We are working on our Long Stay Visa applications for our trip. (A little late to the party perhaps, but we're hoping that it all goes well. Yikes!) I find the rules and regulations of the personal appearance requirement to be ...interesting, to say the least. But really, we need to drive three hours to the closest airport, then fly five+ hours non-stop to Toronto, and take a who-knows-how-long taxi ride to our hotel. All this with three young children in tow, because traveling with small children across Canada is FUN! Then, we walk to the consular building, spend a grand total of FIFTY minutes with a consular officer, then make the return trip in all its glory. Fun. NOT!
And this sounds incredibly whiny. *hangs head a little bit in embarrassment* *shrugs* *takes a deep breath, and smiles/grimaces* LOL!
Actually, we do plan to build in a bit of fun. We are taking an extra day (so much!, I know!!) to spend just 'being' in Toronto, and checking out a few things that will appeal to our young trio of children.
This trip is for an awesome reason, really, and we're happy that we can scrape up the cash to make this trip, because we missed this requirement, somehow, in our planning of this whole adventure. *blushes* I am not really looking forward to the traveling portion of this trip, even though my three are tremendous travelers. I am a bit resentful, perhaps, that the people who make these traveling rules don't know, and possibly don't really care, how VAST and EXPANSIVE Canada is, and how much effort it takes just to go anywhere else within her borders. I am reminded of the stories I heard/read when I was younger about WWII, one of which was about a British family that sent their children to other relatives in Canada during the Blitz, and telegraphed them "Our children are arriving by ship into Halifax at X time on Y day. Can you get them and keep them, please, until it's safe to send them back?" The relatives lived in British Columbia, many, many days away across the entire country!!!
The scope of our landscape is such that many people, even in heavily populated regions of Canada, don't realize the vastness and magnitude of it. Where I live, our town of 5000 people is the largest community within a 70 minute drive. But it's more than that. During that drive, you pass through 3 small tiny communities of a total of many 500 people. Maybe. There are no services to speak of in those communities, really. (An elementary school, always in danger of being shut down. A small general store. Maybe a gas station.) I drove with the children to Saskatoon (the largest city in Saskatchewan) on Friday, a three hour drive away. When we left town, it was a forty minute drive of nothing but bush and wildlife until we arrived a service station, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. (Actually, it's close to a Regional Park, with lakes and camping and cabins, and some permanent residents.) From there, we passed through a small town of about 369 people, then drove for another twenty minutes until we saw the next small town of 136 people. After an hour and a half of driving, we were half way to our destination, and at a city of 13, 190 people. (In Saskatchewan, we have the unique distinction of having the most municipalities per capita of anywhere else in North America. This means: lots of infrastructure paid for by very few people. The population of our entire province hovers around 1 million. Usually less than that, though. We also have more roads per capita to maintain than anywhere else in North America, too, I think.) From half way to the end of our trip, we passed by a couple more small towns, and if the total population of those communities exceeds 1000, I'd be very surprised. So, it's a vast, open, beautiful expanse of land that we live in, but it's not that easy to travel across. Public transportation is extremely limited, and not generally efficient or cost effective.
The area I live in is undeniably beautiful. Pristine and untouched yet, in many places, and wonderful in its ecological diversity. There is a majesty about the beauty of nature that can be very soothing, and calming to the soul. But at the same time, it can be incredibly lonely, and sometimes very difficult to travel across the expanse of this landscape. I am looking forward to spending time in other parts of the world. Look out Toronto! And bonne chance, Toulouse!! We're coming!
And this sounds incredibly whiny. *hangs head a little bit in embarrassment* *shrugs* *takes a deep breath, and smiles/grimaces* LOL!
Actually, we do plan to build in a bit of fun. We are taking an extra day (so much!, I know!!) to spend just 'being' in Toronto, and checking out a few things that will appeal to our young trio of children.
This trip is for an awesome reason, really, and we're happy that we can scrape up the cash to make this trip, because we missed this requirement, somehow, in our planning of this whole adventure. *blushes* I am not really looking forward to the traveling portion of this trip, even though my three are tremendous travelers. I am a bit resentful, perhaps, that the people who make these traveling rules don't know, and possibly don't really care, how VAST and EXPANSIVE Canada is, and how much effort it takes just to go anywhere else within her borders. I am reminded of the stories I heard/read when I was younger about WWII, one of which was about a British family that sent their children to other relatives in Canada during the Blitz, and telegraphed them "Our children are arriving by ship into Halifax at X time on Y day. Can you get them and keep them, please, until it's safe to send them back?" The relatives lived in British Columbia, many, many days away across the entire country!!!
The scope of our landscape is such that many people, even in heavily populated regions of Canada, don't realize the vastness and magnitude of it. Where I live, our town of 5000 people is the largest community within a 70 minute drive. But it's more than that. During that drive, you pass through 3 small tiny communities of a total of many 500 people. Maybe. There are no services to speak of in those communities, really. (An elementary school, always in danger of being shut down. A small general store. Maybe a gas station.) I drove with the children to Saskatoon (the largest city in Saskatchewan) on Friday, a three hour drive away. When we left town, it was a forty minute drive of nothing but bush and wildlife until we arrived a service station, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. (Actually, it's close to a Regional Park, with lakes and camping and cabins, and some permanent residents.) From there, we passed through a small town of about 369 people, then drove for another twenty minutes until we saw the next small town of 136 people. After an hour and a half of driving, we were half way to our destination, and at a city of 13, 190 people. (In Saskatchewan, we have the unique distinction of having the most municipalities per capita of anywhere else in North America. This means: lots of infrastructure paid for by very few people. The population of our entire province hovers around 1 million. Usually less than that, though. We also have more roads per capita to maintain than anywhere else in North America, too, I think.) From half way to the end of our trip, we passed by a couple more small towns, and if the total population of those communities exceeds 1000, I'd be very surprised. So, it's a vast, open, beautiful expanse of land that we live in, but it's not that easy to travel across. Public transportation is extremely limited, and not generally efficient or cost effective.
The area I live in is undeniably beautiful. Pristine and untouched yet, in many places, and wonderful in its ecological diversity. There is a majesty about the beauty of nature that can be very soothing, and calming to the soul. But at the same time, it can be incredibly lonely, and sometimes very difficult to travel across the expanse of this landscape. I am looking forward to spending time in other parts of the world. Look out Toronto! And bonne chance, Toulouse!! We're coming!
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