So, in the spirit of starting this correctly, here's the first of the proper blogs...

Yesterday night, Jethro and I toddled along to the BUNAC offices in Farringdon, to attend a talk about the visa application process. For those of you who care, we are applying through the BUNAC scheme as this seems to be the easiest way for us to live and work in Canada without emigrating. We're planning on staying for 12 months. (It's a student scheme, but as long as you're under 35 years old, you can attend as a non-student.)

All was going well. We'd seen a cheesy montage of Canadian tourist video crap, and met a cardboard mountie. And then it all went horribly wrong...

We soon discovered that this year's scheme has been extremely popular for non-students, and since December of 2004, they've already distributed a third of all the available visas. OK, no panic. We just need to get our applications in sharpish...

Next problem. You can't visit Canada before your visa has been processed. GULP! We're going on holiday to Vancouver in March. So we can't put our applications in until we get back.

So when the lovely lady giving the presentation says the fateful words: "At this rate, we see all the non-student visas being snapped up by March", Jethro and I looked at each other and, well, we panicked...

But there is a happy ending. We had a quick chat with the nice lady afterwards, and apparently, you apply for your visa in two parts. The first part goes to BUNAC, and then you're on the list for a visa. The second part goes to the Canadian High Commission, and this is the bit where they make sure you're not one of those dodgy types. (I don't reckon they're going to let Jethro in). Thankfully, we can apply for the first part before we go on holiday, and subject to our background checks coming back clean, we are guaranteed a visa. Huzzah!

Phew... if things carry on like this, we'll be too stressed to get on the darn plane!