The Power of "Eh"
As I sit at my computer counting down the hours until I leave the Arctic Northern, I am compelled to reflect upon the new perspectives, appreciations and languages that Canada has afforded me.
In a matter of just a few days I was hired at a restaurant/pub, cast as the romantic lead in Friar Bacon Friar Bungay at the University of Toronto, and joined the cast of Tony and Tina's Wedding at Second City. Things were looking up.
The University of Toronto gig didn't pay, so I had to quit...The rest of that story is really quite uninteresting.
However: I was hired at the restaurant with the words, "We'll sneak you in (wink)", just to receive a phone call a week later requesting some type of legal documentation allowing me to work in the country. Lacking the requested information, I responded with, "Kelly? Whose Kelly? Oh, yeah, Kelly fell through the ice. I forgot." So much for sneaking me in with a wink!
Having solved that problem with my incredible wit, I was relieved to have Second City as an outlet for my creativity, not to mention the paycheck. No one really wants to be a starving artist. But they also needed legal documentation ( aka my Social Insurance Number, not to be confused with Social Security Number) which of course, I don't have. And as kind as the folks at Second City were, they didn't want to pay thousands to dollars to get me my Land and Immigrants rights.
I will now be heading to Florida with John Divini and Zeb to do a comedy show at a Renaissance Faire. The sixteenth century won't let go of me.
So, I've had fun. I've tasted Haggis. I've learned that there are large Irish and Scottish subcultures in Canada and that I am quite alone as a Dutch/German mix. I've remodeled my boyfriend's kitchen (long process, bright orange cupboards did not go over well, so I had to correct my mistakes several times before perfection was attained). I've learned that I'll never take U.S. Superbowl commercials for granted again. I've learned to call my homeland the U.S. or The States and not the generic America. I've learned that Canadians are more than willing to give directions. I've been exposed to many different cultures. I've learned that my fake theatrical dialects are crap. I've read six books. I've read many product labels in French without understanding a thing. And I've learned how to demand a response from my listeners in one syllable.
Canada's a great country, eh?
As I sit at my computer counting down the hours until I leave the Arctic Northern, I am compelled to reflect upon the new perspectives, appreciations and languages that Canada has afforded me.
In a matter of just a few days I was hired at a restaurant/pub, cast as the romantic lead in Friar Bacon Friar Bungay at the University of Toronto, and joined the cast of Tony and Tina's Wedding at Second City. Things were looking up.
The University of Toronto gig didn't pay, so I had to quit...The rest of that story is really quite uninteresting.
However: I was hired at the restaurant with the words, "We'll sneak you in (wink)", just to receive a phone call a week later requesting some type of legal documentation allowing me to work in the country. Lacking the requested information, I responded with, "Kelly? Whose Kelly? Oh, yeah, Kelly fell through the ice. I forgot." So much for sneaking me in with a wink!
Having solved that problem with my incredible wit, I was relieved to have Second City as an outlet for my creativity, not to mention the paycheck. No one really wants to be a starving artist. But they also needed legal documentation ( aka my Social Insurance Number, not to be confused with Social Security Number) which of course, I don't have. And as kind as the folks at Second City were, they didn't want to pay thousands to dollars to get me my Land and Immigrants rights.
I will now be heading to Florida with John Divini and Zeb to do a comedy show at a Renaissance Faire. The sixteenth century won't let go of me.
So, I've had fun. I've tasted Haggis. I've learned that there are large Irish and Scottish subcultures in Canada and that I am quite alone as a Dutch/German mix. I've remodeled my boyfriend's kitchen (long process, bright orange cupboards did not go over well, so I had to correct my mistakes several times before perfection was attained). I've learned that I'll never take U.S. Superbowl commercials for granted again. I've learned to call my homeland the U.S. or The States and not the generic America. I've learned that Canadians are more than willing to give directions. I've been exposed to many different cultures. I've learned that my fake theatrical dialects are crap. I've read six books. I've read many product labels in French without understanding a thing. And I've learned how to demand a response from my listeners in one syllable.
Canada's a great country, eh?
