Home in Montreal

So I'm having a good time in Montreal. You guys don't need to worry; I've been through the first week, and I'm doing fine. I've gotten off the plane, into a bus that took me downtown, and found my youth hostel within minutes. The first thing I did there after I checked in and talked with my roommate was... To go for a walk into town. At 10PM we took a walk into town that took us past a lot of tall buildings. These, but by night.



This got us into the old part of town, with lots of historic buildings. In a later tour I learned that one of these buildings actually used to house the oldest clock in North America, and another the first elevator in the world. The square that holds these two buildings also holds a magnificent -really!- church. I've seen quite a few in Europe. It's ehmmm... This one. P.s. I do recommend looking at the picture in the original size. Click it!





We walked past the waterfront, back through Montreal's own Chinatown and to the hostel. Not until we got back around midnight did I sleep; although I did sleep very well.

The next day I figured I ought to get as much work done as I could, so I checked out a map and walked into town to find the McGill campus. That wasn't too hard since everything here is in blocks; streets are in straight, perpendicular lines. Oh yeah, but! The traffic lights here are a little different. There are almost no lights for pedestrians. I got to campus safely though.

Fast forward, I've met plenty of great people at the youth hostel and outside of it. Quite a few are also exchange students, some or Canadians and even Montrealites. Today McGill organised an official "Discover McGill" day, which was plenty of fun. And after that I returned to what I may call home for the coming four months; a nice old house in a nice neighbourhood of Montreal, cycling distance from the campus.

Maarten naar Montreal

After my problemless preparations leading up to the trip, of course the pudding had to be proofed by actually getting there. And I did. I provide proof in the form of the following picture which I have titled "loot of one day in Montreal". Actually there are a couple of things which don't belong there: four that I got but not in Montreal, and one that was already mine. Bonus picture prize for the one who gets them right.



And for those who say that the journey is more important than the destination I have kept a little log.
Heathrow airport security; those are some angry mofo's! They take their sweet time, which is completely fine except for the people who have a transfer to catch. The airport itself is -or pretends to be- huge, as is insinuated by underground sci-fi "transit" subways that go from one gate to another. There is no other connection since the halls are isolated square big glass buildings in between which the airplanes can comfortably load and unload and... do their thing.
The flight from Heathrow to Montreal: Relaxation, sudden loud noises from the bathroom, and sleep.
First impression of Montreal at (to my senses) 2am, strange city. Weird traffic lights. And even more so after a voluntary two hour walk (before going to sleep tired); big buildings and old cozy European buildings close to eachother.

Gotta go drink beer now with my fellow hostelites, so I'm out of time!

Voorbereidingen

Locatie: Amsterdam

Sinds december ben ik bezig geweest om mijn uitwisseling naar Montreal, Canada te regelen. Nu ik overmorgen wegga voel ik voor het eerst flinke kriebels. "What's that, I'm going to Canada for half a year?" Het regelen is tot nu toe vrij makkelijk gegaan en heeft me geen problemen voorgeschoteld. Het zou mooi zijn als dat een voorbode is!

Naast me ligt een lijst met alle dingen die ik in wil pakken. Op die manier kan ik het echte pakken tot het laatste moment uitstellen. Ik heb er een hekel aan om thuis gewoon rond te lopen terwijl mijn koffers al in de gang staan; dan wil ik ook meteen weggaan. Maar goed, overmorgen om 14.55 staat mijn vlucht gepland. Ik heb een overstap in London, en na acht uur vliegen kom ik om 19.55 aan. Ik heb een jeugdherberg geboekt voor een week, en ik hoop voor het einde van die week alweer een woning heb. Laten we zien of dat net zo makkelijk gaat als mijn voorbereidingen.