How to be more like a Canadian: Lesson One

So I had a busy day today. Up at the crack of 10am and off on the bus to the local mall.... where I opened a bank account! I now have a(nother) debit account but this one works locally for all your retail therapy needs courtesy of the North Shore Credit Union. How to be more Canadian: Get an account with a bank with a cool name!

Next on the list was insurance for my impending truck purchase. It turns out motor insurance works very differently here - its all government run. There are no competitive quotes or ringing around, you just do it and even the car dealers can arrange it all for you. Its also split into manditory for 3rd party claims and optional for your own vehicle. The manditory bit is fixed price for everyone at $1171 (£532) and the other bit will be about the same again so thats about £1100!!!! Fortunately they do have a no claims structure which allows up to 40% off but that still makes it £660 - How to me more Canadian: Spend more on car insurance!

And now what you've all been waiting for - part two of the truck shopping. After two buses and a train ride I saw a couple more trucks today and I BOUGHT ONE!! This is a bad picture of it when I went back to pay a deposit:















Its a 2001 Dodge Dakota quad cab (4 door) 4.7ltr V8 auto Wohooooo!!
I've got to sort the money out and pick it up Thursday - I cant wait!
How to be more Canadian: Buy a truck!


And finally but not least I bought a phone - not very exciting but essential if I don't want to keep making international calls to people in Vancouver!

Its enrollment day at Uni tomorrow so should have a lot to say about that tomorrow!
Later Dudes!