Things not seen in Canada #1

To make sure we are fair and balanced, we will start posting "Things not seen in Canada (that we know of)." However, when we mention we are from Chicago, most Canadians have mentioned Obama and/or "that crazy governor." Actually, Canadians are quite up to speed on US news and especially politics. 

Thanks Linnea for sending this great image of the great state of Illinois!

Things not seen in the US #2

Here's our second "Things not seen in the US" photo. There's little explanation necessary except we assume they are referring to removing snow/rain boots. Still, the sign was enough to stop us in our Yaktrax* and have a good laugh. This photo was taken at the entrance of a medical clinic. 

 *www.yaktrax.com -- if you ever have to walk in snow and ice these things are amazing.

Dog diversion

Danielle and Kish learned a great lesson today. When in doubt, bring a dog to a border crossing. Does this dog look like trouble? With a brief, yet important drive to Plattsburgh, New York today, we decided to take Duke along for the ride. He would rather sit in the car in a parking lot instead of staying home alone anyway. After today, we determined it was a brilliant move. While we admit we brought a few purchased items across the border without declaring them, having Duke in the car as the back window was unrolled at the customs stop was a great diversion. The barking, tail wagging and desire to be noticed by the customs agent made it difficult to communicate. After the routine questions about our visas, the nice dog-loving customs agent must have decided we weren't worth the time. Besides, there were some college boys with New Jersey plates in front of us who must have had more interesting passports. They had their car searched. We were waved right through.

See, we can't purchase anything without paying duties and taxes if we're not in the US long enough. For a day trip we can't bring home anything (legally), for a 24 hour trip we have a $50 exemption, a 48-hour trip a $400 exemption and so on. But hey, a trip to Target adds up. The Canadian government would love to tax us on the Aleve, DS game, Swifter thingys (is that a word?) and other non-essential items we purchased to avoid 14% sales tax and higher prices, but we don't declare those things out of principal. Our principal is, we won't be living here long enough to reap the benefits and we are already paying astonishing income taxes -- not to mention additional tax on a $32 case of beer. Looks like Duke will have more frequent car rides to New York.

Just another day in Canada....

Today was one of those days when we were reminded about how different our life is in Canada. Kish just returned from a day of skiing with Louis in the Eastern Townships – about two hours away. The drive home was beautiful while crossing the Champlain Bridge with the skyline of Montreal lit up like a Christmas tree against the water – it truly is a beautiful city. Not huge like Chicago, slightly understated, yet still stately. Then, driving into the neighborhood kids were playing hockey in the lighted outdoor rink two blocks from our house.

Earlier in the day, Kish and Louis were up and out of the house by 9:30 to head out to Owls Head, a ski area where Louis will start a Special Olympics program next week. We wanted to get familiar with the area and get Louis’ season pass. Paul and Danielle were staying home because Danielle had water polo practice later in the afternoon, and it’s an important practice as her team is preparing for a tournament in Toronto next weekend.

After Kish and Louis left the house, Paul and Danielle were offered fantastic tickets to the Montreal Canadians game this afternoon from a neighbor – always a tough ticket to get -- and especially great tickets. Of course they went to the game. It was a good thing Kish and Louis were already gone, or it would have been a Pisani face off to determine who would go to the game. They had a great time and got to see a shoot out to determine the winner – and it was the Canadians (or Habs) as the locals call them.

The ski day for Kish and Louis was great. Louis was up on skis and IN CONTROL. In the scheme of skiing this is huge – sort of like watching your kids swing or swim for the first time on their own. Later in the afternoon there was a meeting for Special Olympics. We’ve participated in Special Olympics programs in Naperville and were able to get absorbed, with anonymity, into an existing, nicely funded program. This program at the Owls Head is grass roots, and Louis rounds out the roster with eight athletes. Before I knew it, I was adjusting our spring break travel schedule to accommodate a Special Olympics ski racing competition in March. Huh? We’ll be spending the next eight Sundays at Owls Head helping out the program while Louis has one-on-one lessons and practices racing. Chances are you have heard of Special Olympics. If you have a chance EXPERIENCE them – do! The programs, athletes and volunteers are amazing.

It was a nice Canadian day for the Pisani Family. Louis is back in school tomorrow. Danielle has another day off so we are heading to Plattsburgh, New York (1:20 away)  to go to Target – something we miss up here! We have some returns to make and shopping to do. While we love Canada, we are irritated by the sales tax and higher prices so we opt to cross the border to shop from time to time. Hopefully no one from Canadian customs is reading this blog.

Bonne annee!

Happy New Year to our friends and family everywhere! It's an ideal January 1 in the Pisani home. We're watching the Blackhawks game on TV, Marquette basketball is up next followed by the Rose Bowl and USC which happens to be Louis' favorite team for reasons unknown. And we found a pizza place open in New Year's Day. 

It was a crazy 2008 for the Pisani family and at times we felt like a hockey puck in action. We're hoping this year we'll be more like a curling stone in action.