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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.

【红霞译文】

这个北方小弟经常横遭南方老兄挤兑，而且动不动就成为被奚落的对象，劳谦虚己的加拿大人确实与自作聪明的美国佬截然相反，然而美国一般不跟近邻加拿大见外，终究双方志同道合，但由于加拿大深受法国影响，历史上曾一度各行其是，直到近代才重归于好。

不过我们出游加拿大的开头部分与实地景点没有多大关系，毕竟我和家人尚未迈出国门。

费城国际机场小巧玲珑，缺乏个体化及多样性选择，排队办理登机手续的人寥寥无几，因此办事效率蛮高，其间难得有人搭理你，从自动取票站到自动售货机，只要按照规程独立操作就成，截至到今天为止，一切运转正常。

我重头再来，填了一遍又一遍，不惜豪掷两大笔手续费，每次提交过境表格都会收到同样的回执，令我丈二和尚摸不头脑，我们只好向朋友求助，方才发觉错误所在。怪我粗心大意，愣把下午登机时间写成6:55，而按照24小时制记录系统，我应该输入18:55，这叫本人的智商失去用武之地，幸亏我们等候的直达航班要过一个钟头才会起飞，仍有工夫了却当务之急。谢天谢地，危机得以化解……至少现在。

自打2016年以后，加拿大政府开始增设一项全新安检程序，对于所有持有美国绿卡、护照颁发国家没有与加拿大互惠签证豁免权的永久性居民必须上网申请电子旅游许可，此招新令让我家始料不及。在我看来，旅途上难免出现这样那样的问题，要不是妈妈直冒冷汗，我根本没把它当回事。依照官方网址所提供的申请表要求，我逐一找出外婆护照上各项信息，忙活了差不多廿分钟后总算大功告成……申请立刻被打了回来：“旅行日期必须早于当天日期”。

电子旅游许可与机场安检系统联网，没它我们的飞行计划定要泡汤。通常情况下，电子旅游许可审批过程仅需要十分钟，但外婆的申请发出后很快便葬送掉廿分钟，接着再熬过第二个廿分钟依旧毫无动静，随着起飞时间渐渐逼近，我们开始沉不住气了。俗话说，“人若走背运，喝凉水都塞牙” 。眼下不光外婆的入关申请悬而未决，妈妈还经历了一连串奇葩遭遇。她原本打算买点零食犒劳一家老少，哪曾想到自动售货机既严防信用卡又拒收$20美元银票，随即她改用$1小额面钞，结果到手的竟是一把钢崩。不久消息传来，我们错过本次航班，面临眼前窘况，妈妈反倒镇静自若，顺口要求改乘下一趟也就是最后一趟直飞蒙特利尔的航班，起飞时间定于晚上8:40，这样让我们争取到更多机会，可要命的是官方通知就是死活不来。

事到如今，我们被迫作出抉择，要么任其作废，要么减少损失，我认为减少损失符合逻辑思维，这正是我们所采取的行动。无奈之余，妈妈打电话请朋友来机场接外婆回家，不然浪费没有退款可能的三个晚上酒店、私人导游服务、机场接送等全部投入决非上策。安置妥当外婆去处，我和妈妈赶紧上路。

滑稽的是半个钟头后，我的电子邮箱先后收到两条放行通知。没等我们弄清名堂，另一棘手问题又摆在面前，先前改乘的航班仅剩下一张空位，我们不得不听候吩咐，期待能多腾出一个座席，当然有谁乐意平白无故地放弃国殇节长周末（何苦虚伪退让），现在我们只能听天由命。既然今晚没有其它飞往蒙特利尔的航班，我们也没必要继续耗在机场，客户服务部见状二话未说，立刻把我们打发到次日凌晨途经多伦多中转的航线上，从那里再需多花一个小时才能抵达目的地。

由此可见，本次历险记远远超出我们预期想象，我觉得今天不管做什么都无济于事。“屋漏偏逢连夜雨，船迟又遇打头风”。有时光靠自己的努力未必能达到目的，更何况检票机也赶在这个节骨眼上出乱子；当我们驱车离开费城机场，长期停车场的检票机竟然读不了自家发放的停车卡。然而路永远在脚下，希望总是有的。

明天，外婆将和我们一道出游。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

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

2012: 弗吉尼亚州水边怡岛赶海(Chincoteague Beachcoming, VA)