Kindreds

I have always loved receiving letters. There's something wonderfully special about getting a little message in the mail that isn't a bill or coupon or advertisement that cheers me up like nothing else can. I suppose letters mean more nowadays that they're written so infrequently. When I lived in France I took great pleasure in maintaining correspondence with many dear friends Stateside and say with pride that I received over 40 pieces of mail (packages & little presents included) during my stint abroad. Pal mal! En tout cas I just had to share this email my lovely friend Michael sent me. I hadn't seen Michael in about two years and then I ran into him at one of my favorite coffee shops in Minneapolis one of the last days before I left to move to Montreal. We had an intense conversation about literature, Europe, travel, etc etc. and I realized how this long lost friend of mine and I were kindred spirits in many ways and I felt so very happy indeed that we had found each other again. When I moved to Montreal I promised to keep in touch and unfortunately only had his email...yesterday I finally fired off an email request for a mailing address (Michael is a special and particular person, one to whom I could not imagine writing emails, you'll see why in a moment) and this was the response that followed:

Good-evening, Sarah.

The autumn is a very lovely time, in fact, a very melancholy time and
Stillwater is always both; as such, as always, I have been lovely in the
most wistful, pensive way. I agree with you: Emails are nothing but
tomfoolery and business; if you recall, you and I were once friends on
Facebook, but a departure was necessary as pen and paper are my closest
friends, though not much was reciprocated, I mean most think it's an
inconvenience to write a letter. It really is one of my favorite things,
receiving them is even better.

Hope you are splendid.

Until a letter,
Michael

Rarely political, frequently enraged

Nation, I find this entire scenario unacceptable, I won't point fingers or go into detail. I'll simply say that I'm tired of our nation being afraid of intellectuals, I'm tired of people taking pride in their ignorance and supporting the ignorance of others. It's time we took ownership for the quagmire this nation has become and make some changes; realize that means changing our personal habits, behaviors, and preconceived notions. We can't continue on like this any longer, let's not fool ourselves (or believe that propaganda of those in power) into believing that everything is ok. I haven't been following the election coverage very closely because I'm so so terribly afraid that we might fail again, and if we do, if we do...

Monday monday

I am missing you already...this morning I woke up with a start at a quarter past nine and felt quite lonely with you being gone. I remember waking up as you left (you were wearing a grey shirt?) and thinking...no! blasted morning! stay next to me! I sleep so deeply next to you; nothing worse then watching the door close behind you when you go.

For Barbs

Ok so I've been a bit of a lazy blogger...the reason why is simple: life here is so good. As I mentioned before I've meet a lot of amazing people very quickly and have been going out ferociously ever since my arrival. The thing about this city that I find so wonderful is how accepting and diverse everyone is. A lot of the people I've met are/have been travelers as well and have an interesting story to tell about how they ended up in Montreal. Everyone seems to know everyone, or at least someone who knows someone who knows someone...etc, it's like a high school with all of the different types of social cliques and groups but without the stigma of not being able to talk to/associate with soandso because of suchandsuch a reason. My being from Milwaukee is seen as "cool"...people actually want to know my story. They love hearing about how much I love Montreal. It feels like, at least for the moment, there are very few social boundaries. Another exciting part about being here is how novel I seem to be at the moment, I don't want to sound vain but let me be completely honest, I'm kind of special around here. People have gone out of their way to welcome me and get to know me. The best way I can describe it is to compare moving here to my freshman year of college, where suddenly every thing was a new experience and people made it their job to make new acquaintances and friends. I haven't had so much attention focused on me...well, ever. I have to believe that part of it is because I'm new in town, new people almost always seem interesting, and because I'm an American (United States, of) anglo-francophone (we're a rare breed indeed). Whatever the case may be let me be clear about one thing...ladies, it's raining men in Montreal. Legit. Good mens, kinda mens you blush before kissing. Take tonight, for example, I worked at a catering event and met some really great people, one of whom offered me a ride home. We chatted on the drive back and as I was being dropped at my door he mentioned that we should get together and talk about Montreal/languages/life/etc. sometime soon...since I'm always in search of interesting people and have a lot of free time I said 'Yes, absolutely, call me any time.' To which he responded, 'Ok great, how about Monday? I'll call you Sunday and we'll plan something, it's a date!' Right, so when someone says 'it's a date' that doesn't...er...make it a date, does it? ...In that case the number of dates I've been on is nearing double digits. Yikes. And yet, high five!

A new look for the old gal

I've been wanting to change up the look of the l.f.e.r banner for a while and finally had the opportunity to when I snapped this lovely little photo after a party we had at our place this weekend. Initially I had intended to throw this image up on Everyday with the title, 'We had a party' followed by the caption, '...it was a grand ol' time'. But the more I thought about it the more a realized that it was just the thing for l.f.e.r. Naturally it had to have a little bit of pink in it and I needed it to be a picture that captured my space, both personally and geographically. I hadn't changed the banner since the blog first came into existence back in Minneapolis while I was still in college. Something about the fact that it had not changed felt stale to me because I've changed so much since the first post, both as a blogger and a person. Thus, l.f.e.r needed to match that. I find this new image to be both comforting and reflective, a souvenir of funny moments and simpler times. Who isn't still excited by the image of balloons? To me they conjure up memories of childhood birthday parties as well as the notion of travel, as in hot air balloons. Thus I hope you find as much intrigue in this new banner as I do. Returning to what I mentioned earlier, this weekend we had a party. It was the bomb diggity, yo. I've made fast friends with good people here and feel so very happy in this moment that I don't even know where to begin to describe all the joy and luck I've come across since my move here. I'm still working to achieve a balance, like my summer, I find I'm playing much harder then I'm working. Although, in my own defense, I like to think of it as networking. I'm determined to do my social homework, if you know what I mean. Hope you're doing well dear friends, even though things are lovely here don't think I've already forgotten about you...je vous embrasse!

Felicitous fille takes first steps in her new city, finds herself quite at home

It's been a while, but I can assure you that I am mostly well. I arrived in Canada with 2 large suitcases and a carry-on the size of a large toddler; the stewardess gave me a wry smile as she saw me forcing it into the overhead compartment on the plane. It is what it is, I moved to a new country and am forced to make choices about what are the most vital items needed to begin again. For me the answer is never simple, I want all of my dresses and books and lovely frivolous little accessories. In any case I made the trip successfully (did not die in a horrid plane crash as the previous entry suggested I feared) and had no problems obtaining my proper paperwork at immigration. As I boarded the bus bound for the city center I sat by myself at the back and gazed wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the city that passed before me and promised myself that I'd know it by heart and memorize it like it was my own, because, it now was.

Fast forward to today, I live in a charming little apartment on a bustling street of shops, bars, restaurants, fruit and vegetable stands, and boulangeries. I've become well acclimated to the metro system and am becoming better acquainted with the city buses as the days pass. Campus is still a bit overwhelming for me: it is so beautiful. There are so many people on campus. It feels like an institution, everyone knows it, McGill is omnipresent in this city. These factors combine leave me feeling a bit out of the loop and unsure of myself, I hope this feeling will pass. For the moment my biggest hurdle is dealing with my student loans (so much anger and frustration and emotion all tied up in this one silly process!!) and finding a job. Deep breaths. These are only small road blocks, I need to tell myself this constantly. I will succeed. I already have. Just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

My luggage was randomly selected by the airline to be searched

I'm almost there, I'm sitting here at the terminal connected via invisible wires and cords send out this message and wondering if you're as bewildered and amazed by technology as I. I know that it's been possible to connect to the internet at airport terminals for years now but something about the fact that I feel like I should be cut off from all outside sources of communication and yet am able to maintain my life, rather my online life, seems absurd. Technology makes me ubiquitous, but some how I can't help be feel dwarfed by it all. Existential crisis before flight? Perhaps. I'm not a good flyer, it never used to be this way until the last few years when I've become absolutely petrified of boarding a plane. This is no way stops me from continuing my beloved travel habit, but it certainly puts sends my stomach into knots and leaves me reevaluating my life each time before I board. I've been lucky to come across friends who've tried to calm my fears, even some fellow passengers on flight have been extremely kind and reassuring. I just feel so helpless. No use worrying about it now, though. I've bought the ticket, checked the bag, and been frisked by security: I'm going whether I survive to tell about it or not. And, well, I hope that I do survive to tell about it because I've got Montreal waiting on the other end and I'm terribly frightened and excited about the new foray into another life change/choice/country. There are still many many unknowns that await me, such as where I'm going to live, if I'll be able to get a job, if I'm qualified to receive a student permit, student loans, etc. etc. amen. Enough. I'm in a state of purity, the way you can enjoy something before you've even touched or tarnished it with your expectations. The city that awaits me is nothing but my own, as I see it, with no faults or mistakes although it may be messy and at times unjust the city simply exists in the gray matter of my mind as the idea of an idea I once had. One day it won't be mine anymore, I'll feel let down, get tired and jaded, and eventually abandon it for something newer or farther away; I know this is inevitable. I've always known that this capricious mind (soul, rather?) of mine has a tendency to wander. All I know is that I want a lot of everything, spatially speaking, I want to make a map of every place my feet have been...that means never standing still.