Slovakia's tourist motto is, "A part of Europe worth visiting." That sounded so pathetic (as in, "Gee, we'd love for you to visit us but we don't really expect you to") that I actually laughed out loud. Even my guidebook didn't sound too enthusiastic about Bratislava. But hey, how often can you claim to have been in Slovakia? So I planned on spending a single night here.
Wow. And 1 night is all you need. Even my hostel receptionist said that the city isn't that interesting. Sure, you have all the pretty European buildings, but nothing overly magnificent, and they're less upkept than other European countries I've been to.
The historical centre is there, but there aren't many museums (even my guidebook only lists 1). The rest of it is full of restaurants (mainly non-Slovakian food - I saw a zillion Mexican restos) and stores like Swarvoski, Body Shop, etc. It was rather sad actually! Even their huge castle is closed due to renovations! So after arriving at 11:30 AM an walking around until 2:30, I had pretty much seen everything there was to see.
I ended up eating at a tourist "pub" and I tried the Slovakian version of a perogy and a tomato salad. Okay - the tomato salad was good, except for the excessive onions... but the perogy made with sour goat's milk cheese? Umm, I'm not a hater, but I'm not a fan of it either I doubt I would ever order it again. (Oh, and holy bacon grease Batman! The bacon bits that were a garnish were so NASTY!) Bleeeh! I should have gotten the national dish of dumplings instead. Hopefully I can redeem my palate in the next few days in Hungary - I'm looking ridiculously forward to Goulash!
By 4 PM I returned to my hostel. It turns out that most people have cancelled their reservations due to the volcano issues, so it's essentially me and 3 other people.
One of those people is a German guy. He came out on the patio where I was relaxing and started chatting, but his English was rather poor, so we couldn't really understand each other. (e.g. We'd both talk, get parts of the conversation, and smile and nod through the rest of the sentences because we were lost.) We also tried speaking in French, but his French wasn't much better than his English! I finally fled to the computers.
Unfortunately people are smoking down here (I'm in their basement bar) so I'm going to flee soon. Hopefully I'll be on the train to Budapest by tomorrow by 10 AM. Bye everyone!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Fleshing out the story
I've decided to take the evening off, relax, and plan for the next segment of my trip. But of course, the internet must take precedence. I shall attempt to now flesh out some of the stuff I didn't mention in my first post.
Apr. 14
So on the first night I arrived in Vienna I had to go find a place to eat. Now, most of you know that I despise eating alone. I'm terrible at finding restaurants. It gets even worse while on international trips. I keep procrastinating on finding places to eat and end up walking and walking and walking until desperation forces me to either a street meat stall or to cave and go into a restaurant.
Well, this happened here in Vienna. I found this nice "local" shopping district - a huge long street full of stores and once in awhile a restaurant. I'd peek at their menus (most of which weren't in English) and then continue on. Fast forward to 2 hours later where I'm on the point of collapse from low blood sugars - I find this cute little cafe and force myself to step inside.
I immediately panic when the owner starts talking to me German. I stutter over telling him (in German) that I can't speak German. Then I discover that he speaks English. Fluently. Anyhoo, I see that he has daily specials so I try to order Tuesday's special. Two problems: a) I accidentally say "Thursday" because my German is reeeeally rusty and b) due to the time change, it's actually Wednesday. Doh.
Anyways, I ordered the special - now I remember what I hate about European restaurants. you get squat for your meal! I ordered a bowl of spaghetti and it cost me nearly 9 euros for a plate of spaghetti noodles covered in butter and sprinkled with cheese. Where's the meat? Where's the spices?! Doh! Oh well, at least my impending collapse was averted.
Also, most of you know how much I love seeing elderly people (lovingly nicknamed "pets") - well, I find EAstern European pets to be even more cute!!! The little old ladies all wear checkered head scarves that make me think of Hungarian matrons. However, there's also something more sad and pathetic looking about a Eastern European pet begging for money. :(
(Umm, weird - some guy just came bounding through the computer room to use the washroom here, but he didn't bother closing the door the entire way. Awkward! LOL, and now it sounds like he broke the flush handle.)
Apr. 15
After my meeting I ventured out for authentic sightseeing. When I happened across the St. Stephansdom church, that's when it finally hit me that I was back in Europe! (Granted, last trip I was sick and tired of churches by the end of it, but I guess having nearly a year away from them renewed my interested.)
As mentioned, I spent most of this night wasting time until the ballet started. After the ballet I was hungry (since I had been in line from 6PM and then in the theatre, and I didn't know I wouldn't have had time to eat before then, so I didn't eat) so I stopped by a street meat stall and had my first Viennese schnitzel. It's sad to admit, but that was the best schnitzel I've had. yeah it was deepfried and the equivalent of a hamburger, but honestly, I don't get what all the hooplah is over schnitzel - if you've eaten it in Canada, you've eaten it everywhere in my opinion.
Amusing anecdote: I am soooo lower class. Before the ballet started I had to use the washroom. Bathrooms with attendants disturb me. I'm also a cheap bastard, so I managed to dodge out of the bathroom while she was cleaning another stall so I wouldn't have to leave her a tip. (When I went to the opera again later for the opera itself, I was in the nosebleed section and there was no attendant in that one. Phew, I was back in my own economic range!)
I also did my good deed and helped a girl from Malta find the hotel (she was staying in the same one as me) - she was in Vienna for a meeting on Human Rights.
Apr. 16
On thise day I slept in and missed most of the morning. :( I really wanted to go on a tour of the UN buildings but I missed the first tour and therefore ended up rearranging my whole schedule to see them.
I ended up going back to the area around the opera house. I tried schnitzel again at Mama's schnitzel House. Hmm. Somehow I doubt that was the best choice of places. Oh well. They fed me a lot and that's all I cared about at that point.
After the UN tour I got lost looking for the DOW museum. As mentioned previously, I accidentally went into the DOM museum instead. So sad! The DOW is only open on weekdays, so I missed my chance to learn about Austrian resistance to nayism and socialism. :( And the DOM museum was full of religious relics and all in German. Oh well, at least I recogniyed some of the concepts from my trips last year and therefore I wasn't totally confused! And they also had free washrooms. That's always a bonus.
Speaking of washrooms, I refused to pay to go in for giggles, but near the opera house there's a pay toilet called the Opera Toilet - the big sell is that they play classical music inside.
I ended up going to the "train station" to scope out the area near my hostel so I wouldn't be overwhelmed the next day. And I put train station in quotations because there wasn't a train in sight. I have no idea why I
was convinced this was the train station, but I found out later that nope - it has NOTHING to do with trains. More time wasted.
I did however find Statdpark, a well known park in Vienna. It's rather small, but very very pretty, and it's fill with statues of famous musicians and composers. I ended up sitting there for a bit to relax.
By now I felt like I could retire to my hotel room without feeling like the day was a total waste. I did try going to Pratern, a local themepark. It was amusing - it felt like a carnival out of the 1950s. Plus it has a really famous ferris wheel (famous from a Austrian movie). It takes 20 minutes for 1 rotation of the wheel, but I wasn't willing to pay 10 euros for the ride!
Apr. 17
The first thing that amused me this day was seeing a guy in the u-bahn pimping out the German version of the Watchtower. The Watchtower! In Deutsch! How AWESOME! The rest of the day felt like I was stuck in one u-bahn or another. Seriously. Everytime I got on a metro, it broke down. I was stuck at Kagran station for 30-40 minutes!
I transferred my belongings to my hostel and you guys got your first internet update.
I ended up going to the Nashmarkt - it's a local farmers market and on Saturdays it also has a big flea market. For the most part, the food area was just like a regular North American market. Just more crowded. The snack stalls did have a lot of pastries and non-North American goods though. And I found there were a lot of Middle-Eastern snacks like donairs, kebabs, falafel etc. As for the flea market. Ugh. Can we say tacky? For those of you who will get the reference, I think I found Rosemary's long lost illegimate children. CREEPy!
I ended up meeting my former boss at her hotel so we could do lunch and go to an art museum together. First off, her hotel. Oh my gosh. Fancy schmancy! Again, I felt soooo lower class walking in there. I honestly felt like they were watching me to make sure I didn't steal the silverware or something. (Okay, slight exagerration, but I felt like they should be watching me.) To give you an idea of the price of this hotel, for .33L of coke (stupid Europe likes bottles in the siye of .33L) it cost 5.50 Euros. That's just for a freaking POP!!!!
Anyways, Jenny and I had a long lunch and chit chatted about everything and anything. We ended up going to the Belvedere museum (we were going to take a tram, but couldn't find the right one, so I got us there via map instead. Can we talk about the pressure of trying not to get one of the top hepatologists in the world lost?!)
The Belvedere was beautiful - unfortunately I didn't know that there was a huge set of gardens, so I had us walking on the opposite side of the wall they were on. Oh well - I got to see them on the walk back. Jenny was able to explain the significance of some of the paintings, so it was very handy.
Afterwards we walked back to her hotel and she mentioned that the opera playing that night had a very famous singer - one of the top 5 female singers in the world. Since Jenny is an opera buff, I decided to try to get standing room tickets again.
Oh my gosh, the line for the opera was even longer than for the ballet! (Even though it was at the same location.) I ended up chatting with an Indian medical student (he was involved in liver transplants or something like that).
Unfortunatley I didn't get as good of a seat this time - I was stuck in the nosebleeds. I can't believe how poorly the opera house was built! If you were on either side of the balcony (where I was), you could literally only see half the stage. And this damned opera seemed to be sung on the half of the stage I couldn't see. I can't help but wonder how much the tickets cost for the people sitting in front of me, because it seemed like they had as bad, or worse views that I did if they remained seated. Of course, for the lady directly in front of me, that didn't seem to be a problem for her. She kept standing up, leaning forward, blocking the view of the cold couple beside her, whipping out her opera glasses, etc. And at one particularly poignant song, she was cheering wildly and gave no less than 5 "bravos" to the male lead.
While at the opera I ended up chatting with a Japanese tourist. She was supposed to have left earlier in the day, but due to the volcano, her flight kept getting pushed back, so she extended her vacation until Wednesday. Ouch!
I ended up staggering back to my hostel at around 10:30 PM. Sooo tired. I seem to have 3 brayilian roommates, a Korean, and I don't know who else. I had a Serbian dude sleeping above me last night, but he left today.
Apr. 18
The first thing I did this morning was go to the train station to check out how to buy my ticket to Bratislava. yikes! Talk about crowds! Thankfully the train staff were out in force and one fellow helped explain to me that I needed to go to a different train station and showed me how to get there. (It turns out that I could have bought my ticket at that station - but I'd have to go to a different one tomorrow to depart.)
Anyways, to get to the other station (Sudanbohf), I had to take the regular metro system, and an S-bahn train, the equivalent of a GO train. Oh my gosh. I used a similar system in Paris with little difficulty. This time though I was so confused! I couldn't figure out which train I needed to go on, which platform I was even on, etc! Thankfully there was a bilingual guy there who was able to help me. I got to Sudanbohf, bought my ticket and came back. (Of course I ran into similar problems trying to get back and I hopped on the train that I *thought* would get me back, but I wasn't sure if my transit pass was valid, so I was sweating through the two train stops, worried that someone would check my ticket and fine me.)
Oh, I should also mention that I thought this expedition would be a short one, so I hurried off without eating. By noon I arrived at the Schonbrunn Palace and still had an empty stomach. I was starting to feel ill I was so hungry. When I arrived at the palace, I walked around the neighborhood outside trying to find a street meat stall or corner store or SOMETHING but it was all closed for Sunday!!! And then I kept having to dodge city workers who were cleaning up after the Vienna marathon that was also going on. I ended up giving up and going into the palace gardens.
The gardens were so pretty - but they ain't got nothing on Versailles! (Of course, they were also still in the process of budding/blooming so it's not a totally fair comparison.) I then went to find the ticket booth so I could actually go into the palace itself - and then heavenly choirs started to sing and a beam of light fell upon a food stand inside the info centre! Oh heavenly Lord, I thank thee for this bounty. Of course I got charged up the ass, but I was too hungry to argue for the sandwich.
After inhaling my "meal" I signed up for a guided tour of the Imperial apartments. (Of course I didn't realize there was a non-guided option available until later. Whoops!) The tour was very interesting and amusing. E.g. I learned about one Austrian lord's attempts to create and implement a "re-usable" coffin - apparently it wasn't well received by his subjects.
After Schonbrunn (I wish I had had more time for the gardens and maybe the greenhouses, but my train expedition in the morning wasted so much time!) I went back downtown to go to the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. Then I had MORE issues in that I kept tripping over the damned marathon! The easiest access to the museums were blocked by barricades and it took me about 20 minutes to get to the entrance.
I really enjoyed the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. However, the first part of the museum is dedicated to the imperial silverware, china, etc. Now, you may remember that I am not a fan of looking at pottery. I don't care if it's gilded or made of solid moonbeams. A pot is a pot is a pot. I was ready to gnaw my arm off looking at all the cutlery, porcelain, etc. I had an audioguide and I kept skipping through most of the explanations. (Except for the one section on napkin folding - that was kind of cool and nifty to learn!)
After the cutlery crap I went into the Sisi museum which was also kind of cool. Princess Sisi (actually Elisabeth) is Austria's poster-child. And apparently her popularity didn't blossom until after her death. The exhibition was the closest I've found to a North American style museum in all my travels. I was amayed (and at times bored) by the wealth of information the audioguides provided.
Finally I got to see the Imperial Apartments. Essentially it was a repeat of what I saw at Schonbrunn earlier in the morning, but it was still nifty to see.
By this time I was getting hungry again. I ended up wimping out and going to the same restaurant that Jenny and I had gone to the day before. While digging through my purse though, I started laughing. The entire time I was wandering around, wasting away from hunger, I forgot that I had a small bag of dried fruit Jenny had given me the day before! Whoops!
Anyways, I think this will conclude the Vienna portion of my trip. I'm going to do my best to get up on time tomorrow and head to Bratislava. After 1 day there I'll (try) to head to Budapest.
Cheerio!
Mau
Apr. 14
So on the first night I arrived in Vienna I had to go find a place to eat. Now, most of you know that I despise eating alone. I'm terrible at finding restaurants. It gets even worse while on international trips. I keep procrastinating on finding places to eat and end up walking and walking and walking until desperation forces me to either a street meat stall or to cave and go into a restaurant.
Well, this happened here in Vienna. I found this nice "local" shopping district - a huge long street full of stores and once in awhile a restaurant. I'd peek at their menus (most of which weren't in English) and then continue on. Fast forward to 2 hours later where I'm on the point of collapse from low blood sugars - I find this cute little cafe and force myself to step inside.
I immediately panic when the owner starts talking to me German. I stutter over telling him (in German) that I can't speak German. Then I discover that he speaks English. Fluently. Anyhoo, I see that he has daily specials so I try to order Tuesday's special. Two problems: a) I accidentally say "Thursday" because my German is reeeeally rusty and b) due to the time change, it's actually Wednesday. Doh.
Anyways, I ordered the special - now I remember what I hate about European restaurants. you get squat for your meal! I ordered a bowl of spaghetti and it cost me nearly 9 euros for a plate of spaghetti noodles covered in butter and sprinkled with cheese. Where's the meat? Where's the spices?! Doh! Oh well, at least my impending collapse was averted.
Also, most of you know how much I love seeing elderly people (lovingly nicknamed "pets") - well, I find EAstern European pets to be even more cute!!! The little old ladies all wear checkered head scarves that make me think of Hungarian matrons. However, there's also something more sad and pathetic looking about a Eastern European pet begging for money. :(
(Umm, weird - some guy just came bounding through the computer room to use the washroom here, but he didn't bother closing the door the entire way. Awkward! LOL, and now it sounds like he broke the flush handle.)
Apr. 15
After my meeting I ventured out for authentic sightseeing. When I happened across the St. Stephansdom church, that's when it finally hit me that I was back in Europe! (Granted, last trip I was sick and tired of churches by the end of it, but I guess having nearly a year away from them renewed my interested.)
As mentioned, I spent most of this night wasting time until the ballet started. After the ballet I was hungry (since I had been in line from 6PM and then in the theatre, and I didn't know I wouldn't have had time to eat before then, so I didn't eat) so I stopped by a street meat stall and had my first Viennese schnitzel. It's sad to admit, but that was the best schnitzel I've had. yeah it was deepfried and the equivalent of a hamburger, but honestly, I don't get what all the hooplah is over schnitzel - if you've eaten it in Canada, you've eaten it everywhere in my opinion.
Amusing anecdote: I am soooo lower class. Before the ballet started I had to use the washroom. Bathrooms with attendants disturb me. I'm also a cheap bastard, so I managed to dodge out of the bathroom while she was cleaning another stall so I wouldn't have to leave her a tip. (When I went to the opera again later for the opera itself, I was in the nosebleed section and there was no attendant in that one. Phew, I was back in my own economic range!)
I also did my good deed and helped a girl from Malta find the hotel (she was staying in the same one as me) - she was in Vienna for a meeting on Human Rights.
Apr. 16
On thise day I slept in and missed most of the morning. :( I really wanted to go on a tour of the UN buildings but I missed the first tour and therefore ended up rearranging my whole schedule to see them.
I ended up going back to the area around the opera house. I tried schnitzel again at Mama's schnitzel House. Hmm. Somehow I doubt that was the best choice of places. Oh well. They fed me a lot and that's all I cared about at that point.
After the UN tour I got lost looking for the DOW museum. As mentioned previously, I accidentally went into the DOM museum instead. So sad! The DOW is only open on weekdays, so I missed my chance to learn about Austrian resistance to nayism and socialism. :( And the DOM museum was full of religious relics and all in German. Oh well, at least I recogniyed some of the concepts from my trips last year and therefore I wasn't totally confused! And they also had free washrooms. That's always a bonus.
Speaking of washrooms, I refused to pay to go in for giggles, but near the opera house there's a pay toilet called the Opera Toilet - the big sell is that they play classical music inside.
I ended up going to the "train station" to scope out the area near my hostel so I wouldn't be overwhelmed the next day. And I put train station in quotations because there wasn't a train in sight. I have no idea why I
was convinced this was the train station, but I found out later that nope - it has NOTHING to do with trains. More time wasted.
I did however find Statdpark, a well known park in Vienna. It's rather small, but very very pretty, and it's fill with statues of famous musicians and composers. I ended up sitting there for a bit to relax.
By now I felt like I could retire to my hotel room without feeling like the day was a total waste. I did try going to Pratern, a local themepark. It was amusing - it felt like a carnival out of the 1950s. Plus it has a really famous ferris wheel (famous from a Austrian movie). It takes 20 minutes for 1 rotation of the wheel, but I wasn't willing to pay 10 euros for the ride!
Apr. 17
The first thing that amused me this day was seeing a guy in the u-bahn pimping out the German version of the Watchtower. The Watchtower! In Deutsch! How AWESOME! The rest of the day felt like I was stuck in one u-bahn or another. Seriously. Everytime I got on a metro, it broke down. I was stuck at Kagran station for 30-40 minutes!
I transferred my belongings to my hostel and you guys got your first internet update.
I ended up going to the Nashmarkt - it's a local farmers market and on Saturdays it also has a big flea market. For the most part, the food area was just like a regular North American market. Just more crowded. The snack stalls did have a lot of pastries and non-North American goods though. And I found there were a lot of Middle-Eastern snacks like donairs, kebabs, falafel etc. As for the flea market. Ugh. Can we say tacky? For those of you who will get the reference, I think I found Rosemary's long lost illegimate children. CREEPy!
I ended up meeting my former boss at her hotel so we could do lunch and go to an art museum together. First off, her hotel. Oh my gosh. Fancy schmancy! Again, I felt soooo lower class walking in there. I honestly felt like they were watching me to make sure I didn't steal the silverware or something. (Okay, slight exagerration, but I felt like they should be watching me.) To give you an idea of the price of this hotel, for .33L of coke (stupid Europe likes bottles in the siye of .33L) it cost 5.50 Euros. That's just for a freaking POP!!!!
Anyways, Jenny and I had a long lunch and chit chatted about everything and anything. We ended up going to the Belvedere museum (we were going to take a tram, but couldn't find the right one, so I got us there via map instead. Can we talk about the pressure of trying not to get one of the top hepatologists in the world lost?!)
The Belvedere was beautiful - unfortunately I didn't know that there was a huge set of gardens, so I had us walking on the opposite side of the wall they were on. Oh well - I got to see them on the walk back. Jenny was able to explain the significance of some of the paintings, so it was very handy.
Afterwards we walked back to her hotel and she mentioned that the opera playing that night had a very famous singer - one of the top 5 female singers in the world. Since Jenny is an opera buff, I decided to try to get standing room tickets again.
Oh my gosh, the line for the opera was even longer than for the ballet! (Even though it was at the same location.) I ended up chatting with an Indian medical student (he was involved in liver transplants or something like that).
Unfortunatley I didn't get as good of a seat this time - I was stuck in the nosebleeds. I can't believe how poorly the opera house was built! If you were on either side of the balcony (where I was), you could literally only see half the stage. And this damned opera seemed to be sung on the half of the stage I couldn't see. I can't help but wonder how much the tickets cost for the people sitting in front of me, because it seemed like they had as bad, or worse views that I did if they remained seated. Of course, for the lady directly in front of me, that didn't seem to be a problem for her. She kept standing up, leaning forward, blocking the view of the cold couple beside her, whipping out her opera glasses, etc. And at one particularly poignant song, she was cheering wildly and gave no less than 5 "bravos" to the male lead.
While at the opera I ended up chatting with a Japanese tourist. She was supposed to have left earlier in the day, but due to the volcano, her flight kept getting pushed back, so she extended her vacation until Wednesday. Ouch!
I ended up staggering back to my hostel at around 10:30 PM. Sooo tired. I seem to have 3 brayilian roommates, a Korean, and I don't know who else. I had a Serbian dude sleeping above me last night, but he left today.
Apr. 18
The first thing I did this morning was go to the train station to check out how to buy my ticket to Bratislava. yikes! Talk about crowds! Thankfully the train staff were out in force and one fellow helped explain to me that I needed to go to a different train station and showed me how to get there. (It turns out that I could have bought my ticket at that station - but I'd have to go to a different one tomorrow to depart.)
Anyways, to get to the other station (Sudanbohf), I had to take the regular metro system, and an S-bahn train, the equivalent of a GO train. Oh my gosh. I used a similar system in Paris with little difficulty. This time though I was so confused! I couldn't figure out which train I needed to go on, which platform I was even on, etc! Thankfully there was a bilingual guy there who was able to help me. I got to Sudanbohf, bought my ticket and came back. (Of course I ran into similar problems trying to get back and I hopped on the train that I *thought* would get me back, but I wasn't sure if my transit pass was valid, so I was sweating through the two train stops, worried that someone would check my ticket and fine me.)
Oh, I should also mention that I thought this expedition would be a short one, so I hurried off without eating. By noon I arrived at the Schonbrunn Palace and still had an empty stomach. I was starting to feel ill I was so hungry. When I arrived at the palace, I walked around the neighborhood outside trying to find a street meat stall or corner store or SOMETHING but it was all closed for Sunday!!! And then I kept having to dodge city workers who were cleaning up after the Vienna marathon that was also going on. I ended up giving up and going into the palace gardens.
The gardens were so pretty - but they ain't got nothing on Versailles! (Of course, they were also still in the process of budding/blooming so it's not a totally fair comparison.) I then went to find the ticket booth so I could actually go into the palace itself - and then heavenly choirs started to sing and a beam of light fell upon a food stand inside the info centre! Oh heavenly Lord, I thank thee for this bounty. Of course I got charged up the ass, but I was too hungry to argue for the sandwich.
After inhaling my "meal" I signed up for a guided tour of the Imperial apartments. (Of course I didn't realize there was a non-guided option available until later. Whoops!) The tour was very interesting and amusing. E.g. I learned about one Austrian lord's attempts to create and implement a "re-usable" coffin - apparently it wasn't well received by his subjects.
After Schonbrunn (I wish I had had more time for the gardens and maybe the greenhouses, but my train expedition in the morning wasted so much time!) I went back downtown to go to the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. Then I had MORE issues in that I kept tripping over the damned marathon! The easiest access to the museums were blocked by barricades and it took me about 20 minutes to get to the entrance.
I really enjoyed the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. However, the first part of the museum is dedicated to the imperial silverware, china, etc. Now, you may remember that I am not a fan of looking at pottery. I don't care if it's gilded or made of solid moonbeams. A pot is a pot is a pot. I was ready to gnaw my arm off looking at all the cutlery, porcelain, etc. I had an audioguide and I kept skipping through most of the explanations. (Except for the one section on napkin folding - that was kind of cool and nifty to learn!)
After the cutlery crap I went into the Sisi museum which was also kind of cool. Princess Sisi (actually Elisabeth) is Austria's poster-child. And apparently her popularity didn't blossom until after her death. The exhibition was the closest I've found to a North American style museum in all my travels. I was amayed (and at times bored) by the wealth of information the audioguides provided.
Finally I got to see the Imperial Apartments. Essentially it was a repeat of what I saw at Schonbrunn earlier in the morning, but it was still nifty to see.
By this time I was getting hungry again. I ended up wimping out and going to the same restaurant that Jenny and I had gone to the day before. While digging through my purse though, I started laughing. The entire time I was wandering around, wasting away from hunger, I forgot that I had a small bag of dried fruit Jenny had given me the day before! Whoops!
Anyways, I think this will conclude the Vienna portion of my trip. I'm going to do my best to get up on time tomorrow and head to Bratislava. After 1 day there I'll (try) to head to Budapest.
Cheerio!
Mau
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Guten tag!
Forgive me in advance for any typos I make. The Z and the Y keys on German keyboards seem to be switched! And the apostraphe symbol is also misplaced!
Anyhoo, I'm alive! I just checked out of my hotel and am now at my hostel, hence the internet access!
The plane ride coming here was amazingly uncomfortable. I got stuck next to the washrooms. And worse, next to a baby. It was a bit fussy but slept through most of the night. I think the worst part was that my seat wouldn't recline, so I had a horrible backache and also people kept brushing my hair on the way to the washroom so I kept waking up. Upon arrival in France for my connection, I had to do one of those stereotypical airport scenes were you run from one side of the airport to the other to make it in time. Yikes! Luckily my boss (for the meeting) was also on the plane, so we were able to talk about the meeting and get some last minute planning done, it made me feel so reassured. Plus, she also gave approval to use meeting funds to take the taxi to our respective hotels. Yay for less stress!
Vienna's weather was rainy for the first two days I was here, which translated into coooold. I was a bit worried that my "spring" jacket would't be warm enough, but now that it's sunny again, life is good!
To get the boring stuff out of the way, the meeting went really well. It was very productive and I wasn't the only one suffering jet lag, so life was good! There were a few "oops" moments (like when I realized that I forgot to provide a list of participant names - I hear that's important when people meet for the first time) but it went very well in general. Yahoo! I also got to skip out on the after-dinner. My boss asked if I wanted to join them but the subtext was that I didn't have to so I begged off.
On to the fun stuff: I haven't done too much touristy stuff so far - the first two nights were a waste since I was too tired and it was too rainy to enjoy myself. And then yesterday I slept in a great deal, so all my plans were screwed up. Mainly I've done my generic "walk-abouts" AKA Mau wanders around the touristy areas randomly, hoping to see cool stuff. And boy, I sure have! Vienna is so pretty - it feels cleaner, greener, and more modern than Rome or Paris ever did.
So far I've wandered around St. Stephandom's church, I've walked around the Hofburg area (but not inside yet), walked up and down a massive shopping street which wasn't touristy at all but was full of bonafide Viennese, gone on a tour of the UN buildings here (that was the other reason yesterday was a waste - I slept in, missed the first tour, and decided to wait until 2pm for the second tour - I was insistent on seeing the damned UN!). I also accidentally went to the DOM museum - a museum filled with religious relics, etc. I say "accidentally" because I was actually trying to get to the DOW museum (full of Jewish/holocaust info) and I mixed the two up on my map. I'm bummed because the museum is closed for the weekend now, so I won't get to see it afterall. Oh well, let's hope that the Museum of Terror in Budapest makes up for it!
By far, the coolest thing I've done so far is gone to the State Opera House (Staatoper) and got standing room tickets (literally standing space only) to go see a ballet of "Ein Sommernachtstraum" - that's A Midsummernight's Dream. I swear, my standing ticket probablz had the best view in the house! It was so neat seeing the ballet in German - but I do need to read the actual play so that I can catch the information that I missed - and because there were a few spoken or sung parts in German. (I don't mind hearing spoken German, but German singing? Sounds terrible!)
Anyhoo, I think I shall leave off here for now. I've got about 2 hours till I meet my old boss - we're going to the Belvedere museum together. Not a clue as to what that holds, but it's in my guidebook, so it must be good! Tomorrow I shall dedicate my day to going to Shünbronn Palace (or however you spell it) which is supposed to be the equivalent to Versailles. I'll also try seeing the rest of Hofburg, and then I'm off to Bratislava on Monday!
Anyhoo, I'm alive! I just checked out of my hotel and am now at my hostel, hence the internet access!
The plane ride coming here was amazingly uncomfortable. I got stuck next to the washrooms. And worse, next to a baby. It was a bit fussy but slept through most of the night. I think the worst part was that my seat wouldn't recline, so I had a horrible backache and also people kept brushing my hair on the way to the washroom so I kept waking up. Upon arrival in France for my connection, I had to do one of those stereotypical airport scenes were you run from one side of the airport to the other to make it in time. Yikes! Luckily my boss (for the meeting) was also on the plane, so we were able to talk about the meeting and get some last minute planning done, it made me feel so reassured. Plus, she also gave approval to use meeting funds to take the taxi to our respective hotels. Yay for less stress!
Vienna's weather was rainy for the first two days I was here, which translated into coooold. I was a bit worried that my "spring" jacket would't be warm enough, but now that it's sunny again, life is good!
To get the boring stuff out of the way, the meeting went really well. It was very productive and I wasn't the only one suffering jet lag, so life was good! There were a few "oops" moments (like when I realized that I forgot to provide a list of participant names - I hear that's important when people meet for the first time) but it went very well in general. Yahoo! I also got to skip out on the after-dinner. My boss asked if I wanted to join them but the subtext was that I didn't have to so I begged off.
On to the fun stuff: I haven't done too much touristy stuff so far - the first two nights were a waste since I was too tired and it was too rainy to enjoy myself. And then yesterday I slept in a great deal, so all my plans were screwed up. Mainly I've done my generic "walk-abouts" AKA Mau wanders around the touristy areas randomly, hoping to see cool stuff. And boy, I sure have! Vienna is so pretty - it feels cleaner, greener, and more modern than Rome or Paris ever did.
So far I've wandered around St. Stephandom's church, I've walked around the Hofburg area (but not inside yet), walked up and down a massive shopping street which wasn't touristy at all but was full of bonafide Viennese, gone on a tour of the UN buildings here (that was the other reason yesterday was a waste - I slept in, missed the first tour, and decided to wait until 2pm for the second tour - I was insistent on seeing the damned UN!). I also accidentally went to the DOM museum - a museum filled with religious relics, etc. I say "accidentally" because I was actually trying to get to the DOW museum (full of Jewish/holocaust info) and I mixed the two up on my map. I'm bummed because the museum is closed for the weekend now, so I won't get to see it afterall. Oh well, let's hope that the Museum of Terror in Budapest makes up for it!
By far, the coolest thing I've done so far is gone to the State Opera House (Staatoper) and got standing room tickets (literally standing space only) to go see a ballet of "Ein Sommernachtstraum" - that's A Midsummernight's Dream. I swear, my standing ticket probablz had the best view in the house! It was so neat seeing the ballet in German - but I do need to read the actual play so that I can catch the information that I missed - and because there were a few spoken or sung parts in German. (I don't mind hearing spoken German, but German singing? Sounds terrible!)
Anyhoo, I think I shall leave off here for now. I've got about 2 hours till I meet my old boss - we're going to the Belvedere museum together. Not a clue as to what that holds, but it's in my guidebook, so it must be good! Tomorrow I shall dedicate my day to going to Shünbronn Palace (or however you spell it) which is supposed to be the equivalent to Versailles. I'll also try seeing the rest of Hofburg, and then I'm off to Bratislava on Monday!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Traditions
One of my favourite things about having gone to HK is that the learning never ceases.
I read my friend Ida's blog regularly (she's from Finland) and she just posted some pictures of kids dressed up as "witches" for Easter. Obviously I had no idea why kids would dress up for Easter, but a quick google search revealed that in parts of Finland, there is a custom of dressing up like witches (I guess we'd describe them as "crones" rather than our stereotypical image of a witch).
I read my friend Ida's blog regularly (she's from Finland) and she just posted some pictures of kids dressed up as "witches" for Easter. Obviously I had no idea why kids would dress up for Easter, but a quick google search revealed that in parts of Finland, there is a custom of dressing up like witches (I guess we'd describe them as "crones" rather than our stereotypical image of a witch).
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Checklist v2.0
Middle sibling reminded me that I could strike off a few more things from this list after last year's Europe trip. :)
Highlight the things you have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (or both.)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (I'm counting a cruise along the Ottawa river)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (kinda hard not to)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoors)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (I'm counting a government of Canada commercial...)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (Okay, it was Brownie cookies. Same diff.)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (!!! Excuse me as I laugh hysterically...)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day
Highlight the things you have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (or both.)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (I'm counting a cruise along the Ottawa river)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (kinda hard not to)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoors)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (I'm counting a government of Canada commercial...)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (Okay, it was Brownie cookies. Same diff.)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (!!! Excuse me as I laugh hysterically...)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Mau's 24 hour plague
Mau added a new life experience to her repertoire today: Passing out on an airplane (while in the air).
Yup. I fainted while on my flight to Toronto today. I've got the scraped knee to prove it!
I wasn't feel very well last night, and when I woke up today it was much worse. I think I have food poisoning - nothing was staying in my stomach (aka I needed gravol and immodium), I was having stomach cramps, nausea, etc. I forced myself to eat breakfast and a frozen dinner for lunch. My plane was delayed and I knew I was a bit weak, but nothing happened. In the air I was feeling worse (I felt like the cabin was waaaaay too hot), and the feeling persisted even after I ate a snack and had some juice.
Suddenly the cabin seemed to get even hotter and the lights got darker. I figured I was either going to pass out or throw up so I started walking towards the bathroom. I have vague memories of trying to grab on to seat chairs to steady myself while I was walking, but by this point the cabin was too dark to see. (I'm pretty sure I just smacked people in the heads/shoulders instead.) The next thing I know, I'm on the floor and people are touching my shoulders on either side, asking if I'm okay.
Which of course I was. Apparently one fainting episode cures all. I got to sit down in the nearest chair, get more juice, fill out some forms, and assure the flight attendant that no, they did not need to call the paramedics. They even lowered the cabin temperature for me and got me some ice to help stay cool. All in all, the incident is more embarrassing than anything! LOL.
I made it to the ground safely (we were only 17 minutes from Toronto) and checked into my hotel. I immediately hoofed it across the street to the Swiss Chalet where I forced myself to eat 3/4 of a quesadilla and some veggies. I'm still feeling nauseated and ill, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not in any danger of croaking in the next 24 hours.
Yup. I fainted while on my flight to Toronto today. I've got the scraped knee to prove it!
I wasn't feel very well last night, and when I woke up today it was much worse. I think I have food poisoning - nothing was staying in my stomach (aka I needed gravol and immodium), I was having stomach cramps, nausea, etc. I forced myself to eat breakfast and a frozen dinner for lunch. My plane was delayed and I knew I was a bit weak, but nothing happened. In the air I was feeling worse (I felt like the cabin was waaaaay too hot), and the feeling persisted even after I ate a snack and had some juice.
Suddenly the cabin seemed to get even hotter and the lights got darker. I figured I was either going to pass out or throw up so I started walking towards the bathroom. I have vague memories of trying to grab on to seat chairs to steady myself while I was walking, but by this point the cabin was too dark to see. (I'm pretty sure I just smacked people in the heads/shoulders instead.) The next thing I know, I'm on the floor and people are touching my shoulders on either side, asking if I'm okay.
Which of course I was. Apparently one fainting episode cures all. I got to sit down in the nearest chair, get more juice, fill out some forms, and assure the flight attendant that no, they did not need to call the paramedics. They even lowered the cabin temperature for me and got me some ice to help stay cool. All in all, the incident is more embarrassing than anything! LOL.
I made it to the ground safely (we were only 17 minutes from Toronto) and checked into my hotel. I immediately hoofed it across the street to the Swiss Chalet where I forced myself to eat 3/4 of a quesadilla and some veggies. I'm still feeling nauseated and ill, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not in any danger of croaking in the next 24 hours.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Squishing the flea on the microchip with my thumb.
Learning Chinese has helped me with my French. Seriously. While there aren't many (or even any) similarities between the languages, understanding tones has helped me to understand the differences between some words.
For example, in French the words, "au-dessus" (meaning: above) and "au-dessous" (meaning: below) sound EXACTLY the same to me. Even when I asked my French friends, they couldn't explain the difference. It was only when they repeated the words over and over that I could hear what changed - au-dessus has a slightly higher tone than au-dessous. That's the only way I can describe it. Normally I could just figure out which word meant what by the context of the sentence, but "above" and "below?" Obviously very interchangeable.
I ran into another tonality difference last night, but one not so easily apparent. We were talking about credit card fraud, etc. Someone mentioned that France has been using credit cards with thumb identification (e.g. biometrics) for 20 years. I expressed my surprise that France had been using biometrics - I thought that was a relatively new technology! I told them that I'd never be able to use such credit cards because I have no thumbprint, etc. That's when we discovered my error.
In French, the word "microchip" is "puce" while "thumb" is "pousse" - but the words sound the exact same. The entire time that I thought they were talking about biometrics, they were actually talking about microchips! Whoops! We all had a chuckle when we sorted things out, but again when I asked what the difference between the words was, they weren't able to explain adequately. The only difference that I can hear is that "puce" is pronounced in a higher tone than "pousse."
Oh, and to complete your language lesson for the day, "puce" can also mean flea.
For example, in French the words, "au-dessus" (meaning: above) and "au-dessous" (meaning: below) sound EXACTLY the same to me. Even when I asked my French friends, they couldn't explain the difference. It was only when they repeated the words over and over that I could hear what changed - au-dessus has a slightly higher tone than au-dessous. That's the only way I can describe it. Normally I could just figure out which word meant what by the context of the sentence, but "above" and "below?" Obviously very interchangeable.
I ran into another tonality difference last night, but one not so easily apparent. We were talking about credit card fraud, etc. Someone mentioned that France has been using credit cards with thumb identification (e.g. biometrics) for 20 years. I expressed my surprise that France had been using biometrics - I thought that was a relatively new technology! I told them that I'd never be able to use such credit cards because I have no thumbprint, etc. That's when we discovered my error. In French, the word "microchip" is "puce" while "thumb" is "pousse" - but the words sound the exact same. The entire time that I thought they were talking about biometrics, they were actually talking about microchips! Whoops! We all had a chuckle when we sorted things out, but again when I asked what the difference between the words was, they weren't able to explain adequately. The only difference that I can hear is that "puce" is pronounced in a higher tone than "pousse."
Oh, and to complete your language lesson for the day, "puce" can also mean flea.
Top CEO tweets resignation - in haiku
Top CEO tweets resignation - in haiku
Bwahahahahahaaa. I'm not the only one who gives into poetry once in awhile. :)
Bwahahahahahaaa. I'm not the only one who gives into poetry once in awhile. :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Yet another ode
My family always accuses me of writing depressing poetry. But that’s not true! I’ve written many funny or random things in the past. For example, there’s my poem called “The Challenge.” And there’s also my poem about Chinese buns!
Now here’s a new one! It’s dedicated to my office plant. I originally bought the plant from Walmart when I was living in Ottawa and feeling a bit down. The thing had become my staunch companion and has survived being moved from Ottawa to Owen Sound to Toronto to Owen Sound to Montreal. It’s obviously very hardy.
I was first struck with the idea of writing a haiku to it.
Droopy potted plant
Seeks to brighten grey office.
Monday. New week starts.
And then I was inspired to continue writing about it, so I went into a free verse poem.
My little sad plant holds the darkness at bay.
It strives ever upward, spreading magnificence
Against austere white walls and corporate gleam.
It hushes the cold whir of electronics
And clamours for you to pause,
To admire its emerald splendour.
My little sad plant, ever loyal,
Helps me to get through day after day.
And then I was still inspired, so I changed it into a rhyming couplet.
Against my office’s austere white walls and corporate gleam,
A splash of colour interrupts the scheme.
My little potted plant holds the dreariness at bay.
Emerald elegance it does convey.
Its very stillness clamours for you to pause,
To admire it. Why? Just because.
It strives to brighten our day
Through colour, beauty, and every way.
My little sad plant, staunch friend,
We’ll be together till the very end.
My favourite parts of the poem:
- corporate gleam
- “Its very stillness clamours for you to pause”
In the second last line I originally described it as my “staunch companion.” I like that word better, but I couldn’t find a nice rhyme to end it with.
So there you go. Not everything that I write is sad and depressing!
Now here’s a new one! It’s dedicated to my office plant. I originally bought the plant from Walmart when I was living in Ottawa and feeling a bit down. The thing had become my staunch companion and has survived being moved from Ottawa to Owen Sound to Toronto to Owen Sound to Montreal. It’s obviously very hardy.
I was first struck with the idea of writing a haiku to it.
Droopy potted plant
Seeks to brighten grey office.
Monday. New week starts.
And then I was inspired to continue writing about it, so I went into a free verse poem.
My little sad plant holds the darkness at bay.
It strives ever upward, spreading magnificence
Against austere white walls and corporate gleam.
It hushes the cold whir of electronics
And clamours for you to pause,
To admire its emerald splendour.
My little sad plant, ever loyal,
Helps me to get through day after day.
And then I was still inspired, so I changed it into a rhyming couplet.
Against my office’s austere white walls and corporate gleam,
A splash of colour interrupts the scheme.
My little potted plant holds the dreariness at bay.
Emerald elegance it does convey.
Its very stillness clamours for you to pause,
To admire it. Why? Just because.
It strives to brighten our day
Through colour, beauty, and every way.
My little sad plant, staunch friend,
We’ll be together till the very end.
My favourite parts of the poem:
- corporate gleam
- “Its very stillness clamours for you to pause”
In the second last line I originally described it as my “staunch companion.” I like that word better, but I couldn’t find a nice rhyme to end it with.
So there you go. Not everything that I write is sad and depressing!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Backsliding
I am carnivore! Hear me roar! MEOW! Okay, so maybe I’m not a raging meat-eater. I’m more of a fledging carnivore now. You can say that I ate my “flexitarian” ideals this week.
Hang on a second… What the hell is a flexitarian? That my dear friends, is a “flexible vegetarian.” You know, that thing that I’ve been since July.
Last summer my niece decided to become vegetarian. I was inspired to do the same. My last vegetarian experience was in high school. I went for 6 weeks without meat. I finally quit because I was tired of making my own meals.
I figured that now that I was older, and that I cooked for myself all the time anyways, that I could probably handle doing the veggie thing. I posted that I was going to become a veggiesaurus on Facebook and was immediately mocked by everyone I knew, but I was determined to prove them all wrong.
My vegetarian resolution lasted 12 hours.
The very next day I was invited to a group lunch at work. I was eager to meet my colleagues and agreed. Except that our meal was being ordered from St-Hubert’s… Which had no vegetarian options available. I certainly didn’t want to make a fuss, so I just shut my mouth and gnawed away on my chicken bones.
Later that night I did some research on vegetarianism, etc. and I came across the term, “Flexitarian” which meant that you consciously made the attempt to eat mainly vegetarian dishes, but could eat meat too. My personal stance became, “I shall eat only vegetarian in my apartment but will eat meat when I go to restaurants, etc.”
Honestly, this method worked really well. I’ve bought probably less than $50 worth of meat in the past 6 months and I’ve learned how to cook a wide variety of other veggie dishes.
However, there comes a point when you just can’t face another bowl of lentils! You can only cook beans in so many ways! You just cannot endure any more cheese! (Surprisingly, I didn’t eat that much tofu – although I did find an amazing tofu parmigana recipe!)
This past week I finally gave up and started buying meat. I have missed the variety of textures and flavours that meat has to offer. I also have missed using my recipe books, most of which are focused on meat.
That being said, I vow to make an effort to cook vegetarian once a week. (And no, this declaration is not spurred on by the fact that I still have bags of dried beans and lentils in my cupboard. Really.)
Hang on a second… What the hell is a flexitarian? That my dear friends, is a “flexible vegetarian.” You know, that thing that I’ve been since July.
Last summer my niece decided to become vegetarian. I was inspired to do the same. My last vegetarian experience was in high school. I went for 6 weeks without meat. I finally quit because I was tired of making my own meals.
I figured that now that I was older, and that I cooked for myself all the time anyways, that I could probably handle doing the veggie thing. I posted that I was going to become a veggiesaurus on Facebook and was immediately mocked by everyone I knew, but I was determined to prove them all wrong.
My vegetarian resolution lasted 12 hours.
The very next day I was invited to a group lunch at work. I was eager to meet my colleagues and agreed. Except that our meal was being ordered from St-Hubert’s… Which had no vegetarian options available. I certainly didn’t want to make a fuss, so I just shut my mouth and gnawed away on my chicken bones.
Later that night I did some research on vegetarianism, etc. and I came across the term, “Flexitarian” which meant that you consciously made the attempt to eat mainly vegetarian dishes, but could eat meat too. My personal stance became, “I shall eat only vegetarian in my apartment but will eat meat when I go to restaurants, etc.”
Honestly, this method worked really well. I’ve bought probably less than $50 worth of meat in the past 6 months and I’ve learned how to cook a wide variety of other veggie dishes.
However, there comes a point when you just can’t face another bowl of lentils! You can only cook beans in so many ways! You just cannot endure any more cheese! (Surprisingly, I didn’t eat that much tofu – although I did find an amazing tofu parmigana recipe!)
This past week I finally gave up and started buying meat. I have missed the variety of textures and flavours that meat has to offer. I also have missed using my recipe books, most of which are focused on meat.
That being said, I vow to make an effort to cook vegetarian once a week. (And no, this declaration is not spurred on by the fact that I still have bags of dried beans and lentils in my cupboard. Really.)
Friday, January 08, 2010
Conquering fears
One of my secret fears in life is seaweed. If I'm at a lake or someplace else where the bottom of the water is NOT covered by sand, I get creeped out when stuff touches the bottoms of my feet. Or, if I'm in a boat, I can't help but imagine it capsizing and the seaweed reaching up, wrapping around my legs, and pulling me under.
This past Christmas, I got the opportunity to mix my personal fear of seaweed and the generic fear of suffocation by being trapped under ice. I crossed the Moosonee Ice Road. I assure you, it was great fuel for nightmares.
Every winter, the Moose River freezes over. The ice grows so thick that you can literally driver cars over it. Now, it's one thing to know this in theory, but another to see it in practice. While walking by the river bank in Moosonee with my family, I could see cars, snowmobiles and people walking across the water. I'll admit that a part of me wanted to cross the river, but another part of me was terrified by the idea of it. Either my family could tell that I wanted to try it, or they just wanted some entertainment by watching me freak out, but they decided to drag me across the ice to the island of Moose Factory.
You see, my mom and sisters grew up in Moosonee. For them the ice road is a normal part of life. Me? I'm from the South. Down here, only idiots and ice fishers go out on top of the ice. Heck, prior to this Christmas, the last time I was on ice that wasn't a skating rink was when I was 12 years old, fooling around on my friend's frozen pond and fell through the ice. (And then the next day I managed to fall into an abandoned well.)
We piled into the vehicle. They were "gracious" enough to let me have the front seat (AKA they wanted me to have a better view with which to freak out better). Immediately when June, my eldest sister who was driving, turned off the land road to start descending the river bank we were confronted with a giant yellow road block at the bottom of the bank and beyond that you can see a bit of broken ice in the water. It was like a sign from God saying, "Hey IDIOTS! There's frozen water beyond this point! Turn back or I'll get all Darwin on your asses!" Apparently the road block was just there to indicate that you weren't supposed to drive directly forward - you had to turn left and look for a better spot to get on to the ice.
So before I could completely chicken out, we drove on to the ice. I swear, my heart was beating faster than when I parachuted from 12,000 feet. I was operating on pure adrenaline for the entire experience! I am not ashamed to admit that I was secretly reviewing every TV show I've seen on how to escape from a sunken vehicle. (Meaning, roll down the window slowly, let the car fill up with water until the last possible moment, etc.)
I was surprised by how bumpy the ride was - the ice and surface snow had created some truly amazing craters (err, pot holes) that we had to dodge. Half way across the river, they pulled the car over and made me get out and stand on the ice. Now the amusing thing about getting out of the car is that they thought I'd be more freaked out by standing directly on the ice. Hell, my only thoughts were along the line of "Oh thank god I'm out of the heavy vehicle which is much more likely to plunge into the frozen depths than little ol' me!" We took a couple of photos before jumping back in the car.
While continuing our drive, one smartass pointed out the giant cracks that we were driving over. June joked and said that they were fault lines. Can you see how cruel my family is? Trying to rile me up even more than I already was? I won't be surprised if I need therapy in a few years.
I think the most terrifying part of the experience was getting up and down the Moose Factory side of the river. When we got to the other river bank, there was a great deal of water on top of the ice - to me it looked like the ice was broken and water had bubbled to the top (which was partially true). I had the lovely opportunity to watch a taxi ahead of us have trouble ascending the river bank - it was so slippery/icy that it kept sliding around before it finally made it up. Next it was our turn.
Oh my god. We literally had to drive through a foot of water to get to the river bank. June slowed down the vehicle to go through it so that she wouldn't splash it up into her engine. I wasn't aware of this thought process though. My mind was running more to the idea that we needed to get up to launching speed! We made it across the small expanse of water and started going up the river bank... Only to have the same problem as the taxi. Our car, with all-wheel drive, started sliding BACKWARDS towards a bad patch of water we had avoided! I honestly thought we were going to end up in the water. When I get extremely nervous, I sometimes get really quiet. While mounting the river bank, I don't think I was even breathing in my effort not to make noise! However, we made it! Safe and sound!
While at Moose Factory we stopped at a couple of stores. I kept looking for a life jacket so that I could joke that I wanted it for the ride back, but with now luck. At one of the stores we ran into my Uncle Terry. My mom told me about my quest for a life jacket and helpfully he reminded us, "Oh, you don't have to worry about drowning - the hypothermia will get you first." Yeah. Reeeeaaaal helpful there!
The trip back to Moosonee was almost just as bad. First of all, by the time we returned, it was full dark out and with the exception of our headlights, there were no other lights to help guide our way. We couldn't even see the lights of Moosonee across the river because there was another small island in the way!
The worst part of the return trip was getting down the stupid slippery river bank again. Remember how I mentioned that we had slid down it backwards? Yeah, well this time we started sliding down it forwards! My middle sister and I were practically ready to get out and offer to push the damned car back onto the proper track! By some miracle of miracles, we managed to avoid sliding into the water and got "safely" on the ice.
While driving across the black expanse of ice it was pitch black. When we finally passed the small island that was blocking our view of Moosonee and could see the lights of the town I cried out, "Oh thank God, civilization!" Everyone laughed because most of the time, I tend to be derisive of Moosonee - calling a city of 5000 people "civilized" is a big concession on my part.
By the time we finally made it back to land on the Moosonee side, I was ready to drop down and kiss the ground. I honestly cannot express how nervous I was about the drive across. I knew that the chances of anything happening weren't very big, after all, they check the depth of the ice regularly, plows go out on the river to clear the road, etc. But I couldn't help the pitter patter of my heart nor the shocky state of my nerves. Despite my fears, I survived. What should I do for my next adventure? Wrangle alligators? Walk barefoot across coals? We’ll just have to wait and see.
This past Christmas, I got the opportunity to mix my personal fear of seaweed and the generic fear of suffocation by being trapped under ice. I crossed the Moosonee Ice Road. I assure you, it was great fuel for nightmares.
Every winter, the Moose River freezes over. The ice grows so thick that you can literally driver cars over it. Now, it's one thing to know this in theory, but another to see it in practice. While walking by the river bank in Moosonee with my family, I could see cars, snowmobiles and people walking across the water. I'll admit that a part of me wanted to cross the river, but another part of me was terrified by the idea of it. Either my family could tell that I wanted to try it, or they just wanted some entertainment by watching me freak out, but they decided to drag me across the ice to the island of Moose Factory.
You see, my mom and sisters grew up in Moosonee. For them the ice road is a normal part of life. Me? I'm from the South. Down here, only idiots and ice fishers go out on top of the ice. Heck, prior to this Christmas, the last time I was on ice that wasn't a skating rink was when I was 12 years old, fooling around on my friend's frozen pond and fell through the ice. (And then the next day I managed to fall into an abandoned well.)
We piled into the vehicle. They were "gracious" enough to let me have the front seat (AKA they wanted me to have a better view with which to freak out better). Immediately when June, my eldest sister who was driving, turned off the land road to start descending the river bank we were confronted with a giant yellow road block at the bottom of the bank and beyond that you can see a bit of broken ice in the water. It was like a sign from God saying, "Hey IDIOTS! There's frozen water beyond this point! Turn back or I'll get all Darwin on your asses!" Apparently the road block was just there to indicate that you weren't supposed to drive directly forward - you had to turn left and look for a better spot to get on to the ice.
So before I could completely chicken out, we drove on to the ice. I swear, my heart was beating faster than when I parachuted from 12,000 feet. I was operating on pure adrenaline for the entire experience! I am not ashamed to admit that I was secretly reviewing every TV show I've seen on how to escape from a sunken vehicle. (Meaning, roll down the window slowly, let the car fill up with water until the last possible moment, etc.)
I was surprised by how bumpy the ride was - the ice and surface snow had created some truly amazing craters (err, pot holes) that we had to dodge. Half way across the river, they pulled the car over and made me get out and stand on the ice. Now the amusing thing about getting out of the car is that they thought I'd be more freaked out by standing directly on the ice. Hell, my only thoughts were along the line of "Oh thank god I'm out of the heavy vehicle which is much more likely to plunge into the frozen depths than little ol' me!" We took a couple of photos before jumping back in the car.
While continuing our drive, one smartass pointed out the giant cracks that we were driving over. June joked and said that they were fault lines. Can you see how cruel my family is? Trying to rile me up even more than I already was? I won't be surprised if I need therapy in a few years.
I think the most terrifying part of the experience was getting up and down the Moose Factory side of the river. When we got to the other river bank, there was a great deal of water on top of the ice - to me it looked like the ice was broken and water had bubbled to the top (which was partially true). I had the lovely opportunity to watch a taxi ahead of us have trouble ascending the river bank - it was so slippery/icy that it kept sliding around before it finally made it up. Next it was our turn.
Oh my god. We literally had to drive through a foot of water to get to the river bank. June slowed down the vehicle to go through it so that she wouldn't splash it up into her engine. I wasn't aware of this thought process though. My mind was running more to the idea that we needed to get up to launching speed! We made it across the small expanse of water and started going up the river bank... Only to have the same problem as the taxi. Our car, with all-wheel drive, started sliding BACKWARDS towards a bad patch of water we had avoided! I honestly thought we were going to end up in the water. When I get extremely nervous, I sometimes get really quiet. While mounting the river bank, I don't think I was even breathing in my effort not to make noise! However, we made it! Safe and sound!
While at Moose Factory we stopped at a couple of stores. I kept looking for a life jacket so that I could joke that I wanted it for the ride back, but with now luck. At one of the stores we ran into my Uncle Terry. My mom told me about my quest for a life jacket and helpfully he reminded us, "Oh, you don't have to worry about drowning - the hypothermia will get you first." Yeah. Reeeeaaaal helpful there!
The trip back to Moosonee was almost just as bad. First of all, by the time we returned, it was full dark out and with the exception of our headlights, there were no other lights to help guide our way. We couldn't even see the lights of Moosonee across the river because there was another small island in the way!
The worst part of the return trip was getting down the stupid slippery river bank again. Remember how I mentioned that we had slid down it backwards? Yeah, well this time we started sliding down it forwards! My middle sister and I were practically ready to get out and offer to push the damned car back onto the proper track! By some miracle of miracles, we managed to avoid sliding into the water and got "safely" on the ice.
While driving across the black expanse of ice it was pitch black. When we finally passed the small island that was blocking our view of Moosonee and could see the lights of the town I cried out, "Oh thank God, civilization!" Everyone laughed because most of the time, I tend to be derisive of Moosonee - calling a city of 5000 people "civilized" is a big concession on my part.
By the time we finally made it back to land on the Moosonee side, I was ready to drop down and kiss the ground. I honestly cannot express how nervous I was about the drive across. I knew that the chances of anything happening weren't very big, after all, they check the depth of the ice regularly, plows go out on the river to clear the road, etc. But I couldn't help the pitter patter of my heart nor the shocky state of my nerves. Despite my fears, I survived. What should I do for my next adventure? Wrangle alligators? Walk barefoot across coals? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Language issues
I never realized how difficult the English language was until I moved here to Montreal, and it’s only been in the last few language exchange dinners that I’ve realized some of the key problems with our language.
Case in point – last week two Francophones were pointing out the problem with English verbs. In French there is a separate verb for every action. In English, we have one verb and append a preposition to the end of it to change its meaning. E.g. to hang up, out, in, on, etc. In French the equivalents would be raccrocher, sortir (no real equivalent), tenir, accrocher, etc.
I’ve also always taken our ability to enunciate some words for granted. I was chatting with a guy from France and a Caribbean French speaker last night. They were trying to understand the difference in pronunciation between ‘thought’ and ‘fought.’ They couldn’t differentiate between the two words because of the “th” sound. Sometimes difficulties like these can be very funny. E.g. The Caribbean guy was demonstrating his attempts to say “beach” and “sheet.” I can totally see how miscommunications would happen with his accent. :)
That being said I have similar difficulties at times. E.g. I have a hard time differentiating between the words “cueillir” (to pick, as in to pick an apple) and “cuillère” (spoon). Everytime I have to say them, I have to stop and carefully pronounce them. One of the Anglophones in our group also has a hard time telling “province” and “provence” apart.
Case in point – last week two Francophones were pointing out the problem with English verbs. In French there is a separate verb for every action. In English, we have one verb and append a preposition to the end of it to change its meaning. E.g. to hang up, out, in, on, etc. In French the equivalents would be raccrocher, sortir (no real equivalent), tenir, accrocher, etc.
I’ve also always taken our ability to enunciate some words for granted. I was chatting with a guy from France and a Caribbean French speaker last night. They were trying to understand the difference in pronunciation between ‘thought’ and ‘fought.’ They couldn’t differentiate between the two words because of the “th” sound. Sometimes difficulties like these can be very funny. E.g. The Caribbean guy was demonstrating his attempts to say “beach” and “sheet.” I can totally see how miscommunications would happen with his accent. :)
That being said I have similar difficulties at times. E.g. I have a hard time differentiating between the words “cueillir” (to pick, as in to pick an apple) and “cuillère” (spoon). Everytime I have to say them, I have to stop and carefully pronounce them. One of the Anglophones in our group also has a hard time telling “province” and “provence” apart.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Quebec Holidays
Despite my earlier rants, working in Quebec does have its advantages. One of those advantages is the holidays. In Ontario, we only got 10 public holidays. In Quebec, we get 13.
Ontario
1. New Year's Day
2. Good Friday
3. Easter Monday
4. Victoria Day
5. Canada Day
6. Civic Holiday
7. Labour Day
8. Thanksgiving Day
9. Christmas Day
10. Boxing Day
Quebec
1. Jour de l'An
2. Jour des Rois
3. Statutaire
4. Vendredi Saint
5. Lundi de Pâques
6. Fête des Patriotes
7. Saint-Jean-Baptiste
8. Confédération
9. Fête du Travail
10. Action de Grâces
11. Fête du Souvenir
12. Immaculée Conception
13. Noël
The even better thing about my workplace is that we get to displace several of these holidays and take them during the Christmas holidays instead. So for example, although Jour des Rois takes place in February, we work that day and take the time off at Christmas instead. The same goes for the Statutaire holiday, the Fête du Souvenir and Immaculée Conception. Therefore at Christmas I can take off nearly an entire week without having to take a day of vacation or a day without pay.
That’s also where today’s confusion on whether I should come into work or not stemmed from.
Ontario
1. New Year's Day
2. Good Friday
3. Easter Monday
4. Victoria Day
5. Canada Day
6. Civic Holiday
7. Labour Day
8. Thanksgiving Day
9. Christmas Day
10. Boxing Day
Quebec
1. Jour de l'An
2. Jour des Rois
3. Statutaire
4. Vendredi Saint
5. Lundi de Pâques
6. Fête des Patriotes
7. Saint-Jean-Baptiste
8. Confédération
9. Fête du Travail
10. Action de Grâces
11. Fête du Souvenir
12. Immaculée Conception
13. Noël
The even better thing about my workplace is that we get to displace several of these holidays and take them during the Christmas holidays instead. So for example, although Jour des Rois takes place in February, we work that day and take the time off at Christmas instead. The same goes for the Statutaire holiday, the Fête du Souvenir and Immaculée Conception. Therefore at Christmas I can take off nearly an entire week without having to take a day of vacation or a day without pay.
That’s also where today’s confusion on whether I should come into work or not stemmed from.
Congé statutaire
Today I thought I came into work on a statutory holiday.
Already running late due to a metro malfunction, I arrived outside my building to discover that my usual entrance was locked. I figured that the side doors were closed because of a pending swine flu clinic, so I shrugged and made my way to the main entrance. There I encountered a man, a patient, who was waiting outside too. He then informed me that the Research Centre was closed!
Sure enough in the door there was a sign informing people that today is a Statutory Holiday and the building was therefore closed. I was like, what the hell?! I came into work by accident??? I was positive that the list of holidays given to me when I started working did not include Remembrance Day.
Luckily a technician came out to meet with the patient and on her way back in (through a back entrance using a security card) I decided to tag along. I figured that I was already there so I might as well work after all! However, on my way to the office I passed by a bunch of other offices where people were also here and working, including some of my “co-workers.”
When I stopped to ask one of them why everyone was working, they reminded me that yes, Remembrance Day is a statutory holiday, but that the Research Centre takes the time off during Christmas vacation instead. Phew! I’m so relieved that I decided to work instead of just going home instead!
Already running late due to a metro malfunction, I arrived outside my building to discover that my usual entrance was locked. I figured that the side doors were closed because of a pending swine flu clinic, so I shrugged and made my way to the main entrance. There I encountered a man, a patient, who was waiting outside too. He then informed me that the Research Centre was closed!
Sure enough in the door there was a sign informing people that today is a Statutory Holiday and the building was therefore closed. I was like, what the hell?! I came into work by accident??? I was positive that the list of holidays given to me when I started working did not include Remembrance Day.
Luckily a technician came out to meet with the patient and on her way back in (through a back entrance using a security card) I decided to tag along. I figured that I was already there so I might as well work after all! However, on my way to the office I passed by a bunch of other offices where people were also here and working, including some of my “co-workers.”
When I stopped to ask one of them why everyone was working, they reminded me that yes, Remembrance Day is a statutory holiday, but that the Research Centre takes the time off during Christmas vacation instead. Phew! I’m so relieved that I decided to work instead of just going home instead!
Friday, November 06, 2009
Death Of My Neighbor
Death of my neighbour
With me he tried to plead
But his words I did not heed.
He had tried to convince,
But stubborn, I clung to my grievance.
He used the word ‘prejudice’,
But I knew I was right about this.
He then branded me bigot,
And many other things that I forget.
In response I told him what people really thought
Gave him knowledge that he hadn’t sought.
I fought back, told him the reality,
Unknowingly wounding him mortally.
They found his body on a Monday,
Hanging from the rafters above the hay.
I got away with murder that day,
And ever since for my soul I pray
With me he tried to plead
But his words I did not heed.
He had tried to convince,
But stubborn, I clung to my grievance.
He used the word ‘prejudice’,
But I knew I was right about this.
He then branded me bigot,
And many other things that I forget.
In response I told him what people really thought
Gave him knowledge that he hadn’t sought.
I fought back, told him the reality,
Unknowingly wounding him mortally.
They found his body on a Monday,
Hanging from the rafters above the hay.
I got away with murder that day,
And ever since for my soul I pray
The cancer in our society
I was reading some followup news on the CBC website about the shooting on the Texas military base. Out of curiousity I started browsing through some the reader comments left behind. I was horrified when I read a comment left by user "newstome":
I find it so hard to understand how people can think like this. With all the diversity here in Canada, how can someone think things like this?! I was especially bothered by their suggestion to restrict and isolate them.
One thing I have always been proud of in Canada is how immigrants can come here and succeed. You can't deny that there are problems - e.g. We have all kinds of qualified professionals who move here but their credentials are not recognized and so they end up working as taxi drivers, etc. But they work so hard for their own children and then the kids are able to outstrip the "Canadian" kids in education and everything else.
I love that Canadians accept and embrace the multicultral aspect of our country. I think that the fact that someone can move here and maintain their own culture is a sign of our own strength and self-belief. (Although, after saying that, it makes you wonder about the sovereign Quebec movement...)
So when I hear stuff like the bigoted language above and how they try to make themselves sound righteous it terrifies me! E.g. "We can't use extreme means to do it or we come down to their level but we have to start with identifying them and isolating them." Hello?! Isolation is NOT the answer! We need to open communications so that we can understand our differences and be willing to compromise. Obviously this won't work with extremists, but the majority of the world are NOT extreme! And the fact that this individual is talking about targetting people in CANADA is even worse! It's revolting that they're trying to claim that they're better than the extremists because they're not sinking to "their level" - yeah, like your idea is any different. Death by suicide bomb or social death by ostracization. Not much difference in terms of karma I think.
Can't they understand that their ideas are wrong??? Canada has done this in the past! Isolating the Japanese during WWII did nothing to protect us! At least back then we had the excuse that racism was still partially acceptable and that the Japanese were on the opposite side of the war... But haven't we learned better?
I think the thing that set me off the most about this article was the comment about how RCMP officers should not be allowed to wear their turban. And the mountie uniform is just that - a uniform! Ugh. I am beyond proud that we can and do allow them to express themselves religiously. It's not hurting you so shut up about it!
I'm too flabbergasted by this comment to be more articulate. It's even worse because the user's profile indicates that they live in Peterborough, so it's not like they have the excuse of living in a small town! Can we ask McGuinty (the loser didn't even know how to spell his name right) to deport all the racists instead? Or would the worse punishment be to make them stay and force them to see how much more enlightened the rest of us are?
Whatever the answers may be, the person got their diagnosis wrong. Muslims and Middle-Eastern people are not the cancer in our society. Its the hate that racists spread that is the true cancer.
One has to wonder how many messages we need to receive or how many shots across our bow before we realize we are in world war III. A war that has implanted the enemy not in army over there but in every day types over here. The enemy force is in all nations and like they do over there they hide behind our women and children and the women and children of their own who are honest, hard working and amongst us as well.
We need to weed this cancer out of our society. We can't use extreme means to do it or we come down to their level but we have to start with identifying them and isolating them. That doesn't mean concentration camps what it means is that the general public at large must be made aware of who they are and where they are. They must be restricted from holding sensitive jobs like government or law enforcement. What comes to mind is an RCMP officer whose beliefs outweigh the traditions of Canada and insists on wearing a turban. I'm sorry but that's an indicator and that is not our RCMP uniform. If they feel that strongly they should be clerics but certainly not our “first line of defense”.
Sooner or later we have to wake up to the fact that there is a problem to be dealt with. Do we wait till buildings in one of our cities topple or do we take a stand now. Tamals are a prime example, deport those from the boat immediately and charge any that demonstrate with inciting a riot. Hear that McQuinty, do your job!
I find it so hard to understand how people can think like this. With all the diversity here in Canada, how can someone think things like this?! I was especially bothered by their suggestion to restrict and isolate them.
One thing I have always been proud of in Canada is how immigrants can come here and succeed. You can't deny that there are problems - e.g. We have all kinds of qualified professionals who move here but their credentials are not recognized and so they end up working as taxi drivers, etc. But they work so hard for their own children and then the kids are able to outstrip the "Canadian" kids in education and everything else.
I love that Canadians accept and embrace the multicultral aspect of our country. I think that the fact that someone can move here and maintain their own culture is a sign of our own strength and self-belief. (Although, after saying that, it makes you wonder about the sovereign Quebec movement...)
So when I hear stuff like the bigoted language above and how they try to make themselves sound righteous it terrifies me! E.g. "We can't use extreme means to do it or we come down to their level but we have to start with identifying them and isolating them." Hello?! Isolation is NOT the answer! We need to open communications so that we can understand our differences and be willing to compromise. Obviously this won't work with extremists, but the majority of the world are NOT extreme! And the fact that this individual is talking about targetting people in CANADA is even worse! It's revolting that they're trying to claim that they're better than the extremists because they're not sinking to "their level" - yeah, like your idea is any different. Death by suicide bomb or social death by ostracization. Not much difference in terms of karma I think.
Can't they understand that their ideas are wrong??? Canada has done this in the past! Isolating the Japanese during WWII did nothing to protect us! At least back then we had the excuse that racism was still partially acceptable and that the Japanese were on the opposite side of the war... But haven't we learned better?
I think the thing that set me off the most about this article was the comment about how RCMP officers should not be allowed to wear their turban. And the mountie uniform is just that - a uniform! Ugh. I am beyond proud that we can and do allow them to express themselves religiously. It's not hurting you so shut up about it!
I'm too flabbergasted by this comment to be more articulate. It's even worse because the user's profile indicates that they live in Peterborough, so it's not like they have the excuse of living in a small town! Can we ask McGuinty (the loser didn't even know how to spell his name right) to deport all the racists instead? Or would the worse punishment be to make them stay and force them to see how much more enlightened the rest of us are?
Whatever the answers may be, the person got their diagnosis wrong. Muslims and Middle-Eastern people are not the cancer in our society. Its the hate that racists spread that is the true cancer.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Daylight Savings
This is the first year that I've ever appreciated daylight savings. When I was young I never paid attention to it. I just turned my clock back when my mom told me to and then promptly forgot about it.
In my university days it never mattered to me because I had such an irregular sleeping schedule - I was awake until 2am and didn't get up until 10am so again, I didn't care about that 1 hour difference. (Although I do remember going clubbing in Toronto once and being excited because the time change meant that we got an extra hour of drinking.)
Last year when I finally had a full time job, it didn't make a difference to me because I was living in a basement apartment and it was always dark.
This year was the year of change though. My new apartment has its large windows and it was such a pleasant change waking up this morning and not having it dark outside! Those of you who know me know that I'm not a morning person. When I wake up, I refuse to turn on any lights because they hurt my eyes. I even shower in the dark. Well, this morning I fairly leapt out of bed because I could actually see for once. I felt so much more alert rather than fumbling around in the darkness.
Now we'll see if this happy feeling lasts when it becomes dark at 5PM though.
P.S. I did and did not forget about the time change this year. I remembered it every single day including Saturday, but when I got home Saturday night at midnight I was exhausted and went straight to bed. Since I was supposed to play basketball, I set my alarm clock on my cell phone and went to sleep.
I woke up early the next morning - before my alarm sounded. So I turned it off and started getting ready for basketball. Luckily I decided to surf the net a bit before I left, because I while I was reading secrets on postsecret.blogspot.com I came across one that mentioned daylight savings time. That's when I finally remembered the time change, and realized that I was therefore an hour early for basketball! Whoops!
In my university days it never mattered to me because I had such an irregular sleeping schedule - I was awake until 2am and didn't get up until 10am so again, I didn't care about that 1 hour difference. (Although I do remember going clubbing in Toronto once and being excited because the time change meant that we got an extra hour of drinking.)
Last year when I finally had a full time job, it didn't make a difference to me because I was living in a basement apartment and it was always dark.
This year was the year of change though. My new apartment has its large windows and it was such a pleasant change waking up this morning and not having it dark outside! Those of you who know me know that I'm not a morning person. When I wake up, I refuse to turn on any lights because they hurt my eyes. I even shower in the dark. Well, this morning I fairly leapt out of bed because I could actually see for once. I felt so much more alert rather than fumbling around in the darkness.
Now we'll see if this happy feeling lasts when it becomes dark at 5PM though.
P.S. I did and did not forget about the time change this year. I remembered it every single day including Saturday, but when I got home Saturday night at midnight I was exhausted and went straight to bed. Since I was supposed to play basketball, I set my alarm clock on my cell phone and went to sleep.
I woke up early the next morning - before my alarm sounded. So I turned it off and started getting ready for basketball. Luckily I decided to surf the net a bit before I left, because I while I was reading secrets on postsecret.blogspot.com I came across one that mentioned daylight savings time. That's when I finally remembered the time change, and realized that I was therefore an hour early for basketball! Whoops!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Killin' Momma
Finish your ciggy quickly
Because trouble is brewin’.
Too long we’ve ignored things.
Momma’s done playin’.
She gave us our chance
But all we did was waste it.
Now momma’s real mad.
She’s angry, throwing a fit.
She’s hangin’ us out to dry
Takin’ away what was ours.
You can deny it all you want
From your tall white towers,
But you can’t deny the truth.
Momma’s flipped and I’m glad.
She’s raging and crying.
Turns out the she isn’t just a fad.
As her gaunt children stare
We’ll bluster and reject.
Hide the evidence behind deceit
While everything gets wrecked.
We’ll give her bandaids while
The wounds underneath fester,
Say that it just needs time,
That things will get better.
Even as her limbs wither
And our hearts start the shrivel,
We’ll ignore the symptoms
Saying that it’s naught but drivel.
As we die with her they’ll rage
“She didn’t tell us, she didn’t say!”
They’ll get silence because
Momma we did slay.
Okay, if you need this one spelled out for you, it's about the environmental crisis. Below is a couple of explanations as to why I wrote what I did. Oh, and the rhyming pattern is ABCB. I was originally going to try to make this topic into a parody of "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas, but then I realized that was a lot of rhyming and I got lazy.
Killin’ Momma
Finish your ciggy quickly
I originally wrote, "Chug that soda down quickly". I wanted to refer to the health/excess crisis that's going on. I figured "ciggy" would be better, because it's also something ridiculously unhealthy we do but it also contributes more directly to air pollution.
Because trouble is brewin’.
Too long we’ve ignored things.
Momma’s done playin’.
"Momma" refers to Mother Nature.
She gave us our chance
But all we did was waste it.
Now momma’s real mad.
She’s angry, throwing a fit.
She’s hangin’ us out to dry
Takin’ away what was ours.
The two lines above are meant to refer to global warming, how dry areas are drying further and how we're losing access to what we think of as human rights (e.g. less water, etc.)
You can deny it all you want
From your tall white towers,
Tall White Towers refers to politicians and others who deny the evidence of climate change.
But you can’t deny the truth.
Momma’s flipped and I’m glad.
She’s raging and crying.
This is a loose reference to forest fires and floods. I doubt anyone could catch that reference without me explaining it.
Turns out the she isn’t just a fad.
As her gaunt children stare
"Gaunt children" are a reference to the starving children who are being affected by the environmental crisis.
We’ll bluster and reject.
Hide the evidence behind deceit
While everything gets wrecked.
We’ll give her bandaids while
The wounds underneath fester,
The above two lines refer to the bandaid solutions that governments put into effect as a PR stunt rather than making long lasting changes. I was originally going to make a reference to "stop gaps," but I was worried that I wouldn't use the word in the right context. Plus "bandaids" seemed to fit with the tone of the speaker better.
Say that it just needs time,
That things will get better.
Even as her limbs wither
And our hearts start the shrivel,
The line above has two connotations. As the Earth dies (her limbs wither), we're also killing ourselves. But also, by ignoring the Earth's predicament in favour of our own wealth/convenience, we're killing our own souls ("our hearts start to shrivel").
We’ll ignore the symptoms
Saying that it’s naught but drivel.
And as we die with her they’ll rage
“She didn’t tell us, she didn’t say!”
They’ll get silence because
Momma we did slay.
Because trouble is brewin’.
Too long we’ve ignored things.
Momma’s done playin’.
She gave us our chance
But all we did was waste it.
Now momma’s real mad.
She’s angry, throwing a fit.
She’s hangin’ us out to dry
Takin’ away what was ours.
You can deny it all you want
From your tall white towers,
But you can’t deny the truth.
Momma’s flipped and I’m glad.
She’s raging and crying.
Turns out the she isn’t just a fad.
As her gaunt children stare
We’ll bluster and reject.
Hide the evidence behind deceit
While everything gets wrecked.
We’ll give her bandaids while
The wounds underneath fester,
Say that it just needs time,
That things will get better.
Even as her limbs wither
And our hearts start the shrivel,
We’ll ignore the symptoms
Saying that it’s naught but drivel.
As we die with her they’ll rage
“She didn’t tell us, she didn’t say!”
They’ll get silence because
Momma we did slay.
Okay, if you need this one spelled out for you, it's about the environmental crisis. Below is a couple of explanations as to why I wrote what I did. Oh, and the rhyming pattern is ABCB. I was originally going to try to make this topic into a parody of "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas, but then I realized that was a lot of rhyming and I got lazy.
Killin’ Momma
Finish your ciggy quickly
I originally wrote, "Chug that soda down quickly". I wanted to refer to the health/excess crisis that's going on. I figured "ciggy" would be better, because it's also something ridiculously unhealthy we do but it also contributes more directly to air pollution.
Because trouble is brewin’.
Too long we’ve ignored things.
Momma’s done playin’.
"Momma" refers to Mother Nature.
She gave us our chance
But all we did was waste it.
Now momma’s real mad.
She’s angry, throwing a fit.
She’s hangin’ us out to dry
Takin’ away what was ours.
The two lines above are meant to refer to global warming, how dry areas are drying further and how we're losing access to what we think of as human rights (e.g. less water, etc.)
You can deny it all you want
From your tall white towers,
Tall White Towers refers to politicians and others who deny the evidence of climate change.
But you can’t deny the truth.
Momma’s flipped and I’m glad.
She’s raging and crying.
This is a loose reference to forest fires and floods. I doubt anyone could catch that reference without me explaining it.
Turns out the she isn’t just a fad.
As her gaunt children stare
"Gaunt children" are a reference to the starving children who are being affected by the environmental crisis.
We’ll bluster and reject.
Hide the evidence behind deceit
While everything gets wrecked.
We’ll give her bandaids while
The wounds underneath fester,
The above two lines refer to the bandaid solutions that governments put into effect as a PR stunt rather than making long lasting changes. I was originally going to make a reference to "stop gaps," but I was worried that I wouldn't use the word in the right context. Plus "bandaids" seemed to fit with the tone of the speaker better.
Say that it just needs time,
That things will get better.
Even as her limbs wither
And our hearts start the shrivel,
The line above has two connotations. As the Earth dies (her limbs wither), we're also killing ourselves. But also, by ignoring the Earth's predicament in favour of our own wealth/convenience, we're killing our own souls ("our hearts start to shrivel").
We’ll ignore the symptoms
Saying that it’s naught but drivel.
And as we die with her they’ll rage
“She didn’t tell us, she didn’t say!”
They’ll get silence because
Momma we did slay.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tiny aggravations
For the most part I have no problem navigating Montreal or doing things here. But once in awhile I do have issues with my new French speaking province.
The first main difficulty was when I finally received my computer at work. Let me start by griping about my French keyboard. I was so lost when I first received it. I spent my first week typing haltingly. I'd be typing along merrily but when it came to punctuation I'd be jerked to a stop. There's a lot more punctuation/accents in French, so there are extra keys (e.g. I have an "Alternate Character" button to the right of the space bar). These extra keys have displaced my normal punctuation keys. For example, the @ symbol can only be inserted via "Alt-char+2." My quotation punctuation is shift+2, question mark is shift+6, etc. And don't even get me on the # sign. That's one I still have to search for even after a month.
The new keyboard wouldn't have been so bad except that I had to learn now only where to find the new key placements, but I also had to learn how to type quickly with them. I'm not used to that Alt-char button. So I still have issues typing fast because I have to remove my whole right hand in order to reach down and hit it. I feel like I need to take some French keyboarding lessons. And now that I've gotten used to typing in French, it's a pain to go home and type on my English keyboard. I keep having to correct my grammar. I think I might just give up and change my keyboard settings to French.
Another computer issue I have is with the actual programs. I asked for the French operating system and French programs because I figured it would be good practice. Other than some confusion trying to figure out what certain links mean, I can navigate them with little to no confusion. The problem I have now is that all the keyboard short cuts that I know are no longer valid! E.g. I can no longer click ctrl+b to make something bold. Instead I have to hit ctrl+g, G standing for "gras." Do you think I can remember things like this? Nope.
I also have problems using Excel now because all my formulas have to be in French! I couldn't for the figure out why my "concatenate" formula wasn't working the one day (I had typed it out manually and the French error message didn't help at all). It wasn't until I went through the automatic formula creator did I realize that the "concatenate" formula didn't exist. Instead I had to use "concatener." Whoops.
Surfing the internet is also a veritable pain. Why? Because computers are too nosy and smart for their own good. Google detects that I'm using a French computer, so it returns French websites only. I have to rewrite my search to make it obvious that it's an English search, or I have to switch my google preferences to English. (The latter is a pain because it eventually resets to French again.) Other websites will also automatically log me into the French language portal. I'll then spend 5 minutes hunting out the American or English versions of the webpage.
Now, all of the irritations above pale in comparison to this final one. This is the cherry on the top of my grievances with Quebec. I'm no longer eligible for many contests. Every time I see an interesting contest online I see a message, "Residents of Quebec are ineligible for this contest." No more free stuff. No more free draws. Nothing. Quebec? I think I hate you.
The first main difficulty was when I finally received my computer at work. Let me start by griping about my French keyboard. I was so lost when I first received it. I spent my first week typing haltingly. I'd be typing along merrily but when it came to punctuation I'd be jerked to a stop. There's a lot more punctuation/accents in French, so there are extra keys (e.g. I have an "Alternate Character" button to the right of the space bar). These extra keys have displaced my normal punctuation keys. For example, the @ symbol can only be inserted via "Alt-char+2." My quotation punctuation is shift+2, question mark is shift+6, etc. And don't even get me on the # sign. That's one I still have to search for even after a month.
The new keyboard wouldn't have been so bad except that I had to learn now only where to find the new key placements, but I also had to learn how to type quickly with them. I'm not used to that Alt-char button. So I still have issues typing fast because I have to remove my whole right hand in order to reach down and hit it. I feel like I need to take some French keyboarding lessons. And now that I've gotten used to typing in French, it's a pain to go home and type on my English keyboard. I keep having to correct my grammar. I think I might just give up and change my keyboard settings to French.
Another computer issue I have is with the actual programs. I asked for the French operating system and French programs because I figured it would be good practice. Other than some confusion trying to figure out what certain links mean, I can navigate them with little to no confusion. The problem I have now is that all the keyboard short cuts that I know are no longer valid! E.g. I can no longer click ctrl+b to make something bold. Instead I have to hit ctrl+g, G standing for "gras." Do you think I can remember things like this? Nope.
I also have problems using Excel now because all my formulas have to be in French! I couldn't for the figure out why my "concatenate" formula wasn't working the one day (I had typed it out manually and the French error message didn't help at all). It wasn't until I went through the automatic formula creator did I realize that the "concatenate" formula didn't exist. Instead I had to use "concatener." Whoops.
Surfing the internet is also a veritable pain. Why? Because computers are too nosy and smart for their own good. Google detects that I'm using a French computer, so it returns French websites only. I have to rewrite my search to make it obvious that it's an English search, or I have to switch my google preferences to English. (The latter is a pain because it eventually resets to French again.) Other websites will also automatically log me into the French language portal. I'll then spend 5 minutes hunting out the American or English versions of the webpage.
Now, all of the irritations above pale in comparison to this final one. This is the cherry on the top of my grievances with Quebec. I'm no longer eligible for many contests. Every time I see an interesting contest online I see a message, "Residents of Quebec are ineligible for this contest." No more free stuff. No more free draws. Nothing. Quebec? I think I hate you.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
More zombies
As mentioned in my last post, I felt that that life needed more zombies in it. Well, I got my wish. On Sunday I went and saw the new "Zombieland" movie. I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. I have to admit, the movie made me a bit queasy at the start because of the copious amounts of blood flying - err, oozing - around.
It wasn't uplifting, nor did it try to portray a realistic look at how humanity coped with a sudden surge of zombies. Nope. Instead it gave random rules on how to survive a zombie attack. Rule #1: Cardio.
Perhaps the sudden influx of zombie-ism in my life has begun to affect me. Of late I'm having a harder time than normal staying asleep at night. Note that I say that the difficulty is staying asleep. I have no (or little) problem falling asleep, but I wake up multiple times every night for no apparent reason.
My room is dark. My neighborhood is quiet. Sometimes I wake up hot. the next time I wake up freezing. Sometimes I wake up thirsty. And then I wake up 30 minutes before my alarm clock. I go to bed at roughly the same time each night and usually just read before I go to sleep. I don't drink coffee or any caffeinated beverages so I can't blame caffeine. Likewise I don't have anything high in sugar before bed, so I'm not suffering from a sugar rush.
All in all I'm quite mystified as to why I keep waking up. I also seem to go through cycles - some weeks I have no problems, other weeks I wake up at least once a night. It's quite infuriating. Normally I can handle waking up once a night. It's mainly the those cursed 30 minutes before the alarm are always such a pain. I don't get why I consistently wake up earlier. I understand that it might have happened when I first started work - you know, being paranoid of missing my alarm or something, but I actually have two alarms in my room (something I had to start doing in university, or I'd never make it to my classes on time). I have the one beside my bed, and then I have my cell phone set as an alarm clock on the other side of the room. That way I at least have to drag myself out of bed if I fail to answer the first.
Can anyone else offer suggestions on how I can go to sleep and STAY asleep? I'm really tired (pun unintended) of this jerking awake thing.
It wasn't uplifting, nor did it try to portray a realistic look at how humanity coped with a sudden surge of zombies. Nope. Instead it gave random rules on how to survive a zombie attack. Rule #1: Cardio.
Perhaps the sudden influx of zombie-ism in my life has begun to affect me. Of late I'm having a harder time than normal staying asleep at night. Note that I say that the difficulty is staying asleep. I have no (or little) problem falling asleep, but I wake up multiple times every night for no apparent reason.
My room is dark. My neighborhood is quiet. Sometimes I wake up hot. the next time I wake up freezing. Sometimes I wake up thirsty. And then I wake up 30 minutes before my alarm clock. I go to bed at roughly the same time each night and usually just read before I go to sleep. I don't drink coffee or any caffeinated beverages so I can't blame caffeine. Likewise I don't have anything high in sugar before bed, so I'm not suffering from a sugar rush.
All in all I'm quite mystified as to why I keep waking up. I also seem to go through cycles - some weeks I have no problems, other weeks I wake up at least once a night. It's quite infuriating. Normally I can handle waking up once a night. It's mainly the those cursed 30 minutes before the alarm are always such a pain. I don't get why I consistently wake up earlier. I understand that it might have happened when I first started work - you know, being paranoid of missing my alarm or something, but I actually have two alarms in my room (something I had to start doing in university, or I'd never make it to my classes on time). I have the one beside my bed, and then I have my cell phone set as an alarm clock on the other side of the room. That way I at least have to drag myself out of bed if I fail to answer the first.
Can anyone else offer suggestions on how I can go to sleep and STAY asleep? I'm really tired (pun unintended) of this jerking awake thing.
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