I am officially moved in to my place in Canada. Everybody tells you that moving internationally is really easy and hassle-free, and I’m here to tell you that they’re right. I had absolutely zero hassles and got in right on time.
I have finished the moving process and I’d rather not think about it again. I am here now, and my mental state will improve until I move again, at which point it will deteriorate again. Regardless, I am back in Canada for the first time in five years. After months of preparation, I am finally here.
I was only in the country - and in a completely different part of the country, I was in Quebec then and I’m in Ontario now - for like a month or so back then, and there’s a real possibility now that this is just where I live from now on, like for the rest of my life, like until I die, I mean. Anyway, I’m here.
I didn’t really get a great sense of what the country specifically had to offer back then, partially because I was in the part of Canada that’s practically a different country from the rest of Canada and partially because I was only there for the aforementioned month. As anyone who travels all the time will tell you, there’s only so much that research can tell you about a place, only experience can give you the full perspective.
Fragmented experiences, on the other hand, present a fragmented perspective! And perhaps the best example of my fragmented perspective was the zeal with which I went to a grocery store yesterday and made certain to buy the brand of peanut butter that we don’t have in the US.
Kraft Peanut Butter with Honey / Kraft Beurre d’Arachide au Miel. It’s peanut butter with honey. I’ve tried others - Skippy, JIF, Kroger Brand - and none of them are the same, all pale imitations of what I had for a month in Quebec back in 2016.
Before then, I used to just buy the standard peanut butter, the standard store brand, nothing added, nothing subtracted, the same thing I’d had forever. That was until I went into a grocery store in Québec, Métro Plus to be specific, and found this Kraft Peanut Butter with Honey / Kraft Beurre d’Arachide au Miel, and my life was changed forever. In a very minor way, but it was changed. I don’t buy regular peanut butter anymore. I’ve only ever bought the honey roasted or honey-included peanut butter ever since. And none of the honey peanut butters in the US are as good as this one, it’s either the peanut butter and honey are separated, so you’ve gotta stir it up and the end product is kind of slimy, or the peanuts themselves were honey roasted, which means that you don’t get as much of the honey flavor in with the peanut butter.
This really is the perfect in-between. Honestly, it’s worth the trip up just to get it. Of course as I’ve learned you’ve gotta fill out a phone app form and get a negative COVID test from somewhere within 72 hours of entry just to make the trip up.
And that’s actually all I have for you this week. It’s good peanut butter. If you’re in Canada, you should try some of this peanut butter. Good luck with whatever you’re doing this week and I’ll see you next Monday!