So the course at the YMCA that I was going to register for at 8.30 this morning (after being out till 3.30 or so - that was silly) isn't actually running this session... or rather the courses are happening, just not for the level that I want... so now I'm researching other schools to learn French at. Suppose I should have found this out sooner, but still.
I will learn French somehow!
Last weekend's visit was very cool, although due to snow and wind and general weather Rob didn't get in till 4am. It's a good job he phoned in advance and gave Brian the chance to back out on doing the airport run! But all's well that ends well. We spent most of Saturday shopping (it's nice to have another pair of hands to carry groceries) and then went to watch the guys play at Brutopia, which was pretty awesome. They have good beer there. It's a microbrewery (apparently) which means they brew their own stuff. I recommend the raspberry blonde and the ginger beer (yes, proper ginger beer!). It was exciting... I wasn't sure if I liked it at first but, as the Kras crew will affirm, it takes eight tries before you like something and I like to think of myself as patient... :)
I went walking on the mountain the other day. It was very cool! I like having a big hill right in the middle of a city, c'est fun (as the Quebecois say). It was a gorgeous day too, unlike today which is cold... I suppose it is still February. Anyways, lots of people were out sledging and skating and cross-country skiing and just wandering around... there were also a lot of squirrels. I mean a LOT. And they're cheeky little things too - if you stand still for long enough they'll come and sniff at your shoes, trying to make out if you have any food. Or maybe whether you are any food, I'm not sure. It felt like the scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... I was saved by the large group of over-excited school children behind me.
Other than that and the bed that Rob randomly decided I needed (and which I do appreciate, thanks hon) it's been a fairly uneventful week. Now I'm off to get someone to teach me French (you'd think it'd be easy in a bilingual city in a "bilingual" country...)
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Saturday, February 18, 2006
I need to get better at updating this
But still, I am now. So better late than never eh?
Let's see... the peppers thing is still a mystery, Cozi said that she would do it but I've heard nothing since... I'm as excited as everybody else to know how that went!
It's almost the end of my French class already. I don't know quite how that happened, but still... we had a Valentine's party the other night, where everyone brought food and we just chatted in French about how we didn't like Valentine's day. I must just say that Maria and Claudia's tortillas and tinga (I think that's how it's spelt) was amazing and I want to be Mexican just so I can make food like that. When this class finishes, I'm thinking of taking a day course (ie one that happens at day rather than at night) so that I feel like I have some structure to my time here (and actually have to get out of bed!)
When I got home from that class, there were a dozen red roses waiting for me :) even though I dislike Valentine's day I appreciate flowers! Spencer didn't though, he came down with bad allergic reactions to the baby's breath (I think) that was in the vase too... ah well. I got flowers and it made me happy! (Thanks Rob)
I saw an awesome band on Wednesday, in this random vegan cafe place. It all felt very French at first, with the little upstairs room and the trio of drums, double bass and accordion/piano... these guys had a very Jeff Buckley kind of sound, Mindy you would have loved it! Then later more members of hte band turned up and it all got crazy... there were two performance poets, the original trio, and a guy who was beat-boxing like nothing I've ever heard before... I bought cds. I'm listening to them. They're good.
In other exciting news, Rob gets in tonight for a long weekend visit (it's some holiday in the US, so he can stay here till Monday night) :) . Brian has very kindly offered to do the airport run for us, because he's cool. I'm appreciative.
That's about all for now. I promise I'll update more next week.
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Let's see... the peppers thing is still a mystery, Cozi said that she would do it but I've heard nothing since... I'm as excited as everybody else to know how that went!
It's almost the end of my French class already. I don't know quite how that happened, but still... we had a Valentine's party the other night, where everyone brought food and we just chatted in French about how we didn't like Valentine's day. I must just say that Maria and Claudia's tortillas and tinga (I think that's how it's spelt) was amazing and I want to be Mexican just so I can make food like that. When this class finishes, I'm thinking of taking a day course (ie one that happens at day rather than at night) so that I feel like I have some structure to my time here (and actually have to get out of bed!)
When I got home from that class, there were a dozen red roses waiting for me :) even though I dislike Valentine's day I appreciate flowers! Spencer didn't though, he came down with bad allergic reactions to the baby's breath (I think) that was in the vase too... ah well. I got flowers and it made me happy! (Thanks Rob)
I saw an awesome band on Wednesday, in this random vegan cafe place. It all felt very French at first, with the little upstairs room and the trio of drums, double bass and accordion/piano... these guys had a very Jeff Buckley kind of sound, Mindy you would have loved it! Then later more members of hte band turned up and it all got crazy... there were two performance poets, the original trio, and a guy who was beat-boxing like nothing I've ever heard before... I bought cds. I'm listening to them. They're good.
In other exciting news, Rob gets in tonight for a long weekend visit (it's some holiday in the US, so he can stay here till Monday night) :) . Brian has very kindly offered to do the airport run for us, because he's cool. I'm appreciative.
That's about all for now. I promise I'll update more next week.
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Thursday, February 09, 2006
PS
Was just explaining this to Danielle, who wasn't out on Sunday. She said that the girl is very sweet and lovely and really deserves to have good things from her boyfriend.
I feel this is a recommendation for anyone to meet another cool Durhamite and make her, Miles and myself feel good.
(Peer pressure from one person isn't very effective is it?)
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
I feel this is a recommendation for anyone to meet another cool Durhamite and make her, Miles and myself feel good.
(Peer pressure from one person isn't very effective is it?)
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
A dozen red peppers
It's a strange title, but let me explain.
I was out the other night in a very cool pub (yes actual pub in North America! I was impressed) watching my housemates play music and celebrating Brian's birthday. A good time was being had, when the ubiquitous friends of friends appeared... one of them, a guy called Miles, looked at my DUMC shirt and asked me in a rather threatening manner what I was doing wearing that shirt. I answered that I was a student at Durham, and how did he know what that was anyway? There followed a long story of him meeting a girl in some country and them getting on really well and blah blah blah... then
"Hey, do you still know people in Durham?"
"Yes, of course I do, why?"
"Do you know anyone crazy enough to deliver a dozen red peppers to this girl sometime? It's like a private joke."
"I know some crazy people, I'll do my best..."
Which resulted in lots of drinks being bought and much handshaking and professing of how cool I am. I knew that already, but it's nice to have it confirmed by drunk semi-randoms :)
There's not much other news. I'm ill and it sucks. But at least I'm not feeling sick any more.
So if anyone is crazy enough to deliver a dozen red peppers to a girl in Durham, with a small message from Miles, let me know. It would make his week I think. Not sure about hers, having never met her, but come on, be nice to the crazy Canadian!
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
I was out the other night in a very cool pub (yes actual pub in North America! I was impressed) watching my housemates play music and celebrating Brian's birthday. A good time was being had, when the ubiquitous friends of friends appeared... one of them, a guy called Miles, looked at my DUMC shirt and asked me in a rather threatening manner what I was doing wearing that shirt. I answered that I was a student at Durham, and how did he know what that was anyway? There followed a long story of him meeting a girl in some country and them getting on really well and blah blah blah... then
"Hey, do you still know people in Durham?"
"Yes, of course I do, why?"
"Do you know anyone crazy enough to deliver a dozen red peppers to this girl sometime? It's like a private joke."
"I know some crazy people, I'll do my best..."
Which resulted in lots of drinks being bought and much handshaking and professing of how cool I am. I knew that already, but it's nice to have it confirmed by drunk semi-randoms :)
There's not much other news. I'm ill and it sucks. But at least I'm not feeling sick any more.
So if anyone is crazy enough to deliver a dozen red peppers to a girl in Durham, with a small message from Miles, let me know. It would make his week I think. Not sure about hers, having never met her, but come on, be nice to the crazy Canadian!
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Happy February!
Just to say that I haven't forgotten about my blog, but I haven't felt like writing in a while, so I haven't. Here's the update:
French classes are good, my teacher is actually from France which means I can understand him (yay!) as opposed to most people on the street who just sound like they're talking a different language. Although even this guy isn't infallible - he answered a question the other day with "Yup, c'est ca". Hmm. But it's fun, we all talk in French even outside the class because there's people from all over - a Swiss German guy, Mexicans, a Japanese girl... so it's fun. On Valentine's Day we're having a party apparently, with "romantic French music" and things... could be fun!
Rob was here last weekend, yay! It was weird, it had only been three weeks and not the regulation three months... I was excited. I even went out to meet him at the airport (it would've been a metro and two bus journey, but then Brian - one of my housemates - gave me a lift. The thought was still there though!), bought sushi and beer and made brownies with my other housemate Spencer and his friend Danielle... I was a little drunk by the time I went to the airport, but what do you expect at 10.30 on a Friday night?
The problem with weekend visiting is that it's really just Saturday. We went shopping (although I was grumpy about that, sorry) and then went to meet Rob's friend Arlen and went out for dinner, which was very cool and we got to speak French (or me and Arlen did, Rob - even though he knows French - decided to speak English, really confusing the waitresses). Then we sat and watched films at home with people and drank more wine. A good time.
That's all for now, have decided to make an effort to write more often. It's like a new month's resolution, if you will. Oh and if anyone wants to get in touch, both the Warrington and Winnipeg phone numbers that are floating around are forwarded to my mobile phone here, so you can all call me for cheap :) so do! Although I did speak to one guy in Winnipeg who was very confused as to why a Brit in Montreal was answering a Winnipeg phone number... hehehe.
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
French classes are good, my teacher is actually from France which means I can understand him (yay!) as opposed to most people on the street who just sound like they're talking a different language. Although even this guy isn't infallible - he answered a question the other day with "Yup, c'est ca". Hmm. But it's fun, we all talk in French even outside the class because there's people from all over - a Swiss German guy, Mexicans, a Japanese girl... so it's fun. On Valentine's Day we're having a party apparently, with "romantic French music" and things... could be fun!
Rob was here last weekend, yay! It was weird, it had only been three weeks and not the regulation three months... I was excited. I even went out to meet him at the airport (it would've been a metro and two bus journey, but then Brian - one of my housemates - gave me a lift. The thought was still there though!), bought sushi and beer and made brownies with my other housemate Spencer and his friend Danielle... I was a little drunk by the time I went to the airport, but what do you expect at 10.30 on a Friday night?
The problem with weekend visiting is that it's really just Saturday. We went shopping (although I was grumpy about that, sorry) and then went to meet Rob's friend Arlen and went out for dinner, which was very cool and we got to speak French (or me and Arlen did, Rob - even though he knows French - decided to speak English, really confusing the waitresses). Then we sat and watched films at home with people and drank more wine. A good time.
That's all for now, have decided to make an effort to write more often. It's like a new month's resolution, if you will. Oh and if anyone wants to get in touch, both the Warrington and Winnipeg phone numbers that are floating around are forwarded to my mobile phone here, so you can all call me for cheap :) so do! Although I did speak to one guy in Winnipeg who was very confused as to why a Brit in Montreal was answering a Winnipeg phone number... hehehe.
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Birthday Wishes
Just to say I hope my sister had a very good 18th yesterday, and isn't too hungover today... and good luck with your exams!
And a happy birthday to my nan tomorrow, sorry I can't be there but have fun anyway (I know it might be hard... :) )
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
And a happy birthday to my nan tomorrow, sorry I can't be there but have fun anyway (I know it might be hard... :) )
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Silly Montreal
It appears the weather everywhere in the world is crazy. We had snow, then it all froze to a nice glassy finish, and this morning as I was heading to the metro it was raining (and hasn't stopped) resulting in the pavements having that well-known adhesive surface of ice overlaid with water. I (and the rest of the people I saw out) walked on the road. Well, they should grit the pavements too!
So what, you may ask, was I doing out in the morning? It is a good question. I was on my way to talk to a very nice lady from the YMCA language school, to see about volunteering (and possibly getting paid... but visas are funny things). Here's what happened:
I went in, we had a chat, she said volunteering would be fine and she'd see about a reduction in the cost of a French class (obviously I'm not needed to teach French, cos that'd be silly). So I did the test de niveau and got 5 (out of 6, not bad when I haven't spoken French since June and kept trying to answer in Russian) and the lady who did my conversation part said I could join the evening class which has already started, but only a week ago. That's tomorrow night.
When I came home, I got a phone call saying that I could start the class tomorrow (just to make sure I knew) and that because I was volunteering I wouldn't have to pay the $115 foreign person registration fee and would also get 10% off the cost of the course. Not bad for an hour a week taking an oral class!
So that's good, I'll head off to class tomorrow night and realise I really shouldn't be there... :)
But at least it means progress is being made on the speaking of French in Montreal, a surprisingly difficult task in a city where you're greeted in shops by "Bonjour, can I help you ce matin?". Takes a bit of getting used to.
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
So what, you may ask, was I doing out in the morning? It is a good question. I was on my way to talk to a very nice lady from the YMCA language school, to see about volunteering (and possibly getting paid... but visas are funny things). Here's what happened:
I went in, we had a chat, she said volunteering would be fine and she'd see about a reduction in the cost of a French class (obviously I'm not needed to teach French, cos that'd be silly). So I did the test de niveau and got 5 (out of 6, not bad when I haven't spoken French since June and kept trying to answer in Russian) and the lady who did my conversation part said I could join the evening class which has already started, but only a week ago. That's tomorrow night.
When I came home, I got a phone call saying that I could start the class tomorrow (just to make sure I knew) and that because I was volunteering I wouldn't have to pay the $115 foreign person registration fee and would also get 10% off the cost of the course. Not bad for an hour a week taking an oral class!
So that's good, I'll head off to class tomorrow night and realise I really shouldn't be there... :)
But at least it means progress is being made on the speaking of French in Montreal, a surprisingly difficult task in a city where you're greeted in shops by "Bonjour, can I help you ce matin?". Takes a bit of getting used to.
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Looks like I left Russia at the right time!
Found this on the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4619994.stm
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
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E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Friday, January 13, 2006
Montreal!
I'm finally in Montreal, which I finally got around to exploring today (we've been having issues with not having enough keys, but they arrived today so I disappeared off into town). I like the city, although I did end up a bit lost and in a sketchy part of town... but then I found the gay village and felt ok :)
I'm trying to get a job sorted out, but I can't remember how to write a cv in French... I have one on my computer but not the programme to open it with! Ah well it will be good practice. There's a few climbing walls around here so if the Language school thing doesn't work out I'm going to try to do something in one of those. I keep calling the woman from the YMCA, but keep getting her voicemail - maybe she changed her mind about me!
Ok well back to the searching of how to write in French...
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
I'm trying to get a job sorted out, but I can't remember how to write a cv in French... I have one on my computer but not the programme to open it with! Ah well it will be good practice. There's a few climbing walls around here so if the Language school thing doesn't work out I'm going to try to do something in one of those. I keep calling the woman from the YMCA, but keep getting her voicemail - maybe she changed her mind about me!
Ok well back to the searching of how to write in French...
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Well
It's been a busy time!
Fernie was amazing, all Rocky Mountain-y and stuff. Not much snow, more rain (which I complained about - I mean I went all that way for snow and got rain! The cheek!).
Christmas felt a bit strange away from home, I felt like I'd missed it somehow! But I got to talk to all my family and stuff so that was good. The Tullochs are a friendly bunch too, so even though it was strange it was still good and I felt very welcome. Lots of Christmas pudding too, which is always good!
When we actually got some snow, Alison (Rob's brother's girlfriend) and I went for some snowboarding lessons - it was so much fun! Our instructor was a guy from Glasgow, which made me feel like I was at home... there was lots of falling over as you might expect, but it was easier than I thought it would be. Well, part of it was! I can heel-side quite well, because I'm facing down the slope and that's ok, but I can't toe-side very well - facing up the slope and going down effectively backwards is really strange! Anyway, we eventually got brave enough to go on a proper run and not the little hill we were learning on... I was working on going from heel to toe (I can do toe to heel) when I had a bit of a fall and sprained my wrist really painfully :(
So we came off the hill, unsurprisingly cos I don't like being in pain, and Rob's mum made us go to the hospital. Canadian hospitals are expensive for a Brit who is used to walking in and being treated for free! $400 as a standard fee and then another $50 for seeing a doctor... but the x-ray was free. It's not broken so that's good! I felt better than the guy who came in as I was leaving who had his arm all bandaged up and a dislocated shoulder... when the doctor asked him what he'd done, he just said "You tell me". Good answer.
Anyway, I now owe Rob $450 which I hope my insurance will pay up. I have enough paperwork to keep them busy for a while, so it should be ok. I still can't heel-to-toe either. Next time (I can just picture my mum shaking her head in despair!).
Other things I remember from Fernie are Peter learning how to dance like an Oompa-Loompa, which was hilarious, sitting in the hot tub with beer (mmmm) and the madness of the stockings (aka ski boots... yes, eeewww but they fit more in :) ) - Billy's stocking stuffer was a pack of cards which had George Bush's head superimposed on lots of different women's bodies (creepy), and Peter's was a Santa made from toilet roll, complete with hat. Genius!
New Year's was spent at a friend's house here in Winnipeg. Good party which lasted far too long!
Now we've only got another couple of days before I head off to Montreal, and Rob leaves for Chicago. That's going to be strange! But before that, we've got people to see and films to watch. We saw Narnia the other day, which I enjoyed, and today we're planning on going to Harry Potter because I still haven't seen it and that's bad.
Ok Rob's finally got moving so I think we're off shortly. Like I keep saying, more when I can!
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
Fernie was amazing, all Rocky Mountain-y and stuff. Not much snow, more rain (which I complained about - I mean I went all that way for snow and got rain! The cheek!).
Christmas felt a bit strange away from home, I felt like I'd missed it somehow! But I got to talk to all my family and stuff so that was good. The Tullochs are a friendly bunch too, so even though it was strange it was still good and I felt very welcome. Lots of Christmas pudding too, which is always good!
When we actually got some snow, Alison (Rob's brother's girlfriend) and I went for some snowboarding lessons - it was so much fun! Our instructor was a guy from Glasgow, which made me feel like I was at home... there was lots of falling over as you might expect, but it was easier than I thought it would be. Well, part of it was! I can heel-side quite well, because I'm facing down the slope and that's ok, but I can't toe-side very well - facing up the slope and going down effectively backwards is really strange! Anyway, we eventually got brave enough to go on a proper run and not the little hill we were learning on... I was working on going from heel to toe (I can do toe to heel) when I had a bit of a fall and sprained my wrist really painfully :(
So we came off the hill, unsurprisingly cos I don't like being in pain, and Rob's mum made us go to the hospital. Canadian hospitals are expensive for a Brit who is used to walking in and being treated for free! $400 as a standard fee and then another $50 for seeing a doctor... but the x-ray was free. It's not broken so that's good! I felt better than the guy who came in as I was leaving who had his arm all bandaged up and a dislocated shoulder... when the doctor asked him what he'd done, he just said "You tell me". Good answer.
Anyway, I now owe Rob $450 which I hope my insurance will pay up. I have enough paperwork to keep them busy for a while, so it should be ok. I still can't heel-to-toe either. Next time (I can just picture my mum shaking her head in despair!).
Other things I remember from Fernie are Peter learning how to dance like an Oompa-Loompa, which was hilarious, sitting in the hot tub with beer (mmmm) and the madness of the stockings (aka ski boots... yes, eeewww but they fit more in :) ) - Billy's stocking stuffer was a pack of cards which had George Bush's head superimposed on lots of different women's bodies (creepy), and Peter's was a Santa made from toilet roll, complete with hat. Genius!
New Year's was spent at a friend's house here in Winnipeg. Good party which lasted far too long!
Now we've only got another couple of days before I head off to Montreal, and Rob leaves for Chicago. That's going to be strange! But before that, we've got people to see and films to watch. We saw Narnia the other day, which I enjoyed, and today we're planning on going to Harry Potter because I still haven't seen it and that's bad.
Ok Rob's finally got moving so I think we're off shortly. Like I keep saying, more when I can!
--
Coffee is thicker than water...
http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com
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