And my things arrive...

It was good to have all my things back... but I got a little nostalgic when I thought that the last time I saw these boxes, I had friends around me... ha... silly me... See even though I did my packing by myself, except for this one friend who totally helped me out, I had friends around me, to call at any time, and for moral support...

Signing of the lease...

So contrary to a couple previous posts I settled for this different apartment, which also I like 90%, but the 10% of dislike comes from different sources. Well the only thing I don't quite die for in this apartment is the ambiance of the neighborhood. While it sees downtown and is close to old port, it lacks the liveliness and bohemianism of Plateau or even the St. Mathew/St. Catherine neighborhood I was before. But hey it is the sunniest, prettiest, newest and did I mention sunniest apartment I saw...

But anyway, my landlord is Iranian, i.e., an immigrant! Now why does this warrant a mention, you might ask. Ah this is because of Didi's terrible experience in LA with immigrant landlords. So far, between the 2 of us, we rented from 4 landlords, 2 American, 2 immigrant American. While our statistical sample for both are pretty small, we have a 100% score for good American landlords and a 100% score for bad immigrant American landlords... Oh and then this my Iranian landlord lied to me a couple times, nothing concerning the rent or the house, but he said he's going to NYC, then he said he's going to CA then he said he's staying for a while etc... So all these red flags are flying high, yes... And this is actually the first time I am signing a lease with such a high a rent... Oh and also he asked for the 12 months of rent checks, post-dated of course, but still...

So I am ready to throw up on my way to his home to sign the lease. I go there, and he had this government of Quebec Lease form - and that, and that alone, immediately rested all my fears... I thought about it later - we all know how corrupt/helpless government is, in just about every country, right? But still, even for someone like me, a government document instills some form of security - now is that insane or what?

I have taken all possible precautions, like making photocopies of my cheques, paying the bank an extra $2.50/month to have the cashed cheques returned to me etc... but I'm sure there's still a way things could get bad like it did for Didi... Here's hoping against all odds that this deal doesn't go sour...

Oh and did I mention, my landlord is really cute? :) He too is a photographer, but shoots Nikon!!!!??? Ok forget it!!

Fête nationale du Québec, aka who said Quebec won't separate?

Today was Quebec National day, aka St. John the Baptist’s Day, aka St. Jean Baptiste Day and there were a whole line-up of celebrations in Parc Maisonneuve. Notice the Quebec Flag - the blue and white and the Patriots flag also, which were far fewer but non-zero.

It turned out it was also the Quebec prime minister's birthday, so we sang happy birthday to him. And then the organizer reminded the crowd that he is a Liberal and the Liberals are against a Quebec sovereignty. The crowd bood... and then they sang "Libérez-nous des libéraux" (free us from the liberals). Together with the hundreds of people, I also chanted "Libérez-nous des libéraux"... and secretly hoped I'd get the hell out of here before that happens...

Asked more directly if Quebec is "destined to become a country," just 38 per cent of French Canadians, 12 per cent of English-Canadian respondents and three per cent of allophones agreed that it would.

Regionally, a minority of respondents from Quebec (35 per cent), the Maritimes (17 per cent), B.C. (13 per cent), Ontario (8 per cent), Alberta (7 per cent) and Manitoba/Saskatchewan (4 per cent) agreed that Quebec is destined to become a country.

- Montreal Gazzette, June 23, 2008

Well... the crowd at Parc Maisonneuve, could just have been carried away in the moment... but I do know a student here who is a sovereignist.. if you'll listen, he'll tell you how his Mom was denied jobs just because she only spoke French, how she had to take exams in English even though she didn't speak or write it (The world was pretty messed up way back when, wasn't it?)... and how the Federal government is cutting down the Borealis forest and how the federal government are yes-men to the US...

I also am reading that Barack Obama is going back on his NAFTA stand, to please the Canadian government I hear. "Scratch that NAFTA", Jason will tell you, "it was a plan hatched so the US can rob the rest of North America, example - Borealis wood"... this is not the first time I'm hearing this from a non-US North American... Ah that shrewd Bill Clinton - I am also reading he is a little sour towards Obama... Somehow I have a feeling that if I was living in the US with the Bill Clinton government, I would have not liked him as much, for I would've known more...

Where were all these armies, when a brawl broke out and broke my toe nail...???



It totally blew me to see these hare krishnas at the Quebec day celebrations... For some Quebecois though, it was yet another drum beat to dance to, specially as the main festivities had wound down...

Drive Thru car wash - first time

When I go to an automatic drive through car wash the first time, do I do it in the US where I can read the English instructions? Oh no, I do that in Quebec, where the instructions are in French... Like one of my friends said long time ago, "my life must not be hard enough as it is"!!

But I did it, with no complications and no stalling... well no stalling for more than 5 minutes...

Oh, don't let anyone tell you that Quebec has two official languages! It does not!! Every government office I walk into, every form pretty much, is in French!

GEANT

This, for the neutralino and neutrino physicists... I did not know geant meant giant... Finally a non-Greek name! Oh I'm sure there's some Greek connection... I am sick of all the Greek in Particle Physics... hey but my current experiment has a Spanish name... Yey for all the non-Greeks...

BTW, the food stalls were much fewer than an American equivalent fest, say like the State Fair... Before everyone jumps on me now, I am *not* passing judgment... I am just saying...

People with their dogs...

A lot of people were at the Fringe with their dogs...

Montreal is a very dog friendly city, well except for the landlords... but those we've got in Minneapolis too... :)

People go everywhere with their dogs, and often unleashed...

Unfilthy fun too...

The 3rd pic, of a crystal ball "juggler" does not much justice to his amazig skills really...

and vendors galore...

Some of the clothes, actually all of them, looked pretty cheap and they were cheap... Some of them reeked fresh cheap dye, like that scarf I got from someone at school (back at the U) in support of poor Ecuadorians...

And this one guy just jumped on his stand suddenly and said "everything here for $5, for 15 minutes only" and he had that sale going for like 30 seconds!!! People were not happy, but he did amass quite the crowd....

Drag Race (more)

Also part of the race was to pick people from the audience and dress them in drag within 1 minute... the first pic of two ordinary men from the audience and the second pic the same 2 men 1 minute later - voila!

There were quite a few Americans, specially New Yorkers, and yes they got totally ripped on, for being New Yorkers, for having square Anglo heads, about not knowing French since it is a hard and sophisticated language and what not... but they were good sports, really... I guess you don't go to the Fringe in Montreal if you aren't a good sport....

To steal a line from the Drag Race, "no one left with their dignity intact!"

Drag Race

The best was this racy drag race; at least 50% of their jokes, I understood, because I shared an office with Jeremy...

Is it scary that you can hardly tell that these are actually men!?

The first photo is of the judges, Queen Elizabeth and Lady Di, again two men... You bet they made fun of the English and some comments on Diana going back to the grave and all...

They left no stone unturned like that... Think South Park, but like 100 times more obscene...

Festival St-Ambroise Fringe de Montréal

This is where I was this past weekend.

And if you are a normal person, you take one look at this poster and you won't go there... On the other hand if you've shared an office with my office mates you'll go there... and have fun... lots of it...

Here are the official rules of the Fringe Fest -

CAFF
The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals are built on four principles.
1) No Artistic Direction. Artists are selected by lottery.
2) No Censorship. Artists have complete freedom to present ANYTHING.
3) Accessibility to artists. Anyone can apply to the lottery.
4)Accessibility to audience. Ticket prices are kept low and 100% of the ticket price is returned to the artists you see on stage.

Apartment hunt in Montreal - 3

I might settle in this apartment - still not enough sun, but big enough and newer than the one I saw on Sunday, by the same French owner - the same heritage home. 5 minutes strolling to the Metro and 20 minutes from there to the Universite de Montreal station by metro. I think I like it about 90% and the landlord seems nice!

French...

"French is one of those languages that they write 10 letters and pronounce only 2. c'mon you guys figure it out once and for all and get over it"

- a response from one of my friends back home at my rant on how tired I get in hearing a language I don't understand all day...

But as one of the expatriates here who fluently speaks like 5 different languages said "French has a very narrow pronunciation spectrum, but within that spectrum it is very complex" - so well put!

Euro Cup

Euro cup is way bigger here than it was in Minneapolis; every street corner, every shop, every taxi has the commentaries on, just like cricket in Sri Lanka and... yes, the Grand Prix in Montreal!

Apparently today Turkey won some game... there were all these cars honking down the street with Turkish flags waving and they created such a ruckus for such a long time I thought they won the final...

Somehow, it was very emotional, yes yes, I have no idea about this game and have no Turkish connection... but it doesn't take much for me to get all nostalgic about nothing that I am attached to, really...

Apartment hunt in Montreal - 2

Today was a much better day for apartment hunts - I saw much nicer apartments today; well just 2, because the rest of the day was spent "socializing" and "getting to know Montreal" - yeah right! Well I did learn quite a few things though - Depanneur is corner store in Quebecois French (and French French), Rogers is the best signal cell phone around town, Videotron is the best for high speed internet and Desjardins is a credit union (a credit union which I was looking for to have my account in)!

I might actually settle in one of the apartments I saw today - in a heritage home on St Mathieu and St Catherine - quite close to all amneties and a 24 hr Depanneur and a metro!

Apartment hunt in Montreal - 1

So yes, my professor was correct, there are indeed a lot of apartments in Montreal. But most are pretty shitty.

The first house I went to, the occupant was a single guy and was not dying to rent out the apartment, obviously; it was messy and dirty - I can usually handle messy, but certainly not dirty. I wouldn't have liked it anyway - not enough sun. $820!!

The second was 'Thaththi's apartment' as I speculated. Definitely South Asian, may be south Indian and most likely Sri Lankan Tamil even. But Malli and I were dead on, on the South Asian one - people say there's a reason behind stereo types - I hate that statement, but sometimes it is true! Shitty again! ~$700!!

Then I looked at one apartment in the Plateau ($900); it was pretty with a fireplace etc, but was semi-basement. I did see a couple of those for about that much but I do need one with enough sun, now that I am working in a windowless lab.

Then I went to this place, with about 30 units and met the landlord, quite a unique character. He took one look at my MN license plate and went on an anti US rant. "I went to Boston when I was 15, but vowed never to go there again". It really didn't bother me too much because a)I am not American and b)you don't worry about what every random person thinks, in general. But in an effort to make pleasant conversation I go like "well you would have felt different if you went to Minnesota"; big mistake! "oh, I don't think so!" he snapped back! "You see I am part aboriginal and I do not want to give them my money". I thought it was funny that Stephen Harper had only on Wednesday apologized to the Natives on gross mis-treatment in trying to wipe out their culture. This man thought that the USA did more harm than Canada, it seemed like. He went on to tell me that George Bush was a Free Mason and he's only a soldier and look what he does, imagine if he were a higher ranked!! "Well", I thought, "I guess I am not staying in that apartment!!". His apartments were not nice anyway.

I just realized it is 6/14 - is this a bad day to apartment hunt?

Did I just walk in to the US?

This on the perimeter of Montreal City.

Frankophones and Anglophones

I hadn't even heard of those two terms before I came to Canada. Canada to me was Canada. Oh but no! There's a difference between Quebecois and the rest of Canada, Frankophones and Anglophones...

The story of Sri Lanka's civil war came up while dining with one of the retired professors on our experiment. At one point he asked "so do you think the government can end this war?" and I said "oh yes!". He rolled his eyes and pursed his lips and you know... the stuff you do when you are not too pleased with what you just heard... He either thought I was advocating violence (which I quickly brushed by some smart ass comment about Ghandi and ML King, though I don't think it penetrated his skull, really) or he had being brain washed by some Sri Lankan government or LTTE propoganda! Either way it matters not much to me...

I also told them then, the story of the first Sri Lankan I met here in Montreal and the Frankophone-Anglophone difference Canadians so talk about. He was clearly proud of that difference - so I had dug my grave. Later he said he was born in Quebec City... ah the proud Quebecois! What can I say?

Do I ever learn a lesson and stay out of political discussion or tame my words? Oh no... I will always express my honest to goodness thoughts about politics!! Well I really don't think politics is such an unpleasant topic to discuss, but it can be for some. But I see it this way, if someone dives deep into that with me I feel like they must enjoy the sometimes contradictory opinions as much as I do...

Quebec City Train Station

Bye bye Quebec City

Apparently it was thunderstorming in Quebec city as we left - this beutiful picture from the train. I was actually quite surprised at how well it turned out, very horizontal and conforming to the 3 divisions rule! One of the many joys of the Canon Rebel XSi.I must admit though, most pics in this blog are from my old baby, the Powershot S2. All in Quebec City, for example are the DSLR.

The Château Frontenac in Quebec City

The Château Frontenac in Quebec City, One of Canada's grand railway hotels. Apparently they built these fancy shmancy hotels near Canadian railway stations to lure train travellers - they go from like CAN$300-800 ish per night

Quebec City is the capital of the Quebec province, so there's all these governmental buildings and a sizeable population who live and also go in and out of the city quite a bit.

Walk in Town

Like the Star Tribune said, you can eat all the food Quebec City has to offer without feeling guilty about it, because of all the little hills you'll climb in the city. We walked quite the walk after dinner, my professor took us to show us around - how sweet of him... Man, was I glad I walked after eating like a 7000 calorie meal....

Quebec City is celebrating 400 years this year, see? I wasn't lying just to lure you all...

Snails for Dinner

On the insistance of the Parisian, I ordered snails. Well I didn't mind trying them. The idea was if it wasn't good they'll have them. But they were actually pretty good, sort of like mussels... I ate the whole thing!

Eating Fancy in Quebec City

We went to this fancy shmancy steakhouse, Le Charbon, and ate like pigs - apparently that's the way the French eat, I was told by the two French people in thr group. I have not eaten that much since I was in Sri Lanka and was forced to gobble up food...

The waiter brought in the raw cuts to show and explain before we ordered, and I couldn't help but ask him if the portions were that big, really - "we eat big in France and eat for 5 hours" I was told by the Parisian girl... The Creme Brule was the tastiest I have ever had but the steak, well it was pretty good, but nothing to so die for....

The steakhouse had these lampshades made of cow skin - it was pretty, but I did have mixed feelings about cow every where in the steakhouse...

I sat next to this Parisian girl (she insisted Paris French is one thing, just French is another thing) who was very animated and loud and was hell bent on putting some pounds on me. She said she might have to lend me some pounds and she can afford to do so; I thought 'heck, yes you can'. I want people to talk in French; most people speak English to me, perhaps because my accent or because I speak slowly and they're trying to be polite; so yes I do like it if people speak French and I am forced to learn. But man I haven't been ever so tired to sit next to someone who very animatedly spoke some language that I didn't understand. Even though she wasn't talking to me most of the time, she was sitting next to me...

Morale of the story, don't ever sit next to a Parisian whose mom is Italian..., this from my statistical sample of 1!

View from My Apartment

My apartment sees the South East edge of downtown like this.

And you can see my little peace lilly in the window there...

Grand Prix

The Grand Prix is still in full swing - well I guess this weekend is the big weekend of the race. Every shop, every parked taxi, is blaring out commentaries of the race, sort of like a cricket match in Sri Lanka. My home is next to a highway, so I get to see all sorts of cars and motorcycles doing wheelies, zipping back and forth. During the day it becomes so loud that I can not keep the balcony door open.

Groceries in Montreal

I walked around town, did groceries and all that regular stuff today... Contrary to what I thought before, groceries aren't that over priced I'd say. Well, that first visit I checked out a high end grocery store in the basement of an apartment complex... duh... If you are ever in Montreal, SuperC is the place to go, for the equivalent of Rainbow. Oh, I'm sure there are a boat load of others too... chains and not... Then there are a good number of ethnic grocery stores around too.

Montreal Beggars

Beggars in Montreal are of a toally different type - they're sort of hip, if I may. They don't look all that poor, at most lazy, but you sort of want to give them some 'change', just to support the 'hip-beggar-culture' or something like that.

Clinton Exit

I was flipping through the channels to see if there's anything other than Grand Prix stuff and stumbled upon the coverage of the Clinton exit. For all the months of supporting Obama and years of really looking upto him, I couldn't help but be moved to tears as I watched her speak. "This wasn't the party I was hoping for, but I sure love the company", man, how does she do it without crying? "Thank you... to all the people who carried their kids on their shoulders and said 'see, you can be anything you want to be'". But the line that struck me the most was "Never listen to anyone who tells you that you can not or should not" - any successful person, man or woman, will agree on that. No one knows your strengths and weaknesses better than yourself; when it comes to what you can or can not do, there's no better judgement than your own!

Montreal Driving

I was telling my professor how Canadian highways have lower speed limits, now before everyone jumps up and accuses me of being a snob, I felt like I could tell this to this German guy, since he is from the land of the Autobahn. He goes like, "yes, and they are very strictly enforced"... I thought 'heh... may be some other place in Canada, certainly not in Montreal'. In the vicinity of Montreal , people normally go at atleast 30 km/h above the speeed limit. Oh I am not complaining! My advisor seemed to be of the impression that Montreal drivers are very law abiding and calm... so it is either the Grand Prix out of towners or it is to say how bad people drive in Germany... I will soon find out after this Grand Prix ends.

First Sri Lankan in Montreal

So I met my first Sri Lankan here, in the metro. His first question - "where are you from?"; the second - "are you Sinhalese or Tamil". Half the world away, far away from all the discomforts of the war ridden poor country, it is still important to us to know how different we are from each other! And in reality, most people can't tell a Sri Lankan from an Indian. This reminds me of the nice saying in the 'Race' exhibition at our Science Museum in St. Paul "people try in so many ways to categorize each other into different groups, forgetting how much we have in common"!

To his credit, this Sri Lankan I met, seemed one of those moderate ones; he was Tamil, but talked to me in Sinahalese, when he could have opted to talk in English, very well! Is it sad that the second question a moderate Sri Lankan asks is in the direction of segregation?

Driving in Montreal on Grand Prix Weekend

Apparently I drove right into the Formula 1 Garnd Prix here in Montreal! This my temperorary apartment is downtown, so I am right in the midst of it. All sorts of fancy cars, (this pretty Ferrari was driving down the road and a bunch of kids yelled 'go Ferrari'! and the driver thumbs upped them and raced his car away...), temporary tents, and lots and lots of people and of course cops to manage them. It all creates a lively carnival atmosphere...

Oh and lots of cars and motor cycles racing around; however, I have no idea if this is anything out of normal... At the front desk at the North Bay travellodge I stayed in, I was told to be aware of Montreal drivers... I was thinking, "how silly, isn't it typical for people who live in small towns to think so of big city people?"... oh man was I wrong... the night I came here I drove around and there were cars appearing from anywhere and no where... if you shift a little bit to the left, in your own lane, there'd be a car on your right, squeezed in, in the same lane... Drivers are rude, they blink their high beam for no reason, and they aren't too considerate towards emergency vehicles.

Again, this might have been because of the busy weekend from the Grand Prix....

South Park in Canada

So I'm watching my first ever South Park here in Canada. Oh did I tell you, this apartment has a tv from the sub lenders, that I get to watch. So do I watch some French tv and try to assimillate? Oh no, I watch National Geographic and Comedy Central!!

But anyway, this South Park episode is about some Canadians whoa re all disgruntled, that they're being pushed around and ignored. Poor Canada... So they go the UN and ask for more respect in the form of money, and if not, they will go on strike and show the world! Of course, no one really cares, so they strike and finally the UN sends them some bubble gum to end the strike. I mean, isn't it ironical that this first SP I watch in Canada is about Canada...

First Encounter with Canadian Law Enforcement

So yes, Alexey was right after all - Canadian highways are sooooooooo slow... Add to it, I came on a smaller highway. Those of us who constantly compare the Autobahn to US highways and just shake our heads, oh... wait till we get to Canada! Even the big highways have a speed limit of 100km/h (=62 mph!!!)... Around big cities though people will easily drive 120km/h (that's still 78mph only!!! compare that with big city Chicago where people do 90mph normally!)

So I am driving 120km/h on this small 90km/h highway! Yes I did that! Now before you get on your soap box and chastise me, remember that I had at least 1760 km in total for this trip.. and really people can go very safely at 120km/h (=78mph)... please relax!! In Canada it turns out cops going on the opposite way will track your speed too. May be this is true in the US too, but has never happened to me... So he U-turns, comes after me and is like 'going home?' and he totally threw me off - I wanted to say something smart assy like 'it is going to be my home, now', but decided against that in the nick of time and said 'going to Montreal'. He said 'all the way from Minnesota?' and I think that totally melted his heart - he just said 'slow down and have fun in Montreal!'... how sweet! I have never been stopped in the US and not gotten a ticket - so there - Canadian cops are one up over the US cops in my books!

First Contribution to Canadian Economy

That is US$5.15 per gallon - power to the people who pay more for the convenience of polluting the environment! Full Service gas stations however, are a big no no for the frugal me, who doesn't want to tip for a service I can very well perform myself.... But this is often the case in hillbillie gas stations... Eh, no escaping the hillbillies, I say!

Border Crossing in Sault Ste Marie

So I totally overwhelmed the Sault Ste Marie border people, with the fact that I am a Sri Lankan studying in the US on a student visa, moving to Canada to work (not just to fish or hunt), driving my own car (is it importation or not?) and some of my stuff are coming at a different time with the movers. About five customs people gathered to ponder my case and finally decided to just let me go... So I got to go just like that... with my little Peace Lilly! phew.... Oh at one point, it goes like 'what are you going to do at the U of Montreal?', 'do a postdoc (yeah right that makes a whole lot of sense to anyone outside academia)', 'a what?', I show them my employment letter and they say 'oh you are a doctor?'... I say 'yes' and there was immediate respect. I, however, did not tell them that I was not the sort of doctor who can really help anyone! Minor details...

I heard my first Canadian 'eh' - the customs officer said, 'you don't have the receipt, eh?'... 'neh eh' I said!

Bye bye USA

from the International Bridge... in Sault Ste Marie.

Canada here I come...

Last Supper

My last supper in the United States of America, the place that I finally truly grew up, because either the people were so nice that they were not judgmental, or I was always an outsider that they didn't care. This old charm little restaurant in Sault Ste Marie, promised 'fresh white fish served daily' and it was the best I had tasted in a long time! Yes, even better than the fish we had at Safron in Minneapolis for like $50!!

And thank goodness, I wasn't having venison there!

First ever gas price over $4.00

The first time in my life I ever paid over $4/- for a gallon of gas, and that's a good thing, right? I am glad I am beginning to be treated like the rest of the world... Ok, you don't want me to get on my pro-high gas price soap box, you've all seeing me up there...

Highway 29 in WI - hillbillie road?

So I did decide to take the hillbillie road after all! Contrary to popular belief, 29 was a 65mph freeway and no cops or traffic. Now 64 was not so; often it would drop to 45, but really good roads, no traffic and no cops, so nothing to really prohibit you from going 70 or even 80! And then if you take 35 & 2, they're very beautiful because they run right by Lake Michigan. So if you are crossing into Eastern Canada from the Midwest, 29, 64, 35 & 2 is the way to go and cross through Sualt Ste Marie, a very laid back and nice border.

Oh and there was amazing cell phone coverage right throughout (Verizon Wireless, yeah yeah VW sucks... whatever...). Trust me this picture has signs for highway 29, its speed limit of 65 and shows good cell coverage....

First signs of Canada

The first signs of Canada came all the way while I was still in Minnesota, but it was only Ontario...

The Great Exodus

The great exodus has now begun. If you stay someplace for as long as 7 years, it is going to be hard to leave, no matter what happened there. Even the not so pleasant memories make up your comfort zone. But as they say in French, and I'll soon learn to say this in French, "if you don't move forward, you move backward".Here's looking back at the beautiful state that made a home for me for 7 long years. I want to come back soon to visit.And I carry the fondest memories of all of you who made my life so much fun and gave me a your shoulders to cry on; so far away from the place I was born, I was still never alone because of your goodwill, because you tolerated my many weaknesses and still remained my friends... your tolerance didn't go waste, let me assure you - every act of kindeness made me more resolute to be a better person...

You could barely tell this in Minnesota, but it doesn't matter; all the people who made this place my home are behind those trees anyways...