Procrastination

October is an ugly ugly month - it's when the clouds come rolling in, bringing random rainfalls and gloomy days - and for reasons I can't explain, they're also about the only thing this crazy wind hasn't been able to swept away this past little while... And of course, midterms and assignments (aptly labelled Ass on my roommate's calendar) - which I should work on instead of blog about nonsense like I'm doing now

I just went on the CBC website for a bit - thought I'd see what's going on in the fair city of Vancouver, and I found that the Best Chinese Restaurant Prize is up again this year - the conclusion? I'm pretty sure the entire Lansdowne area got a prize

Also - I've recently been "invited" (*cough* wrangled *cough*) into contributing to another blog of random stuff.. Which I'll randomly be posting to along with Michelle - here's the link if you're interested (or bored)! http://allinadayofageek.blogspot.com/

Of edjumacation n’ book learnin’

Well, now that I've actually gone to all my classes, the due date schedule is looking pretty damn scary – and you really feel all the pressures of being in a 1 yr program when you meet other grad students and they tell you they're only taking 3 courses per term, and then freak out a little on your behalf when you tell them you're taking 5 courses this semester. At least the schedule is fairly reasonable – start at 830 or 10, off the clock by 4 or 5 – it's almost like going to work – trying to do the thing where I work during my breaks so that I'd have time to socialize or do activities after classes are done for the day.

I've signed up for climbing, archery, and inter-mural volleyball. Obviously am not going to be doing all those things every week, be definitely one or more in some combination. The point of course is so that I can lead a double life – little Asian girl who's a diligent university student by day, but a wall-scaling arrow-shooting warrior princess by night, fighting the forces of evil lurking in the sleepy town of Kingston blah blah etc. You know, stuff that bad manga is made of. Perhaps it's time to buy a school girl outfit. Seriously though, I went to archery for the intro session today, I had so much fun – definitely therapeutic... I even hit the bull's eye a few times! =D

Went on a modified Sir John A MacDonald walking tour today after one of my classes. We had a guest speaker today from England, and I guess this was part of our prof's way of having him interact with the students, because we ended the walk at a pub, where the prof bought drinks for everyone. It's such a quiet and pretty town that it's hard to imagine Kingston as a hotbed of political activities in early Canadian history. Especially since these days, Kingston seem to be more a popular destination for old ppl looking to go somewhere for the weekend than anything else – I'd say the senior population about doubles in downtown Kingston (all 10 blocks of it) on Sat and Sun.

Fun fact: For a small town of about 5,000, Kingston had a really high concentration of pubs and taverns back in the day of Sir John A. In fact, there used to be two pubs located in city hall, where John A liked to go to quench his thirst after city council meetings. The Conservative Party was technically born in Kingston – in a tavern owned by Sir John A called the Royal Tavern. Once the pub where dear ol' Johnny debated politics, formed alliances, and bought votes with beer, now the hole in the wall where the local chapter of Hells Angel occasionally congregates, housing a copy of the mortgage signed by Sir John and random assortments of horse harnesses.

Procrastination is on an Early Start This Year… Hmm… - Sept 13, 2009

I really should be doing something productive, but now that I have internet, I want to do everything but what I'm suppose to be doing…

Right, so first week of "school" is officially over – I learned stuff, but probably not what they had in mind. In math, I learned nothing – though I did mentally thank Ms Bonnet for teaching Math 11 (also thankful that I actually paid attn in that class). In writing course, the only thing that I came away with was that the average length of a sentence in academia is 22 words. Not useful, or relevant to the assignment we had to hand in the next day, but interesting. Apparently, some woman wrote a paper on this (boring, but hey, someone has to do it)

Ok, on to more fun stuff – I went wall climbing for a general event for grad students, it was super fun – there was this 100 ft chimney that we could climb, except we didn't realize that it was there until the end, so I got about halfway up and got super tired… Before that, I was climbing a "cave" – dangling upside down and swinging from one side of the cave to another – felt like a monkey. =P Also featured this week, a fantastic BBQ with the best potato salad I've ever had, a Haunted Walk tour of Kingston, bowling, and dance club.

Interesting tidbit about Kingston – The town dates back to the 1800s, and since then, there's been a number of epidemics. As it often happens, the dead pile up faster than the living can bury them, so a lot of shoddy and shallow graves were dug. Graveyards were a mess b/c there were so many graves, and on top of that, the cows kept wandering into the graveyard and pushing over the gravestones. The city's answer – dump dirt over top the graves, plant some grass and trees, and call it a park. Thus the birth of City Park – also known as Skeleton Park – where human remains are found every time there's road work, and are often dug up by dogs and random kids who thought it'd be fun to dig up a hand or a skull to play with. Problem is, the park is smaller than the actual area of the old graveyard, and houses have been built over the graveyard as well – we were told about a guy who was having a backyard BBQ when the dog decided to bring over the human hand it's dug up. YUM!

Back to the Grind – Sept 8, 2009

Now that I'm out of Vancouver, the blog lives again.

After a fabulous 3 weeks home (filled with family, friends, dim sum, and sushi), I got on a plane (for the 7^th time this summer) on Friday to spend the Labour Day long weekend in Ottawa before starting my year in Kingston. Big thanks to Ana for letting me stay at her beautiful new apartment, coming to pick me up at the airport at midnight (my flight was delayed by 2 hrs... something about weather trouble in Thunder Bay) and for the delicious scones, Jeff for the fabulous send-off breakfast, and both for a fantastic last weekend of freedom! Also, I was very happy that Chris and Dominique had time to head out for a Sunday brunch even though both are busy either setting up or looking for an apartment. See you all again in October!!

Officially moved into my room yesterday – it's been pretty comfortable so far – pictures to come in the next post. I am once again in internet limbo but hopefully internet will be set up by next week. Until then, I'll be relying on school internet whenever I'm on campus. Since moving in:

1. I learned that Kingston has a business called Dial-A-Bottle – you call them, and they deliver booze to your door – type and quantity apparently doesn't matter.
   

   
    

2. Kingston really milks its affiliation with Sir John A MacDonald for all its worth – there's a Sir John A Walking Tour which includes all the sites that Sir McDo ever had anything to do with, from where he used to lived w/ his first wife to the house that he rented for his sister. You can get free iPods at the Visitors' Center – the recording was done by Jean Chretien!!
   

Today was the first day of orientations. Pretty easy going day, just a lot of overviews and introductions... Classes don't officially start until next week, this week is just activities and prep classes. I've signed up for wall climbing and a Haunted Tour - should be fun!

That's it for now - hope everyone had a fabulous long weekend!

WOHOO!!!! HOME IN 1 SLEEP!!!!

My week-long stay in Kingston will be coming to an end as of 5:50pm tomorrow!! The house-hunt was less than pleasant, but after seeing 10 houses over a span of 2 days, I found one that I like and have just signed the lease for it!! It's a cute little house 10 mins walk from campus, sharing with 4 other students. I moved some stuff in today, and should be all set to go for September!! =) In case any of you have friends who want to look for housing in Kingston, I think I've got it pretty well figured out, so you're welcome to send them my way.

Kind of related, if you need a hostel in Kingston for whatever reason, the place I'm staying at is actually fairly decent – it's called Skweek House. The house is pretty nice, it's run by a lady who lives in the building. The price is reasonable, $20 per night (beats $45 per night at Queen's Residence) – word of advice, get a room on the main floor (Unit 2). She lives here with 3 cats and a dog on the top floor, air circulates best on the main floor is all I have to say.

After spending a week in Kingston, I think the town and I should get along just fine – it's small (but then again, I've never lived any place smaller than Ottawa...) but it's pretty, lots of nice walks along the water, everything I need is within walking distance, and the campus is really pretty. I'm going to have to get used to a few things – i.e. a lot of restaurants downtown close by 730, which to me seem like prime dinner hour – but I'm definitely looking forward to starting my program here in the fall =) There's also advantages to living in a smaller city – I went to the mall yesterday and actually found things my size DURING A SALE!! You know how hard that is to do in Vancouver?? If I don't happen to be there on day 1, it's all gone!!

Next post I write shall be in Vancouver! YAY!! HOME AT LAST!!!!

On the Road Again – Aug 8th, 2009

Well, 5 weeks of French immersion has come to an end – it's a little sad, but I think I'm ready for something/someplace new. I'm typing this as I take the train from Quebec to Kingston, where I'll be staying for a week in a hostel while I look for a place for September. I think I got most of what I wanted from the program – all I really wanted was to be able to speak and have actual conversations in French, and I think I've done at least that in the time that I've been here. Living in home-stay was a good idea, at first I was concerned that I'd be a little old for this, but the arrangement was really what made this a really valuable experience for me. I had tons of opportunity to practice the language outside of class, and outside of the usual short conversations you'd get from shopping or asking for directions on the bus (not that I didn't also find those super useful), I actually have full on conversations with these people on anything from what I did that day, to Chinese history/culture/traditions (it's been a while since I've been at a place where I'm a novelty...) and Canada/Quebec politics. It was really interesting to hear what people here have to say about their province and what they think of their history, what they think of the rest of Canada, what they thought of their image outside Quebec – and how worked up they get about the Duplessis era.

I can't wait to come home though – I was really hoping to spend more time in Vancouver before I start school again, but my time in Quebec was definitely worth the little detour. I'll be home on August 15^th (JJJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so excited to be sleeping in my own bed once more. Not to mention home-cooked meals. I feel like I've mention home-cooked meals at least once a day ever since I got here (likely due to the lack of kitchen access in my home-stay – which I also mention at least 2 or 3 times a week). Oh, and Chinese food. Somebody please take me out to sushi and dim sum when I come home – I'm going into serious withdrawal here...

Aside: as I'm writing this, the little girl sitting behind me had her stuff animals date, kiss, and marry each other all w/in 30 seconds – and has been on a cycle of doing this for the past 5 minutes (so yes, the fur balls have been married like 6 times in a row). I don't know if I should be amused at what she's doing, be impressed at the little ditty she's managed to come up with to mark the occasion, or be annoyed at her singing...

Blur... – August 2, 2009

Yup, that's what the last week has been.... one big blur! Since my last entry, I've zip-lined and swung from the trees like Tarzan, seen Les Miserable in French (AMAZING – this is the first time I've seen the musical, and I'm super happy that I was able to watch it in the language it was originally written in), went on a cruise on the St Lawrence (hilarious night), watched 400 yrs of QC history flash by on a row of grain silos (Moulins à Image – they have a new show every summer, definitely worth a look), visited old battlefields at Montmorency Falls and the Plains of Abraham (where I read some really smug sounding historical narrations both in English and French – it's fun reading the blurbs, b/c if you read the English and French versions of the same text, depending on which side was victorious, one version might downplay the importance of the event – at the Montmorency Falls, I saw this blurb – "the British withdrew leaving over 400 dead, missing or wounded. On Sept 13, Wolf found a better way to take the City of Quebec" – which to me, reading between the lines, that's essentially "The French may have won the battle, but we the English won the war", I could almost hear the "Ha! In your face!"), went wine tasting in the countryside on Ile d'Orléan (where I had 5 different things of booze before lunch), explored pretty much every corner of Old Town and its surrounding areas, and of course tried more new restaurants and cafes.

In general, restaurants in Old Quebec have yet to fail me, but in terms of a nice area to spend a day, I've decided that I much prefer Basse-Ville (Lower Town) and the areas along the St Lawrence to the more popular tourist destination of Haute-Ville (Upper Town – where the Chateau Frontenac is) – other than having fewer tourists as you move west along the St Lawrence (fewer people have the time or will to walk down the staircases), there is just more variety in stores and restaurants, a more comfortable and relaxing atmosphere, and more interesting things to see and do closer to the docks. I'm a huge fan of the artisan stores in Petit Champlain, particularly the glasswork galleries – there's always nice stuff at Transperance (a glasswork store) but the best stuff I think is in the one in Petit Champlain.

Quartier St Roch is also a nice area to go to – tons of used bookstores, cafes, and restaurants –my favourite street is probably still Rue St Joseph, especially the stretch west of Chemin (?) de la Couronne. There's a nifty little coffee house across from the public library that serves really good dessert, tea (Mighty Leaf!!), and specialty coffee. Good restaurants – I tried a Moroccan tarjine for the first time there, it's essentially a meat dish which was prepared in a ceramic cone shaped container – I had lamb stewed in prunes and apricot – it was marvellous stuff. The St Roch Basilica, on east side of that street, can be worth a visit, though nothing about this church really stands out to me, other than the fact that in the wall space high above the tabernacle are 4 or 5 giant stone statues which have been dressed up as nuns and priests – I found them kind of creepy...

I finally went to the Plains of Abraham today – it's now an enormous park stretching along Grand Allée (aka night club district) all the way to the Citadels in the city walls, a popular and relaxing place to spend a nice sunny afternoon. Though there is no museum on site on the Battle itself, there are monuments and watch towers scattered throughout the park to commemorate the battle (or the Conquest as the Quebecois call it). Walking on the Plains, all I could think of was how difficult it must've been to fight on that terrain – you'd think a plain would just be a long flat stretch of land, but the Plains of Abraham is actually incredibly hilly and slopes fairly steeply towards the water. I only had a small purse with me – I can't imagine going up that hill w/ gear and ammo on my back.

And now.... to bed – must not tired myself out before the week is over!

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!