Le parfum de Montreal

So for a couple of days (at least since I've been here) the city smells. Maybe not the entire city, but near where I work. And even gets into the ducts and my office stinks. Like manure.
The first time it happened I got really self conscious. I wasn't sure what was going on and I have to admit that I did a self-check to make sure I didn't step in something or have some sort of accident that I wasn't aware of. I mean, the smell was bad and very apparent.
I finally asked a colleague the most recent time that I smelled it if he noticed anything and he let me know that across the river, the farms are taking care of their fields and it just wafts into the city.
So I'm not going crazy!

Marche Jean-Talon

As you know, I've been making Jean-Talon my market of choice when I have time to go. It's close to where I live and it's awesome. Most recently when I went, I noticed that they winterfied it.
In nice weather there are so many outdoor stalls in the market, but with the colder weather approaching (or here, depending on how you look at it) they've erected gazebo/tent/covered areas so that the 'outdoor' vendors are in fact 'indoors'. I'm not sure if this will mean that there are less vendors in the cold weather seasons than in the warm-weather seasons (I'm suspecting so)but it's still a nice place to pick up produce and grab a snack.

One of the times that I was at the market, I decided to have a snack of sausages on a stick. I didn't have the list of sausage types with me as I was snacking so I'm not able to remember which type I preferred (I can definitely say it wasn't the lamb, though!) but it was neat to try the variety that was available. It's the "Super 8" that I got, bien sur!
Each time I'm there, I see people ordering different things off of the menu and I can't help but giggle when I see people gnawing at the meat off the bone. I should nab a picture of it the next time I'm there.

"Welcome to Quebec!"

I had a lovely phone conversation with a gentleman about exchanging my Driver's License. After figuring out the logistics of what I need to bring with me to my appointment (booking one-month in advance!) to get my new driver's license, he told me about how much it cost to keep said license. Turns out QC folks have to renew their license every year on their birthday. And pay a nice little sum of money to boot. "What a horrible birthday present!" I said to my fellow Quebecker. I told him about the differences in Ontario and we had a good laugh. To which he said, well, you can probably guess!
I'm kind of sad to be turning over my Ontario card. I like it. And it'll be an reminder of this big change in my life...and my identity. One that I'm still grappling with.

Amelie

I watched one of my favorite films (if not THE favorite) again last night for the first time in a couple of years. It was perfect.
There's so much about that film that resonates with me, and with how things have been going for me recently (emotionally and otherwise), I'm glad I watched the film again.

Scorched

I recently attended a performance of Scorched by the graduating class of the National Theatre School (NTS).

It was incredible. But brace yourself.

I didn't have a chance to do any research or look into the premise of the play. Of course there are pros and cons to this strategy for seeing productions, but for me, at the end of the play, I was in a little bit of shock. I just wasn't sure how to process what I had watched, and wasn't able to go beyond the surface of what happened.

Content aside, the production was awesome. The acting seemed really good (although, I wonder if I would be able to tell if the acting wasn't good?), but I was most impressed with the staging of the production (which, students of the NTS took care of as well). It was a "theatre in the round" set up, and there was clearly a lot of care that went into the staging and choreography of it all. I liked the use of props in the production. The lighting and special effects were also great.

Well, the run of the production is over, so it's not like you can go out and see it for yourself. I guess the take away is that the National Theatre School has some great productions that I will continue to look into (and you can/should too) and that Scorched is a great play. I've only clued in, after the fact, that it's Incendies which I remember reading about when it made the rounds (during TIFF and otherwise).

Cendre des Pres

I went back to the cheese shop yesterday. I told them about the cheese that we'd gotten the last time and that I wanted to get something similar. I told the salesperson that I liked the creaminess. She asked is there was assez de gout, and yes, the taste was strong enough for me. I'm still a little shy when it comes to pungent cheese.
She offered me a couple cheeses to try. One left too much of a plastic and rubbery taste in my mouth and the other was too salty.

In the end, I decided to go for the Cendre des Pres from the Fromagerie Domaine Feodal.
A description: "Pâte molle à croûte fleurie cendrée au centre comme le morbier. Tres cremeux et leger. 1er service." (Translated by Google for those who need it)
I like that the label from the cheese shop also comes with recommendations for the type of wine that pairs best. It's not specific enough to suggest a specific wine, but to say blanc ou rouge fruite.

I have to admit, the ash throws me off. I think I like everything around the ash the best...which probably defeats the whole point of the cheese. (I'm a work in progress, ok?) But it's not like I'm eating around it. I'm a big girl and eating the whole thing and it's quite good. I like the creaminess of it and (again) the mild flavour. I think I like the Saint-Honore better, but it's good to try different things.

I'm wondering if I should keep trying similar types of cheese or go with something completely different next time. Or maybe try out a different cheese shop too? There seem to be many to choose from here. All of the grocery stores have a better selection than what I'm used to. But I think the specialty shops would be better for me as they will be able to help me select cheeses and I can try them out before committing to a purchase.

Saint-Honore

My first (!!!) experience buying cheese was great. I was intimidated to go into the shop similar to people I know are intimidated to go into the boutiques that I've come to realize aren't that scary (even if you have no intention of buying anything).

While walking around Jean-Talon Market, we had decided that a perfect lunch would be cheese and a baguette, so of course we had to find somewhere to buy the cheese (I already knew of plenty places to get a great baguette). We walked into Qui lait cru and were helped by a friendly and eager young man. I had no idea what was going on and what to buy, but it was decided that we should get a sharp cheddar (I forget the name of it, but we opted for a 10-year old cheddar with salt in the rind rather than a 15 year old one) and a brie.

We a tasted a couple different brie's, but in the end, we went the Saint-Honore. It was really good. It melted in your mouth and didn't have a strong flavour (ideal for a cheese neophyte like myself). It was so soft that we were basically able to spread it on the baguette, so I think I partially enjoyed it for its creaminess like I was eating a good butter on bread (without the actual butter taste though).

I still get a little confused by the rind and what to do with it, but I'm sure I'll get over that pretty quickly. Anyway, this cheese was clearly yummy enough to get me inspired to try to eat more cheese in the future.

An important goal

When I lived in Europe, I conquered mustard. I also tried to conquer olives, but that didn't seem to fly.

Here, I think I'm going to try to conquer cheese. I think conquer is the wrong word. Ultimately, I'd like to get to know more about cheese and expand my cheese repertoire.

This past weekend, I went to a cheese shop in the market. Encouraged by my cheese-loving friend, we chatted with one of the folks and the shop and narrowed our purchases down to a 5-year old sharp cheddar (instead of a 10-year old one) and a brie that didn't have a strong taste (we'd sampled a couple that we didn't enjoy as much) but absolutely melted in your mouth.

Coupled with a baguette and some tomatoes (I've also recently learned of the awesomeness that is salt on tomatoes), it lent itself to an awesome meal (or two) and our goal of having a faux-Paris weekend.

"To justice and all!"

I've had an awesome day, and this video contributed to that awesomeness.
Great choice of background music too!

Lovely weekend

Having weekends to relax is key. Whoever decided that there should be a five day work week really thought things through.
Yesterday, I finally made it down to a street that I wanted to explore and while the weather wasn't great, it was still nice to just be in the fresh air and walk around and take my time. I followed that up with a trip to the market. Lovely, of course. I was able to tidy up my place a little bit and try to reduce the number of boxes that are still scattered around. A quiet evening at home was exactly what I needed.
Today, after a lazy start to the day, I headed out in search of doughnuts. They have three different flavours: sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate and since they're quite small I got one of each to try. By the time I got the the grocery store just a block away, I had finished them all. I'd recommend the sugar and cinnamon ones over the chocolate. Actually, no, try them all for yourself so that you can decide. The place was very busy with a line almost out the door. As I waited, I admired the original art on the wall and felt very, err, square. I was in hipster haven. It was in the Mile End, so I guess it makes sense, but it still throws me off to be smack dab in the middle of the scene. Hipsters have a very unique look.
Anyway, done with my doughnuts, I picked up some items at the grocery store and people were buying leeks like crazy! They were on sale, but some people were buying multiple bunches. Is there something going on that I don't know about? I wonder what they were going to do with all of them?
Heading back to my place, I realized that some cultures go to school on Sundays. Not only do I live close to hipster-ville, I also live close to a Hasidic Jewish community. It's interesting learning more about different cultures and communities.
So now that I'm back at my place, I've decided to have a quiet rest of the day in. I see more cleaning and organizing on the horizon and I think I'm going to make a big batch of soup. Sunday is usually a big cooking day for me!

IE's MP3 Experiment 11

Improv Everywhere is still doing its thing and has posted the outcome of the MP3 Experiment Eleven.
It always looks like a fun time and the 'inventors' always come up with accessible, simple, yet fun ideas.
I hope I can participate in another mission in the future!

Back to "ha ha ha-ing"

Heading back 'home' on another swanky train ride. This train is a little older so the set up is a little different, but the drink cart still rolls by just as frequently.
They just turned off the cabin lights (or whatever you'd call the equivalent in a train) and literally a second later, you see everyone's hand reach up to turn their reading lamp on. I wasn't sure if the delay was people taking a moment to think "What's up with that?!?" or just the time that it takes to send a signal from your brain to your arm. I'd say 95% of the people in this car are on their laptop or iPad and the other 5% are reading an actual book or the newspaper.
The percentage will hopefully change a bit once they bring food out (soon - I can smell it!) or afterwards when I create a new category (people who as asleep). I'm pretty tired.
Anyway, I found it incredibly amusing to see all of those lights being turned on like that.

P.S. Quebec City is beautiful. Hopefully I'll have a chance to return to really see the city.

Still ha ha ha-ing...

Overheard from my swanky seat:
"Can you make a Manhattan? Ok, fine, I'll have another gin and tonic."

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

Ha ha ha...

And the drink cart rolls by...again...

"Digestif, madame?"

Ha ha ha...I love the Frenchies...
(yes, I know that it's not just Europeans who enjoy a drink after their meal...but I'll always associate it with them)

Train adventures

I loved taking the train when I lived in Switzerland. I really can't speak ill of the SBB. I mean really, what's not to like? I'm not entirely sure if I had the opportunity to take 1er class though. If it did, I think it was just once. And I think it was because we were traveling as a group and they ran out of spaces in 2nd class or something so a couple of us teachers got bumped up for a portion of the trip. Actually, yes, I'm sure that's what happened.

So here I am, back in Canada and I only rode the train here for the first time a couple years ago. Since then, I've taken it a couple times and I think based on my current location, I'll probably ride it more often.

In fact, I write this post on the train. Sitting in my swanky Business class seat. And this is a first for me. It's pretty nice. I hung out in the Business lounge at the train station beforehand. Waited in a special line to board the train. Have my swanky seat and side table. And then quite soon after we started moving forwards (we actually backed out of the train station and then changed direction to head towards our destination), the drink cart came. I wasn't expecting that. It's almost a shame that I don't drink because their selection look pretty decent. Anyway, my l'eau pétillante (I guess they don't say gazeuse here) avec citron was lovely. So mere moments after I finished my grignote (I'll always think of my colleague from CH when I hear that word, because I remember learning it when we went out for dinner one night), the cart came by again with warm towels. Swanky. And then a voice come over the speaker telling us of our three meal options.

So...I had a relatively large snack before going to the train station because I thought that I would miss a meal tonight. Oops.

In classic 'me' style, I ate the entire meal. Darn it, I definitely was going to take advantage of my new experience! Maybe a train meal isn't anything special, but remember, I like airplane meals too, so I was pretty stoked for this. I even ate the stinky cheese (progress!) that came with the cheese course. It was a nice touch to have cheesecake for dessert. I love cheesecake. And they kept offering wine like it was going out of style. I guess my only issue was that the tray table seemed very far away from the seat. I guess they want to ensure that we have enough leg room and errr, that people of all sizes are comfortable.

So this train ride's been fun. They even asked if I needed a taxi once I arrived to my stop ("We want to make sure that there are enough taxis waiting."). Gosh.

Slowly but surely

This morning was probably the first time since I've moved that I almost got that 'glowing' feeling. Step 1: Wake up when your body tells you to.
Step 2: Don't go in to work (it's Saturday, so many of you would think this is obvious, but it's not)

I finally made it to the Jean-Talon Market which is quite close to where I live.
Just a hop, skip and a jump across the Blue line. The look of the stations, the metro on wheels, and the sound of the closing door alarm reminded me that although I'm in the same country, I can still feel like I'm in a foreign land.
I stopped off at a shop on the way there that did remind me of 'home' (which, in itself, I need to assess my understanding about that word) and then onto the market.
Normally a brisk walker, it's a clear sign of 'something' when I slow down (in stride and in life). And that's when I felt it. It might not have been to the degree that it can be, but it was there and that's the most important thing. I also found a Chinese grocery store nearby and that was another nice moment. I think it's not really the 'home' thing, but a sense of reassurance or familiarity that is nice.
I'm just munching on a sandwich (with dijon mustard - oh la la!!!) that I picked up at a local bakery (I have now tried each of the three bakeries in my neighbourhood that neighbours/locals have talked about - one is meant to go to each for different reasons) before heading off on another adventure this afternoon.

Now why has it taken me this long to have a day like today? Lots of reasons, but one of them was that I decided to take on a task (in true, "Darn it, I'm going to try it all!"). The first deadline was yesterday and there were a lot of hours and worry invested into it before taking a break from it for the weekend. But the stress was worth it. I'm doing what I love (so I lied, after a late night at work last week walking to the bus stop, I got a twinge of 'glow').

But really...has anything changed?

Seven years ago, I thought I should be changing the "bio" section of my blog. I never got around to it (partly because I loved the mood I must have been in to write such a bio). As life went on and my blog waned in priority the bio remained untouched.
It's been awhile since I've actually looked at my blog (usually I just type a new post, hit publish and move on) but just moments ago, I clicked through some of its pages and was reminded of this bio. I read it again and thought...maybe there is no need to change it. It still speaks to who I am and what I am doing.

Life lessons

You know, relocating 10 years later seems 10 times more...I don't want to say difficult. It's not that, maybe, complex?

The last time I sprained my ankle was about 7 years after the first (and only other) time I sprained my ankle. It also seemed more "complex".

Whatever happens as a result of time passing (I hope it's not simply "getting older"?), I'm realizing that more patience is needed.

It's very different when something happens again years later. And really, can you compare the two situations? At first glance, they seem to be identical, but looking a little deeper maybe the situations aren't so alike afterall.

Is it that we're not quite as quick to adapt (so thinking that I'm somehow regressing)? Or that because there is so much more with which to contend that it just takes more time to put together this complex Ravensburger puzzle.

I should think that it would be obvious that I am a different person years later as a result of all of the additional experiences that I have had. But I am the same person. My body still inhabits the same physical space that it did before. As does my mind and soul. I may have evolved in some ways, but I hope that it doesn't mean that I have lost some of what I believe to be my best qualities as a result.

The things you notice/take for granted...

- In QC, you don't have to put a license plate on the front of your vehicle

- I won't be attending TIFF this year and am rather sad about it (but maybe I'll take the opportunity to actually get around to reviewing the film I saw last year) but serendipitously I could attend a different festival going on right now. Friends used to complain about TIFF's crappy website. For the record, I never had a problem with it. And I like it better than The Montreal World Film Festival's website. I think it's unreasonable to have to pick a film based on a one line description (although, I have to say that I've ended up googling the films and looking for trailers and such online to help inform my decisions).

- Muffin wrappers/liners here are squares

Almost there

Just waiting to board my last flight for a little while (I hope). I would have thought that I'd have a different feeling about being at the airport this time around, but for some reason it doesn't feel all that different. Why? What is wrong with me? When will it hit?