Dale's SWAP and my Luck

Dale climbing

Two weeks ago, Dale and I headed into Vancouver to drop off his SWAP application forms. Dale does not have family in England or Ireland, like I do. This means he could not apply for dual citizenship, and after checking out a few limited options on working abroad and gap years, he decided to go with SWAP: the Student Working Abroad Program. You don't have to be a student, and the option he chose now includes two years of Ireland. The program will obtain a work VISA on his behalf, and cost him near $500 in the end. He will also have to pay almost $400 Canadian to the Garda National Immigration Bureau upon arrival. Additionally, SWAP expects him to have $2500 of his own “support funds,” which is money to fall-back on should he have trouble finding work. The program is Canadian, legitimate, and has had proven success. It works internationally, so people who are from other countries and hoping to travel can use it too. The website is: http://www.swap.ca/out_eng/destinations/ireland.aspx.

Dale will also be provided with two nights at a hostel in Dublin, orientation, help finding a job, accommodation, and help setting up an Irish bank account (lucky bastard). SWAP is a safe option, and hopefully it will be worth the money for him. I won’t complain if the information he gets benefits me either. What I do like about the program so far is that they are friendly and willing to answer any questions by email, even if you don’t sign up with them in the end.

It should only take four weeks for Dale to receive his VISA, though SWAP tells you to expect six weeks in case of delays. I was getting antsy for him to get the ball rolling since our trip was eight weeks away at that point. The day we finally went to the Travel Cuts office, I kept my phone close at all times because I was hoping for a call from the BC Elections office. When you work the election you can make very good money in one day plus training, and while they had enough people to work that day already, I was on-call and hopeful. But somehow I missed them. When I called the office back—long distance—I got some Jamaican man’s answering machine. That was a cruel joke, Government. Feeling panicked now, I contacted a friend who was already locked-in to work the election and asked her for the correct phone number. Dale parked his car, I called, and I struggled to thank the lady without sounding upset as she told me they had given the job away half an hour ago. When I hung up I was so disappointed that I couldn’t speak for fear of tears. The boilingly beautiful day got worse with Vancouver traffic, and then better when we surprised Julie, my life-long friend currently at UBC, with sushi at The Eatery. She put the job out of my mind.

The weekend that followed saw Dale and I at the Backyard Vineyards in Langley. Ever careful of money, this was a Groupon trip that I had bought him for Christmas. Before we even got out of the car to tour the winery, sample five wines, enjoy a glass of our choice, and pair it with cheeses, olives, nuts, chocolate, and fruits, my phone buzzed. To my delight, I got the election job after all! Someone had backed out at the last minute and they needed me for training the next day and to work the election the day after that. I had to cancel my volunteering in a kindergarten classroom, but the teacher I assist is so wonderful and understanding that it wasn’t a problem.

It was a whirlwind week. The election was 14 hours straight in a school gym with no more than bathroom breaks. However, I was thrilled to be sitting with a woman who loves the TV show Supernatural so much that her husband built her the characters’ car, the Impala! I never expected 14 hours with a stranger to go by so fast.

The next day I was off to Las Vegas with two of my sisters. My oldest sister, Danielle, had bought the trip for us as a graduation celebration. Bizarrely, all three of us have finished university at the same time. Putting my mind at ease was Mum coming to the rescue with a gift of graduation money for each of us. I didn’t spend a single dime of my Ireland savings, and it turned out that I had over-budgeted in the first place. What with the surprise job and not spending all the money that I had planned to, I essentially ended up making $385 this week! And not even a dime of that was won through gambling. I like my current kind of luck even better.