ITHQ & IMAX

Another day out on the last Friday of the year!

A bunch of us planned to go to the ITHQ, which is a college that runs a hotel and restaurant that is all student- and alumni-staffed. We got the lunch special, which was a three course meal of soup or salad, tuna or rabbit, and blueberry upside-down cake. A Champlainer in the Hospitality major let us know what this place was all about -- it was great to see that those kinds of opportunities existed up here, and it made me think about the kinds of opportunities that were popping up for our own students. :)

We also went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" in IMAX 3D, which we just got back from. There are so many things to do in this city, it's hard to pick just one! But we had a great time and really geeked out over the 3D models and the animation in the movie. It was really cute! We all enjoyed it a lot, so I recommend going to see it, especially if you have an IMAX near you. Or, better yet, you could visit up here and see it!

We took some photos, but it was another student's camera because I forgot mine! I'll remind her again tomorrow, so look for them soon!

Cirque du Soleil!

So, we just got back from Cirque du Soleil! As a sort of last hurrah, we were given the opportunity to have a discounted rate for the tickets in order to go see the "Totem" show here in Montréal, which premiered for the first time on April 22nd.



Having spent much of the semester in the ART 220 class (Cultural Immersion/Fine Arts), I was really excited to have one last chance to get out before the school year ended. The show was really fantastic! Beautifully orchestrated, wonderful colors, and awesome acrobatics and stunts. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed, especially since it had a lot of awesome lighting that would be ruined by a flash. But! Stefi managed to grab a couple of pictures for us and let me use them here!



Those of us who went also had to say goodbye to Stefi. She won't be in the office, or rather, we won't be around the Academic Center anymore because exams are officially over. A lot of us are moving out within the next couple of days. I can't begin to say how awesome and helpful Stefi and Wesnide and Genevieve have been to us. They're like the best team ever up here and always looking out for us and helping us on our way.



So the end of this post is just a huge thank you to them and everyone who made coming up here possible! It was amazing! Thank you so much!

Look out for another post tomorrow for the final student hurrah -- a nice, dressed-up lunch where we can actually take some pictures.

Poutine!

I feel that this blog would not be complete without at least one post about poutine. For those of you who don't know, poutine is a dish served pretty much exclusively in Canada. It is basically fries with gravy and melted cheese curds over the top. It originated in Quebec, and I've heard various stories about its creation. My favorite is that the creator had bought all three ingredients and was walking home. He managed to trip and everything in the bag got jumbled together and all mixed up. Instead of throwing the whole mess away, he gave the mix a try and thought it tasted fantastic. Thus, the creation of poutine. It's just a story, though. I haven't found anything to credit it, and a bunch of different provinces actually lay claim to poutine's creation.



Getting poutine was one of the first things I did when I got to Montréal. Since then, I haven't eaten poutine from anywhere but Frite Alors. There's one on St. Laurent, two streets away from the dorm, and one on St. Denis, one or two streets away from the Academic Center. So. It's incredibly convenient. They put all kinds of extra toppings on top of theirs, like grilled red peppers, bacon, and mushrooms. I don't suggest poutine from fast food places or anywhere else really. Frite Alors is where it's at.



This is an essential Quebecois experience. Even if you think it sounds kind of gross, it tastes amazing! Don't let the words “cheese curds” put you off – it's essentially just big pieces of cheese plunked on top that melt on the fries.



If you're in the neighborhood, complete your experience and try some poutine!



Also, ironically, no sooner had I said spring than it was snowing outside again! I guess winter wanted the last laugh.

French vs. English

Now that I've been here long enough, I've had a lot of time to reflect on the uniqueness that is Montréal. The bilingual discussion has come up in several classes already, mostly in Conversational French and Cultural Immersion Through the Fine Arts (I highly recommend both! Great teachers and an awesome opportunity to expand your knowledge of language and get out and about in the city).

Most of the city is bilingual, so you won't have a lot of problems navigating around or communicating. However, a little effort in speaking French goes a long way in gaining the esteem of Montréalers. They always appreciate the effort, and, like my Advanced Seminar in Game Design teacher has told me, you can get by in this city just speaking English, but it'll be that much harder to fit in. Even if you think you sound stupid, people will just smile and answer you. It's the effort that counts, even just saying “Bonjour, hello,” instead of just “Hello” shows that you acknowledge the duality of the city.

It's great now, though, because in general people can speak to me in French, and I understand enough that I can at least respond to them in English without them having to translate. Just being in the city did this for my sister, who was up here last semester, but I think the Conversational French has pulled me far ahead in understanding. I still occasionally blank out, but that's okay. “Bonjour, hello” to the rescue! Haha.

It's great that the city is so adaptive and can hang on to its roots in both English and French.

It's Spring!

It's finally spring here! Yaaaaaay! While it still gets windy at times, it's been absolutely gorgeous out since this weekend. I even ate outside last Thursday! Montréal seems like almost a completely different place now that the weather isn't so cold. True to what I was told, the Montréalers exploded outside after the winter, ready and willing for the warm weather. We've all been cooped up inside from the cold for a while, so it's hard not to catch the spring fever. I remember commenting that the few festivals during the winter were just to get people to come outside and not feel so cooped up. While it's cold, it's not so bad because of the Metro and the bus system, and this winter was thankfully very mild.

Here's the view from our window at the dorms.



All the restaurants that have windows facing the front have suddenly revealed that these windows actually open, and now there are happy people catching a nice breeze on a warm night while eating. From here on out, I'm expecting some traipsing around the city, and I'll be taking a visit to the Biodome before I leave because I haven't been yet!

Everyone at the Academic Center has started talking about what's around in Montréal for the summer. The Jazz Festival sounds like it would be blast, so I might have to make arrangements to visit this summer. A couple of my friends have scored internships up here because of their classes, so I have a potential place to crash. There's also going to be the Just For Laughs Festival with comedians from all over. And... wow. I just looked up festivals for this year, and there's quite a list. I think I'll just give you guys a link, haha. Here you go: http://www.montreal.world-guides.com/montreal_events.html. Summer's coming up, and it's going to be great!



I'll try to get some nice outside pics to upload to this post later, so look out for them!

Edit: Here are a couple from around the dorm area. Enjoy! :)

Ottawa Part II

So! More about Ottawa. We do a lot of things on these trips, so it's hard to decide what to talk about. There are some amazing museums and things out there, but we weren't allowed to take pictures.





We got to visit the Royal Canadian Mint, which was pretty sweet. They made the medals for the Winter Olympics. The medals are the first ever to be wavy and each one has a print from a larger scene – so no two medals are the same, and all the medals awarded came with a print of the larger picture and where that medal fit into it. They really are gorgeous pieces of work. I believe the tour guide told us they had to specially design a machine to make the medal wavy and then used a machine to laser etch the designs.



We got a chance to see them making collector's coins and coins that are sold for the value of their metal. They both have different processes because the people buying them are looking for different things. For instance, the collector's coins have to have their images printed spot on in order for them to be released, and they also can't have any fingerprints on them at all. If either is off, the coin is melted down again and reprocessed. The coins that are sold for their value have to be weighed and their purity ascertained to within a certain amount. Otherwise, they are reprocessed. The collector's coins are also stamped individually by the people who work there! It looked like it took them a long time.

It's really expensive to set up a mint, too, so the Canadian Royal Mint does coins for a number of different countries. The only one I really remember is Barbados, but they had a whole wall of foreign coins that they've printed, especially for smaller countries.

For other places we went to, we visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Their Canada Hall is pretty spectacular. It's a replica of old Canadian towns, and it really feels like you're stepping into that time and place. The other museum we visited was the National Gallery of Canada – no pictures allowed. They have an amazing First Nations exhibit downstairs, and a great selection of modern and American and European art upstairs. We had a lot of fun with the exhibit in the garden where the artist invited guests to manipulate steel beams into a shape they liked.





So, I suggest if you manage to make it up here one semester that you take advantage of the trips. They're absolutely fantastic.

Ottawa Part I

Last weekend we went to Ottawa! There were a bunch of museums and great places to eat (we picked up an awesome tandoori chicken wrap from a little Indian place) and
the views were beautiful. We also got the chance to visit Parliament.



We went on a tour with a lovely tour guide who was more than happy to answer any of our questions. It was really interesting getting to see all the different buildings and learn all the traditions of the Parliament. For example, the English and French representations in the building are kept strictly separate – this includes the portraits of the different monarchs. The Senate Chamber has red carpeting and the chamber of the House of Commons has green carpet, and the two aren't allowed to sit together. In fact, there are places in the back roped off where the different members are allowed to stand – it isn't very big. Also! If you want to sit in on either meeting, there are seats open to the public at the top with (and this was my question) earpieces in case they decide to speak in French or English, whichever you don't speak. So you get to hear the same translations that the other members hear.



We also got to see where the Queen would sit in the Senate, which was pretty cool. There are some smaller seats to the side that are apparently reserved for first year college students who intern there. That's a pretty sweet gig for a first year student.

Probably the most exciting thing for me was the Memorial Chamber. It was originally to honor the sacrifice of Canadians who died in the WWI, but has since come to include all Canadians who served and died in military conflicts. There are a lot of stories and other inspiring things carved into the stone around the room. I was particularly excited to find “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae as one of them.

Well, I've talked enough for this one post. Part II coming up soon!