Bonjour from Montreal :)

It's true, I'm sitting here in my cozy Montreal bachelor apartment as I write this. I've been here over a week now, but this is really only my 4th day completely by myself, as my dad flew over with me to help settle me in. And then we took a side trip to NYC for a few days! But now, I'm alone and in a giant French-speaking city where I know one person. Well, that number is growing every day.

I go through moments thinking I'm a crazy person for moving here like this, without a job, without a support system, without really having any concrete plans and other moments feeling exhilarated and full of possibilities. It was honestly a shock to me about how much French is spoken here, I naively thought that English would still dominate French, but no, French is the first language of everyone, and most people are able to switch back and forth mind-numbingly fast. It's taken me a few days to get comfortable with saying "Bonjour" or other short phrases in stores and cafes and getting past the awkwardness when someone speaks to me in French. The French I learned in highschool is coming back.... slowly. Very slowly.

I live in a great neighbourhood called Mile End, which is home to lots of cafes and restaurants and shops and arty people. There's tons going on, and everything is in walking distance, including the subway, so it's easy to get around. I'm also extremely close to Mount Royal park, which will be amazing when the weather gets hot.

The one big thing that lingers to making me think I'm insane is the job situation. It's proving to be quite difficult to get a job, given that I'm not bilingual or even close. I will be okay for another month or so, but then the money situation is going to get a little tight! I'm trying to stay positive, but every day I look at countless classified ads for every type of job I can think of that might be decent, and all require spoken/written English and French. Even janitors! Even busboys! And especially all jobs I'd be qualified for or interested in. Soooo. We'll have to see.

My main goal for this summer is just to have fun, take lots of photos, do as many photography classes as I can (tomorrow I register at Concordia Uni), and travel (on the list: NYC again!, Boston, Cape Cod, Toronto, Quebec City).

And there we have it - the first update from the Frenchie lands.

Labels: mile end, montreal, thoughts

posted by Maresa @ 6:27 PM