Archive for August, 2008
How Far North Are You?
I keep getting asked how far North I am, and saying 200 miles North of Winnipeg doesn’t really work, unless you know exactly where Winnipeg is, so here’s a nice map for you with a pin where I am:
(click to make it bigger)
Canadian Television
I’m not sure I really understand Canadian Television. Or, more aptly, I don’t understand the cable company Sarah and Joe have. They have digital cable, which has 100+ channels for your viewing pleasure…..but they all show the same shows. I found at least four instances of Ellen’s show, and caught Rachel Ray just as many times. What’s the point? Why have all these channels if all they do is repeat each other? I’ve also been entertained by the US stations it picked up. the NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates are all Detroit stations….when Detroit is no where near being the closest US city. If we were in Windsor, sure, but here? Nope. Oh, and there’s multiple NBCs too, and different time zone channels, so I saw on the menu the soap opera my mom watches available at at least three different times. And then, there are channels listed in the line-up, but they’re not part of Sarah and Joe’s package…so why bother even showing those as options? Do they just list them so people will *want* the channels and pay the extra money or something? All it does is annoy *me* because I can’t remember what channels they get in their package and don’t get.
But, they do get Space, and Torchwood starts on Friday on Space, so at least I get to re-watch Season Two! And, I get to watch the olympics in High-Definition…and I can pick either CBC or NBC 😀
Walking around Dauphin
Today I walked North of Sarah and Joe’s (I think. They can correct me if I’m wrong) to the actual town part of Dauphin. I had a lot of fun walking around and exploring. My pedometer told me I walked over 4 miles, but I can’t believe it was really that much, though I did go on some side streets and backtracked myself at one point, so maybe I did.
The town of Dauphin is small, I think maybe the entire area of “downtown” is about 6 or 7 blocks long. I found three Dollar General type stores, at least two (maybe even three) places that had “pharmacy” in their store name, a few assorted other stores, and three locations where you can mail stuff through Canada Post.
I walked down to the train station and discovered there is a train museum inside the station house. Unfortunately, even though the sign said it should be open, it wasn’t. I sent an e-mail to the address on the sign though to ask when it was open, so hopefully I’ll get to go to it at some point before I go home!
I also learned today that postage is expensive. Letters home are CDN$0.96, and letters to the UK are almost $2!
Photos:
For more photos, check out my gallery for today: http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/around-dauphin-part-one/
Did you know you can leave comments on photos as well as posts?
Shopping in Canada
I was so concerned before my trip about being able to figure out what the current temperature was outside (Multiply degrees in C by 9, then divide by 5, then add 32 to get degrees in F), that I never really stopped to think about the actual act of grocery shopping in another country.
So, here’s a few things I’ve learned so far that might be of help to other travelers:
- Become familiar with the currency and the conversion rate. I’m fortunate that Canada uses the Canadian Dollar and so the denominations are all the same with the exception of using a one dollar and two dollar coin instead of bills. This morning, I had $10 in loonies and toonies in my purse! Also remember that when you go to convert money back to US currency, most places won’t take coins, even if they are the dollar and two dollar coins. The Canadian dollar is worth about US$1.03, so it’s nearly an even exchange. I can easily convert in my head to figure out how much I’m spending in US Dollars. (And it’s not pretty. Wow, stuff is expensive here!)
- Learn the Metric system. I wanted to buy some cheese for sandwiches, and I stared gobsmacked at the signs for a good 10 minutes “$2.09/100g”. What’s 100g? 100g is a little less than 1/4 of a pound. So, if you wanted “one pound” of cheese, you’d need to order 100-500g. Fortunately, the deli scale at the Safeway measured in both pounds and grams, so when I explained I was a poor confused American who wanted a half pound of cheese, she was able to measure it out in pound format.
- Be prepared to spend more money on “American” items. I didn’t come with any toiletries because I wanted to save on the room in my suitcase. I sort of wish I had brought some along, anyway. I still haven’t bought any body wash, because I haven’t been able to justify the CDN$6.99 (US$6.70) for a bottle of body wash. I’ve been using the crappy bar of soap I snagged from the hotel in Winnipeg. I usually get the cheap store brands for around US$2.50….that kind of stuff doesn’t exist here. I also couldn’t find my cheap shampoo. I use the VO5 .99 stuff because it’s good and it’s inexpensive. I couldn’t find VO5, but I did find Suave shampoo in the same strawberry scent I usually get. CDN$2.53 for a double pack of the Shampoo/Conditioner. Not a bad price, but not the brand I usually get. I wonder how much space/weight a bottle of body wash would have taken up? Oh well, too late now! I wonder if Bath and Body Works ships to Canada?
Leg Two: VIA Rail Winnipeg -> Dauphin
I had such a great time on my VIA Rail trip yesterday, really. My train was set to leave at 9AM, but I got to the station around 7:30. VIA has checked baggage services (WOOT!) so I was able to check my large suitcase and that gave me time to wander around Winnipeg with just my backpack. Turns out, the VIA Rail station is in a bad part of town. Oops. As soon as I started seeing boarded up windows and smelled stale urine, I hightailed it back to the station. All I really had wanted to do was find some breakfast, but apparently there wasn’t even a Tim Horton’s on that end of town!
Back at the station, I sat with about a dozen or so people, all headed to points farther north (Churchill) and most booked into the sleeper cars. I met a man from Texas who was taking his annual vacation up to Churchill. We had fun comparing the weather with being farther North. I also met a German family who booked comfort class with me, and we spent part of the trip chatting.
The train was running on a slight delay, so we didn’t board until 9:15. But the train….oh, it’s lovely. So much leg room and head room and Amtrak *really* needs to take some notes from their sister organization! The seats had a footrest like a recliner would, and there was still room leftover that I had my large backpack at my feet and had plenty of room!
Check out that legroom!
Each train has a dining car and even that was pretty. I had a cheese sandwich (well, it was a ham and cheese I picked the ham off of) and some apple juice. Reasonably priced, too.
The dining car
Everyone I interacted with, from the counter person at Winnipeg, to the station master at Dauphin was incredibly nice and polite. The conductor even remembered I told him I had a checked bag so he went and got it off for me!
The only “thorn” perhaps, was a family with three small children under the age of 12. The kids were being rowdy and at one point bouncing on the seats and throwing shoes at each other with the parent either sleeping, or not paying attention. A quick trip to talk to the conductor though and the situation was solved.
The scenery was absolutely lovely, too, and I have TONS of photos to share! I’ve never seen the praries before, not even in the US, and the sheer vastness of flat was just breathtaking. Looking out either side of the train there was nothing but land as far as the eye could see…no skyscrapers, not even a mountain for a long while….just field after field of farming, flowers, and weeds.
Praries of Manitoba, with the Manitoba Escarpment in the background
Here’s a video I took of some of the scenery, including a CN train passing us:
For my photos I took in Winnipeg while walking around, you can check the gallery here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/winnipeg/
For photos of the train and the scenery, you can check my VIA gallery here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/via-rail/
And, if you want to see pictures of my charges for the next eight weeks, I have some photos of them here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/quincy-hobbes-and-casper/
Google Maps Lie!
My mom drove me to the Philadelphia airport this morning. We don’t often go there, as I recently have been flying out of BWI, but when PHL is cheaper we go there since we live sort of between the two (or at least, equidistant). We printed directions off Google even though we were kind of familiar with the route.
Google Maps lie! An 11.6 mile stretch starting with the Rt 100 exit is actually more like 20+ miles. You have to be either familiar with the area or have a good sense of direction to know that there are three right turns not mentioned AT ALL in these directions. They aren’t new roads, so I’m not sure what Google Maps problem is with them. Basically, when you get off at Rt 100, you’re really on Rt 113. THEN you turn onto Rt 100, followed by a turn onto Pottstown Pike, and at one point you actually have to turn back onto 322 to get to 202. I don’t see *any* of that mentioned in the directions, do you?
Moral of the story? Make sure you have a real map in your car for a back-up, and try to figure out a way of verifying your directions before you go! Especially if you have to reverse them on your own for the way home! Mom wound up going a different way home because of all the turns not listed…oh, and id I mention that Rt 100 was closed in the opposite direction? Why doesn’t Google Maps update for those kinds of things?
Leg One: Philadelphia, PA to Winnipeg, MB
Today I embarked on the first leg of my trip up to Dauphin!
Flights:
Northwest Flt 1765 PHL -> DTW Departed 9:25 Arrived 11:12 at Gate A-40 (or some insanely high number)
Northwest Flt 4739 DTW -> YWG Departed 12:15 at Gate C-29!!!
YIKES! I had to travel across pretty much the entire MacNamara terminal to grab my connection…but I still had time to grab a gardenburger from Fudruckers. It wasn’t a bad burger, and surprisingly only $5.79. And other than a bagel I scarfed down in the car, and a peanut butter and jelly uncrustable, the only food I ate today so far. Oh, and I get to add “tram” to my list of transportation devices I’ve taken on this trip. IF I go to the mall, I’d also add a bus, but I just walked around one mall,and I’m not sure I have the energy to walk around another.
Types of transportation today: Car, Plane, Tram, Cab (do the people mover things in the airports count?)
Probably the most nerve-wracking thing for me was going to be going through Customs once in Canada, but surprisingly? No problems at all.
here’s my passport stamp!
Thank you, Canada for hiring competent customs agents who are BNL fans and who just stamp my passport while babbling about BNL instead of asking me all the required questions!
After breezing through customs, it was a short (albeit pricey – CDN$12.30) taxi ride over to the holiday Inn, where Sarah had booked me for the night. The hotel is really nice, here’s a view from my window:
After settling in, I took a walk down to the Shoppers Drug Mart and a mini mall, then I headed to The Bay to do some browsing. Now, I’m back in my room, drinking the horrible excuse for tea the hotel offers for free.
Oh, and I turned the sink in the bathroom into a wet bar:
To see more photos from today, check out my album for today: http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008
Important News for Laptop Travelers
The Department of Homeland Security announced today that they can now search an international traveler’s laptop without reasonable suspicion. This includes US Citizens re-entering the country from abroad. Not only can they confiscate your laptop for months on end, but they also can share the contents of your laptop with other departments. There’s an article on Engadget with some comments including ways you can keep your data secure.
My advice would be that if you do have sensitive and confidential material on your hard drive, you should remove it and possibly store it on a secure online server where you would be able to download it once you reach your destination.
Just another example of why I’d love to move out of this country.
Gearing up to Go….
I’m just about ready to embark on my two months trip to Canada. I leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, and I have to take a plane from Philadelphia to Detriot, then Detroit to Winnipeg. Then, I spend the night in a hotel in Winnipeg and take a Via Rail train on Sunday morning up to Dauphin. I was going to take Greyhound, but I found that the train was a little cheaper, got in earlier, and I love trains. Good thing too, with a man being decapitated on a bus headed to Winnipeg!
But anyway. Packing is always fun. Especially when you get to your destination and look at your suitcase and think “the heck did I pack that for?”, which is exactly what happened to me when I went on Ships and Dip III in January. I packed TWO bags to take to my cousin’s house in Orlando, and when I got onto the ship? I alternated between a skirt or a pair of shorts. I didn’t even touch anything else I had packed for the bottom half. I think I got it down pretty well for this trip. Two pairs of pants, a skirt, two pairs of lounge/yoga pants, a few pairs of sleep shorts/boxers, 5 t-shirts and a peasant blouse. Sarah told me not to worry about trying to squeeze in a sweater and told me to raid her closet if I need one. Sarah also passed along a great packing tip, that has saved me from having to pack a second checked bag!
Instead of spending money on those Space Bags – make your own! Sarah told me she and her husband use large Ziplock bags for packing their clothing when they go on long trips. Just put all your clothes into the bags, seal them up with leaving a small opening at the top, and squeeze out all the air! I tried this with a few 2 gallon sized bags I had laying around and I actually have extra room in my suitcase – enough that I can pack two skeins of yarn to start a knitting project up there!
Another thing I did was eliminated packing heavy books to read on the plane or up at their house by getting audio books. Librivox is a service that offers FREE audio book versions of books that are in the public domain. I was able to download several old favourites, as well as the audio book version of Bleak House, so I can keep up with the Burn-Gorman.Com Book Club read-through of it while I’m away. These are mp3 versions of the books, however, so if you want to have them as iPod audio book format (m4b), you will need to convert them. Fortunately, I found a free converter for Windows, and I understand Apple computers come with a converter.
My last task for today before I go to sleep is going to be packing myself a Bento lunch for the plane. One of my favourite blogs to read,Lunch in a Box, has a great post about packing a bento for the airplane, giving you tips on what you can pack and how to pack things to make the most of your space. I plan on taking an Uncrustable and a Bagleful with me.
