This is Stewie, he lives at Nick's house. He's enormous.


Spent the day on the balcony drawing and hanging out yesterday. And in the evening I went to Salon Daomé to take pictures of internationally renowned DJ, TREAL (aka Will, lawl). Greg was dressed up as Mr. Monopoly and had a pretty glorious moustache for the part.




Today I wandered around completely lost for a significant period of time. I met up with Francis, Nick, Kyle, and Alexa to spend the day au Parc LaFontaine. We were joined by Morgan and his friend whose name I forget, and we sat and discussed all the things we believe people should accomplish before age 21. Among the list was: living alone in the wilderness, sailing across the Atlantic*, and being isolated (at around 14-17 years of age) for a long time in a foreign country. I feel like our answers vary quite drastically from those I'd expect to hear from an American. What do YOU think everyone should have to do before they grow up?

*Morgan has done this. On his 28 day journey across the ocean, he said it was like a full mental/emotional/sensory cleanse. You see time and distance meld together, and you can smell clay in the air before land is even visible on the horizon. Your body grows so accustomed to the waves that upon returning to solid ground, you need to down more a few beers to feel normal again. I want to do this some day! Doesn't it sound fascinating?






Anyway, we sat and enjoyed the sun at the park for a couple hours. Then I came home to relax some more. Can't get enough of that, haha.

Reading Sale's New Zealand blog, I realize I don't include enough details about cultural differences. Sooo here are some cultural differences I've noticed:

1. If you have to pee in Canada, you don't have to go to the bathroom, you have to go to the washroom.
2. When the Québecois walk into an air-conditioned building on a hot day or walk outside when the weather is very cool, they typically say something like, "My, it's fresh." Or really anything about "it" being "fresh".
3. As it is the law, everything is translated in French. In France, "Toy Story" is simply called "Toy Story". Here it is "Histoire de jouets". There is no "Honey Bunches of Oats" in Québec, but there is "Bouchées d'Avoine au Miel" (literally translated, 'mouthfuls of oatmeal with honey'). You won't find a KFC anywhere, but you will be pleased (or incredibly disappointed) to find a PFK (Poulet frit à la Kentucky). Er, yeah, the list goes on...
4. People here really do say "eh". All the time.
5. People here also very arbitrarily use the F word, usually at the end of a sentence without a pause or any distinct emphasis. For example, "I want food f**k." "That show was great f**k." "Let's go for a walk f**k." I don't get it either.
6. You see more dogs off-leash than on one.
7.

8. Beer and wine may be purchased at any Dép (short for Dépanneur), and there's at least one on every block. For liquor, you have to go... somewhere else... I'm not sure exactly, I haven't tried to buy any since I've been here. They keep it well-hidden!
9. There are cops everywhere. On bikes, on foot, in cars... I've seen them ticket a guy for playing confusing electronic noise music on the side of the road, but that's about it. They generally seem to not care if people jaywalk or if someone is belligerently intoxicated in public or if people smoke massive blunts outside of bars.

Yep, that's about all I can think of for now. :)

Less than ten days!