Boulette, Boston and eating fluff

Alex has gone to Boston for the week with his family so Im staying at his apartment hamstersitting, yes you read that correctly, hamstersitting, our cute hamster Boulette (French for meatball, Alex picked it). You see you just cant leave the cute thing alone. Just last night she proceeded to stuff all her hamster fluff in her cheeks, its for sleeping not for eating! she also has this habbit of knocking her waterbottle off her cage. So you see she NEEDS me, well at least thats what I'm telling myself cos I love to be NEEDED haha. Don't you think shes cute though, totally worth giving up nights out with friends for.....hmmm...........

My journey so far

For friends and family who havent seen or heard from me in a while I thought Id give you a quick break-down of the last 7 months and all that I've been up to. I started my journey back in Canada right where it all began...Vancouver. I spent a week hanging out with all the friends that I had spent a whole year with when I worked there in 2004/2005. It was so great to be back with everyone and to hang out in all the places I'd called home for a year.


When I got to Montreal I was so excited, Alex and I had been apart for four months and I'd missed him like crazy. I was a little culture-shocked when I first got here because it's so different but I quickly fell in love with the city. Its completely different from Auckland and Vancouver, there's alot more history and of course everything is in French.
There's still soooo much to explore, I still manage to get lost all the time, but that's all part of the fun.


Just after Christmas Alex and I went to Rimouski, his home town. I'd never met his parents before, and I was totally nervous especially because they dont speak much English and my French was almost non existent back then. However it ended up being amazing. His parents turned out to be these fun loving easy going people and I felt much more at ease. Rimouski is a cute town north of Montreal. We went to the beach and there were ice bergs floating everywhere.
Aman, who is a dear friend of Alex and I, came to Montreal in February so we decided to go to Quebec City. I was so amazed by this place. There is a fortified city and everything inside is so quaint and historic complete with cobble stone streets. We went in winter so there was snow everywhere which made the whole place so romantic. We also went to the greatest club where there were about 3 floors and the ceiling would move, it was incredible. Quebec City is the oldest city in Montreal and you can see the history everywhere, there are landmarks from the wars and you can really imagine what it would have been like over 200 years ago. One of my favourite sites was a church where the inside was plated in gold, it felt like I was standing at the gates of heaven. Im really looking forward to going back this summer.


When I got back from all these wonderful trips I started babysitting these two awesome kids called Molly and Michael. Everyday after school we hung out and did homework. I was able to work on my french pronuciation thanks to michaels dictee. They got Jazz the lovely lab a few months later and everytime I took her for walks people would stop me in the street to tell me how cute she was. Im not babysitting Molly and Michael anymore which is sad but im just really glad I got to meet these awesome people.

I was so blessed with my apartment in Montreal, I found a cool place with cool people. Luckily the room was furnished because I didnt own any furniture. However, my roomates were quick to give me a bigger bed which was so nice. When Luis got a job in Quebec city and moved out there was lots of renovation going on, we had a large hole in the basement to fill after Luis took the big tv away. Its a nice relaxed apartment and I love being able to go home to it.


For our one year anniversary Alex took me on a picnic to the river. He had created a great meal with grapes and cheese, sandwhiches and wine, and my favourite dessert, sugarpie. We had such a wonderful day and it reminded me how lucky I am to have him.
We had a challenging first year with our crazy jobs at swiss chalet and with me having to go back to New Zealand for four months. He moved back to Quebec while I was in New Zealand and I just knew that my next journey was in that direction.
I'm so glad that I made that step because when I look back on the last year I can see how blessed I am and how God has opened doors up for me in places that I never thought would be possible. As cheesy as it sounds, I just feel that extra bit stronger knowing that Alex is waiting for me at the end of each day.

So now Im waiting to start university at Concordia University in Montreal in September. I've been accepted into the French studies degree. Im so excited about this new chapter in my life. Ive been out of school for a few years so its definatly time to go back, my brains starting to feel a bit mushy. Its not as though everyday is great and happy, but I think if you can remind yourself how lucky you are to have the opportunity of change then the world opens up all its secrets to you.

Montreal, the city to be

I've been living in Montreal since November 2005. All I can say is that this is the most amazing city in the world. Ok, in all fairness I haven't been all around the world yet, however, I've lived in a few cities and this one outshines them all. You can walk two blocks down the street and feel as though you've stumbled into a quaint European town. There are buildings here that have more history than the country I was born in.
The most amazing part is how cultural it is. Ive lived in Vancouver and Auckland, and I know that they pride themselves on being multi-cultural cities, however, they are more like cities with many cultures living seperatly and intergrating into the one mainstream culture that city demands. In Montreal however the cultures are all mixed in with eachother and everyone speaks their own languages without shame.
Don't get me wrong, I love Vancouver, and Auckland, and they have their own magic to offer the world. Its just that Ive never felt so free to be myself, in all my colours, than I do here.
I would suggest anyone living in Canada who hasnt come here to book a flight now and enjoy a piece of what makes Canadas history so rich. If you dont live in Canada, then make Montreal a pin on your map and make sure you experience this wonderful city.
Just this weekend I had a world of celebrations to choose from. There was the Grand Prix with all its glorious festivals on Crescent Street, or I could have walked in any park on saturday and joined in with the celebrations of Saint Jean Baptiste. There are Jazz festivals, marathons, druming parties, african dancing... the list goes on!
I guess in short I'm trying to say that Montreal is one of the only places left in the world where its great to be different, and besides, everything always sounds better in french.

Hey Everyone, welcome to my blog. Isnt the internet wonderful, now everyone can hear about all the useless information that goes on inside my head! Basically Im going to use this blog to vent out all my artistic, political, social and imaginative ambitions so I warn you in advance that most of what I say will not make sense. However, it will be fun. So sit back, relax and enjoy the crazy, exciting and random workings of my mind.......Don't say I didn't warn you!