To the Consulate!

I'm in the middle of nowhere right now, somewhere in Saskatchewan. It's 2:30AM and the sky is doing it's best to put on a strobe light show.

The Japanese Consulate in Calgary is where I'm heading. It takes 5 days to process the working visa for my passport, so this really needs to get done before I leave Canada in less than 4 weeks.

I was hoping to do all of this through the mail, but Mr. Japanese Consulate says I NEED to see them in person. It's a waste of time, but at least I'm getting a road trip out of it.


My sister is driving right now while the 3 kids and her boyfriend are sleeping in the back. They were planning on going to Vancouver for a summer vacation... How convenient... So I'm hitching a ride with them to get this stuff done. One thing to mention: She almost killed me less than 1 minute after leaving the house by barely missing a parked car... Oh boy...

Driving to Vancouver will be a bonus, but I'll be flying back this way anyways in a few weeks.

Apparently, I have to call and make an appointment at the consulate before I show up...I guess I'll have to give them a ring in the morning while I'm on the road.

Here's a conversation that happened earlier once we were 5 minutes outside of Winnipeg:
5 year old niece: "Mommy, are we on the other side of the world?"
Me: "No."
Niece: "Almost?"
Me: "No."