When we moved I anticipated there would be obstacles like learning French and adjusting to the metric system.  Of course there have been unforeseeable obstacles too.  The mall and all stores closing at 5:00.  Faire la bise (kissing everyone on both cheeks) which apparently I'm not really good at because I've almost made out with all sorts of folks. Understanding the health care system. (a whole other story). The most stressful of all has been banking.

We're unable to make student loan or car payments via a Canadian check.  Fair enough.  So we started writing checks from our Canadian account to be deposited into our USAA account in the states.  It takes at least a month to clear and as it turns out USAA doesn't really embrace this and 80% of the time after waiting over 30days our check would be returned to us even though we had plenty of money in the account.  So we came up with plan C.  We've opened another account with a bank in New England.  We bring cash to the states, exchange it and deposit it.  It's a long and slightly painful process.


This weekend we set south of the boarder to do some banking in Vermont.  We decided to make an adventure of it and hit up the World Maple Syrup Festival.  The kids were even more excited than I thought they'd be.  That is until they realized a festival is NOT the same as a carnival.

Fiona made the most of it.  Reed couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't going to ride the Thunderbolt. (the name of the roller from the Berenstain Bear book, Fun Park) 

St. Johnsbury, Vermont

A frown of disappointment