Happy Halloween from TROGDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!! I wish I could take the credit for the pumpkin carving but unfortunately it was Adrian's creative genius once again. And the Trogdor comes in the niiiiiiiiight!!!
Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about... allow me to introduce you to the original Trogdor
I don't feel like whining about being back in Canada today... And trust me, I have many reasons to be whining... especially now that I'm studying taxation and learning that for every $100 you earn in salary (if you are in the highest tax bracket), $48 of that goes to the government, leaving you with a mere $52 in my wallet... With 48% of my hard earned cash going to the government, you'd think they could make roads that didn't collpse... Why would anyone want to stay in this arctic wasteland?!
but N-E-wayz
Angie posted the following bulletin on MySpace and I figured it fit the theme of my life for the last week. Let me explain... in an effort to procrastinate, I started cleaning out my desk drawers and discovered my old diaries and school agendas from high school. You think I'm a drama queen now? Imagine what I was like as a teenager. Good lord. The post was called 8th grade hell but to be honest, my first 3 years of high school all blend into one. So here's a little bit of superficial fun because my brain is fried from this mornings lesson on corporate taxation. Let's see how well my memory serves me....
8TH GRADE HELL Your 8th grade year in Middle School is supposed to be "the worst year of your life." Let's see how much you remember. I know for some it might be hard for you to go back that far!
1. who was your best friend? Chiara, Catherine, Suzie... We were joined at the hip.
2. Who did you like? THAT guy... Then Noah for a little while... and then THAT guy again... But we don't talk about him.
3. What sport did you play? Judo. That was back when I actually competed and won stuff...
4. Did you buy your lunch? No way. My mom made my lunch every day and I would trade my Mom's homemade bread for stuff that was less healthy (like pizza and cookies and Suzie's mom's gyoza--well Korean gyoza)
5. It's Friday night, where were you? In 8th grade?! Probably watching TV and going to bed early. I had judo Saturday mornings. I was 13 for most of 8th grade. SHEESH.
6. Were you a party animal? No. I think I had my first cigarette in 8th grade though. I almost threw up afterwards. Didn't pick up another one for awhile after that.
7. Were you in the "In Crowd" I suppose with only 40 people in 8th grade (all girls), there isn't really much of an "in crowd". But if there had been, I probably would have been in it.
8. Ever skip school? Um no. Well unless you count being late for class because we took the "long way" to see the boys at Selwyn House on our way back from mass... (I went to an all-girl Catholic school)
10. Did you go to football games? Not in grade 8. We didn't have the student population to have sports teams. I went to a few Loyola football games later in my high school career...
11. Did you get suspended/expelled? AS IF. I was probably the biggest suck-up on the planet.
12. Can you sing the alma mater? I think so. It's sung to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"... La vie est une musique, quand l'amour est à la clef. Tout est beau tout est magique tout est un jour de congé. Le soleil dans les yeux qui brille joue la cantate des couleurs... Joie d'un matin qui pétille d'amitié et de bonheur.
13. Who was your favorite teacher? Madame Rousseau. She was awesome. She still is. I still talk to her to this day. She even sent me teaching materials when I was in Japan (which were super useful)
14. Favorite class? History with Madame Rousseau. Hands down.
15. What was your schools full name? Villa Sainte-Marcelline
16. School mascot? ME!!!! Well probably not. We didn't have one.
17. Did you go to dances? Yes but they were lame because it was an all-girls school.
18. If you could go back and do it over, would you? With the knowledge that I have now? Absolutely. And I would kick THAT guy in the balls. Many, many, many times over. But if I were to relive it again
19. What do you remember most about Middle School? THAT guy... unfortunately 20. Favorite memory of your 8th grade year? School trip: Planet Hollywood in NY, meeting Mary Hart and getting on Entertainment Tonight...
21. Were you ever posted up on the 8th graders wall? I don't think there was an 8th graders wall... What would make 8th graders so special that they would get a wall?
22. Did you have a job? I was a Counselor in Training in the summer after 8th grade... does that count?
23. Where did you go most often for lunch? To the St-Joseph's Oratory Cafeteria... In the poshness of Westmount and the watchful eyes of the nuns, there weren't too many places where we could go. 24. What did you do after 8TH GRADE? See question 22.
25. Did you like your eighth grade year? No. Two words: THAT GUY... Grade 9 was leaps and bounds better.
So I've been home for almost 3 months now. I can hardly believe it. I think about Japan all the time and I miss it. I miss the people, I miss my friends, I miss the service, the food, I even miss the super annoying "Irrasshaimase" every time you walk into a store. I miss convenient convenience stores, the Moritanis, the Goido/Haibara train ride, Capricciosa, cheap grocery store sushi, Utage, my tiny apartment, Tuesday's language exchange and Thursday cooking, crazy Japanese TV, onsen, that guy on Karada de Asobo (he is hot), all-you-can-eat Brazilian meat restaurants, my elementary school students, shopping in the Shitty with Laura, hanami, shoes, sake, nomihodai, Maru, Yacht Rock karaoke... Sometimes, I head home from school on the bus (packed like a train to Osaka at rush hour) and wish that I was back there.
Don't get me wrong, I love Montreal but coming back here has been a challenge and a half. And the funny thing is, it's much easier living here than it was to live as a foreigner in Japan. Not speaking the language, never fitting in, constantly being started at, talked about, stopped by the cops because you're coming out of the Family Mart at 11:30PM... Life in Montreal is not nearly as exhausting and I think that's what the problem is. Every day in Japan was a learning experience. When I came home, I was so happy to have real pizza with no corn or mayo to be seen, real Montreal bagels and smoked meat, shopping for underwear that actually fit, home cooked gourmet meals...
But everything seems to have lost it's lustre (everything except the home cooked gourmet meals--thanks Mom!) And with October in full swing... the leaves are almost gone from the trees, Montreal is about to be plunged into 6 months of winter (crap)... it's cold, rainy and dark. Octobers suck. It's probably just the October blues talking and the fact that I live in the suburbs with no car and no income (at least now I have a keitai--my only connection to the outside world). It's all very confusing, to be honest. It feels as though Japan was nothing more than a dream. A very real dream but a dream nonetheless. All the people I met, fleeting. All the places I visited, fading... There were certainly things I didn't like (the fact that I only had 8 hours of class time, WGJTE, paying $2.50 for a peach) and I know that if I were to go back, I'd start complaining about them all over again... But that is the nature of being human. We always want what we can't have. I know that coming home was the best decision for me. But when I look outside and see grey, it helps to be reminded that there is also a little bit of silver...
So this past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. This means that I got to eat turkey and stuffing for the first time in over 2 years, which made me really happy. This weekend was super busy seeing as we had 11 people in the house. My cousin and her friends (5 of them) came to spend the long weekend in Montreal. Her friends are all Thai natives and had never experienced Thanksgiving before so my family was happy to oblige.
I spent all weekend working up an appetite for dinner Sunday night. We went sightseeing all day Saturday. Every time I go exploring the city, I realize how much I really love Montreal. It's so much more charming than any other city in Canada. Montreal has style, Montreal has character. The only problem with Montreal is that it's in Quebec and is thus plagued with the never-ending politics of the language debate... It is nevertheless a really nice city. I went out dancing for the first time since I got back and let me just say that I keep forgetting how much I actually like going clubbing. PLUS, the no-smoking-in-public-places thing ROCKS. You can dance all night and not worry about smelling like smoke. Sweat yes, but not smoke. Sunday we went hiking in the Laurentians (an extention of the Adirondak Mountains in New York State). The highest peak--Mont Tremblant ("Shaking Mountain"--comes in at a mere 960m which is hardly anything to get excited about. The girls wanted to see the fall colours in all their glory and the plan was to head up to Tremblant but we ran out of time since, we opted for Mont Saint-Sauveur which is closer, smaller but still very pretty. Saint-Sauveur is a ski hill in the winter and a water park in the summer but in the fall, it is open for "hiking". I put it in brackets because there isn't actually a trail until about halfway up so for the first half of the hike we were scaling a 70 degree slope... NOT FUN. Nice view though. It only took about 30-40 minutes to get to the top then we headed back down for some outlet shopping. YAY! Back at the house, my mom and dad were busy getting ready for dinner. My parents love entertaining and they are good at it. We had 13 people over for dinner, a 7kg turkey and there were still tons of leftovers!
And I leave you with some pictures. Because pictures are worth a thousand words and I'm lazy.
The St-Joseph's Oratory... our first stop.
Adrian expressing his delight at being back at the Oratory for the fourth time since my triumphant return to Montreal.
The whole crew at the bottom of the stairs. Notice that Adrian is the only guy...
Yet another picture from the lookout. This time with the striking reds and yellows of fall.
The crew walking along the marina in Old Montreal. Usually it's quite deserted at this time of year but with the summer-like weather we had, it was bustling with people enjoying the sights.
Pam, Fon, Beam and Nin... on the way up the mountain.
Greens and yellows and reds, Oh My!
Our 6 guests taking a break at the top of the "mountain".
Pam the chameleon blending in with the scenery.
The little town of Saint-Sauveur. Not much besides condos, cottages and Outlet stores...
One last shot of charming Montreal...
And ME! Just in case any of you have forgotten what I look like (^_^)
Well OK... It's actually Laval. But it's about the same really. Autoroute 19 (Highway 19 if you don't speak "le French") collapsed just after noon on Saturday (yesterday). An entire section of overpass collapsed onto the highway below, crushing cars, killing and injuring several people. How does something like that happen. I know the roads in Quebec are bad (seeing as all our tax money--the highest in the country, mind you--goes to buying state-of-the-art rulers so that Office de la langue française can measure the English on signs)... but this is just unbelievable...
The image was taken from CTV.ca and you can find the full story here... I don't want any real copyright complaints.
Had the experience of a lifetime in Japan... 2 years of my life flew by and I barely even noticed
Now I'm back to being just a plain ol' Canadian... I'll try not to bore you
Happy Halloween from TROGDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!! I wish I could take the credit for the pumpkin carving but unfortunately it was Adrian's creative genius once again. And the Trogdor comes in the niiiiiiiiight!!!
The St-Joseph's Oratory... our first stop.
Adrian expressing his delight at being back at the Oratory for the fourth time since my triumphant return to Montreal.
The whole crew at the bottom of the stairs. Notice that Adrian is the only guy...
Yet another picture from the lookout. This time with the striking reds and yellows of fall.
The crew walking along the marina in Old Montreal. Usually it's quite deserted at this time of year but with the summer-like weather we had, it was bustling with people enjoying the sights.
Pam, Fon, Beam and Nin... on the way up the mountain.
Greens and yellows and reds, Oh My!
Our 6 guests taking a break at the top of the "mountain".
Pam the chameleon blending in with the scenery.
The little town of Saint-Sauveur. Not much besides condos, cottages and Outlet stores...
One last shot of charming Montreal...
And ME! Just in case any of you have forgotten what I look like (^_^)
The image was taken from CTV.ca and you can find the full story here... I don't want any real copyright complaints.
