I Think I Need To Become An American

*gasp* I said it outloud! Me! The proud Canadian...the one who proudly wears her maple leaf wherever she goes internationally...me! I'm considering getting my American citizenship. I know...shocking, isn't it?

I primarily think I want American citizenship for ease of travel. Amercian passports expire every 10 years. Canadian ones expire every 5. Living in the US with a Canadian passport and trying to get another valid Canadian passport is a real PITA. Last time I tried I had to threaten Passport Canada because they said the pictures I'd sent weren't "right". I had to redo the entire thing while on vacation there, send it off express and they were still telling me that they would only be able to get it to me in about a month's time. Uh, the only problem was that I was leaving in a week for home and my current passport had already expired because of all these stupid games. Have you ever tried to cross back into the US? Let me tell ya....it's a royal pain!

So, seeing as my passport expires in a couple of years, I may take the plunge...so long as the American government allows me to maintain my Canadian citizenship as well. I know the Canadian government has no issue with dual citizenship, but I have always operated under the impression the US had a bigger deal with it. Now, I'm hearing whisperings around me telling me it's not such a big deal (my collegue has dual French-American citizenship). So, I'm hoping.

The other reason to be an American citizen is to vote! I can't vote in any of the primary elections, although I'd be hard pressed to decide on who to vote for. Right now, I'm feeling the pull from both the Clinton and the Obama camps with a little McCain thrown in for good measure.

I'd label myself as a conservative democrat. Seems like an oxymoron, but there you have it. I know Robin would laugh if I got American citizenship and the right to vote along with it as he says I'd just cancel out his vote (he's a bigtime Republican). I don't know. I think he'd actually be surprised at how I'd vote this year. In fact, I think I might be able to have him come over to the "Dark Side" aka: Democrat, if I can just find some stuff about the candidates that he can support better than the Republican candidate. I almost had him going for Kerry last election. ;)

I guess if I really want to become an American, I should probably do some research to see what I'm supposed to actually do. I think google's going to come in handy.