Vivre Dans Deux Says. (Living In Two Countries.)

On average, I have been spending about 20% of my time in Canada each month.  This is what I expected it to be once I moved to NYC. How long will I keep doing it for though?  Who knows. But nearly two years ago I predicted that I would do it, and that I'd do it for two years.

Maybe I know myself better than I thought?

Anyhoo...

Going back in forth between the two countries so often has made it necessary to get a GOES and Nexus pass, so that I don't have to do the long lines at customs when I land in each country.  I just got both of these in recent weeks, and let me tell you it is worth it.

But beyond the customs lines, the two residences to maintain and only seeing The Husband most nights via Skype, there are things that have taken some adjusting...

• Remembering all my pin codes.  I have one for my US bank card. One for my Canadian bank card. And one for my Canadian credit card. And each is totally different.  When I land in each country, I move the proper cards to a special place in my wallet for easy access. But I always have to remind myself what the pin code is before I use it. I often type it in wrong at least once.
• Starbucks lids. Random? Yes. But I have to stop and remind myself each time I come back to Canada now that at Starbucks they don't put the lid on your hot beverage for you. I believe for health code reasons you have to do it yourself.  (Or something like that?) But whenever I get a cup of coffee, I always want to say, "Hey! You forgot my lid!" Then I remember which country I am in, and dismiss the feeling of lack of customer service.
• People use their change. In the States, people aren't as likely to count out all their change when paying for a purchase. We often just use our debit card, and don't carry cash.  But in Canada, I've gotten slowed down by someone wanting to pay with a substantial amount of change.
•  Internet content. Noting like hearing all about how Lana del Ray totally bombed on SNL last night and wanting to catch the video of it, only to be told "This content is blocked in your region" when I try to click it.  I have to remember when I am up here that I don't have the viewing freedom that I do in the States.
• Processed food sometimes tastes different.  Must be all that fresh Canadian air affecting my tastebuds, eh? Er. Wrong.  Different food requirements up here for processed foods. And this, somethings taste differently than they do in the States because the government up here actually cares and pays attention to what gets put into the food supply.  And so, Corn Pops up and Ritz Crackers up here don't taste as sinful as they do in NYC...  And thus I want them a lot less.
• Metric versus Imperial.  Always have to pause and think when reading measurements. Centimetres versus inches.
• The History Channel is channel 43, not channel 40. I am always forgetting which channels are which between the two cable systems. 

These are all that I encountered today. Who knows wat will discombobulate me tomorrow.