Short, but sweet.

Food cravings. We all get 'em. Usually they are easy enough to deal with. Except when the very food you are craving is only available in your country of origin. 

Man oh man. It's brutal when the Smarties urge sneaks up on you (here in the US, Smarties are what we Canadians call Rockets. SO not the same thing.) Or the Coffee Crisp desires come calling. Or you start aching for an Aero bar. It's like that itch you can't scratch.

Canadian Smarties (mmmmm, chocolate!)

American Smarties

But the irritation doesn't end in the candy aisle. The cereal aisle can be equally challenging. Sure, we have access to all sorts of fun and questionably nutritious breakfast cereals here in the local supermarkets. But when all you want for breakfast is a bowl of Shreddies, nothing else will do. (As an aside: "shopping carts" are referred to as "carriages" here in New England. Awwwwww! )

On a more positive note, I just found my first bags of Ketchup chips here last week! Whoopee!

I do have to say that most supermarkets here have pretty decent selections of food products from Latin American countries, but that's not too surprising given the relatively large Latino population in the area. As I recall, the better selections of these items were found in specialty stores and not at the larger chain stores. 

(**hurriedly publishes post and scours eBay for yummy Canadian candy**)

"Honey, where's my sparkly silver suit ?!"

Genius, Ms. B! This would no doubt allow me to be an identifiable alien and regain my lost fashion sense. Win.

Okay, so let's talk health care. It's been very -erm- interesting living here in the US during the "great health care debate." By now I'm sure you are all aware that President Obama has signed the Health Care Reform Bill into law. But just try and ask someone how they feel about that. Entering into a discussion about the merits of a universal health care system is just about as contentious as entering into a discussion about organized religion. It's the proverbial elephant in the room. And it's hard not to see the value in universal health care when you've spent most of your life living in a country that has it. But it flies in the face of the American ideal of "that's mine, this is yours."

Despite our college woes, our family has what is considered to be excellent health care coverage. Of course, we haven't really had to test its upper limits (thankfully.) Not like families that have had their coverage canceled in the midst of cancer treatment, or those that have their newborn infant denied any insurance coverage for a pre-existing condition--just because it was unlucky enough to be born with a heart defect.

There are definitely things I found I had to get used to (some good, some not so good):

(1) Co-payments: A fee that you pay at each and every doctor and/or ER visit. The fees vary depending upon the coverage you have. Ours is $15/office visit and $40/ER visit. Need crutches or splints? That'll cost you the full amount "out of pocket". (FYI it's $115 for a pair of crutches -- but that's a story for a future Blog entry.)

(2) HMO's: Your health insurance provider. There are many since the Health Care system is privatized. They hold the power to say "yea" or "nay" to any and all procedures or coverage. If they say "nay" you are on your own. The average, basic ER visit can be as much as $1000.

(3) Referrals: You can see pretty much any specialist any time you want by making the appointment and then having your "Primary Care Physician" - that's "Family Doctor" for all you fellow Canucks - fax a referral to the HMO saying they know about it and they are okay with it. Amazingly, when you have a good insurance plan you can have an appointment with, for example, a top neurologist at Mass General in a week's time (or sooner.)

The Reform Law is, among other things, designed to prevent HMO's from dropping patients who are in the midst of treatments and to ensure that no one can be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition. To be honest, I'm not sure how this will affect the cost of premiums. I know that we pay over $12000 a year in premiums (via payroll deduction) and that is considered "not too bad". Except when you think about the percentage of the paycheck that represents. It's been long enough that I cannot recall what the full monthly premium for health care is in Canada, but according to the Alberta government website there are no longer premiums payable for Alberta residents. Wow.

Now, I realize that there are wait lists for specialists in Canada, but I still think that's better than an "I can afford to go see the doctor and you can't" mentality. (I have no doubt someone out there will have an opinion that contradicts this one.)


What do you think?

You don't work. You don't vote.

.....what do you do?

You'd think that with all this time on my hands I'd have written the great American (no wait, Canadian?) novel by now. And I would have--*honest*--if it weren't for all the laundry and driving and cleaning and driving and more laundry (and did I mention driving?) I'd like to say that we are a one vehicle family by choice--that it's our way of reducing our carbon footprint--but if you recall yesterday's post vis-á-vis college then, well....you get the picture. Hence the driving.

And I don't expect any pity about the book. It's my own fault for not getting it done. A wise man by the name of J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, "It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish."

On a sightly different note, it just occurred to me that I'm in big trouble when (and if) the time comes when I am legally able to work in this country. I don't remember how to do it. How to reset my internal clock for it. How to dress for it. As my darling 8 year old child proclaimed yesterday morning on the way to school, "I have fashion sense. ALL girls have fashion sense. Except Mom. She just wears grey and beige all the time." Urk.

Oh, and speaking of the cost of college....hope springs eternal. Ladies and gentleman, once again I present you with, "THE College Fund DONATION BUTTON."

Your spend 6 years as a legal alien and what do you get?

....six years older and a kid about to enroll at a college that you can't afford (oh yeah, and deeper in debt). Poor planning? Not so much. Red tape? Lots of it. Okay, so we've played by the rules. We've been living just over 6 years in the US after moving the family from Canada in the hopes of furthering my husband's academic career. We dotted the "i's and crossed the "t's" and got the stamps in our passports. All on the up and up.

So, at the risk of sounding existential: What am I? What are we? We are legal non-immigrants (with the uber-expensive paperwork now filed in the hopes that we'll become legal immigrants soon-ish).

Major downside? I can't work (and I haven't since we arrived **6 YEARS and 2 MONTHS AGO!!!**) because my Canadian post-graduate degree didn't cut the mustard here. No H1B Visa for me.

Super major downside? Our daughter had to apply to colleges as an "International Student" which means no financial aid and no scholarships. Nada. Zip. Zilch. No green card? No loans. Period.

Worse than that is what the colleges want. N.O.W.

Our gal is smart, motivated, kicked a$$ on her SAT's and has a 4.0+ GPA. She was accepted to Boston College, Northeastern, NYU, &c....but with a 45-60K per year price tag ("Dear Intl. Student, Please provide evidence of funds to pay for 1 year of college before enrolling..."), things are looking incredibly bleak.

How do you tell your kid, "Great job, honey! You worked your butt off but we can't afford to send you to college!!"

I figure we can't possibly be the only people in this uncomfortable position so I'm putting it out there. Anyone else have a story to share? And okay, I admit it. Desperate times call for desperate measures (hence the "donation" button that you see before you.) It's a long shot, but at this point we can only go up.