Kat On Tour

So this Sunday my summer starts. A little earlier than for most people, but hey, who ever said my life was normal.

So, because I keep finding myself explaining it, here is The Summer Plan:

On Sunday, May 3, I leave Zagreb. I pick up a hire car, drive to Sarajevo, pick up my parents from the airport.

The next few days I spend travelling in Bosnia with them, and then return to Zagreb for One Night Only on Thursday May 7.

May 8 we catch a train to Budapest to join this cruise-tour thing that leaves us in Istanbul 15 days later. My parents leave from there on May 24.

I'm thinking I will leave about the same time, and make my way back to Zagreb, probably detouring through Macedonia and Serbia on the way. I'll onlyl have a few day in Zagreb though (the beginning of June) because then I'm booked for a workshop in Zurich for the OFF_PRIDE festival (the alternative to Europride).

As soon as I can, though, I'll be back in Zagreb, and be here for at least a week - by no small coincidence, it will be the week of ZG Pride... but then, no doubt all too soon, I will have to leave again to get to another festival and another workshop, this time in Tabor in Czechy.

After that, I have 10 days or so to make my way towards the UK in time to start my regular summer job at the beginning of July. I'll be working until mid-august.

At the end of August, just a few days after I finish being professional me (ha) and revert to regular old anarchist-queer me, Oslo queer festival is on, and I'll be workshopping at that as well.

And then, well, I'll be in Scandinavia, a part of the world I haven't seen much of, so I hope to do a few weeks of travelling, maybe get to the arctic circle and iceland, see more of Sweden than Malmo airport, that sort of thing.

And *then*, I have to decide what I'm doing with the rest of the year. Current plans involve travelling overland to Australia, moving back to Montreal (visa willing) or coming back to live in Zagreb.

And right now, Zagreb is winning...

Found the quote

An update to this recent post:

"Traveling carries with it the curse of being
at home everywhere and yet
nowhere, for wherever one is some part
of oneself remains on another continent."

Source: Dame Margot Fonteyn

Thanks to an unknown visitor to my blog from Saskatchewan, Canada, for using a search string in google that turned up both my blog AND the original quote.

My Zagreb life of leisure.

So my life has been pretty busy in a crazy sort of way these last few weeks. There was the festival in Ljubljana, followed immediately by my trip to Oslo, and then since then, it seems that Zagreb is waking up for spring, and there has been so much to do.

I've started yoga classes again - Zen yoga, this time, randomly (it was the cheapest most convenient class I could find) and I have the sore muscles to prove it.

To counter the healthiness of that, there has also been a tent in one of the squares in town selling wine and a few different rakijas (like schnapps) at extremely reasonable prices. Especially when you get a couple of friends together and buy by the bottle! I seem to have partaken in quite a few bottles, mostly of Orahovac (walnut liqueur).

Last Thursday was Queer Zagreb's monthly film screening night, and I saw the french film "Juste une Question d'amour", which was good, but, at nearly 10 years old, felt a little dated in terms of attitudes to homosexuality. About right for this part of the world, though!

We followed this (after a decent interim spent in the wine tent) by heading to the women's night at Funk that happens twice a month here. It was crowded, but, as always, a lot of fun, and I'm glad it exists!

I've also had couchsurfers staying - Napoleon (my colleague from Sarajevo) came for a night last weekend, as the Madman (my erstwhile boss) has finally fired him as well (continuing his record of never having a native speaker finish a contract) so it was N's last chance to see the fair city of ZG before leaving the Balkans.

I also just hosted two lovely germans for a few days, showing them my side of Zagreb, which they seemed to appreciate, even if we did end up in the wine tent a little more than seemed sensible. They probably got the impression I'm a complete alcoholic!

Friday night there was a circus performance at Medika, the squat where I stayed my first nights in Zagreb back in October. I hadn't been back since, strangely enough, although now they have an agreement with the city for at least part of the building, making them all legal and secure, although no longer able to host overnight guests.

The performance was sold out, so some friends and I spent some time drinking yet more Orahavac (I was avoiding the wine-tent, but it came to me, instead!) outside, and then somehow ended up getting in to see the end of the show anyway. And then stayed the rest of the night at the after party, dancing to a very eclectic music selection, which was great.

And then last night (Saturday) I went to an 'unplugged' outdoor concert in celebration of Earth-Hour. Now, they seemed to have some idea of what Earth Hour is about, and the bands were mostly doing acoustic sets (apart from the electric bass and pianos) and the gig was all lit by garden torches, which was quite effective, but the amplification was so loud you could hear the music a block or two away, which seemed to me to negate the energy savings of the lack of lighting!

But it was good anyway. I finally saw Lollobrigida perform, and Lidia who directs my choir here was performing with one of her bands, Afion, as well. 

The other remarkable thing about the last week or so, is that I seem to be running into people I know every time I leave the house. And not just at the events, but randomly on the street as well. Friday, in particular, I saw pretty much everyone I know in Zagreb, most of them at Medika, but earlier in the day as well. Maybe it's just spring, and there are more people out and about, but it's kinda nice to live somewhere where I can run into people I know (and like!) on a regular basis. I can imagine it wearing thin, if I were to stay here any length of time, but for someone who is still new in town, like me, it's rather nice, and gives me a good feeling of community!

Recovering from my week in Oslo

I've just had a fantastic week in Oslo. I had a lot of fun, caught a glimpse of some of the interesting stuff that's going on there, and discovered that it would be very easy to learn Norwegian, which is such a cute and entertaining sing-song language. I was even vaguely offered a rather excellent-sounding job.

So naturally, my thoughts turn to whether or not it would be feasible to actually live there for a while. This seems to happen just about every time I spend an interesting week in a city lately - particularly if I meet up with the queer and activist-y people, and find things I could get involved in enthusiastically. That's pretty much how I ended up in both Sarajevo and Zagreb. And even though I'm still enjoying getting to know Zagreb, my nomadic attention span (similar to that of a goldfish, it seems) has been distracted by the idea of a new country, a new language, and a sweet little capital city with the beginnings of a decent queer & alternative community and quite a few amazing people.

Of course, the 8 months of winter and one of the highest living costs in the world are slight drawbacks, but whatever... The winter is not unlike Montreal (though warmer) and the cost of living is matched by the salaries, so as long as I was working I would be fine.

And also, of course, I don't know when I would fit in living in Norway. I already have several different possible plans for after the summer. I guess now I have a Plan D, as well!

Good Things

They just keep happening!

• Going to Varazdin last week with Dora, and dressing up for carnivale
  
• Discovering getting back to Canada might be easier than I thought
• Hosting Eli the hitchhiking Couchsurfer on Wednesday night
• Le Zbor (the choir) getting filmed for tv! It screened on Saturday night, and is now online!
• Hosting Kristen the Couchsurfer from Montreal from Friday (until today!)
• Choir practice on Friday night, in which we sang our way through the entire repertoire, including a whole lot of pieces I didn't know we sang.
• Going out Friday night with friends.
• Beginning to sort things out in my room here and Get Things Done from my huge long to-do list.
• Hosting Stephanie, another solo traveller fom Canada, on Saturday night!
• The amazing benefit concert on Saturday night, at which Le Zbor sang beautifully, and were definitely the highlight of the concert!
• Getting to finally see my friends' band Z/buka play at the saturday night concert, even if the sound system wasn't so great.
• Acquiring a great new t-shirt from the saturday performance (we wore them to perform), plus 5 new great badges to add to my collection (thanks Goga!)
• Spending most of Sunday at a hot springs spa with a bunch of Couchsurfers.
• Seeing my friend Anne from Sarajevo, who came to visit Sunday and Monday.
• Finding a couch for this weekend's festival in Ljubljana - I sent one request, and found exactly the right people to stay with!
• Settling into my wonderful flat here.
• Beans. Beans are good things. Especially when made into chilli.
• Possibly maybe perhaps getting invited to Oslo to give a workshop there.
• Learning about silicone stuff from my wonderful flatmate, who just happens to be studying it as part of her masters in fine arts (sculpture).
• Being given all my favourite sorts of chocolate by my house guests (dark chocolate! Lindor Chocolate! Pink Pepper chocolate, which I didn't even know I liked!) AND a jar of Thai Red Curry Paste!
• I'm listening to TripleJ as I write this post!

Oops

I discovered yesterday, that for the last 3 weeks, I have been washing my clothes in dishwashing powder, a large box of which sits next to the washing machine in our staff kitchen here at Queenswood, tempting all launderers with the handle of a little scoop just visible. It wasn't until I looked for the dishwashing powder to put on a load that I realised my mistake.
Oops.
On the bright side, my clothes are all squeaky clean and streak-free!

Catch-up Marathon Part II

More from the last week...
Last Wednesday I climbed the Olympic tower with Emma. Well, hardly climbed. Went up in the wonderfully 70s futuristic elevator (you don't have a choice). It was nice to see Montreal from a different angle. And I could see several of my houses from there - or at least the streets they were on! Afterwards Em and I dropped in to say hi at the Rhizome, which is nearby, but decided to not stay long, and came home and cooked dinner and had a night in instead.

Thursday morning, after a pleasant brunch (I love doing brunch!) I waved Emma off, as she was heading to Mont Tremblant for a few days, then in the evening I went to see a klezmer band that consists of 3 people, two of whom I know, though I didn't realise *they* knew each other (Montreal is so like that) and the third reminded me so much of Kate (but I don't mean the psycho bits). It was a bit weird. Turns out cultural heritage really means something. Oi.

Vivent les Vélorutionnaires

Friday I worked *alll* day (it's hard when you're used to part time!) and then joined other cyclists for Critical Mass, the monthly reclaim-the-streets-for-cyclists ride around the city. I didn't have a bike until this month (thanks Emily!), so this is the first one I've managed to go to in Montreal (though I also got to do one in Vancouver last September). There are photos and little videos to give you the feel of it here, along with a few from Vancouver, just for good measure. The Vancouver one in September was considerably bigger, but it was later in the season, and the one immediately after bike month, which is always the biggest of the year, I think. Here in Montreal, this is only the second month I've heard people getting excited about it. I'm told Critical Mass happens all through winter here, but it's a much smaller, more dedicated group of cyclists willing to do the dark, snowy winter rides! Still, plenty of people at this one, though - certainly more than enough to stop traffic!

Talent Share
After Critical Mass, (and a brief stop at at a pub for a beer with some choir people I knew would be there, and then home for a shower and food) I headed to my friend Aaron's for Le Salon, a bring-your-own-talent night. It was a great idea, and one I think I will have to emulate sometime int he future, although I'm not sure how well it would work in any other city. This city is just so full of talented people!
We heard lots of music, of course, including the "Farewell to Nova Scotia" I had in my head all last week, and which started a whole string of folk songs from around the world. And three of the "Men of Maha" and Julie our lovely guitarist did I'm Your Man again, of course. And a lovely couple whose names I completely missed did a few beatbox & vocals duets of children's songs one of them had written, which was sweet. There was also some poetry - Poe's El Dorado, and then I recited Hilaire Belloc's Tarantella, which I hadn't done in years, and which has such a great beat to it that we decided to try it again with the beatboxing, which actually sort of worked!
And then, one of the most-appreciated talents: Aaron made the most amazing *vegan* chocolate cheese cake. That is a talent I intend to acquire!

More to come soon, including: The Roller Derby, Fringe For All, more marching band stuff...

Catch-up Marathon Part I

There are two reasons for lack of activity on my blog - either excess of activity in my life, or lack of activity in my brain.
The last few weeks have mostly been the former, although the few times that I probably would have had time to blog, I think I was suffering the latter.
Here's a quick run down of a couple of things I did last week. Not everything, but hopefully this post will have a part II to get through the rest of the week.

1. Work (the boring one first) - it's been crazy, but the office is now moved, we've escaped from the Greek Mafia and have possibly probably found a replacement for me (just as well as I leave here next Wednesday, and have no intention of working after Friday!)

2. Meow Mix. I know I blogged about this already, but I've put up a heap more little videos of the other acts from the night on flickr. Click on the photo here to see the names of the acts we were on with. It was a most entertaining set of acts! My videos are not the full acts, just little snippets of them, flickr style. Including my favourite from Big Moves, which I like so much I think I will post part of it here.

I'm always impressed when people actually sing. And I can't believe that I leave here the day before their show in the Montreal Fringe Festival opens - it's called "Lard" because it's like grease, but thicker...

3. On Monday Emma showed up all of a sudden, so I got to play tourist for a few days! It was good - I managed to see the Basilica and climb the Olympic tower and go up the mountain again, so I sort of feel I have done the vital tourist things in Montreal.

4. Last Tuesday the wonderful Elvi (Hi Elvi!) threw me and Aideen (who is also leaving) a Choeur Maha going away party. We made use of the huge pile of sweaters she provided and braved the freezing weather (it got to 4 degrees that night - ridiculous! This is supposed to be *summer*!) to sit in her beautiful backyard, over in NDG, a part of town I hadn't been to before (another thing ticked of the 'must do before I leave' list!). To get there Emma and I caught a metro across town and then a bus even further west. On the bus I had this weird experience where I looked around and no one I could see looked french. And I couldn't hear any french being spoken. And all the books I could see were in English. It was like being in another city or country or something. But then I looked out the window and was reassured by all the french signage. Thank goodness for Quebec language laws!

Anyway, the party was great, the food was good, it was nice to see all the Maha people again. And I got to play Guitar Hero, which very kindly informed me at the end of my song "You Rock!". I was most chuffed. I also got wonderful presents! A luggage tag! A real one, made of plastic, and not the cardboard freebies I have to replace all the time! And it has the Quebec flag on it! And I got pencils patterned with the fleur de lis (they only write in french...) and the most wonderful maple butter, and some tissues with the Canadiens logo (it's a hockey thing). AND, Elvi (having obviously had far too much free time in the last few months) had read enough of my blog to notice my Engrish fetish, and, remembering this photo, presented me with two cans of coffee:

The only thing we failed to do was sing! A whole bunch of women from choir, and we failed to sing. Well, except for Auld Lang Syne, which shouldn't count.


And just because it's been stuck in my head all week (thanks to Rosemary and Mel), here's a version of "Farewell to Nova Scotia" I rather like. Very Living End, really. And more interesting than the traditional version.

Keyed Up

For someone who is essentially homeless at the moment, I have a ridiculous number of keys in my pocket. I have:
Marie-Eve's keys (where I was living for the last 3 months - I will return them soon)
Shane's keys (Where I am catsitting until tomorrow)
Emily's key's (Where I may move to tomorrow, and where most of my stuff is)
Eileen's keys (the other place I may live in for the next couple of weeks)
The DIRA keys (so I can open up for marching band practice tomorrow)
The Office keys (although the office moved this weekend, I still have to go back there to collect the mail)
That's a total of 12 keys. For a while today I had the new office keys too, but I gave them back.

Off now to get ready for tonight's performance of "I'm Your Man" - in four part harmony and drag. Pics and maybe even video will be posted when I can.

During Breakfast

I'm appreciating a 'normal' Saturday morning.. er... afternoon... - my first actually at home alone in weeks, it seems. 'Normal' means sleeping in a bit (ok, a lot), then getting up to do prosaic things like the washing up and other housecleaning tasks before I make breakfast (the clean dishes make breakfast much more pleasant). I also get time to do things like write random blog posts, and catch up on other online things.
And then today, I'm actually going to bake those ANZAC bikkies that I have been talking about all week. I want to take them to a potluck this afternoon, so I had better get on with it.
When I've finished my coffee...

Behind again

Way behind in blogging. Didn't blog Ottawa, but the pics are on flickr. Didn't blog last weekend, and now I've done enough since that my memories are getting hazy.
Haven't blogged this week - melty melty and over 20 degrees!
Haven't blogged today - sugar shacking, sun lazing, and then maha concerting. Flicks on pickr...
Haven't blogged tomorrow (this may not be so unreasonable though) which involves a marching band gig for my friends at the Rhizome and the second Maha concert, and then going out after, and then getting up for a 9am bus on Sunday to go to a cabin in the Laurentian mountains for a few days.
Life is good.

Friday

Friday was busy. On my way to work in the morning, I investigated a grocery store called "La Vieille Europe" that turned out to not have the golden syrup or treacle I was looking for. I can see that my planned ANZAC biscuits are going to end up being "Australian, New Zealand And Canadian" biscuits, as maple syrup seems my best substitute at the moment!
Then I went to work, at least for a couple of hours. Then I had some errands to run all over town which meant I spent the whole afternoon on public transport.
After that, there was a lecture by a trans activist and legal professor Dean Spade, which was interesting and educational. And then I had a gig singing (and playing clarinet and spoons) our quebecois folk song "Ziguezon" with people from my choir. It was our first performance and we outnumbered the audience (we were performing at someone else's "Cabaret Canadien" which hadn't been well publicized!) but it was an excellent practice for our concert next week.
After that I went to a friend's house to drink vodka and somehow got myself adopted by the sweetest two guys ever. I now have two more dads, it seems!
Finally, I went to a slow dance prom party and spent the early hours of the morning filling up my dance card and doing the slow-dance shuffle to such songs as "Every Breath You Take" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".
Saturday, I didn't do anything at all. But today, Sunday, I have a brunch-ish-lunch, a champagne tea party clothing-swap, Food not Bombs, a marching band rehearsal and another choir small-group rehearsal.
Better get on with it!

Too Fast

Life is going way to fast to keep up with blogging right now, but I'm still managing to upload photos regularly. Photos from this month now include:

1. Kim Zombik, Choeur Maha member and jazz singer extraordinaire, from Circo d'Inverno, a circus and music performance I went to unexpectedly last Saturday (Thanks Elvi!)
   
2. The protest, march and many of the Marching Band from that same Saturday's Internation Day Against Police Brutality (including one of the poor old man a posse of police knocked down right in front of me, after Telyn and I had dexterously leapt sideways out of their way.)
3. A random pic of a huge work machine thing that made so much noise I thought the world was ending when it came through the metro station while I was waiting for the last train last night.
4. Some marching band friends playing in the metro after practice last Sunday
5. A photo from the practice itself, which is held in an anarchist library.
6. Hairdressing and poker playing at last night's surprise party for Rosin.
   
7. Cooking at Maison Laurier for Food not Bombs on Sunday.
8. And older pics of things like huge piles of snow from the biggest snowstorm of the season (or any season in the last 30 years), the metro, nuit blanche, colourful construction, climbing Mount Royal and random Montreal street scenes and statues.
   

Hot Hot Gossip and other events

I went to see another Edgy Women thing last night - this time it was Hot Hot Gossip - the live-action lesbian soap-opera comedy.

It was highly amusing! And full of lots of lovely lesbian drama! See, doesn't this look familiar? At least to some people...

Unfortunately it was only episodes one and two of a 6 part series, so I'm going to have to go back and see the sequel when they get around to putting it on! And I hope the third and final part gets staged before I have to leave for the UK in June, or I'll never hear the end of the story!

After the show I stayed around to chat to all the people I knew who came, which was many. I am no longer surprised when I know bunches of people everywhere I go here now. And that most of the people I know know most of the other people I know, even though I met them in completely different places. This is now normal to me. However, standing around chatting to half the performers and special guests of the arts festival you're attending is still a surprising experience for me. But that's what we did. Ivan E. Coyote, a brilliant storyteller (see here selling books that I now really want to read) and Lazlo Pearlman, whose solo show I am going to see tonight, are both amazing wonderful people I am glad I have had conversations with.

And then today, there is a skill share at the Co-op sur Genereux that I appear to be failing to go to (I'll definitely be there tomorrow!), a march against police brutality at which I am supposed to serve Food not Bombs food or provide anarchist marching band support (after only one rehearsal, I'm not actually up to *playing* for the march, but I'm good at moral and photographic support!) and then I just got a phone call inviting me to a show that one of my fellow Choeur Maha members is singing in, so I'm going to that first.
And then tonight is Lazlo's show, and tomorrow I have the skill share at the co-op, including another theatre workshop that was so much fun last time, and then Food not Bombs, which I have a feeling I will be missing, as it clashes, and a marching band rehearsal in the evening. And I have a feeling there's something else on as well, but that's probably enough for one day anyway.
And I wonder why I feel like I need a weekend in the middle of the week...

Random Observations.

1. The highest point of the blanket of snow that is currently covering my backyard outside my window here is at eye level when I'm sitting here at my desk. This is a record breaking year, apparently.
2. My internal french-monologue has started frequently speaking with a quebecois accent-la.
3. Changing to summer time (as we did on Sunday morning, apparently) is fantastic, and I love long, sunny evenings, but somehow my body clock cannot be convinced that it's nearly night time right now, and that I'm running late for our jam session, which usually starts *after* dark...
   

The 'Hood

I like my new area. It's just off the Plateau, which seems to be the most interesting area of town and where most people I know live. My flat is also very close to the metro, which is so much more convenient than the long walks or buses I needed to get to the other places I've lived in Montreal (two months, and I've stayed in about 5 different places...). So even though is a couple of extra metro stations out of town, it's actually more convenient. And, of course, I'm teaching two days a week in Laval, which is the island north of Montreal Island, and thus I'm a couple of stops closer to that job, which is nice.
Also, it seems a lot of my musical friends live around here - both from the LadiesAux and from Choeur Maha. Which means our jam sessions and small-group rehearsals are frequently conveniently located.
In terms of facilities, there's an IGA supermarket around the corner, which is convenient, but I hope not to use it too often, as I work right near a super-cheap and interesting supermarket (they sell marmite!), and I'm also just a few blocks from Jean Talon Market, which I've only visited once so far, but which is apparently *the* place to buy fruit and veg and bread and everything, really. This evening I found the nearest swimming pool, about 5 minutes walk away, but I didn't go swimming, as I had forgotten that it was the other pool that was open tonight - the one that is about 10 minutes walk away. I plan to get the schedules for both, if ever I manage to go when they are open! I'm still loving the free, indoor swimming pools! I'm also told there are lots of interesting cafes around here, and I know I'm close to 'Little Italy' and there seems to be a healthy middle-eastern population around here too. All good things.
However. Walking to this swimming pool this evening (and then about 5 long-blocks past it, as I hadn't remembered the address correctly...) I walked down St-Hubert which, for about 4 or 5 blocks around here, is 'Plaza St Hubert'. It's a shopping street, with covered footpaths, that reminds me of something I saw in China, or somewhere. And it's filled with the least attractive shops I've seen in a while. There is nothing in any of them that remotely tempts me (except the Salvation Army store, which I found this evening). I noticed a preponderance of bridal and formal wear shops, including, for some reason, multiple children's formal wear places. And there seems to be a market for tacky formal outfits and coloured suits. The fashions remind me of things I've seen in non-western countries, where the local version of western formal wear often gets a little overdone. There are also electronic junk stores, whitegoods shops, sex stores (with open glass shop fronts, so you can see all their wares... and customers...) and discount-clothing chain stores. Not to mention the occasional plastic-tablecloth eatery with names like 'El Tropicale'.
The best part about this street is that I know I can safely walk down it on a regular basis and never be tempted to spend a cent!

EDIT: and the Nail Salons! I forgot to mention the nail salons! Which is odd, because just about every second shop is one!

This Weekend

So last night I didn't have anything on. Friday night, and no social events! This means I think I have got enough sleep for the first time in a week or three! And it's just as well, as here are my plans for this weekend:
1. Go out and buy milk to bring home to make coffee. I've been up a couple of hours, but haven't really started the day, as I seem to require milk to make anything resembling breakfast.
2. Go swimming. I've been slack in the last two weeks - I've only been once. It's the working thing. It just takes up too much time and energy, and leaves nothing for things like swimming!
3. Go to the all-girl-bluegrass-jam, which is called the LadiesAux. Today we're jamming at some sort of knitting thing, which sounds like fun. I will also be meeting Rebecca there - someone I met in Japan, who comes from Montreal, but currently lives in Spain. She's back in town just for the weekend, so I invited her to my social events.
4. Go straight from there to a big hair and moustaches party and potluck at the Laurier house where I was staying last week and where the Red Party was. Tonight is in honour of Ashton's birthday, which happens to be on Valentines Day. I've made a curry, which isn't at all Valentines-y, nor have I added any big hair or moustaches to it.

And then Sunday:
1. Food not Bombs at the Co-op sur Genereux. I will go for the beginning and help out until I have to leave for:
2. Rehearsal of a quebecois folk song that I'm doing in a small ensemble for Choeur Maha. After which I will rush off to:
3. Feminist films of some sort at the Rhizome.

And then I will have to get home at a reasonable-ish hour so that I can function successfully at work on Monday!

Why I'm not blogging much

I'm working. Every day. 5 days a week. At least I have 2 different jobs, so there's variety, and in theory it isn't full time, although it sure feels like it at the moment. But it's nice to know I`m doing some good in the world, helping out people like this.
In the last week I have also attended no less than 4 musical things, by which I mean rehearsals and jam sessions, as well as a free yoga class, and about a million social events. Ok, well, a couple. Oh, and I moved into my new flat. This means I have a new address. AND this flat is ALL MINE for 3 months (and 4 days). Why, it's practically permanent! You can send things by Seamail (if you're quick). Email me if you want said address, or the phone number that accompanies it.
I will blog about my flat soon - once I've unpacked, or rather, put things away rather than just upending all my bags to find things...
In the meantime, the pictures of last weekend's fantabulous Red Party and Cultural Insurrection Convention are on flickr, and if you haven`t seen them yet, you should! And yes, I know they need editing, and I will delete the ones that aren't worth looking at sometime. Soonish. Probably.
One of my favourites from each event:

Mmmm

The sun's back, on my back. I've spent the morning fielding phone calls either for jobs or social events. And I have marmite. Ok, so it's not vegemite, but it's a decent substitute, and I have found a supermarket that sells it, for a reasonable price.
And just to balance all this positivity stuff that there is way too much of around here lately, here's something negative. For some reason Auld Lang Syne is playing on my ipod, and I can't be bothered getting up to change it...

I like it here.

So, if you hadn't noticed from the last few posts, I'm rather enjoying Montreal. I was walking home from interviewing another school this afternoon (that's not a typo - my serious blog explains) and it was -11 or so, but with such a clear sunny blue sky, just on dusk, with a nearly-full moon rising over the lovely Montreal architecture of Rue Laurier and the snow-covered park, in the pale blue and faintly pink-streaked sky. I had spent the early afternoon doing my cat-impression in the sun in my flat again, and was now just as warm outside in my wonderful yellow coat and winter boots, I was listening to my music, I had just had a whole job interview in French - and been offered the job on the spot, and will reject it by email this evening.
Tonight I have the all-girl bluegrass jam again, tomorrow I work a whole two hours, then plan to visit a friend and then go to choir rehearsal in the evening. Wednesday I might have people over to dinner. Sometime this week I've got an interview for a possible ESL management job. On the weekend, I become homeless for a few days, but I already have enough friends here that I can stay at a different person's place for each of the 4 nights if I want (yes, I know at least 4 people!) and then I move into a lovely flat right next to a metro stop.

My life isn't all perfect, of course. I'll still be short on cash for a month or so until my work builds up and I get paid, but I can live extraordinarily cheaply here, if I try. And there's a little matter with my previous sublet person I need to sort out. And a few other things I'm trying to ignore, but overall, I'm pretty content at the moment!