Snow, torches, and finals

The past week has been relatively eventful in the non-weather related news, despite the final exams that have been breathing down everyone's backs. I was pleasantly surprised by my grade on my term paper (B+) in my class on the UN last week, as well by an A in my class on Eastern European politics. It doesnt look like I will be failing any of classes, which is certainly good news.

Wednesday, December 9th, was our first large snow storm. By the end of it, they counted 23 cm (about 9 in) fell in Montréal in about 18 hours. The snow preceeding and following the storm brought the total closer to 30cm, or about a foot. I got lunch midday with Guillaume, waiting for the snow to add up to a sufficient amount. I then headed up to Sarah's house for some playtime in the snow! On the way up there, I had to wait for the bus. I never really realised how snow really gets everywhere, and tries to fit into every corner of your being. Here is a video of me waiting for the bus!

A bunch of us went up the side of the mountain and did some sledding, along with snow angels and snowball fights. The creation of snowmen was not possible, as there are several different types of snows. This was was far too fluffy.

I am on the left, with Cameron and Max

Sarah, Lauren, and myself

The climb back down the hill

Sarah's balcony around 3.30pm


Me, Muong, and Camille waiting for the bus


Tara, Sarah's rommate, and I walking through the Village at night

Post-snow storm news:
I SAW THE OLYMPIC TORCH!!!!!!!!! The 2010 Winter Olympics are in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, and the torch is passing through every corner possible in Canada. Best part? The switch over was right in front of my apartment. I was trudging back to my place through the snow from my last class, when I saw a large crowd congregated outside the building. I saw the woman in Olympic gear, and heard murmurs of the torch! I ran up to my room to grab my camera, and I got the following photo, amoung others.


I couldn't believe my luck!!!! While I may not be able to make it out West for the games, I can at least say I saw la flame olympique!

I took my first final today, and what I think was the hardest one in terms of my knowledge of the material. Yet, I got very lucky and the essay question was on the subject about which I knew the most. Just got four more to go, and I will be home in Saturday night!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see everyone, the dogs included, and to have a nice, big chile verde burrito. :)

Joyeuses Fêtes, AKA Happy Holidays, from Montréal!

One last hurrah before finals...

I would first like to mention that it is SNOWING again outside!!! -1 degree celsius was today's high. LOVE IT!

This weekend was a lot of fun. Thursday I had class all day, which is, of course, not entertaining in the least. Afterwards, I met up with Morris and we had phô (vietnamese soup) which he made and it was delicious. Then we met up with Sarah and her roommate and we all went to a magazine release party. The alcohol, snacks, and dancing was all free! It was in a loft, and full of hipsters. It was a fantastic night in which i barely spent a penny.

Friday I went grocery shopping, then did some homework. Lauren and I had dinner, then watched a movie called Green Fingers with Hellen Miren and Clive Owen. It was a cute, light-hearted film. Overall, I would give it a B+/A-. I then went out, unexpectedly, to a party with friends from school. That was a ton of fun, with activities ranging from dancing, to parisiens falling all over the place, to a healthy discussion on the status of Québec. Great night :)

Saturday, I woke up very, very late and went for a walk right before the sun went down around 4pm. I went over to Lauren's, and we cooked, baked, etc etc. We got all pretty, then went to Sarah and Cameron's joint birthday party. It was very pleasant, including the sleigh rides made by Lauren! Hot cocoa with peppermint alcohol = bliss in a mug.

Sunday was uneventful and homework filled. I will be home next weekend! Just have to get through these final exams!!!

First real snow

I have been looking back at all my previous postings, and I am noticing that with each passing post, the distance between them gets larger and larger. I blame this on finals and papers. When I look back at my finals-time work load in San Francisco, I realise that it was nothing. Here, I have 10 page papers in every class, and five finals in three days. Each final is essay format, so essentially, my right hand is going to have to go through rehab to recover.

Anyway, to the topic! November 30th brought Montréal its first snow of the year!! Here is a photo to prove it!

I went up near Sarah's house to play on the mountain as all the snow was more or less gone from downtown after a few hours. We even made a snowman! Or I should say snowwoman, as we named her Iva.

so YAY SNOW! It made my week! I was so excited, especially because November was extremely mild by Montréal standards.

Alas, December has arrived. As much as I love it for Christmas and the holiday décor, it also coincides with final exams, the least festive things on the face of the planet. I've been doing paper, after paper, after paper. I only have one left, on domestic partnerships in the US. After that, I will only have to study for my finals! I have a final on the 14th, two on the 15th, and two on the 17th. Then........I'm flying home on Dec 19th!!!! Right before Dad's birthday!!! I changed my flights, originally departing Dec 22nd, because there was no real need to stay another three days. Although my flight gets in at midnight on Saturday, the flight time is also shorter bcause the layover is in Minnesota, instead of New York City.

I'm off to go eat at the vegan bistro at the english-speaking uni, Concordia. Perhaps you might even see another post before Christmas comes....

Almost half way there

So I just came to notice that my last post was over two weeks ago! Shame on me! Granted, the past two weeks have been far less packed with goings-on as I am on a water-tight budget at the moment. Here is a round up of some of my recent activities:
1) too much homework. Finals is right around the corner, and i keep having to write paper after paper.
2) been to the Dollar Cinéma several times. I love the guy that works there because he is just so relaxed about everything!!!
3) went to a ROLLER DERBY match!!!! It was soooo sooo cool! plus I got to ride in a car for a wee bit. I miss driving :-/ I know that its bad for the environment.....but still.
4) Changed my flights to go home for Xmas. Going back on the 19 Dec! Not long left...and I will already be half way through my time in Canada.....can't believe it....

Club in the Clouds

Well this weekend was certainly interesting. Some epics nights out, along with a club on the 43rd floor of a skyscraper in Centre-Ville! Soooo cool! You can google pictures of "1 Place Ville Marie" for pics of the building, or "Club 737". Saturday was a great gathering. We all met up at Sarah's house and made MEXICAN! She lives a relatively short distance from Provigo on Avenue Mont Royal, so we walked over there and bought all the ingredients, including a pumpkin pie and ice cream!!! The conversation was riveting, including a game or two ;) All in all, a succesful and relatively inexpensive night for all.
Sidenote: I go home for the holidays in 6 weeks. And I have been in Montréal for 3 months. Jeeeeezus.

All Hallow's Eve

Last weekend was HALLOWE'EN! Ever money-smart, I did my cowboy costume again. Bought a cowboy hat, pink and fluffy for a fun effect, and borrowed a pink bandana. Got to say, I was a much more colourful cowboy compared to the other ones running around. Friday night we went to Club 1234. First off, never go there. The service is crap, drinks are costly, and too many people squeeze in. However, having fantastic friends makes a difference! We danced our way through the evening, along with some lovely time spent on the outside deck (with even an accident slip in a puddle by a few people *wink*). Anyway, late night homemade fries at Morris's was a great way to end a yet another lovely evening in the city. The day of Halloween rolled around, and in full collegiate style, I woke up around 3pm. Lazed around, studied as much as I could (hehe), then watched Johnny English :) Here is a piece of advice: ever sad? Watch some British comedy. The night was finished off with a feast of sorts at Cameron's, with "Corpse Bride" and "The Others" as company. Sunday was studying-filled. Monday, the start of a new week of school...Tuesday, a disappointing election for the LGBT community. Wednesday, I went for a walk up the mountain with Bonnie and Sarah, despite it hanging around 4 degrees Celsius (about 39F), then we got hot chocolate form Tim Horton's to defrost! Helped Bonnie with some french, then on my way home, I walked into a conference on Obama's first year in office. One of my prof's had mentioned it in class, and it was certainly intriguing. Obama's health care efforts were analysed, and clearly everyone on the panel was in favour of them. All seemed to rather positive of his job, but were expecting better in the future years. I find Obama to be a good president, regardless of my opinions on the issues. I do not line up eye-to-eye with him on several things, but he did pass the hate crimes bill last week, so its a step in the right direction regarding that issue anyway. Class tomorrow, so it is bedtime for me. Perhaps another posting soon :)

Quick let down

Just wanted to leave a quick message that Maine has let its LGBT community down. Those who voted to keep same-sex marriage are to be congratulated; those who voted otherwise, well aren't.