winter wonderland...

Uh, ya. Wonderland. Mother Nature is playing catch up. I wasn't here last year, but I know/heard there was no snow, and winter didn't really start until January. That was just because mother nature knew that winter would start early this year and she was giving everyone a break.

In the backyard. This is the same shot (almost) as the leaves one in a previous post.

I hate writing about the weather, since it's the kind of thing that you talk about when there's nothing else on the menu... but seriously. This week we've seen every kind of nasty winter weather possible. Sleet. Snow. Rain. Freezing rain. High winds. You name it.

I didn't measure, but it looks like about two inches on the railing...

It's not fun. I know that I wrote a little about it earlier in the week. I know that I said I thought it was kind of fun, and that I didn't mind it so much, but I also asked that there was no more until I left. I guess mother nature doesn't read this blog.

Out back.

Anyway, I must admit it is rather pretty when everything is blanketed in white. But now the white has turned to black slush. Every street corner has a puddle that even and Olympic long jumper couldn't cross without getting wet, and I don't have any boots.

The snow and ice is so heavy the trees are drooping to the ground.

This just makes me even more excited to get out of here. I know it rains like crazy in London. I know that they have winter too, but I also know it's nothing like here. I'm looking forward to minimal snow again this year. I've had my fill for a while in just the past couple of days... so please, can someone forward to mother nature and let her know that she can hold off for a couple of weeks to bring on more winter.

SNOW!

I had forgotten about snow. Well, not really, but in the way that you forget what sand between your toes feels like, or the taste of salt water on your lips after you get out of the ocean. I was rather rudely reminded of snow this morning and also completely unprepared for it.

I first noticed it when I looked out the back door. I was bending over to pick up my shoes to bring them to the front of the house, and there is was, covering the balcony in all of its glowing brilliance. I didn't notice that it was still snowing until I opened the front door to walk to the bus stop.

It was kind of magical at first. I haven't seen snow in a while now... well, let's say a year and a half, but I grew up here in Canada and last year was my first snow-less winter. While I did miss it when I didn't have it, I don't miss it anymore. It's one more reason for me to leave Canada. I joke a lot with friends by saying "I think I'm going to spend the rest of my life avoiding winter". While I do despise the white stuff, it was kind of pretty this morning, despite it's freezing wetness blowing in my face while waiting for the bus.

I purposely took a moment to try and enjoy it. It didn't work. There was snow in my coffee, snow in my hood, snow in the cuffs of my pants, snow in my shoes, and snow in my purse. It was blowing hard. And wet. And cold. Did I mention wet?

As I was waiting for the train (I take a bus to the train station) I noticed that it was the perfect texture for a snowball fight. I wonder what all of the other commuters would have thought if I'd actually picked some up and thrown it... I think snow is only fun when you're a kid and you can have snowball fights, or build snowmen. When you grow up the magic disappears and it just becomes a hassle. It creates more traffic, making it harder to get to work in the morning. It creates slippery sidewalks, which makes it hard for some people to be able to leave their houses. It's just a nuisance really. So I'll thank whoever that I got to have a little bit of 'Canadian Winter' today, but please, hold off the rest until I'm out of here...

Fall in Montreal

So here I am, stuck for another three weeks (no! I'm not counting!)... I've been staying with a friend at her mother's house in Otterburn Park (see previous posts on that), the thing is, this is a HOUSE, which means lots of cleaning and tons of yard work.

I've been enjoying it mostly, but that 's probably because I don't feel entirely obliged to do it. I'm sure I'd be way less gung-ho if it was my OWN yard. Anyway, last weekend the three of us headed outside (thankfully the weather was nice) to rake the leaves.

a BIG pile of leaves

with the bag to give it a little perspective...

I'd already done 17 bags at hallowe'en and this past weekend the three of us managed to bag another 35!!! And we still have half the yard to do! We're hoping for good weather this weekend to get it all done. Anyway, I took a few pictures. Now I'm wishing I'd thought of shooting the 35 bags lined up on the road for collection, but oh well... Maybe we'll have just as many this weekend and I can show you that.

some pretty leaves (still on the tree)

some more pretty leaves... maybe these will be in the bag this weekend!

There's something about being out in the country that makes me want to take lots of pictures. I wish I had a macro lens though to get really close up. I can dream...

In other news... in exactly three weeks my flight to London will be in the air, or just taking off... I'm really excited but also kind of scared, but in the same way I was before going to Korea... so it's ok. If I don't like it I can always come home OR go back to Korea, right? Right.

More to come, as soon as I have anything... maybe I'll tell you all about the glamourous life of a telephone market researcher... on second thought, maybe not...

A little peice of Korea

This weekend brought me my first "Canadian-Korean" experience. When I moved to Korea last year I had never even tried Korean food here. This weekend, I did.

I met up with a friend who had lived in Korea for three years, but that I hadn't seen in about ten. We both brought along a bunch of friends and headed to a Korean restaurant in the west end of Montreal.

The restaurant wouldn't seat us because we were too many. hmph. I told my friends "welcome to Korea!" We found an alternative nearby, a restaurant called Hwang. It was pretty good.

Since a lot of the people eating had never had Korean before, my friend and I decided what to order and we all just shared everything. We ordered so much we might as well have said "one of everything, please!"

We had galbi, bulgogi, deok galbi, dwen jang jigae, pa-jeon, jap-chae, kimchi (a bunch of kinds), pork bone soup, and, of course, rice. I ordered a bottle of soju which came in a little tea pot and they served us warm tea with our food. It was all pretty good except for the jigae which was lacking in flavour a little.

The deok galbi made me really happy, since it's my favourite and I hadn't had it in so long, though the little restaurant near kat's house in Ulsan does it a thousand times better... I'll have to wait til I'm back in Korea to get some really authentic food... oh well.

Then it was on to the noraebang! YES! There is noraebang in Montreal! It's WAY too expensive, but I think if it caught on the price might go down... but at 30$ an hour, we opted for only the one... which is not enough time. It was fund anyway though. I felt like I was in Korea again and it felt good to be there. I think my love affair with the land of the morning calm is not yet over... for now, though, I'll have to make do with what little I can get around here. I wonder if they have noraebang in London... and if anyone would come with me.

i'm so....

EXCITED!!!

It just hit me that I'm leaving for England in 33 days. Maybe it's the half bottle of wine I had with dinner (actually there's no maybe in it) but I'm all of a sudden looking forward to, and getting excited about leaving.

I've also booked a rental car for a few days at the end of November so that I can easily get done any last minute shopping and so that I can drive to Ottawa to see my dad and a couple of friends... this is quickly becoming more real to me... more soon.

Happy Hallowe'en

It's fright night!!! oooh.... scary.

This year I'm having the most different hallowe'en experience that I can remember. Instead of dressing up and going out (or trick-or-treating as I did many moons ago) I'm staying in. I'm the designated candy passer-outer this year.

I volunteered for the job actually. I did this a few years ago with a friend in the city and it was fun to see all the kiddies dressed up and begging for a sugar high. So, to make sure that the little 'uns come to the house, I organized myself and decorated outside. It's not the graveyard-haunted house-scary amazing kind of look that I would want, but I think it's a good job, given my short notice... and limited funds.

the front of the house

As you can see there are big orange bags - I filled them all with leaves yesterday... what a workout!!! - and there are faces drawn on all of them. I did most of them but Bilal did a couple and so did Alexia. Here's a close-up:

My homage to Kiss! (not really...just came out that way!)

The other day I made a bunch of ghosts with Bilal - they're hanging on the front porch. I also got some of that fake spider web stuff and put it up, rather haphazardly I must admit...

the ghosts and spider webs...

I also carved the jack-o-lantern... it was fun, but not as fun as I remember it being when I was a kid. The best part, I think, is toasting and eating the seeds after.

"before"

his guts... poor guy...

"after"

The seeds turned out okay, but there weren't very many for suck a large pumpkin... This could very well be my last Hallowe'en in Canada... maybe... so I think it's good that I'm staying home this year... who knows when I'll ever have the little munchkins come 'round to my house again? I'll take pictures of them (with parental permission) and post them if I can...

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!!

Back and Forth

This seems to be a theme in my life right now. I'm back in Otterburn - the cats at my (wonderful) friends' house were just too much for my immune system - and I'll be here until I leave in 36 days.

Which brings me to the other "back and forth" part of my life - moving to London. I keep thinking how things would be so much easier if I just stayed here and then I think that I would regret not going (possibly for the rest of my life)... What's a girl to do? No one can make the decision for me, but sometimes I wish there were someone to just tell me what to do. Not that I'd likely listen to them if there was!

So here is a pros and cons list to staying and leaving.

Pros to staying:

• I could set myself up in a nice apartment for WAY less.
• I would be close to my friends and family.

Cons to staying:

• I would always wonder "what if..."
• Finding a job in my field is more difficult here.
• I could get "comfortable" and forget about my dreams of seeing the world.

Pros to leaving:

• I'd get to live in one of the biggest most exciting cities in the world.
• I would never wonder "what if..."
• I can always just come back and settle if I want.
• My visa and flight cost me about $1000.
• I'd be fulfilling a life-long dream.

Cons to leaving:

• My money will be gone the instant I land.
• I will be in a foreign country (again) with no (real) support network.

I guess that I should go... I know that I will, it's just that when you have to wait so long to something so "crazy" you tend to start to wonder why you thought of doing it in the first place. I felt the same way for a few weeks (and especially days) before leaving for Korea, so I know this is part of the process... I just can't help thinking about it.

In other news...
My "cold" developed into something more fierce, but being away from the cats for a couple of days is helping. I hope to be 100% better in a few days.

My new "job" had no hours for me this week. Ya, that's right. I had to log in to a website today to choose my hours for next week and am now waiting on approval. I hope that I get something next week... if not I'm not sure what I'll do for money... though I am awaiting my tax returns...

new digs... again.

I've moved into the city. There are a number of reasons for this, but I won't list them. There is something sad about leaving Otterburn, but it's also a good thing for me. I'm stuck here until the 4th of December, so I might as well make some money in that time, right?

Today I got a job at a market research firm where I will be calling people and asking them questions. Fun. I had some friends way back who did this while they were going to school. I'm just doing it to be able to survive for the next six weeks without spending any of the money currently in my bank account. Hopefully I can stand it enough... if not, maybe I'll head back to the country...

I found a great deal at redtag.ca for my flight to London. $480 one way on British Airways... the same flight is listed at just over $1000 on their site, so I'm looking at it like a 50% off sale! Plus BA lets you bring more luggage than the (only) cheaper flight that I found. Anyway, I've got two days until I start my new job, hopefully the cold that has been lingering in my sinuses for the last five days will be gone by then.

BTW, I was thinking of trying to go to the Gazette or CJAD and ask them if I could be their "bitch" for a day or two a week... just not sure how I should go about it... any ideas are welcome.

a girl and a bike

The other day, feeling like I haven't been exercising enough of late, decided to go for a bike ride/photo expedition out in the country. I opened google earth to map out where I wanted to go, packed some snacks, and took off into the glorious sunshine.

My route

My goal was to get to Chambly. It's a couple of town over and up the river from here. I approximated the ride to be about 30 KM's. I had all afternoon, so I didn't really care how long it took me.

Mont St. Bruno

A barn

It was incredible to be out in the middle of nowhere with no other people in sight (especially since I must have looked a little goofy all decked up in my winter jacket with a camera hanging around my neck!). The sun was shining; there were big puffy white clouds in the sky; the trees were all changing into their autumn glory; the air was crisp, but not cold, it was a perfect day really.

Trees in their fall colours

Down by the river

I stopped a few times to take pictures. I biked through a field to get to a copse of trees. I stopped along a deserted highway to photograph the freshly plowed fields. I stopped by the river and got stuck in the mud. I climbed down to the rivers edge to photograph the water gurgling over the rocks. Then I came home. I stopped stopping and just took pictures while riding the bike. (Those ones didn't turn out very well...)

More trees by the river

Near the rapids... I think I went swimming here once...

Part of the hydro-electric dam

It was a lovely day and hopefully it will be again soon so that I can do the same thing in the opposite direction!

it's about time

I haven't been posting. I'm sorry. I guess I needed a break, or maybe I just thought there was nothing terribly interesting to write about. Here's what I've been up to for the last month...

I landed in Montreal, sans luggage, on September 2nd. My luggage spent the night in Chicago and joined me at Trisha's apartment on the third. I spent the next week at her place in a daze of delicious and naughty food, and sleepless nights. I was waking at 3 or 4 AM every morning no matter what time I went to bed.

It's further than it looks!

A week after getting back I "moved" out to Otterburn Park, my childhood town, to stay with Alexia and Bilal at Alexia's mom's house. It's been nice playing "auntie Liz" to Bilal the cutest six-year-old I know.

"Monkey B"

We walk to school in the morning and home in the afternoon. We play and watch movies. We argue and we hug and make up. I missed him a lot while I was in Korea and actually wrote to him more than anyone else! I don't want him to forget me...

Alexia and I in our Korean "peace sign" picture.

Alexia and I have been puttering around, going to the mall, walking in the forest behind her house, doing garden work, and lazing about. This has truly been like a vacation for me. Now, it's about to all change. I've been accepted for my working holiday maker visa for the UK and I will hopefully be out of Montreal on the 23rd of October. I neeed to verify something with the Embassy and then I'll know for sure. I'm excited and scared. It's not the same feelings I had when I left for Korea, since I at least have a friend across the pond, but it's still scary to think that I'll be away for at least another year and maybe more. At least it isn't the first time!!!

Here are some pictures that I've taken recently. I've been loving the nature photography of late since I'm surrounded by it.

The field behind the house.

In the forest.

Leaf

pretty...

Shrooms, anyone?

I suppose that's it for now. I'm on my way into town today... feels like a big deal, but I go at least once a week, but today is for socializing and not business... woohoo... So until I have more news, I hope this post is enough... I'll let you all know as soon as I have more info...