A successful search for trees

Once upon a time there was a lady called Helen and a man called Nick and a lady called Elspeth and a man called Ewan. They lived in Montreal. They loved Montreal very much because it had bagels and poutine and frenchness. But it didn't have enough trees. So one day they went to find some more trees. They hired a blue car. Elspeth was happy because it was an automatic. It was like being in a video game.
They drove for a while. They asked for directions from a nice lady and a nice man in a car park. They had a minor detour along a windy lane with colourful pretty houses. They wondered what happened to the people living in them when it snowed.

After a pretty drive listening to nice music they found some trees. They were big trees. There were lots. They walked up a hill of trees to look at the trees.
Some trees wanted to be dinosaurs.They saw some chipmunks. And red squirrels. And deer. And a smiley moose. (Well they thought they did, but it might have been Nick pretending, so here is a picture of what they thought they might possibly potentially have seen. It probably was a moose.)
When they reached the top of the hill, they could see LOTS of trees. It was beautiful. Then they had a picnic. They ate lots and were happy.
Then they walked down the hill and saw a stream and a waterfall.
Nick said it was cold. Then he jumped in. Then Ewan jumped in. Then Helen jumped in. Then Elspeth jumped in. They all said it was cold. Then they jumped back out and ran down the hill to get warm again. At the bottom of the hill was a lake. It was beautiful. It was very quiet. Then they saw a bear. Elspeth threw a leftover chocolate brownie at it. Nick pretended to be a moose. Helen and Ewan did an interpretive dance at it so it went away.

Then they drove to Timmy Horton's for a hot chocolate and an apple and cinnamon loaf. Then they drove home. Well, they would have driven home if it was their car. Instead, they drove round and round the one way system after battling with a petrol pump, before finally managing to put the car back where they found it. It was a good day.

A red coat and green man

So midterms are over, hurrah, and I handed in a fat paper that I've been working on since the beginning, so I am feeling CHILL today. I should also say that the week that I wrote the last blog entry moaning about how I had no social life, I then proceeded to go out on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night... I definitely do have a social life, and will endevour to not bang on about it anymore!

Halloween was an excellent excuse to dress up. I can't believe I thought that my wolf costume was not a necessary component of my Canadian wardrobe, rooky error. I thought I managed quite well with just some green paint though. For a pre-halloween party I was Princess Fiona from Shrek, and for an actual halloween (but technically still pre-halloween party) I was green giant sweetcorn man. I am still finding bits of leaf around my room, and my scarf definitely has a slight green tinge. Marie and her friend dressed as the black and white swans from the film complete with homemade tutus and red contact lenses, it was scary...

Unfortunately Marie has to return to France at the end of the month because Quebec has reached the limit of work permits that it gives out, so she is unable to get a job and is running out of money. This is officially pants. Of the english variety. There is a small possibility of studying here to stay here, but after spending days on hold and being redirected to more unhelpful embassies etc I think we may have to accept it. Pff.

Winter is coming, it was really trying to snow today although it doesn't quite seem cold enough yet. I found a brand new fat coat on craigslist for half the retail price, so am super looking forward to wearing it, check out the hood! Apparently this is the way to wear a coat over here, furry ET style. Just need boots and I'm good to go. People continue to tell me horror stories, like that there is still snow in April. I hope they are joking.The friendliness and openness of people continues to amaze me. I am still pleasantly surprised when people instantly respond to an 'excuse me...' with a smile before anything else. I may well be selectively exaggerating this slightly (I have now witnessed road rage, apparently this is universal) but I am sure that the average genuinely-pleased-to-help-you attitude level is higher here than in England. Even more than this are the invites from people I've met once to their flatmates sisters babysitters boyfriends birthday party, and I really am genuinely welcome. Well maybe I'm exaggerating this too, in which case I have forced my company on many kind-hearted/pitying people, but I like to think it's the former! The city really is a mash up of so many different people, but after talking to a Canadian friend about this apparently this is the 'Montreal bubble' and doesn't reflect the rest of Canada.

I am gradually learning the basic politics behind the country, where each province seems to be divided into people who want to separate from the rest of Canada and those who want to stay as one country. The establishment of whether you are a 'separatist' or not can lead to an animated discussion... I like to think that these always end in a hug though. C'mon, it's Canada. Mind you, the strike of the McGill support staff which has been going on since September 1st continues, which I find so sad. Alot of my labs have been disorganised, not worked and half of the length that they should be because our lab technician is on strike, so the lecturers are trying to set everything up (even though they don't know how) as well as do their own jobs. There is alot of support for the staff from students and lecturers, and alot of anger and frustration directed at the administration. There is the general feeling that the university is being run as a company to make money, especially for the few topdogs, rather than for education and research for the sake of improving lives. I have the impression that people have been unhappy for a long time about the few at the top getting all the money and renown, while taking away benefits from the people at the bottom who really keep the university ticking along. Sound familiar!? This hasn't been helped by various injunctions against the strikers forcing them to move further away from the uni gates and quieten down. After over two months of striking, I really hope it gets sorted soon, especially before they are forced to continue in the snow.

Even public toilets are a soul-boosting experience, with the grafitti telling you that you are a beautiful and wonderful person. I tried to end one of my crap stories with the classic '...and then I found twenty quid', but I forgot to say 'bucks' instead and noone knew what a quid was. They thought I said 'squid', giving a slightly different mental picture. The french for 'booty call' is literally 'ass project'. A 'jumper' is someone who jumps, rather than a sweater, again giving an odd mental picture when you say you are going to put one on. Canadians do not put kisses on texts, meaning I have been pretty full on with everyone for the last 2 months. I definitely have to fight to maintain my english accent when talking to certain people, and enjoy practising saying 'ey' in the right context - I still don't think I've quite got it.

Huge love out there, I think of you all often :)