US Road Trip: Canadian Immigration Officers Turned Me Away at the Border

US Road Trip: Canadian Immigration Officers Turned Me Away at the Border

I was living in Astoria, Oregon for the summer working with a Japanese-American import-export distributor. Before returning to California, I decided to drive up north to Canada to visit Matt and returned the book “The Bridge over the Drina” that he lent me in Sarajevo last year during the time I was living and teaching IT in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Crazy indeed to make a 300+ mile, 5-hour trip by car from Oregon to Vancouver and then took another 2-hour ferry ride to Nanaimo Island to visit a stranger whom I barely knew as we met only for a couple of hours in a far away country.

Getting into Canada

By the time I traveled to Canada, I had traveled to many countries, weird ones, without having any problem. Of all the countries that you could run into any problem with law enforcement, Canada was certainly not one of them.

The Canadian border personnel at Blaine, Washington, didn’t allow me to enter Canada. Before the trip, I was living in Astoria, Oregon for the summer, so I had a lot of stuff in my car when I left. My trunk and backseat were filled with my belongings. The Canadians thought that I ran away from the US to settle in Canada. Nobody believed that I came all the way with that much stuff to stay for one day.

Well, Canada must have had too many runaway Americans flooding their border.

They ask me a lot of questions about my reasons for the visit.

Q: Where did you meet your friend?
A: Bosnia.

Q:How long did you meet your friend?
A: A few days. (I lied)

Q: What did you do there (Bosnia)?
A: Teaching.

Q: Was he also working there?
A: No, he came for a visit.

Q: Why did you come all the way from California for just one night?
A: Because my job finished late and I had to meet somebody else in Seatle tomorrow evening. I don’t have a lot of time.

Q: Why you need all that stuff with you for just one night?
A: I’m from California originally. I was working in Oregon for the summer. I’m moving out of a house in Oregon and need to bring all this stuff back to California.

One officer even tried to act intimidating. I wasn’t sure if it was part of his job, or he was just exceptionally mean. He raised his voice, “Don’t argue with me. Listen!”

I had two choices: either forfeited the trip and headed back to rainy gloomy Seattle. But my friend Duat wouldn’t fly in from the Bay Area, California until tomorrow evening. Duat and I would start our Yellowstone / Amerian West road trip from Seattle. What was I supposed to do in Seattle? Angry, I drove back to the closest US town at the border and looked for an overnight storage. I entered a bakery called “Seaside Bakery Cafe” and asked the lady who ran the shop.  She seemed very nice and suggested the Pantec and a Mail Service next door.

The drive to the border

Fishy people near the border

The lady who worked at the Mail Service kept telling me that she would “accept” just to “help me” because “we are the post office, and we don’t do this kind of thing.” She told the man there to go with her to the back and whispered something to him. She came out and asked for $50 dollars. I balked at the ideas. She said that she would take $35 for the storage and $15 deposit. “How do I know that you are not running away from your parents and won’t come back tomorrow for your stuff?” She said. She wanted cash because she could not be sure if my credit card had money. Perhaps I did look like a runaway.

Red flag #1:  If she was honest, why didn’t she talk to the guy in front of me? Why did she have to whisper with him in the back?

Red flag #2: Why cash only in a credit card country? I don’t buy the reason she couldn’t check the balance. Yeah, that’s why people swipe the card to see whether they can make the transaction.

Red flat #3: She had this smirk on her face that I couldn’t help shake off. I didn’t feel right being around this woman.

Her action can be simply interpreted as:

1. The post office does not accept random luggage deposit.  So this woman was doing a business transaction on the side. Therefore, she had to consult the guy first to come up with a right amount so they can split the money.

2. She wanted cash because even if the post office accepted luggage, she could keep the money to herself. She said something about writing me a receipt. But this kind of receipt could be torn up the minute I leave the door.

Genuine people and cheap storage

I returned to the Seaside Bakery Cafe to seek help from the owner. She jumped at the price quote for my luggage and called Pantec, a local storage company, from her phone before writing a good direction, only 10-minute drive away. A 5m×5m storage cost only $20, and you can keep your stuff there for a few days. You can fit a bicycle, a big TV or a mini truckload in there. They accepted credit cards. The only setback was there wasn’t any security. If people had access to the storage rooms which were left open, they could cut the lock. At this point, I simply did not care. If anybody wanted to steal my clothes, magazines, food, cooking gears, please be my guest. I was too tired to care. I just wanted to get to Canada.

Canada finally

Sweet Canada neighbor granted me entry into her country at last. I drove to Tsawwassen ferry to catch the 5:45 ferry to Nanaimo island where Matt lived. I acted like a complete idiot when I gave my luggage to a baggage guy, and only 10 minutes later I begged a boy to run with me to check where my luggage was. Yup yup, I had been to many places people were afraid to travel to. I had been to places where I didn’t understand a single spoken word, and I was okay. Ironically, in sweet Canada, I completely lost my composure.

Lesson learned:

1. Don’t estimate any situation ever.
2. Research, research, and research.

The ferry ride

Staying with a Canadian

A Canadian will suggest going to an ice skating ring three hours before midnight when he takes you for a night out. He will take you to Tim Horton to try doughnuts, especially the Tim’s bits. I was in Canada for a day, so I had no idea about this country and the people. It’s safe to say that Canada is very similar to the US. The people look, dress, and almost behave the same. I barely notice anything different.

Matt and I discovered that we shared the same interests and were working on similar projects, using similar resources and technology, aiming for similar goals.

I had a nice sleep in a decorative room full of porcelain dolls, some of which were handmade by his mom.

Canadian doughnut

Home made noise

Resource:

Pantec Mini Storage
Address: 943 Boblett St., Blaine, WA 98230 * 360 322 6111 (phone)
Website: http://pantecblaine.com/
How to get there (very easy):

1. From the Canadian border, you drive on freeway 5 for five minutes
2. Get to the first city after the border
3. Drive on the main street. You’ll see “Seaside Bakery Cafe.”
4. Go straight to first stop sign. Turn left on H St.
5. Turn right on Mitchell, 2nd street after overpass
6. Pass a school and turn left on Boblet.
7. Pantec is on your right.

Ferry
Schedule: http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/mainland/
From Tsawwassen to Nanaimo (Duke Point): http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/calendar/sch09050602.html
Prices: http://www.bcferries.com/fares/nanvanoffpeak.html

Driving instructions from Seattle:

1. I-5 North to the Canadian border
2. In British Columbia, I-5 becomes Highway 99
3. Highway 99 to Highway 17 (Exit 28)
4. Southwest on Highway 17 to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal
5. Total estimated driving time: about 2 hrs 30 minutes depending on traffic conditions

(Thanks Matt for the information.)

Photo Credit: mrjoro Flickr via Compfight cc