It has been a month since I last blogged. In some ways a lot has happened, in others it is pretty much the same.
My parents got home. It was a month ago. It was very nice to see them at first, but since then it has been slowly sinking in that I am living with my parents. I can't have friends over. I can't drink. I can't have Rae over. None of these things has actually been prohibited, but I can feel the pressure, I don't want to deal with the reprecussions. This, combined with continuity in my work life, has has made me feel like I don't want to blog. I guess it could be the other aspects of living with my parents that has made me feel less like blogging. My mother is extroverted and loves to talk so I have an outlet for all of my daily minutia leaving me with less reason to blog it out on the internet. Anyway, whatever the reasons, I will try to catch up on the last moth as well as I can and do my best to keep this thing updated in the future.
Two weeks ago I went east with Rae. Rae had never been to Ontario or Quebec before so I thought it would be a great opportunity to share that part of the country and that part of my life with her. I booked a week off at work and we left on the saturday morning. In Ottawa we stayed at Ralph's house and we saw Bruno and the kids. Bruno took as around Ottawa in his van for a whole day just showing us the sights. It was very nice of him and I think Rae got a lot out of it, she got a sense of the city. The next day we walked around by ourselves to get a more personal feel for the city. We went in to the paliament buildings and walked around the market and down Bank street. We didn't quite make it to my old house in the glebe which I would have liked to do but didn't have time for. We als saw Lian Hua, a woman who stayed at my house while she was a student 15 years ago. It was fun to see her again and to introduce her to Rae.
Next we went to Kingston to see my future school. Kingston is a pretty town with lots of old buildings and mature trees. It feels very idylic in a town kind of way. When we went to see the econ department, I was surprised to discover that they had their own building! They were also very helpful and friendly which was a big contrast with the department at UBC. Importantly, I found out that they have someone on staff to help their MA students find jobs after graduation. This was more of a relief than anything else because after my experience with temp work, I am quite eager to do something more interesting. I hope she knows people in Vancouver... After the campus tour we met my friend Jared and hung out with him for the evening. He is a cool guy that I grew up with in Ottawa way back in the day. He is studying engineering at Queens and he seems to quite like it. This augurs well for me I hope. That night, Rae and I stayed in a very cute and cozy bed and breakfast that was built in the early 19th century. It was everything I had imagined a bed and breakfast would be.
Next we went to Montreal. There, we stayed with Rianna, a student from Indonesia who stayed with us 15 years ago at the same time as Lian Hua, and her Husband Charles, a French Canadian guy who she met at our house. They now have two cute kids, Alexander and Aude, who we hung out with while we were there. They live in a beautiful house on the south shore with an indoor swimming pool. Swimming there was lots of fun. Unfortunately, we only spent one big day in the city, but it was quite a big day. First we walked up St Denis until it stopped being cool (which is a long way...) then we walked over to St Laurent where we discovered that there was a sidewalk sale goin on. We had smoked meat for lunch at Schwartz's deli and continued all the way down to St Catherine. From St Catherine, we walked west to Place Des Arts where we saw a free outdoor preformance of Cirque du Soleil. From there we continued right into the middle of downtown. Then we cut down to the old port area where we met up with Rae's friend. She took us to the casino for dinner and then dropped us off back at St Laurant where we met my old friend from Sydney, Jesse, for some beer. We ended up back on the south shore after all the busses had stopped so we walked back to their place, exausted.
The next day we got up late and went to meet Rae's friends again. They took us around the city and up the mountain in their car and then shopping at Simon's. After a bit of shopping, we went back to the south shore and had dinner with Charles and the kids and then spent the evening talking with Rianna. We definately didn't have enough time in Montreal but then I never do...
Quebec city is a nice place to visit. It definately has the European feeling to it. Unfortunately, everyone else thinks that too and the old city has been left to the tourists. We spent our day and a half there wandering around the old city and a bit of the modern city next door. The highlight must have been having a picnic in the park next to the Chateu Frontinac, overlooking the St Lawrence river. Then, just like that our trip was over and it was back to reality again...
The last two weeks have not been the most eventful. I missed the world urban forum because I had to work... I caught a bit of the Jazz festival, I took a lot of walks and did my best to enjoy Vancouver. Now a long weekend has started and I don't have plans yet...
My parents got home. It was a month ago. It was very nice to see them at first, but since then it has been slowly sinking in that I am living with my parents. I can't have friends over. I can't drink. I can't have Rae over. None of these things has actually been prohibited, but I can feel the pressure, I don't want to deal with the reprecussions. This, combined with continuity in my work life, has has made me feel like I don't want to blog. I guess it could be the other aspects of living with my parents that has made me feel less like blogging. My mother is extroverted and loves to talk so I have an outlet for all of my daily minutia leaving me with less reason to blog it out on the internet. Anyway, whatever the reasons, I will try to catch up on the last moth as well as I can and do my best to keep this thing updated in the future.
Two weeks ago I went east with Rae. Rae had never been to Ontario or Quebec before so I thought it would be a great opportunity to share that part of the country and that part of my life with her. I booked a week off at work and we left on the saturday morning. In Ottawa we stayed at Ralph's house and we saw Bruno and the kids. Bruno took as around Ottawa in his van for a whole day just showing us the sights. It was very nice of him and I think Rae got a lot out of it, she got a sense of the city. The next day we walked around by ourselves to get a more personal feel for the city. We went in to the paliament buildings and walked around the market and down Bank street. We didn't quite make it to my old house in the glebe which I would have liked to do but didn't have time for. We als saw Lian Hua, a woman who stayed at my house while she was a student 15 years ago. It was fun to see her again and to introduce her to Rae.
Next we went to Kingston to see my future school. Kingston is a pretty town with lots of old buildings and mature trees. It feels very idylic in a town kind of way. When we went to see the econ department, I was surprised to discover that they had their own building! They were also very helpful and friendly which was a big contrast with the department at UBC. Importantly, I found out that they have someone on staff to help their MA students find jobs after graduation. This was more of a relief than anything else because after my experience with temp work, I am quite eager to do something more interesting. I hope she knows people in Vancouver... After the campus tour we met my friend Jared and hung out with him for the evening. He is a cool guy that I grew up with in Ottawa way back in the day. He is studying engineering at Queens and he seems to quite like it. This augurs well for me I hope. That night, Rae and I stayed in a very cute and cozy bed and breakfast that was built in the early 19th century. It was everything I had imagined a bed and breakfast would be.
Next we went to Montreal. There, we stayed with Rianna, a student from Indonesia who stayed with us 15 years ago at the same time as Lian Hua, and her Husband Charles, a French Canadian guy who she met at our house. They now have two cute kids, Alexander and Aude, who we hung out with while we were there. They live in a beautiful house on the south shore with an indoor swimming pool. Swimming there was lots of fun. Unfortunately, we only spent one big day in the city, but it was quite a big day. First we walked up St Denis until it stopped being cool (which is a long way...) then we walked over to St Laurent where we discovered that there was a sidewalk sale goin on. We had smoked meat for lunch at Schwartz's deli and continued all the way down to St Catherine. From St Catherine, we walked west to Place Des Arts where we saw a free outdoor preformance of Cirque du Soleil. From there we continued right into the middle of downtown. Then we cut down to the old port area where we met up with Rae's friend. She took us to the casino for dinner and then dropped us off back at St Laurant where we met my old friend from Sydney, Jesse, for some beer. We ended up back on the south shore after all the busses had stopped so we walked back to their place, exausted.
The next day we got up late and went to meet Rae's friends again. They took us around the city and up the mountain in their car and then shopping at Simon's. After a bit of shopping, we went back to the south shore and had dinner with Charles and the kids and then spent the evening talking with Rianna. We definately didn't have enough time in Montreal but then I never do...
Quebec city is a nice place to visit. It definately has the European feeling to it. Unfortunately, everyone else thinks that too and the old city has been left to the tourists. We spent our day and a half there wandering around the old city and a bit of the modern city next door. The highlight must have been having a picnic in the park next to the Chateu Frontinac, overlooking the St Lawrence river. Then, just like that our trip was over and it was back to reality again...
The last two weeks have not been the most eventful. I missed the world urban forum because I had to work... I caught a bit of the Jazz festival, I took a lot of walks and did my best to enjoy Vancouver. Now a long weekend has started and I don't have plans yet...
