Living in dog years? – July 24, 2009

Maybe it's because I'm only in Quebec for 5 weeks, but I feel like there's so many things going on each day that the past 3 weeks actually felt more like 3 months...

It's been a pretty active few days – I went kayaking on Tuesday (the weather was PERFECT – sunny and hot, with just a little breeze), and last Sat, I went for a hike on Mount St Anne (an hr drive or so outside of Quebec City) and saw the St Anne Basilica with the school group. I wish I could tell you about the view at the top of Mount St Anne, but I did that hike in the pouring rain, so we couldn't see anything – it was a good hike though! I definitely wouldn't mind doing it again in drier weather.

The basilica was absolutely beautiful – if any of you ever come into Quebec with a car, it's definitely worth the drive. I'm not religious, but I can't seem to get enough of religious buildings – churches, mosques, temples – I'm into any and all of them. I generally find them to be kind of therapeutic to be in, and I always love the craftsmanship. In terms of churches, I find that the architectural style of each one really reflects how that particular parish interprets their religion – for instance, the St Joseph Oratory in Montreal focused more on the suffering of Christ, the interior feels hard and rigid and sombre, everything's made with stone and iron, and though it's suppose to be a "miracle church", I definitely got a "sinners beware" vibe from it. St Anne's Basilica also has the reputation of being a site for miracles, but the interior is obviously a labour of love, and its murals and texts focuses more on unity and healing. I read in the paper that St Anne is actually the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus – but don't quote me on that, it was a French paper so I'm not sure how perfect my understanding of it is. The most notable thing about this church is the tile work on the interior – there was definitely a mix of Greek/Byzantine/Egyptian influence which I found really interesting. I especially liked the mural narrating the life of St Anne and Jesus on the ceiling of the main hall. St Anne's also felt a lot more welcoming than St Joseph's – they used really warm and vibrant colors, especially in the main hall, and it felt really comforting to be inside. I also have a thing for Jesus portrayals – I find it really interesting that every church seem to have a different "portrait" of Jesus – in St Anne, Jesus ranges from a baby with curly blond hair and blue eyes in the basement, to the adult form of brown hair, brown eyes, and a full beard. The only other religion that I can claim any type of familiarity with is Buddhism, and from what I can gather, the faces of deities are pretty unified across the different branches, and the same goes for the more traditional deities that the Chinese worship.

What I'd like to do someday is to stay in an apartment that has been converted from an old church building. Apparently, after the ultra religious Duplessis era in Quebec, Catholicism lost influence so rapidly that churches were closing down left and right (probably b/c the province was once entirely Catholic and church attendance/activities was mandatory, so if you imagine that churches were like Starbucks in Vancouver, you'd get a pretty accurate pic of how many there were). A lot of the old churches have been converted to serve another purpose, including as residential and commercial buildings – they keep the exterior but completely gut the interior – I think it'd be really neat to stay in one, just so I can say I have =P

Went to another Cirque du Soleil performance tonight – this time, we parked ourselves right up to the center stage – it was great, we could see everything!! I can't believe how lucky we are to be able to see such a great show in such a unique venue, and for free too!! I don't know if they do this every year, but I really hope to see them again before the show ends this weekend. Tickets for Les Miserable is now bought and paid for – going on Sunday – can't wait!! =D

Note to self: learn to whistle – July 20, 2009

The summer music festival ended at last on Sunday – just in time too – I loved spending almost every night on the Plains of Abraham (I love saying that =P) but the whole wohoo-ing bit at concerts did a bit of a number on my throat – I really must learn how to whistle... and now to find other things to occupy my evenings! =D

Placido Domingo was EXCELLENT – the concert ground was completely filled all the way to the back – standing room only too! We got there just as his partner in concert was singing "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady (which is one of my favourite musicals), followed by "Tonight" from West Side Story (another excellent musical) and a bunch of operatic duets and solos by both him and his partner. They were both amazing – really rich and clear tenor and I think mezzo alto voices against a live orchestra on a clear summer night – it was so perfect... LOVED IT!

Sting was alright – not really my type of music, the highlight for me was when he sang "Desert Rose" – love that song, though I've only ever heard the Bon Jovi version. The "Englishman in New York" song (not sure if that's what it's called) was also pretty good. Heh, the man sipped from a tea cup throughout the show – my home-stay host had VIP tickets, she was super close, and she said that he had a little bottle of booze on the stand beside the tea – we think it's brandy =P

Two restaurant recommendations:

1. Chez Victor – gourmet burger place, I had a Mediterranean burger (beef, with a bit of goat cheese), my roommate had a brie burger (pork patty, roasted red pepper sauce, and of course, brie); excellent stuff. Burgers are $10.75, comes with an unbelievably large and tasty pile of fries. Poutine here is suppose to rival Chez Ashton – I look forward to coming back with les school chums
   

   
    

2. Italian Buffet (that's not the name, I forgot what it was) – in Lower Town, on rue Ste. Pierre I think, all you can eat Italian food for $20 per head (cheaper if it's lunch, $12 I think), 3 types of pasta, with salmon, mussels, roast pork (so very delish), salads – REALLY GOOD DESSERT... we had a chocolate cake with a layer of fluffy maple syrup mousse, then we had a Paris-Brest (that's what we're told it's called) which is essentially a puff pastry bagel, with more of that fluffy maple syrup mousse inside.
   

The buffet was an excellent experience – very entertaining waiters =D We got a glass of free wine from one of them, the same guy brought all 3 of us free tequila shots (which I passed onto another waiter b/c I was way too full to put anything else in my body) A truly excellent night with way too many funny stories =P

 

 

Comment dit-on “ROCK ON!!” en français??? - July 17, 2009

The line-up tonight: Blue October and Kiss – it was a great concert even though I'm not really a fan of either bands. Kiss in particular was really entertaining – they really knew how to put on a show – pyro techs with tons of great solos – and of course, the tongue and those fabulous platforms they were all wearing. At first I thought I was just seeing things, but they really were all walking on these 3 or 4 inch platform shoes. The guy stuck his tongue out so many times that the make-up on his chin had all but disappeared after the band's been on for 40 mins – it was kind of funny (but also gross), you can see a patch of pink in the middle of the white make-up – he'd pretty much licked it all off of that area.

I was able to get some pretty sick shots from the screens on either side of the stage in all of the concerts so far – am very impressed w/ my little point-and-shoot ELPH, the night shot function is actually pretty good even on zoom. The photos are decent, I'm going to have to load them up sometime at school.

More concerts coming up over the next 3 evenings – including a Sting concert and a Guy Davis concert. There's also some talk of catching Les Miserable at Le Capitol in Old Quebec – hopefully that'll come through – perhaps I'll get to see Les Miz this summer after all!!

Next on the line-up: Placido Domingo – love those tenors!

Oh crêpe-y goodness... – July 15, 2009

Au Petit Coin Breton can now be crossed off the list – for future reference, I would highly recommend the dessert crêpe w/ pear, ice cream, and nutella – delicious stuff – a plan has been hatched to make a trip just for dessert crêpes. I see epic deliciousness in my future.

Went to a rock concert tonight featuring 2 French and 1 Quebecois bands in the line up – we arrived too late to see Achemede (France), but Pepe Goes Français (Quebecois) and Indochine (France) were definitely good. Both groups have male singers, both have pretty solid voices, though the guy from Indochine definitely has a wider range. I've been told that Indochine is actually huge in Europe – rightfully so I think, they've got a good beat. The main singer did a soft rock duet together that was absolutely beautiful – no other way to describe it (if you're interested, I seem to remember part of the lyrics being "une fille masculine et un garcon feminine"... and then something about holding hands... yeah I know, I'm being super helpful here). The Indochine was doing their 2^nd encore when we left (damn that 830 class...). I've made a mental note to look them up again when internet is more readily available to me, Aside from being able to enjoy really good music, I really think that songs are one of the best ways to learn a language b/c lyrics tend to go slower and are enunciated better than the rapid-fire French the Quebecois likes to dish out. (Seriously, even our phonetics teacher thinks that the Quebecois speaks way too fast.)

Sometime this week, I'm going to try to catch a Quebecois film that just came out this yr called "J'ai tué ma mère" (trans. "I killed my mother). It's about a guy who hates his mother (sort of a family drama I guess), apparently it's a bit autobiographical. Not usually my type of movie, but it comes highly recommended. The guy who produced, directed, and acted in it is only 20 years old!

Dancing in the Rain – July 13, 2009

The weather's been pretty cooperative during our mini-field trips – warm if not sunny. The school organized a trip to a maple sugar cabin (cabane à sucre) earlier in the week - it's a bit late in the year, seeing as sugar season is really in mid-March and early April, when it's warmer during the day but still super cold at night. We were taken to a place called La Cabane à Pierre in Frempton (a very Anglo name for what is apparently a very Quebeçois county in the countryside), where we dined on all-you-can-eat sausages, ham, eggs, meat pies, and beans, of course all drenched in maple syrup. We even had maple syrup on snow, though that was made on a bed of ice as the snow is all gone. It was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I now want to drench everything in maple syrup. The farm had a couple of guys on the guitar and the accordion out to teach the Anglos how to do Quebeçois line dance and a few other folk dances. It was pretty hilarious to watch about 100 people between ages 18 and 30+ of varying language levels trying to following their instructions, plus the dance floor wasn't really big enough for all of us who went out to give it a go – a lot of stumbling and random bumping into each other. More dancing ensued after that, featuring the Macarena, and oddly enough, Ricky Martin. All in all, a great time was had by all.

I bought a concert pass for the Festival d'été earlier this week – it's a really great deal – for $45, you can go to any concerts you want at any one of the venues over the 10-day festival period. Last night, I went to an outdoor concert featuring Divine Brown, Gymclass Heroes, and Sean Paul. I was really there to see Divine Brown, who proved to be absolutely amazing to see and hear live. The concert was about 4 hours – it rained for about 3 but we couldn't use our umbrella because we managed to find a spot just 3 or 4 rows away from the stage – we didn't have a raincoat (soon to be remedied) so my roommate and I were completely drenched by the end. I can't remember the last time I got so wet w/o doing some kind of water sport! I had a great time though – everyone was singing and dancing to the music in between trying to take pictures and videos of the artists (I got about 3 videos of Divine Brown – SO GOOD) – in the end, no one really cared about being wet. I'm planning on catching at least 2 more shows in the coming week – one of them with Placido Domingo (he's a really famous tenor) and hopefully a show by Pierre Lapointe (highly recommended by my home stay when I said that I wanted to see what Quebec music sounded like) Kiss, Sting, and Styx are also all here this week, everyone's crazy about them, not really my thing but maybe I'll go check them out with my school chums. =P

I saw a Cirque du Soleil performance tonight – under a bridge! It's literally a big patch of dirt under two highway overpasses decked out w/ lights, projections, and screens for an outdoor performance. It's part of the Festival d'été, and Cirque du Soleil gives a free performance every Thursday to Sunday night at 9pm – the performance lasts for about an hour, totally worth the wait and the crowds. Really amazing show – I'm going to check them out again later this week, it's gonna be fabulous!!

L’anglais est interdit – July 6th, 2009

First day of school today - apparently BC is the province w/ the 2^nd highest number of students in the program, closely following Ontario. There was a cocktail mixer earlier tonight which was pretty fun. From now on, all hrs I spend at school will have to be "tout en français". Highlight of my day was definitely being handed a stack of cash.... I got $530 to buy food over the next 5 weeks – and that's only because I get breakfast at home stay – the dorm kids get $700 to buy their 3 meals a day. A ridiculous amount of money for food – but it's great because my roommate and I have already kind of got a list of restaurants lined up for the next 5 weeks:

1. Crepes/Gratin at Au Petit Coin de Brêton – I heart gratin BIG TIME, it`s essentially a savoury crepe baked in cheese with things like asparagus, mushroom, and meats
   
2. Le Cochon Dingue (sp?) – suppose to have fantastic breakfast till 2pm, I walked by it last time I was in Quebec, I wanted to go but we didn't have enough time; shall also make an effort to visit Chez Cora (when I find it...)
   
3. Poutine – of course, can`t leave w/o this – Chez Ashton is apparently the way to go here
   
4. I think we're also gonna do a hop-on-hop-off thing with the bus – there's a little stretch of road entering Old Quebec that had tons of really nifty looking restaurants
   
5. Pastries – don't know where yet, but can't leave w/o those yummy French pastries!! Suggestions welcomed!!
   

Shocking info, NO CHINATOWN in Quebec, they DO, however, have a street where a lot of Asian restaurants have opened, my home stay family tells me it's like a "quartier asiatique" – yeah I have no idea how that's possible, because I was under the impression that every major city has a Chinatown in some way/shape/form – but I guess not! Too bad, b/c I was really curious as to what the Chinatown looked like here. Each one is of course a little different – the one in Montreal was super touristy, really play up the faux Chinese gardens and gates, and have tons of imitation Chinese buildings, much more so than the one in Vancouver I thought.... and SO much cleaner!! TONS of good food – can't ever forget those wonderful $8 lobsters!!

If any of you decide to visit Quebec in the future, Quebec City apparently has internet hotspots run by a non-profit called ZAP Quebec – all you have to do is create an account – then as soon as you're at one of the free spots, you'd be able to connect. I tried it the other day – there's a hotspot nearby – connection was pretty good, definitely was happy to find out about it. Apparently they have the same thing in Toronto (though of course a diff org) – just thought I'd drop that lil' tidbit for future ref.

Merde il pleut... – July 4, 2009

Haha so I got told for having an English blog (*ahem* Laurinda *ahem* =P), but you know what? Anglos want to "garder son langue" too! Day 3, and I've already lost count of how many times I've been told that "les Quebecois veulent garder le langue et le culture français du Quebec" – and I haven't even started school yet!

It rained so hard today that the raindrops bounced a foot off of the pavement before settling onto the ground, but that's ok, it can rain itself out today – my landlady informs me that it'll be a beautiful sunny day tomorrow! Is it possible that I can break out the shorts once again? I hope so!!

Did a little bit of exploring today – went to the mall to pick up a few things and then took the bus to Old Quebec. Old Quebec was beautiful even in the pouring rain – I found all the little restaurants that I went to when I was here the winter before last, but they were all too crowded for me to revisit. The rain drove a lot of people indoors, but not this Vancouverite! I tried to get a look at the St Lawrence, but couldn't see much because it was too cloudy and rainy – I'll definitely go back when it's sunny so I can get some good pictures. J I swiped a guidebook from the Tourist Center in Old Quebec, haven't had a chance to flip through it yet, but the stuff in there should keep me pretty occupied. Quebec is having its 400^th anniversary celebration this year, plus there's a summer festival coming up, so there are sure to be tons of activities during the weekends. I've just been informed that we're going to be able to see Circ du Soleil FOR FREE!! The home stay couple is apparently going to be taking us there. They also said that the French school has something organized every weekend – mini- field trips – can't wait!

The other immersion student arrived today – she's from Barrie, Ontario – It'd be nice to have another person in the house =) Apparently she has 2 Masters from the States, in public relations and international relations, she's 23, good that there's someone my age in the house J .

Exciting news – I cooked microwave rice for the very first time today. The Chinese in me can't help but cringe a little at the idea of microwave rice, but the me that just came out of the rain was definitely looking forward to a hot meal of any kind. The rice actually turned out surprisingly well, though next time, I think I'll put only 2 cups of water instead of the 2 ¼ cup it asked for... there was tons of water left in the bowl that I put it in, it took a good 15 mins of sitting (instead of the 5 min indicated by the package) to get the rice to completely absorb the water. But like I said, it wasn't half bad. If any of you out there wants to give Uncle Ben's microwave rice a try, the garden vegetable one isn't bad.

Tout en français – July 3, 2009

Day 2 in Quebec – I was taken for a drive around the city today so I can get my bus pass and get my bearings. I'm pretty convinced that I'm living in the Quebec version of Burnaby or Coquitlam, 20 mins bus from Université Laval and about a 5-10 minute drive from what I've been told is one of the largest shopping mall in Canada (sound familiar yet?). Nothing exciting to report as of yet but school hasn't started yet. The first day is suppose to be jam packed, so it'd be a nice change. I signed up for a couple of workshops, first choice being photography, hopefully I get that, but otherwise, I'm also happy with the cooking or walking tours of Quebec. My roommate, a girl from Ontario, will be driving up tomorrow, so that'd be nice too.

My home stay family is a retired couple, the woman was a pharmacist and the man was some big honcho in a local hospital – Guylaine (woman) and Berthier (man) are the names. Seem like the sweet grandparent type. Really nice house – immaculate – it's like living in a magazine. I have no access to the kitchen (which means that the cooking workshop is fast moving its way to #1 in my mind) – somehow, I'm expected to whip up dinner with microwave, which is kind of a torture b/c I was hoping to be able to try out new recipes should I pick up any, but learning to cook with a microwave is going to be a whole new adventure... probably going to come in real handy for those busy school days that are sure to come in September. I think the biggest problem for me is that there's no wireless internet here... I mean, they're grandparent types with only one computer in the house, so I guess that's only to be expected. I managed to steal the internet next door for about 2 mins, then I lost it... *sigh* guess it will really have to be internet cafés and school internet... I'm totally going into internet withdrawal... which totally didn't help me with my jetlag last night b/c I started freaking out about how I'm suppose to prep for my school/living situation in the Fall. It also interferes w/ my plan to put some music on this laptop – boo!!

The rain continues as the weatherman promises. Seeing as how I can't seem to download the e-book Mich sent me, maybe tomorrow I will go buy myself a book – en français of course! =P

*later in the day* I managed to find this miraculous spot in my room where I can steal internet from the neighbour – so I'm taking this opportunity to post my blogs. I'm afraid to move lest I lose the precious connection... ahhh, so happy I can get my internet fix for the night... the book situation has also been remedied – I'm going to try to read Anna Karenina in French – Vol. 1, here I go....

Tout en français - July 2nd, 2009

(Published on stolen internet)

Day 1 in Quebec - Anyone who has tried to keep in touch with me through e-mail will know that I'm insufferably terrible at it. So in the interest of keeping in touch with all you fine people – I've decided to start a blog – or rather, I've decided to actually write in the blog that I created months ago but never wrote in.

The trip didn't start off so well – got to the airport just pass the luggage deadline (yeah first time for everything....) – much turbulence along the way – but all's well that ends well, the luggage arrived the same time I did in Quebec. Apparently, if my suitcase didn't arrive till later, they either deliver for free, or if I go pick it up, I get $100 flight credit with Westjet, which would've been useful for the trip home, though I'd rather get my luggage.

Having moved into my new room, pictures are of course a must, but seeing as I can't seem to get the stolen internet to upload pictures, I'll have to wait till a later date before I post them. I'll take a picture of the house one of these days when I get home from school (lest I freak out the home-stay people...). I've got me a little alcove room upstairs (I've always wanted one =P), kind of a cottage feel to the furniture – I am typing to you from what I've been informed is an old dressing table that belonged to the landlady's mother-in-law, completely w/ silver-backed mirror and brushes on the countertop. It's cute, I like it. (The double bed is also a plus for me =P) I'm 20 mins bus ride away from Laval University – which come to think of it is almost the distance from my house to SFU – the neighbourhood is pretty similar too actually.

As of now, I have no internet – but I think this is the language barrier's doing, either that or the landlady has no idea how to get me connected. I'm doing this on MS Word, otherwise, I'd definitely not be able to keep up this blog thing. As it were, I'm passing my first night watching "V for Vendetta" – in English =D

The weather in Quebec is rainy – has been so for 4 days and expected to remain so for the weekend. Enjoy the sunshine Vancouver!