Sunday, June 08, 2008
update
I have been uncommunicative here for a couple of reasons: 1 is that I still have no Internet at home, so to access the Internet I take my computer to a coffee shop with free wireless and I don't do that everyday (though nearly) - I feel so disconnected! 2 is perhaps some correlation with coming to a French-speaking place, or maybe even more so with coming to a place where part of the time I speak in English and part of the time I speak in French, and in each new situation I'm never sure which will be appropriate. It seems like the result of this situation, thus far, is that I tend not to talk a lot because I tend to find myself searching for the right words in either language. I'm not sure how to describe it really. I expect that it will pass with spending more time here and I really will achieve the goal of being more confident in French, but the intermediate stage is difficult. It reminds me of my first week in Portugal - except there I really had a reason not to speak and I often couldn't understand what was going on either.. I haven't become a mute or anything like that, but I do find complexity is added to the already somewhat challenging task of striking up a conversation with a stranger when you're not sure whether to begin in French or English. It doesn't make sense though, really. I think it is just a psychological block. Anyhow. I will get over it soon.
Meanwhile. Yesterday I had a fun day at "Swing L'Ete" - I haven't been swing dancing really since 5 years ago or so when I used to go semi-regularly in Vancouver. It was fun and I sort of remembered what to do. The venue was fantastic - a shaded dance floor in a park down by the river. The weather was warm and sunny - a little too warm, really, but luckily a cool breeze would pick up once in a while. I met a few interesting characters - unfortunately not from Montreal - they were Ottawaers (ottawaites? ottawaians?) who apparently are Swing Dancing fanatics because they came to Montreal on 4 hours' sleep after an all-night Swing extravaganza in Ottawa. We snacked and chatted after the dance and managed to navigate our way into the center of town though a good general sense of direction mixed with some trial and error. I then met up with Hans and his daughter Andrea in the midst of the Formula One crowd down on Crescent St (where it took me about 20 minutes to walk up one block due to the hordes of people crowding the sidewalks). After a light dinner and a wander through the throngs to admire some ridiculously expensive and strangely outfitted cars, we made our way to the Old Town for drinks on one of Montreal's many outdoor patios. Watching a woman drawing portraits and others drawing caricatures made me recall my idea, not yet put into action, of finding such a spot to set up my own little sketching/drawing kiosk where I could draw stick figures or something of the like just to see if anyone would actually offer to buy them. I really must do that one of these days.
The day before was another day of wandering around - I headed up to the top of Mont-Royal and as I was walking down, discovered I had passed the point where I had wanted to descend. Instead of backtracking, I opted for taking an unofficial trail down which was really more of a rock climbing/bouldering route. It was pretty exciting, especially given that the rock was a little slippery, I was only wearing sandals, and there were pieces of broken bottles strewn about the trail. It did at least feel like a bit of adventure, which I needed since I haven't yet made it out of town on any sort of backpacking trip. Soon, I hope.
This week I have several days of work/training to look forward to, not to mention the staff auction tonight.
Well, that's all for now. I hope I am not too late to join the weekly drumming circle up on Mont Royal that I have not yet attended!
Quebecois du jour: I believe that "une fille craquante" means "a hot girl" (according to an ad for Axe deodorant on the metro). I wonder if the same adjective works for guys.
A plus tard,
kat
Meanwhile. Yesterday I had a fun day at "Swing L'Ete" - I haven't been swing dancing really since 5 years ago or so when I used to go semi-regularly in Vancouver. It was fun and I sort of remembered what to do. The venue was fantastic - a shaded dance floor in a park down by the river. The weather was warm and sunny - a little too warm, really, but luckily a cool breeze would pick up once in a while. I met a few interesting characters - unfortunately not from Montreal - they were Ottawaers (ottawaites? ottawaians?) who apparently are Swing Dancing fanatics because they came to Montreal on 4 hours' sleep after an all-night Swing extravaganza in Ottawa. We snacked and chatted after the dance and managed to navigate our way into the center of town though a good general sense of direction mixed with some trial and error. I then met up with Hans and his daughter Andrea in the midst of the Formula One crowd down on Crescent St (where it took me about 20 minutes to walk up one block due to the hordes of people crowding the sidewalks). After a light dinner and a wander through the throngs to admire some ridiculously expensive and strangely outfitted cars, we made our way to the Old Town for drinks on one of Montreal's many outdoor patios. Watching a woman drawing portraits and others drawing caricatures made me recall my idea, not yet put into action, of finding such a spot to set up my own little sketching/drawing kiosk where I could draw stick figures or something of the like just to see if anyone would actually offer to buy them. I really must do that one of these days.
The day before was another day of wandering around - I headed up to the top of Mont-Royal and as I was walking down, discovered I had passed the point where I had wanted to descend. Instead of backtracking, I opted for taking an unofficial trail down which was really more of a rock climbing/bouldering route. It was pretty exciting, especially given that the rock was a little slippery, I was only wearing sandals, and there were pieces of broken bottles strewn about the trail. It did at least feel like a bit of adventure, which I needed since I haven't yet made it out of town on any sort of backpacking trip. Soon, I hope.
This week I have several days of work/training to look forward to, not to mention the staff auction tonight.
Well, that's all for now. I hope I am not too late to join the weekly drumming circle up on Mont Royal that I have not yet attended!
Quebecois du jour: I believe that "une fille craquante" means "a hot girl" (according to an ad for Axe deodorant on the metro). I wonder if the same adjective works for guys.
A plus tard,
kat
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)