Before I really start writing this, let me say I will add pictures here soon. I just don't have them with me right now. For the time being find pictures on Picasa!
I've been here for three weeks now - what's that, a long holiday?- but it feels like I have been here forever. I guess that is something the mind does when you're working hard to make yourself at home; you're so busy processing all the new things and making yourself comfortable that you're actually hardwiring your brain to consider where you are as home, the place where you belong.
It really does feel that way. Whether due to Canadian friendliness, my position as a new student or simply the very cool people over here, I have met lots of great people these few weeks that I hope are or will become friends during the coming months. If any of them are reading this, cool! Good to find you on here. There's a lot to do together too! Montreal is a happening city with plenty of festivals, perhaps the best night life of Canada, an extensive student body, "the big outdoors" nearby and more. Among some of the cooler things I have been doing are going to an outdoor movie screening, visiting an art gallery (Check out Jenny Holzer; subversive modern art) and last but not least canoeing.
But that is not to mention college. I know that any description of "people here" is a broad generalization that shouldn't be taken very seriously. Having said that however I am under the impression that students (and teachers) around here are more inclined to take their studies and their career seriously, and out of all the people I met here a larger proportion seems to be quite driven. Which puts forward a challenge I am more than willing to take up. So even if classes are not too hard (which I see happening with one or two of my courses) I am looking for ways to get more out of them and broaden my learning in ways that are useful to me. For example, one of my courses is about the "geographic perspective on world environmental problems". Now this is something we have dealt with in Future Planet Studies (my program in the Netherlands). But I can actually use this course both to experience a different way of looking at them and to get myself up-to-date on basic and in-depth information about things like overfishing and deforestation. I have the broad scope of things, but I find that I, being an environmental sciences major -or equivalent thereof- should really have a decent and actual idea of the situation. Adding to that I seem to have picked courses that fit together well in providing tools for analyzing the way people deal with matters of location and subsistence in courses like geography and development and economic geography.
Speaking of location, I can say I have been very lucky in finding a physical home as well. After one day of reacting to offers on craigslist and on my first day of visiting a few that responded I found a place that is -or seems- perfectly suited to me. It is stuffed with books of varying natures and on many topics, inhabited by friendly and ecologically minded(!) people, and it is not only cycling distance from McGill but I am actually allowed to use one of the bikes my landlady owns(!). She also owns the canoe and was my companion for the canoeing trip. Errr, I think I'll get enough exercise this term. And if it's not outdoor due to something like insanely cold weather McGill has some sports facilities as well - among the things I found walking around their sports building was an indoor running track and squash courts.
Of course it's not all good ;-) Food is more expensive around here than I'm used to, and although some good price-hunting goes a long way I was almost stupified to find regular bread prices of $3.00 and pepper around $4! But then nowhere's perfect.
