The Coming to Canada from the US Thread
 

Every Hulla is attended by hundred's of Americans and I wanted to post a few quick notes for those coming up for the first time.

When crossing and they ask your purpose of your visit, it's best to keep as close to the truth as possible. I suggest you say you're attending a concert at the Opera House in Toronto. They'll probably ask who's performing, and you can say Anabolic Frolic or Dougal, or whatever you like, and that we're a dance act.

Don't use the word "rave" and don't drive across wearing your candy gear since you don't want to give them any reason to hold you up.

It will also help to know where you'll be staying while you're in town since they may ask that as well, although if you're driving home right after it's not that big a deal.

If you have any questions feel free to post them here, and I'm sure others who have made the trip will throw in some tips as well.

When crossing, be very clear about your answers and respectable to the border guards. say yes and no as opposed to yah and uh huh or uh uh. make direct eye contact. if you're not the driver of the vehicle do not speak unless you're spoken to.
have id. that is a must. like chris said, don't wear your raver gear. not even just not wearing candy, don't wear raver clothes :)
alrighty that's my helpful hints for today :)

Definitely dress conservatively. Take out your facial piercings if possible and remove your hat and sunglasses, they like to be able to see your eyes. Have both your photo ID and your birth certificate in hand when you pull up...if they see that you have your papers out they are less likely to ask to see them. Declare any cigarettes and alcohol. Be friendly and don't act nervous.

For the most part, going into Canada is a breeze...coming back into the States is the hard part, especially if you're coming through at night or you look like hell. The Americans are much more likely to search you than the Canadians, so be smart and don't try to pull any stupid tricks. Leave the contraband at home, and this includes rave flyers. Be discreet...in their eyes every raver is a potential drug smuggler, and it doesn't take much to get you a trip to the naked fun room.

And have fun. :p

woooo naked fun room!
fer real tho, just be cute and honest and all is good :D

in my experience, like said, always declare what you have.. don't be completely picky.. like "i have 38 cigarettes" or something..

try to remember to say "sir" and "mam"
be sure to use your please and thank yous..
but on the flipside, don't totally suck ass, cause that does make you look somewhat suspicious.

don't wear glasses, and try to let them see your face.
turn down ANY music... if you have a "pumpin system" be sure to turn it down before you get to the lineup, and don't turn it back on till later when you leave.
be sure not to have anything REMOTELY questionable out in the car... or for that matter, anything questionable anywhere in the car


remember.. you're here to come to a rave..
you're not coming for a week..

be completely honest, outside of the fact you're going to a rave.
you're going to a concert

What exactly do we need to get across the border, someone told me americans need visas now or something to get into canada..
So yea, if anyone could tell me EXACTLY what we need i would really appreciate it

Carrie

well i think it all depends on the customs person, because my roommate just went up to toronto last weekend and his friend told him oh yeah you need birth certificates and the whole nine yards....but they crossed both ways with no problem and they never even asked for their IDs!!!!! (which with american customs i was surprised about)...and the last time i went for hulla in february, they didn't ask for our IDs going IN to canada...so i don't think someone can tell you EXACTLY what to bring, cause you never know. just be polite and take heed the rest of the advice on this thread.

make sure you have as much ID as possible.
- health cards
- drivers licence
- passport
- birth certificate
- report cards (they CAN help)
- sin #

whatever else with your name on it

Customs sucks! Booooo!

On the way back from Brain Basher, they stopped me and a friend and drilled us with questions (of course we didnt tell them we went to a "rave"; just to visit some friends)...But of course, I had a Brain Basher t-shirt on and I was hung over and incredibly tired, and our stories weren't adding up, so they searched us and our whole car, and made us swear we didn't go to a rave....Very scary experience haha but of course we had nothing on us, nor did we do anything wrong, so after a good 40 minutes or so, they let us go.

Moral, have a good solid story and look presentable on your way back!

Oh, and Frolic is definitely right on the candy thing.....We had a large bag of candy in the car and were wearing some on top of it....big mistake

... and do the survey if they ask. It might take 5 minutes of your time, but you'll learn a lot about America's research and development team.

If they talk to you about sports (because most customs people like sports), pretend that you know what they're talking about with the never-failing smile and nod.

And ditch that roach before approaching the border, I don't think they like the smell of weed. ;)

You don't have to have a visa, but you do need to have some sort of photo ID and proof of citizenship. For most people the easiest way to do this is a driver's license and a birth certificate.

Having extra ID never hurts either, so if you have things like voter registration cards you can bring those too.

remember if the border gives you a slip to pullover and be searched, be sure to stop and let them search your car. I was going to a hulla a while back and we were told to pull over and be checked....my buddy just kept right on driving through the exit, what the hell was he thinking. Good thing is though we didnt get in a chase or anything and no one tried to pull us over. If we were searched we would probably be still sitting in a canadian jail waiting for our phone call.

You're lucky that happened coming into Canada and not going into the States. If you're friend had pulled that at the American border he would be in very deep caca...

ah yes the crossing of the boarder. hehe last hulla my car broke down at the boarder and me and nikko pushed it across to canada. it was way hardcore. but agreed to all the advice given so far. try to look as non raver as possible. have ur id's ready. we don't even say concert we usually jsut say we are visiting friends in hamilton. then they ask how we know em and then let us go. and its jsut really good practice not to bring "drugs" with you and not to bring any back i mean honstly there is no reason to risk it. this time i do beleive i'll be flying up anyways cause the last two trips up (hulla brain basher) someone always has a car trouble. but any americans commingup be sure to hit me up on aim integrrac i would like to know where everyone is comming from n stuff maybe meet up sometime and kick it ya know.

One thing that works real good is if you say you are going to a sporting event........ check and make sure who is playing that night and who they are going against too ..... the border checks it out on their computer

Yeah jocks are socially acceptable.

Go all out...make a game out of it :) :)

Get the pennants and the big fingers. Decorate your car!

umm.. yeah.. i think im going to this hulla again!!!!!!!! YEEA!!

A WORD TO THE WISE (I've been doing this for over a year now):


1.Make sure to smoke all the weed before you get to the border!!!!!!!!!

..........I was just thinkin....

heres a list of things you can say if they give you a full cavity search and they happen to find those pills that you hid in your ass.

1."Oh thats not mine!!"

2. "OH DAMN! THERE THEY ARE! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THOSE SUCKERS!"

3. "Amazing what you find in people's asses, nowadays, isn't it, officer?"

4. "Be careful, I have explosive and uncontrollable diarreah."

5. "How did those get there?"

*****************************

yea but seriously dont try and bring any drugs.. who needs em anyway?

On another hot note.. be sure to roll all of your blunts BEFORE LEAVING so as to avoid inconvienence.

Oh yea.. and... check out some other threads to get the skiivie on where people are meeting up before hand..

thats about that.. life is good

^^^

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT smoke in your car before you cross the border! They know that smell, if they notice it you're fucked.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT smoke in your car before you cross the border! They know that smell, if they notice it you're fucked.

just make sure u have ur ID, birth cirtificate and SS card, just in case, and all is well, but if ur under 18, have all that AND a written or typed not from your parents saying you are allowed to pass the border, who ur goin to be with, how long, and there signatures and daytime phone numbers and stuff......

can't you smoke weed in canada and not get in trouble???

^^^

Only if you don't get caught. :p

In theory, yes, you can still get in trouble. For small amounts the local police will most likely just take your stash and tell you to get lost. But our border patrol probably won't be quite as forgiving. If you need to find pot, it's Canada, it isn't hard to find, and it's probably cheaper and better then anything you'd get in the States so I'd recommend against trying to smuggle it across the border.

:) That'z all really good stuff to know!! We got stopped coming into the states from BC...US Border Patrol had dogs seach through our car..(I guess my having purple hair didn't help..hehe), but we now are flying into Toronto for this party!!

Hahahaha... you're my hero Phluxy!!

:D

On a related note, I got hassled at the border coming into the States a couple of days ago. Why? Because I'm a brown kid going to the States for a few days with only a backpack.

More suggestions:

. make sure everyone in the car has one story to follow.

. these assholes (aka customs people) will ask you a question and repeat it several times in a row to see if you change your story or not. Stick with one and look directly at them.

. be polite. It doesn't hurt to be polite with them, better than being bitter and angry which might result in uncomfortable situations.

. cheer for their local sports team, but don't cheer for the obvious losers (ie Detroit Lions)... hahahaha... :p