First day of work!

After more than two months of vacation, and fabulous vacation at that, I started my new job today.  I was dreading it just a bit because I generally haven't loved my jobs since I finished school, and I was getting used to the non-working life.  Unpack, rest, surf the net, go for a swim, drive around, etc.

But alas, a girl's gotta work, so today I jumped in the car at ten to seven and hit the highway down to my new position which is in Riverton, Utah.  I wasn't sure how long it would take but I was quite glad that it only took 25 minutes door to door.  Most people who I tell that I'm working in Riverton and living downtown tell me that it's a really long commute.  In Toronto a 25 minute commute is like winning the lottery.  I think it's even faster than Steve's commute to the University.  But he gets to walk.

Anyway, my first day went great!  The people seem very friendly, my role at the company is new and exciting (I'm working in a whole new field now), and look at the view of my lunchtime stroll!



Utahns are known for being hard working, and our day goes from 8:30am to 5:00pm.  I watched the clock as 5:00pm approached, excited to get home and tell Steve all about my day.  Nobody made a move to go home.  Instead, we worked until well after 5:30.  What?!  That's crazy talk!  At least the day went by quickly.  Plus, they're under an unusual burden at the moment, so hopefully it's not always like that.  I didn't want to be the first to head home for the night!

I'm feeling good about this job.  It's very exciting to start fresh!

A whirlwind trip home

We spent the last ten days with our families in Toronto for Steve's sister's wedding.  It was so nice and I can't quite believe we are on the way "home".

There are no set plans to visit right now which feels a but odd.  I'll write more again when we arrive.

Motorcyclists

Did you know that Motorcyclists don't wear helmets in this city?  And cyclists are often seen riding on the sidewalk?  What is this world coming to????

Big Cottonwood Canyon

On Saturday night we decided that we would go for a hike on Sunday.  It's not something we did much of back in Toronto, but we have high hopes of taking full advantage of our new location.  We scoured a little book we have on easy day hikes near Salt Lake, and checked with a few internet sources before settling on Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Steve was particularly excited about seeing some mountain lakes.

We got in the car at around 10 on Sunday morning and first headed out in search of breakfast and a coffee. Our fridge was empty, you see.  The first couple of places we knew and tried were closed.  Things are closed here on Sundays!  What in the heck?!  Eventually we found coffee and a bagel.

Next we headed to Whole Foods to buy a couple of sandwiches to go that we planned to take on our hike. We got some flatbread numbers, and chatted with the nice Aussie girl who made them for us.  She too thought that Whole Foods was actually affordable when she moved here a year ago.  But now that she's lived here for a while, she no longer really shops there.  I've heard people here call it Whole Paycheck.

Anyway, with our sandwiches in tow, we hit the road, driving for only about 30 or 40 minutes until we reached the base of Brighton Ski Resort.  This is where our book told us the trail began.  

It took us only a few minutes and a few conversations with strangers to find the trailhead.  Then, up we went!  We had to climb, climb, climb for the first maybe 40 minutes and it was tough going.  But the payoff was worth it.

Just so you know, the whole time we were saying things like, "can you believe we live here?!?!"

I need hiking boots.

At SLC public library

Nothing like writing thank you cards with this view.

On Customer Service

So far we have been wowed by the customer service in Utah.  I mean WOWED.  Wherever we go there is always an abundance of salespeople or service people waiting to help us.  They welcome us to the store, spend lots of time with us telling us about whatever products they've got, even if it's not on commission.  We almost even have a Cheers thing going on, where everybody knows your name, at a couple places we've been already.  Shout out to Terry at Best Buy!  Also they know us at our new bank.

Speaking of our bank.  We chose to open bank accounts at a big bank branch here in the U.S. as its main office in Salt Lake City is right across the street from our place.  Steve went in on Friday afternoon just to find out what kind of information we would need, and to see if they were open on Saturdays.  When we returned the next day, we were greeted by a smiling guy with a firm handshake who knew to expect us.  He asked us our names and told us his.  Adam.  What a guy.  We were then shown to the desk of our banker, a young girl with chipping glittery green nail polish.  She peeled it off bit by bit and flung it on the floor throughout the duration of our conversation.  She joked around with us a lot too.  It was endearing and borderline unprofessional.  We couldn't tell how we felt about her when we left.  There was one incident where we were depositing a cheque from our wedding that said "Mazel Tov!" in the memo.  She struggled to pronounce it and then looked up and asked "Are you Jewish?"  Yes, yes we are.  She made a joke about Jews to us, and we laughed awkwardly.  It's wasn't a bad joke, but it felt just a little bit on the odd side.  She said "I'm joking!" and smiled a winning smile, and then we were best friends again.

As we were leaving, another couple showed up, also opening new bank accounts.  We heard their accents that gave them away as New Zealanders, and Steve said something like "good luck getting a credit card!"  They said something back, and off we went.

Flash forward to a few days later when we went back to the bank.  First of all, despite the kind of strange interactions with our young banker girl, we were happily greeted by both Adam and her.  They knew us by name right away.  The contrast between our Toronto banking experiences and this was so stark!

During this second interaction with Banker Girl, we mentioned the other couple we had seen, asking her if they were nice and if they could be our friends.  (We're on the hunt, clearly).  She said that actually she thought we had a lot in common.  One of them works at the U(niversity) too.  She looked them up in the computer to see where they lived.  Both Steve and I were shaking our heads saying "no, no, don't give us their address!"  I mean, we were sure she was about to totally breach some confidentiality rule or something.  She shrugged and said it's fine, then told us that they live close by to us.  She told us that next time they came in she would set us up.

Later that day, Banker Girl called me and left a message on my voice mail: "Jessica, I'm with the Kiwis now and I'm giving them your email and telephone number.  Also, if you guys don't invite me on your date too I'm going to be really pissed!"

HA!  Can you believe that?  This is where we're living now!

PS: We may be seeing the Kiwis tonight.  I haven't invited Banker Girl yet.  Yikes!

Steve's First Haircut

Yesterday was brutal.  We didn't leave the house until 5:00pm because Steve was stuck on the phone with tech support trying to fix a problem with his computer.  It didn't get fixed.  The good news is that we finally got Utah area codes for our new phones, and then we drove up to Park City where there happened to be a big art festival and we bought a new sugar bowl and milk jug to replace the one Steve dropped on the kitchen tile.  We also ate a surprisingly tasty meal at "The Purple Sage" before heading home.

Anyway, Steve's First Haircut.

It happened when we were in Salt Lake City for just a couple of days before leaving for our Hawaiian honeymoon.  We drove south on the highway to Fashion Place mall where we discovered the goodness that is Dillards and stocked up on some new bathing suits.  Once done there, we used our trusty GPS to locate a few barbers in the area.  Steve called up one who said her cuts were only $12 or something cheap, so off we went.

Even from the outside I was a little bit unsure.  It was a small square building in what looked like a rather run down part of town.  The sign and everything else about it looked old.  Now, sometimes that's attractive for a barber, but not really this time.  We entered, and the barber, who was busy with another customer, told us it would just be a minute.  We took a seat in the waiting area.  There were all kinds of man magazines for our perusal, but watching her craftily cut her customer's hair with a razor.  I guess buzz is the more accurate word for what she was doing, but she did it slowly, bit by bit.

They chatted about various topics of interest, like how a glock is a really great weapon, and how other guns compare to that.  Why this or that bullet or extension piece (I really have no idea...) are good or bad.  And then about how children are annoyances when it comes to the gun collection.  I mean, you have to lock your guns up!?

They then switched to a more Canadian-friendly topic: dogs.  It was friendly enough until the guy started talking about the dachshund he and his wife bought who wasn't particularly in control of her bladder.  He recounted how he got so fed up one day that he kicked her across the room.  When Steve tells this story he says that at this point I had tears in my eyes and looked like I wanted to flee right then and there.  I don't remember the tears.

Soon enough Steve's turn came, and after making a joke about how he wanted the complete opposite of the cut she gave the other guy, they went on to have a very pleasant chat about that was not at all about guns or animal abuse.  And he got a pretty nice haircut, too.

Testing

This is a test post from my new android phone.

Check out that zucchini, a gift from our new friends!

On Making New Friends

Last weekend we drove to Walmart with a long list of household items and grocery staples that we needed for our new place. You know, a broom, toilet brushes, ketchup, soy sauce... that kind of thing. We we wandering around the store, gaping at the low, low prices (I still can't get over $2 for Kashi cereal!) when a nice looking young woman said with a smile that she wouldn't buy that garbage can if she was us. She said that she and her husband just bought it two weeks ago and they HATE it. We laughed and thanked her for the advice, then went on our merry way, completing our list.

About twenty minutes later, the same girl showed up behind us in line at the checkout counter. With one glance at our cart, she asked, "are you just moving in?" It turns out that her and her husband just moved here a couple of months ago also. She's working as a resident at the University hospital, and he got a job too. We chatted a bit in line and found out we shared some stuff in common, like we both registered at REI for wedding gifts. As our shopping load was almost all loaded up, she handed me a little scrap of paper with her name and email address on it.

We left feeling so excited, and daydreaming about our new best friends. It felt like all those times my friends and I would joke about our future husbands after a good first date.

And it got worse. I had to write her an email! The next day - didn't want to seem too eager, after all - I wrote her a message asking if she would be interested in checking out a free outdoor concert with us at Pioneer Park. Our apartment is a few minutes' walk from there and we invited them up for a drink on our rooftop before the show.

When I got her email response saying that they were totally game, I was so excited! She said yes! :) We were that much closer to having new friends.

The day of the "date" came quickly. I bought some nice tortilla chips and guacamole and salsa, and we had a party pack of Wasatch beers ready to go. I tidied our place up a bit and then waited anxiously around the time we decided they would come. I was actually jittery like before a first date! It was more like a blind date, too, because we had never met the husband and we'd only hardly met the wife. Yikes!

They finally arrived, and they were very friendly and outgoing and we had a really nice time with them. At the end of the date the husband asked for our numbers, and then texted just after we parted, saying how they had such a great time.

All in all, a new friend-making success story! Let's hope we keep it up!

Arrived Alive in Salt Lake City!

Okay, I'm finally back from my epic journey across America and beyond. I didn't have internet or interest in blogging but I had so many blog worthy moments that I kind of regret it.

In short, we crossed the border on June 30th where I managed to get my TN work visa. Yay! That means I'm legal to work now at my new job here in Salt Lake City. Yay!?

We then drove West to Chicago, then down across route 66 until we headed north into Utah and up to Salt Lake City. The whole road trip took us about 10 days with tourist stops in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona, and Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah.

We arrived in Salt Lake at our rented apartment with no furniture as our truck was delayed, so we spent our very limited time having a drink at Steve's colleague's house, dealing with our REI wedding registry, and buying new bathing suits for our honeymoon.

We went on our honeymoon and spent two super fun weeks checking out three different islands. We got back to Salt Lake on Friday the 29th and since then have been busy unpacking, setting up our new lives, and exploring our new city.

This is a very brief overview of the news, but I figured I'll make new posts with actual content and some of the stories of the move.

For example, yesterday we went to the driver's license office to get Utah drivers' licenses. Why bother? We need them in order to get car insurance, not to mention that having state ID seems to be key to doing or registering for things around these parts. We had left our little piece of paper with the address at home but could remember it was at 1000 West 200 North. We drove there and looked around for an office. Mostly there were dilapidated old buildings, but there was also a big fair ground. It took asking a lady waiting at a bus stop to learn that the drivers' license office is located inside the fair grounds. Obviously?!

We spent over two hours in that office waiting, waiting, waiting, and then SURPRISE, writing an (open book) driving test. Great. I was pretty nervous and it was difficult to find some of the answers in the book. It's been quite a while since I've had to take any sort of driving test. Luckily we both passed. Then we had to register for our road test. ROAD TEST!!!! I hope I don't fail.

It's been nearly impossible getting internet and cell phones because our Canadian credit is insufficient for the credit checks that all these companies do. We had to get my American aunt to order our cell phones on our behalf, which was another headache. We can't get credit cards either, but then how are we supposed to build up credit?

I guess we'll chalk it all up to the exciting adventure of moving to a new country right? I'm just glad we can speak the language, we have enough money to do the things we need to do, and we've got enough American family and friends that I'm sure everything will work out just fine. In the meantime, cell phones come today!

Aside from the headaches, we've also been experiencing our new city's arts, culture and food. We've eaten at a few good restaurants, many of which are right around the corner from our downtown apartment. We checked out the Pioneer Park Saturday farmer's market and bought fresh tomatoes, goat cheese and beats for a super fresh and delicious salad which we ate on the rooftop of our 28 story building. We went for a walk at the City Creek Canyon and laughed aloud at the reality of the beauty in such close proximity. This is something we do whenever we catch sight of the Wasatch mountains looming over Walmart or Best Buy. It's a pretty hilarious juxtaposition that makes this kind of shopping experience feel somehow bearable. We took in K.D. Lang from the hilltop beside the outdoor stage. And tonight we're heading back to Pioneer Park for another free outdoor concert.

So, at the moment I can't really complain. Though there have been some tricky issues to deal with, they're kind of funny once they're behind us - can't wait till my road test is behind me - and the fun stuff has made it worth it.

Be back soon!