All humans cross borders every day, from crossing from the bedroom to the bathroom in the morning, to crossing the street to get to work, to crossing from the waiting area in airports to inside the actual plane right before a flight, at which point you have no choice but to take that flight (I've changed flights before literally as I was waiting in line to board because I found a better one), but seldom do you have to go through a border patrol to cross a border, which is what you have to do when you go from one country to another. MJ and I have crossed into various other countries in just the last calendar year so, mostly European countries, where we've been greeted nicely or (even better) sometimes seldom at all, where we basically just walked into the Netherlands seemingly without anyone checking any identification whatsoever (an attitude that seems to fit with the Dutch).
I have come to a definitive conclusion when deciding which direction of crossing the border between Canada and the U.S is better: crossing into Canada from the US is always better. The border agent we bumped into greeted us with a mixed-language "Hello" and "Bonjour!" took our papers immediately, glanced over them briefly, asked us where we were going, and let us go with a "have a nice trip." Almost as if Canada were a resort destination that was trying to satisfy its customer base and allow them the best experience possible, and MJ and I were the subject of a "Explore Canada" tourism ad campaign. Contrast this with the experience coming back home to the U.S. (this has happened multiple times) with border agents that seem like they watched an instructional video titled "how to do the bare minimum possible for the job and offend people through microaggressions." We drive up, the border agent is on his computer typing something, not looking at us at all. After about a full minute of random typing and staring at a screen as if there's not a 20-car-deep line behind us that's waiting for this one person to stop what he's doing, he starts the conversation by gesturing for our passports, without any verbal communication. First question: "What passports do you have?" followed by "what was the purpose of your visit?" Then where we lived in the US, all said in the worst body language and tone that made it sound like we were getting in his way of a fun time, which was him clicking away at his computer and staring at the screen some more. Not once during the entire exchange did he make eye contact with us, and after he was done he kind of shooed us away with a dismissive, "OK fine." Sometimes US border agents will at least give a "welcome home" to me due to my US passport, but nope this guy could not be bothered. Does the US government skimp on paying their border patrol agents too? I chalk it up also to Canadians just on average having a more cheerful disposition, but just because you're a border agent and have a reputation for being a jerk, doesn't mean you have to play the role perfectly and act like a jerk too.
Maybe it's because Canada provides all citizens with universal healthcare? Apparently it's not all flowers and balloons, though, as one radio station mentioned Canadian hospitals are going through a huge issue with emergency room staffing (hey American hospitals too!) Apparently MJ's hospital and many hospitals around the world have this expectation of their nurses that they didn't become nurses to make money, one of the most brainwashy cult-like things a profession can do, not to mention the guilt trip. Most everyone works to make money, that's why it's called "work" and a "job" and not "volunteering." There can be other motivations to doing one's job but money, almost by definition, has to be one of the motivations. That's something the nursing profession has crossed the border from being just stingy (trying to pay less for better quality, a rational method) to being irrational and unfair.
MJ had considered living in Canada before in her life, and I like visiting but never gave it any serious thought, especially since I'd have to go through a whole different process to become licensed as an attorney there. If we did, we might try Toronto, one of the most international cities I've ever visited. So many different nationalities there and as a consequence so many different languages I hear on the street, but especially ones where I can understand: French and English, of course, but also Mandarin and a surprising number of Cantonese speakers (maybe because of Chinatown) and plenty of Japanese and Korean. Big enough to have its own NBA and MLB team, and big enough to have a big art museum (the Art Gallery of Ontario) with its own Kusama infinity room (you know you've made it if your city has a Kusama infinity room), seemingly vary vegan conscious, many more options than say.....Texas or something. Something calming about living on a city next to a big lake (that'd be Lake Ontario, geography buffs) because it's not like the big waves crashing onshore like L.A. or the coasts, it's a calm stay-awhile kind of vibe.
Did I mention there was universal healthcare?
O by the way, check the exchange rate between US and Canada/ EU before you go; there's been years the Canadian dollar was worth MORE than a US dollar, but usually it's around 1.2 or 1.3; makes the prices seem more palatable.
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