Julie-Anne's First Blog Entry and Life Story (so far)

I started life in Wakefield, Massachusetts for my first eighteen years. At nineteen, I officially transitioned from full-time boy to full-time girl. I speak English, je parle français, und ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.

I graduated from high school in June 2001, being a real mouton noir (black sheep, or maybe it's better to say mouton blanc, white sheep). I was supposed to wear a red gown like "all the other boys" but wore a white one instead, just like all the other girls.

So in September 2001 until December 2003, I was in college. A fellow student asked me if I'd help reactivate the GLBT group, I agreed, and that was pretty much my legacy there...

In January 2002, I travelled to Montreal for my SRS. I was in such awe at how different the culture was- a culture that was very open-minded, accepting of change, and its overwhelming diversity. I resolved right there and then to make it my new home.

I took a couple of French courses back in Boston later that year, and in January 2004, I took my first French course in Montreal, conducted exclusively in French. A few months later, I graduated from college with my associate college diploma in computer technology.

I went back to Wakefield in April 2004 to help my family move to Arizona, where they retired. In September 2004, I moved back to Montreal to continue learning French. From then until September 2005 was when I made most of my friends. All of my friends live in Quebec and either don't speak English, or my French is better than their English. I had to move back to the US in September 2005 because I needed work experience to immigrate to Quebec.

I moved in with family in Allenstown, New Hampshire. Talk about the middle of fucking nowhere! Most of the businesses aren't accessible by sidewalks, so if you don't drive (like I didn't) you basically have to take your life into your own hands and walk on the small highway or the back road (which are both equally dangerous). That's where I learned to drive. Then the town's cops screwed their records up and arrested my brother... for a parking ticket he paid. The assistant district attorney quickly found out what happened, and got things "straightened out".

So, what did I do there? From September 2005 until November 2005, I was looking for work. I wanted to work with my brother, but his company had this bitch in charge of human resources, whom didn't hire anyone before she was asked to resign. In the meantime, I finally found a job at Wal-Mart in nearby Concord. I got to bring in shopping carriages. And at the end, January 2006, I got pneumonia, and thankfully, a new job at my brother's job.

So what did I do there? Well, if you've ever called an 800 number you saw on TV late at night, you might have gotten to talk with me. I did that for six months, until 20 July, 2006, when I left to prepare to move to Saint Albans, Vermont.

I chose Saint Albans because it's close to the border and Burlington, so I could visit my friends in Montreal every couple of weeks, while waiting for the immigration stuff. It's not a bad place, really. A quaint downtown, plus the beautiful mountains and Lake Champlain. And it's closer to Canada than to Burlington (where I worked) ! :-)

I worked at Sears, a 26-mile (42km) drive south. A nice ride three seasons out of four. The fourth season, winter, is a different story. The roads can be absolutely treacherous (especially if you don't have winter tires).

One awesome thing I wasn't expecting at Sears: I worked with two other trans girls (and there was a third towards the end of my stay in Vermont).

At Sears, I did merchandising, which is basically putting up and taking down signs, as well as doing price changes. From September 2006 until May 2007, I did that in the softlines (clothing, costume jewelry, and bed, bath, and kitchen) part-time.

I had to get another part time job to make ends meet. I made the mistake of having a $600 place plus no electricity (almost nothing) or gas heat (easily $200 during the winter). I ended up working at the Price Chopper (a supermarket) close to my mother job. I started in seafood (coming home smelling like fish... yummy) and transferred to bagging groceries at the checkout.

Now, the bad thing is that while I could now make ends meet, I was earning just enough to make me ineligible for medicaid, despite the fact that neither of my jobs offered health insurance. Not fun. If anything major happened to me, I would have been seriously fucked.

In May 2007, I got a promotion to full-time at Sears doing the same things, but working in hardlines (hardware, lawn and garden, electronics, and appliances). I also had to restock merchandise. Not only was I able to get rid of my supermarket job, but I was able to get my medicaid back.

Then in July 2007, I went to New York for my immigration interview at the Quebec Consulate at Rockefeller Plaza. It didn't go well. According to her opinion, I was a few points shy of meeting the cutoff, because I haven't gone to university yet, plus she said my French was "only intermediate". But she said she would try.

It's not a pleasant experience to see one of your life's goals suddenly explode in front of your eyes. I went to the ladies' room at Rockefeller Plaza, got myself together (I didn't lose it, but I wasn't that far) and made a new goal. During my trip, I was in awe of New York. It was my frist visit there in my life and I've always wanted to go since I was a child. My new goal: move to New York. That was basically what I had accepted for the next three weeks. I came back from work three weeks after my interview with a large envelope from Immigration Quebec waiting for me. Figuring it was a denial with my right to appeal, I opened it. Enclosed was my CAQ (Certificat de sélection du Québec). I was accepted.

In August 2007, my lease finally expired, and I found a room for rent just two houses up. $400 all included except for phone and cable internet (why Verizon's internet division thinks that place doesn't exist is beyond me). Now I could put some money in the bank for the next move to Montreal.

Then in October 2007, I got promoted back downstairs as team leader, doing my old job, plus management tasks. I also became eligible for private health insurance. Then in February 2008, I got asked for my passport by the Canadian Consulate for my PR visa and a couple of weeks later, I was cleared to move here. Bye-bye Sears, time to look for somewhere to live in Montreal.

It's certainly not easy deciding to leave your country. However, I do have to do what is in my best interests and objectives for the future.

Since I've been here (landed 22 March, 2008), I've taken a full-time French course for immigrants from the Quebec government. I got a certificate of completion and I'm now ready to work.

I've also figured out what I want to do in the future. I want to become a nurse. I've always felt a need to pay back the medical community for what it's done for me, and I've found that's the best option for me.

Then a concern cropped up. Once I get my BSN, I'm going to have to take a test to prove my abilities in French. I've taken courses conducted in French, so normally that wouldn't concern me. However, this test apparently requires prospective Quebec nurses to have university-level aptitude in the language. A few years ago, two fully-bilingual nurses working at one of the English hospitals here were fired because they failed the exam. The same thing happened to a multilingual dentist in the Outaouais. I found a practice exam and I was like: What. The. Fuck?!

So here's the plan. I'm going to take the basic courses someone with no science background (me) needs to get into a university nursing program. Biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, etc. About five years from now, I'll get my BSN from McGill. Then I'll probably leave Quebec.

Where to? Well, I've found a ton of trans girls in New York on YouTube, not to mention I think things will be considerably improved (universal health care, better access to education, basic GLBT rights) by the time I graduate. I think that's my next project.