Does this make me look American?

So i've been trying to secure a summer job, because I need the $$ and also because I need the structure - academia is so unstructured that my ADD nature is having a field day and taking the rest of me with it.

My areas of interest are still non-profits, but also governmental too . . . and therein lies the problem. If only I could be content in the for-profit corporate world!

Most non-profits here seem to be funded by the government, and if you remember my problems with most of academia being funded by the government you will remember the government earmarks their money to only go to citizens and permanent residents. Not that I blame them, because clearly they should get first dibs, but the government permeates everything here so I am finding it hard to find something that I can actually qualify for. It certainly doesn't help that I am not required to tell them I'm not a citizen or permanent resident, and they likewise don't usually disclose the limitations on the position's funding. This means I get quite far in the process before the connections are made and I am shown not to qualify.

To add to this, the federal government here has announced (unsurprisingly) significant cutbacks, and the details are still shaking out. This means so many positions are tentative or announced last minute. Not that the job market sucking is news, it is just making my position on a low rung in society that much more evident.

Which leaves me in a precarious position - if I'm not making the connections in the field now through part time and summer jobs . . . how am I going to get something full-time when I graduate? I will be on an even lower rung then and much more of a risk to employ (though they don't have to sponsor me like most American work related visas). Concerning to say the least, especially since the job market clearly won't turn around in the next year to that extent.

Something to worry about while I am not being productive at school I suppose. :)

Hello all,

So term has started, and it is going to be a doozy. Some of the things I have on my plate include: 4 classes, writing my thesis proposal, building back up my fitness/ankle functionality, and taxes for two countries.

So clearly my dear readers, my posts will be few and far between, and more likely to be quick anecdotes then long thought out and/or photograph filled posts. I apologize in advance!

To stall the withdrawal (that I know you are all frantically trying to alleviate by resorting to other drug like substances as we speak) I want to share with you what I learned this week!

I got an on campus job this week (frankly I am only allowed to get an on campus job on my visa) as a cashier in some of the cafes. There aren't many differences between being a cashier in the states and one in Canada, though technology has gotten better in the intervening years (no punch card - I just swipe my student card using a time logging interface in the register!). the one difference is how to determine counterfeit bills. In America, you generally feel the bill (if it is pure paper, it will definitely feel different), or use one of the built in security features (Canada has pretty much the same ones), but the conclusive way is the pen with color changing ink. Canada doesn't seem to have a pen, and frankly I think the bills feel fake to begin with - they certainly feel like paper (and are soon to feel like plastic). their conclusive way, is to rub the bill on paper - if it is real the color (remember, they are all colored differently and brightly!) will come off . . . . which kind of makes me wonder if the inside of my wallet will be multicolored after a while.