They Say 'Eh' A Lot, Don't They?

Un Canadien errant,

Banni de ses foyers,

Parcourait en pleurant

Des pays étrangers.

An errant ‘Canadien’

Banished from his homeland

Weeping, he travels on

Wandering through foreign lands

Hello, gentle readers, and welcome to this little piece of the internet I have staked out and called my own.

I am a Canadian woman who finally got around to marrying her American fiance on March 7, 2010 after a gauntlet of immigration hurdles to jump (and are still jumping as I type this). Much like the protagonist in the song, I am all but 'exiled' - but for a brief period of time, at least! - as crossing the border to return home before the paperwork is finished would result in the revoking of my temporary status and reset all the work we've done to get to this point.

Nuts to that.

Having moved to the United States and become immersed in a culture I mostly am familiar with through television and bad jokes, I've been adjusting over time - and been simultaneously amazed and confused by it all. This blog will hopefully be home to some of my more amusing exploits, including cultural misunderstandings, kitchen adventures, knitting follies, and general observations about life in one of the most extroverted countries in the world.

The name of this blog, Une Canadienne Errant, is a ham-fisted attempt at a nod to my home country and its other official language (of which I can barely speak). The song is a bit dramatic, certainly, but it's stuck with me for a long time because of how longing the man in the story is to see his home and hearth once more. There are days I identify with the poor wandering soul, and other days I think he's a big whiner. It's all about perception, isn't it?

I'd been bandying about the idea of writing about my new life here in Buffalo, New York for a while - while just a stone's throw from the border, there's enough of a change that it makes life quite interesting for all those involved: my husband, my in-laws, my own family as well. I didn't want this blog to be a cutesy re-telling of our relationship - twoo wuv makes me twoowy nauseous - but more of a humourous spin on relationships, culture shock, adjusting to a new life; as well as being a chance to show off my various hobbies, such as cooking, baking, knitting, reading and video games (wow, don't those look odd all lined up next to one another?)

Ultimately I hope that what I share here at the least entertains, and at the most makes you think. Of course, if it's a recipe, book, joke, game or a pattern, I hope it tastes/looks/feels/plays/is good.

Welcome! Or perhaps I should say... Bienvenue!