A Slice of The Nuje

A short story:
At the beginning of the summer, some friends of ours moved from Massachusetts to New Jersey. So, over the Labour Day weekend, we hopped on the train and went to visit them. Nothing beats a good long weekend getaway to see good friends!

***Backstory: Ted and John knew each other way back when during their undergrad days at the University of Victoria. Life happens, as it does and John went off to Quebec where he met and married his wife, Marie-Eve. They ultimately moved to the Boston area several years ago. When we moved here in 2013, luckily for me, Ted and John reconnected and we all became friends. John and Marie-Eve also have two very adorable little girls who are always a hoot to hang out with. ***

The weekend happened to coincide with the US Open so there was a day where John and Ted went to New York to watch some of the tournament while the ladies spent the day checking out a local farmer's market (which I love) and the local swimming pool where Sophie got to showcase what she had learned after a summer of swimming lessons.

A definite highlight of our first and very short visit to New Jersey was a visit to the Liberty Science Center -- lots to do and see and it was very interactive! There is an Infinity Climber (above), a suspended play space and a favourite of Sophie's.

There were also some animal displays, which to my delight, included this tortoise.

From the outdoor spaces of the Science Center, New York City's skyline was clearly visible.

We also took a walk through part of Liberty State Park and peered at the Statue of Liberty...

...and New York City across the way.

We took the Amtrak home and had a bit of time at Penn Station where we got some good ol' people watching in.

'Til next time, Nuje.

A Weekend in the Nation's Capital

Summer in Washington, DC is sweltering. We managed to survive the humidity (Ted and I do not do well in extreme temperatures) and took in some iconic American sights over a period of just under 48 hours. 

While walking is a good way to see the city, the metro isn't a bad option, either. I've noticed in various cities I've traveled to that have subway systems, is that one can often find interesting stations that are tailored to the neighbourhood/stop.

 We started our Washington weekend at the National Museum of American History -- home of Dorothy's ruby slippers and various historical and pop culture American items. Best overheard exchange: 

                       Woman (pointing at exhibit): "I had this exact dollhouse as a child!"
                                    Son: "And now it's in a museum...."

We strolled along the National Mall (with many breaks in the shade) and admired the Washington Monument and Reflecting pool (Anyone else think of Jenny from Forrest Gump splashing through it?).

 We took a quiet moment to take in the World War II Memorial...

...And the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial before continuing to...

... the grand (and very crowded) Lincoln Memorial.

The exploration of the city continued and we came across the Albert Einstein Memorial! Ted, as a scientist, was particularly pleased.

Later in the early evening, we wandered over to see The White House. While we obviously couldn't get anywhere near the actual structure, it was still neat to see, if a bit underwhelming. I'm not sure what I was expecting, actually.

And, of course, we had to pop by the J. Edgar Hoover building to say hello to Mulder and Scully

The next day, we stopped by the Canadian Embassy just because we couldn't help ourselves!

Our weekend in Washington was capped off with a visit to the 

National Gallery of Art.

City bonus: these amazing sights in Washington, including the various Smithsonian museums, are free! There's some talk that this may change soon -- so, have a visit sooner rather than later if there's ever an opportunity! 

"The Only Constant is Change"

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

-- George Bernard Shaw 

After much soul searching, Ted decided to leave the bench and the world of academia behind. It wasn't making him happy and was, in fact, affecting his health and by extension, our quality of life. So, with great hope and excitement, Ted embarked on the fun road of job hunting in what he referred to as "the real world". And lo! He is now the Scientific Editor for a Ebiomedicine,  a new journal that reviews and publishes scientific journals that relate to the field of translational medicine. 

Last summer, I had just started a development internship at Community Research Initiative (CRI) as well as a position working most weekdays as a per diem clinical social worker in inpatient psychiatry units at a hospital in town. After my internship wrapped up in the beginning of December, I began working every weekend as a clinical social worker on various medicine floors at Boston Medical Center (in addition to my continued work in psychiatry during the week). Around the same time Ted was doing his soul-searching and answering the question of "what next" for himself, Ted and I had good discussions about how we were well-positioned to be able to carefully look for and choose jobs in fields we really wanted to be in, especially given that we are at a stage in life where a big part of our time and identity is wrapped up in what we do for work. I was doing all these various things to learn more about these different areas as I'm a big believer of testing things out, if I'm able to; Ted had just experienced the negative affects of a bad fit. Thus, we encouraged each other to really think about what we wanted to do, take action, and see where the cards fell. With this sense of renewed purpose, I also applied for another new job and am now the first-ever palliative care social worker at Boston Medical Center. Palliative care is a field I've long been interested in, and is in part what influenced my decision to return to school to become a social worker all those years ago (over a decade ago, now!). As someone who loves finding connections, you can be assured that this greatly pleases my sense of coming full circle, so to speak. And yes, here we go with yet another new beginning for the both of us at the same time (we've become quite accustomed to having change in our lives).

But wait. What did this change in employment mean for our visa status? It meant that it was time to change our visa status from our current J-status to a TN visa status. As Canadians and with jobs that fall under the NAFTA professionals list, we were eligible to apply for this non-immigrant status visa. We each applied for this in different ways: Ted's employer completed a petition for this change in visa status, which was processed without Ted having to meet with anyone in person; for my part, after gathering the necessary documents (in short: your degree [the original], passport, application fee, and one of the key pieces -- a formal letter from your prospective employer, preferably written by their legal team), we took a drive to the Canadian border to process my visa request in person!! As the visa is meant to be processed upon entry into the country, I had to drive across the border into Canada (Quebec) and immediately turn around to cross the border into the US again. Made for some interesting questioning at the border:

Border guard: When were you last in the United States?

Me: Um... 5 minutes ago. I just crossed the border over there. **points across the way** 

So, in the end, Ted and I both now have our own TN visa statuses that are independent of each other. Overall, Ted's visa took a bit longer to process once all the documentation was submitted; mine was much quicker (ie. essentially immediate) once I had everything I needed and presented myself at the border at my appointed time. Thank you, NAFTA agreement! 

Time-saving tip: Call the designated point of entry you have decided to cross that processes TN visas to make an appointment ahead of time and clarify the documents you need!!! We learned this the hard way and ended up driving up to Highgate Springs, Vermont twice. It is, after all U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that will be processing this visa request.

Welcome (back) to America! The border at Highgate Springs, VT from the Canadian side.