Thursday, October 30, 2003
It's Thursday, ER is on TV. I want Buffy. No cable. Ack.
Monday, October 27, 2003
Reasons I'm glad to live in Montreal:
It smells good near where I work. Like Portuguese bakeries and smoked meat.
People use all kinds of multi-coloured umbrellas instead of just black (I love seeing all the old frenchmen with their flowery umbrellas).
I get to practice French.
Blueberry bagels from Fairmount.
Everyone is out and around the city until 3am.
Many cute bars and coffee shops and fun things (world famous poutine- 2 blocks from home!)
It smells good near where I work. Like Portuguese bakeries and smoked meat.
People use all kinds of multi-coloured umbrellas instead of just black (I love seeing all the old frenchmen with their flowery umbrellas).
I get to practice French.
Blueberry bagels from Fairmount.
Everyone is out and around the city until 3am.
Many cute bars and coffee shops and fun things (world famous poutine- 2 blocks from home!)
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Walked home from work today. The most amusing thing? Huge 'Danse Contacte' signs with busty neon women pictures taking up the whole upper half of the building. And the 'Thyme Maternity' clothing store on the first floor...
All I really want is a job where I don't have to sit in front of a computer. Or at least a chair that isn't broken if I do need to have a computer job!
Monday, October 20, 2003
Montreal fun this weekend with Char! Saturday we went out to 'le Swimming' and enjoyed the phat beats of Uncle Lefty and the Jimmy Swift Band and free pool. Also Char and I walked the whole way home and I got stuck between a tree and two fighting men outside a bar. It kind of hurt my arm. Sunday we wandered and enjoyed the sun and drums in Mont Royal park and the cheap pizza on St Laurent. Tried to catch an Irish/Quebecois music jam, but the bar had closed at ten, doh. Naomi Klein is speaking there on the weekend, though, so we're totally going to that. Plus some poetry reading thing on Thursday at the Yellow Door. Ah, hippie city life. So good.
Friday, October 17, 2003
So tired. On Friday nights at the House of Friendship there is a community dinner followed by an activity. Tonight's activity: a discussion (entirely in French) about the difference between male/female relationships in different cultures. My brain was FRIED. Tomorrow Char is coming and we're having a big potluckstravaganza at our place! Yay Saturday.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Day #3
My first day of 'job orientation'. Went in. Talked to some people in French. Ate empanadas. I think I can handle this job.....
But the morning contains the real adventure. My car was parked on the street behind my house (on a street with legitimate parking). This morning there were a bunch of orange temporary no parking signs and no cars. Damn. So after a couple of hours I found out who I needed to call, called and they told me the car was at '3734 Notre Dame' (I live at 3741). So there it was, on the street. In front of an expired meter. There was a ticket for $92 for the tow and one for $37 for the parking violation. This city is messed up. I wrote a 'not guilty' protest on the ticket, we'll see how it goes. Then I walked around the city with a fun girl from church named Carolyn. We checked out independent cinemas, grocery stores, book stores and tea shops. My kinda tour. I bought Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to read in French.
My first day of 'job orientation'. Went in. Talked to some people in French. Ate empanadas. I think I can handle this job.....
But the morning contains the real adventure. My car was parked on the street behind my house (on a street with legitimate parking). This morning there were a bunch of orange temporary no parking signs and no cars. Damn. So after a couple of hours I found out who I needed to call, called and they told me the car was at '3734 Notre Dame' (I live at 3741). So there it was, on the street. In front of an expired meter. There was a ticket for $92 for the tow and one for $37 for the parking violation. This city is messed up. I wrote a 'not guilty' protest on the ticket, we'll see how it goes. Then I walked around the city with a fun girl from church named Carolyn. We checked out independent cinemas, grocery stores, book stores and tea shops. My kinda tour. I bought Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to read in French.
Day #2
Get up after much glorious sleep. Start organizing my room, realize there are a few things I need from the Dollarama down the block. Get to the counter. Realize I left all my cash in the apartment. Tell the lady I'll be right back. My new keys don't work in the lock. So it's raining and I'm locked out of my apartment at 10am and everyone else is at work. So I walk around in the pouring rain, checking out the neighbourhood, discover an awesome market, drink some coffee. Get really wet, you know. Then come back after a while to try again. Turns out the keys do operate the lock, they just get really really stuck in there. Argh. Fortunately I managed to open the door just as the person I was supposed to meet showed up. We ate tasty food and visited cathedrals and stuff in the afternoon. I also found my way home on the Metro all by myself. Slick city vixen already.
Get up after much glorious sleep. Start organizing my room, realize there are a few things I need from the Dollarama down the block. Get to the counter. Realize I left all my cash in the apartment. Tell the lady I'll be right back. My new keys don't work in the lock. So it's raining and I'm locked out of my apartment at 10am and everyone else is at work. So I walk around in the pouring rain, checking out the neighbourhood, discover an awesome market, drink some coffee. Get really wet, you know. Then come back after a while to try again. Turns out the keys do operate the lock, they just get really really stuck in there. Argh. Fortunately I managed to open the door just as the person I was supposed to meet showed up. We ate tasty food and visited cathedrals and stuff in the afternoon. I also found my way home on the Metro all by myself. Slick city vixen already.
OK, I will try to recapture my writing brilliance of yesterday, but I'm afraid it will sadly fall short.
Day #1
Got up at 4:15am so that I would beat Toronto rush hour. My dear and much beloved parents got up at about the same time (or possibly earlier...it's all a blur) and packed the entire car in the time it took me to get dressed. Eight hours and many superfantastic mix cds later I arrived in Montreal. Two hours early. No one home. So I call the person I'm supposed to call, and she tells me to just wait around. Then I almost decide to turn around and go home. So tired, new city. Eventually my new Jen housemate let me in and my new Katherine and Julia housemates made us yummy supper, so all was well.
Day #1
Got up at 4:15am so that I would beat Toronto rush hour. My dear and much beloved parents got up at about the same time (or possibly earlier...it's all a blur) and packed the entire car in the time it took me to get dressed. Eight hours and many superfantastic mix cds later I arrived in Montreal. Two hours early. No one home. So I call the person I'm supposed to call, and she tells me to just wait around. Then I almost decide to turn around and go home. So tired, new city. Eventually my new Jen housemate let me in and my new Katherine and Julia housemates made us yummy supper, so all was well.
So yesterday I wrote a massive post about my first adventures in Montreal, but now it looks like it's gone forever. So I will write this test post before I try again. Grrrr....
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Recently people I haven't seen in a while have been telling me that I'm "looking good". I don't get it. Lack of exercise and too much food mean I'm fatter. Do I look better when I'm fatter? Maybe they just don't see the thesis panic in my eyes anymore...
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Turns out I'm moving to Montreal on Tuesday. Feel free to road-trip like maniacs to visit!
Monday, October 06, 2003
So I've now had about 4 phone interviews for MVS. First I talked to the head guy in Winnipeg. Then I talked to the work guy in Montreal. Then I talked to the MVS committe chair in Montreal. Then I talked to the girls who live in Montreal. Crazy. Hopefully will hear exact details soon!
My computer is a mutant. It shuts itself off. Then when I start it up (after resetting only) it thinks it is Wednesday, December 31st, 1969 at 7:02pm. Is it trying to tell me something? I think I'll take it to someone who might be able to find out. Argh.
