Pre-requirement for Entering Canada(加拿大入境須知)-兒歌薈萃-萬維博客-萬維讀者網（電腦版）

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		Pre-requirement for Entering Canada(加拿大入境須知)	2020-06-15 06:51:45

2017-05-26 Memorial Weekend

【Aiden in English】

The brother to the north. Frequently insulted and made fun of, Canadians have become such a different society due to stereotypes of Americans. However, we commonly forget that Canada is one of two neighbors of the US, and therefore, they are not so unlike us. But because of their history with the French, Canadians split off a different path historically, only to rejoin in modern times.

However, part one of our trip would have nothing to do with Canada. In fact, my family and I are not even out of the country yet.

Philadelphia International Airport is a small, dainty little joint, lacking personnel and options but making it up with shorter lines and efficient check-ins. Furthermore, it's like nobody wants to deal with you. From self-service tickets to vending machines, everyone is independent through the check-in process. As of today, it has never been a problem.

Beginning in 2016, Canada has added a new feature to its security. An online Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) form must be processed for all green card holders or US permanent residents whose countries don’t have visa exemptions before allowing entrance to its territory. This form caught my family by surprise. I, for one, did not worry, since items of such issues have appeared history of flights. It was only until Mom began profusely sweating. Given a URL to the form, I filled out the form, correlating the information about my grandma's passport to the questions. Eventually, after a good twenty minutes, the form was complete... and was instantly rejected. "Travel date must be greater than today's date".

Once more, I filled out the form, again, and again, and even paid the application fee twice, each time receiving identical feedback. After phoning a friend, literally, we realized the mistake. I, without paying much attention, entered 6:55, our afternoon flight time. However, it was on a 24-hour clock, which meant the correct time should've been 18:55. This infuriated my intelligence. Luckily, our direct flight was not due for another hour, which allowed these mistakes to be washed over. Alright, so crisis averted... For now.

The ETA required to be processed through a scan at the airport, and this essentially destroyed our night. Usually, the approval for the ETA takes around ten minutes. However, the grandma was not responded within the first twenty minutes. Or for the next twenty. By then, we were worried as the flight departure was approaching. Not only was the application going terribly wrong, but Mom also had issues with other jobs as well. The vending machine was rejecting her credit card and $20 bills as she tried to feed us with snacks, and when mom put in singles, the machine returned it in quarters. Then, the news arrived that we would not catch the flight. Oddly, Mom was really calm at this, simply asking to register for the next flight to Montreal. The new direct flight was at 8:40 pm, giving us some more waiting time. And unfortunately, the official acceptance still was pending.

At this point, we were forced into a decision, whether to abandon ship and leave or save what we have left. I suppose the logical thing was to cut our losses, so that's what we did. Mom called a friend to pick up my grandma to go home, which really sucked at the moment. I mean, you couldn't just waste all non-refundable money including 3-day in the hotel, private tours, and an airport taxi transfer. So we sent her away, and Mom and I went on our own.

It's funny because a half-hour later, both ETA approval emails dinged in my mailbox. It wasn't before long we ran into another problem. The new plane had only one seat available, and we had to stand by and wait for one more seat to be emptied. And of course, being how selfish this world is, no one did during the Memorial Weekend (I'm very hypocritical). Now, we had to improvise. There were no flights to Montreal that night, so we might as well not stay. In some quick thinking from customer service, we were rescheduled for a connecting flight to Toronto the next morning. From there, we would fly an extra hour to Montreal.

And so, our adventure started even before we anticipated. I think it just didn't work out by now. Sometimes, no matter what you do, nothing can be done. Even the ticket machine, upon exiting from the Economy Parking Lot @ PHL, couldn't read our packing slip. However, there is always a silver lining. Because of how things fell into place, a fortunate solution came to the surface.

Grandma is coming with us tomorrow.

【紅霞譯文】

這個北方小弟經常橫遭南方老兄擠兌，而且動不動就成為被奚落的對象，勞謙虛己的加拿大人確實與自作聰明的美國佬截然相反，然而美國一般不跟近鄰加拿大見外，終究雙方志同道合，但由於加拿大深受法國影響，歷史上曾一度各行其是，直到近代才重歸於好。

不過我們出遊加拿大的開頭部分與實地景點沒有多大關係，畢竟我和家人尚未邁出國門。

費城國際機場小巧玲瓏，缺乏個體化及多樣性選擇，排隊辦理登機手續的人寥寥無幾，因此辦事效率蠻高，其間難得有人搭理你，從自動取票站到自動售貨機，只要按照規程獨立操作就成，截至到今天為止，一切運轉正常。

我重頭再來，填了一遍又一遍，不惜豪擲兩大筆手續費，每次提交過境表格都會收到同樣的回執，令我丈二和尚摸不頭腦，我們只好向朋友求助，方才發覺錯誤所在。怪我粗心大意，愣把下午登機時間寫成6:55，而按照24小時制記錄系統，我應該輸入18:55，這叫本人的智商失去用武之地，幸虧我們等候的直達航班要過一個鐘頭才會起飛，仍有工夫了卻當務之急。謝天謝地，危機得以化解……至少現在。

自打2016年以後，加拿大政府開始增設一項全新安檢程序，對於所有持有美國綠卡、護照頒發國家沒有與加拿大互惠簽證豁免權的永久性居民必須上網申請電子旅遊許可，此招新令讓我家始料不及。在我看來，旅途上難免出現這樣那樣的問題，要不是媽媽直冒冷汗，我根本沒把它當回事。依照官方網址所提供的申請表要求，我逐一找出外婆護照上各項信息，忙活了差不多廿分鐘後總算大功告成……申請立刻被打了回來：“旅行日期必須早於當天日期”。

電子旅遊許可與機場安檢系統聯網，沒它我們的飛行計劃定要泡湯。通常情況下，電子旅遊許可審批過程僅需要十分鐘，但外婆的申請發出後很快便葬送掉廿分鐘，接着再熬過第二個廿分鐘依舊毫無動靜，隨着起飛時間漸漸逼近，我們開始沉不住氣了。俗話說，“人若走背運，喝涼水都塞牙” 。眼下不光外婆的入關申請懸而未決，媽媽還經歷了一連串奇葩遭遇。她原本打算買點零食犒勞一家老少，哪曾想到自動售貨機既嚴防信用卡又拒收$20美元銀票，隨即她改用$1小額面鈔，結果到手的竟是一把鋼崩。不久消息傳來，我們錯過本次航班，面臨眼前窘況，媽媽反倒鎮靜自若，順口要求改乘下一趟也就是最後一趟直飛蒙特利爾的航班，起飛時間定於晚上8:40，這樣讓我們爭取到更多機會，可要命的是官方通知就是死活不來。

事到如今，我們被迫作出抉擇，要麼任其作廢，要麼減少損失，我認為減少損失符合邏輯思維，這正是我們所採取的行動。無奈之餘，媽媽打電話請朋友來機場接外婆回家，不然浪費沒有退款可能的三個晚上酒店、私人導遊服務、機場接送等全部投入決非上策。安置妥當外婆去處，我和媽媽趕緊上路。

滑稽的是半個鐘頭後，我的電子郵箱先後收到兩條放行通知。沒等我們弄清名堂，另一棘手問題又擺在面前，先前改乘的航班僅剩下一張空位，我們不得不聽候吩咐，期待能多騰出一個座席，當然有誰樂意平白無故地放棄國殤節長周末（何苦虛偽退讓），現在我們只能聽天由命。既然今晚沒有其它飛往蒙特利爾的航班，我們也沒必要繼續耗在機場，客戶服務部見狀二話未說，立刻把我們打發到次日凌晨途經多倫多中轉的航線上，從那裡再需多花一個小時才能抵達目的地。

由此可見，本次歷險記遠遠超出我們預期想象，我覺得今天不管做什麼都無濟於事。“屋漏偏逢連夜雨，船遲又遇打頭風”。有時光靠自己的努力未必能達到目的，更何況檢票機也趕在這個節骨眼上出亂子；當我們驅車離開費城機場，長期停車場的檢票機竟然讀不了自家發放的停車卡。然而路永遠在腳下，希望總是有的。

明天，外婆將和我們一道出遊。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: Colonial Williamsburg, VA(弗州殖民地威廉斯堡)

2012: 弗吉尼亞州水邊怡島趕海(Chincoteague Beachcoming, VA)