadian address on it! They couldn’t send it to us in Canada because customs can be so notoriously slow about allowing packages into the country. They needed to make sure that it could get to us on time, and sending it by express mail to us was too risky. Well, my wife returns to Canada in a couple days, and she’ll officially be a landed immigrant. And she’ll be able to start going to school starting with ESL lessons provided by the government for free.

Videos

Thinking about getting to work on this today.

The Blog

I’m starting to get back into the twice daily blogging schedule. I’m going to get my regular weekly schedule ready for next month. Expect a return to normal next week.

Studying

Maybe this summer.

The Next Week’s Goals

Most important things are to pick up my wife from the airport, get her driver’s license translated, get her health care sorted, and so on. Also, apply for lots of jobs. And maybe start up the birds of Alberta blog and the restaurant review blog. Those last two are not definite. I’ve also caught up on comments, so the next thing to do is catch up on social media. Expect a lot of tweets, Facebook statuses, Google Plus posts, and pins from this blog over the next couple of days.

How was your week?

Attempting to Resolve Difficult Matters

To save you a long and boring story which will be related to you after everything is done, my wife’s permanent residency is approved, but there’s a problem we’re dealing with. And also, customs charged us duty charges for one of our boxes. Used clothes and my daughter’s stuffed animals and dolls. Definitely asking for that money back! In the meantime, some amazing clouds!

  
I hope you enjoyed the picture. 

Week in Review – April 19, 2016

This is coming a bit late, but better late than never. The past few days, I haven’t been at my computer much at all. Hopefully, things will be settled soon.

Reading

I haven’t done any. None at all. I really should set aside some time to read every day. On the bright side, I ordered nine books on Amazon with a gift card I got. And they’re some of the best fantasy and science fiction books in recent years.

Writing

I don’t get any privacy to write at the moment. I’m around people all the time. But I’ve also been pretty busy.

Languages

I did some studying of Esperanto, and I’ve now achieved level 7 on Duolingo! It’s been a while since I’ve gone up a level.

Canada

I got my driver’s license officially, the health insurance cards for my daughter and I arrived, and we got cell phones! Brand new iPhone SE. But the biggest news is that the status of my wife’s permanent residency is now officially “Decision Made.” Basically, that means that it’s done, except for landing.

Videos

I need the time to do this. Soon, I hope.

The Blog

With the lack of time I’ve had with my computer, I have only been managing a post per day. I even missed a day. I’m not committing to twice a day until May. I’m hoping everything will be completely settled by then. And that’s when I’ll make myself a weekly schedule for regular series. I’ll try to stick with it, even if it means writing the posts a day or so in advance and scheduling the posts. Some features have been neglected, but will be back. And some should be starting.

Studying

Nope!

The Next Week’s Goals

Nothing solid. However, I’ll continue my job search, and hopefully my wife’s visa package will arrive this week. We still have to figure out how she’s going to land. It’ll either be at the immigration office downtown or a long drive down to Montana and back. I also need to work on social media and update all of my blog posts there. That’s around three weeks of posts to be mentioned on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest, with some on LinkedIn.

How was your week?

Week in Review – April 10, 2016

I thought everything would return to normal, but I still find it difficult to keep up with the pace that I set before. Still far too much to do, and not enough time to myself. Soon, I hope!

Reading

Honestly, I’ve done so little, not much to update. I did read a couple pages of Redemption Ark, though. Now at 39%.

Writing

Still no place to write. Haven’t had time, either.

Languages

I’ve been studying Esperanto slowly, but I’m getting close to the next level. Trying to study every day.

Canada

Lots done, still lots to do. Got things taken care of regarding health insurance, driver’s license, and pretty much everything involving IDs and address changes. Still working on a job, getting my bank card reactivated, and cell phones. Also, my wife’s permanent residency has basically been approved. We should get the visa package this week.

Videos

Thought I’d get some done, but I had no time.

The Blog

Not really as much as I thought I’d do. I haven’t been able to maintain two posts per day. It’s been slow going, but things should pick up later in the month.

Studying

Nothing at all.

The Next Week’s Goals

More job searching, getting bank accounts sorted, and hopefully cell phones. Also, arranging my wife’s official landing in Canada. Other than that, try to maintain my daily language studying and post as usual. I’m not committing to anything special online.

How was your week? Let me know in the comments below.

Progress in Canada: Phone Calls, Banks, a School, and Driver’s License

It was an interesting day today. What happened today changed tomorrow’s plans.

First of all, because of my wife’s permanent residency basically being approved, I called the call centre for immigration to see if she can land in Edmonton. They said it’s possible, but with such short notice that she was given, it may not be possible to get an appointment in time. So, we may have to go to the border with Montana and make a U-turn. Both of the representatives I spoke to were very kind and helpful.

Then I made another phone call. This one was to the elementary school my daughter will go to school. They were very friendly, and asked us to visit the school and register our daughter in the afternoon.

So, after lunch, we went to the school, filled out the registration, and discovered that she can get bus service! That’s excellent news. She’s now registered and will be attending kindergarten next September. We also found out there’s a parents only orientation next week on Thursday. That should be interesting.

Later on, we went to a few banks to get some information about accounts. The credit unions seem more promising. We also checked the mail, and much to my surprise, the translation of my Japanese driver’s license had arrived! That means I can get my driver’s license tomorrow.

After dinner, I took my daughter out to the park to blow some bubbles, and saw a great sunset.

Nice way to end the day. Tomorrow, my daughter meets one of my aunts for the first time, and I’ll get my driver’s license figured out. And we’re going to see a movie.

How was your day?

Permanent Residency Decision Made

Good news! My wife’s permanent residency has been approved. Well, they still have to do the final assessment by an immigration officer, but it’s basically been approved.

We need to respond to their email, then print out our reply and the attached file to send to the Manila office. After that, they review it and let us know when landing is possible. As far as I know, my wife can either exit the country and return, or go to the immigration office downtown and officially land.

Soon!