On June 16, 2005 we set out on a 4000-mile train journey from Oakland, California to Kingston, Ontario; the first two to work at Queen's University, the last to attend preschool and learn to skate. Like many people of our background -- Julia is a native of Hagen, Germany, David hales from New York, and Chaya was born right in Oakland -- we have some positive impressions and generally ill-informed ideas about life in Canada, and what it would be like to live there. We thought it might be of some general interest if we document both our expectations and our experience.