  Hey Everyone, Well I thought it was time to write you all another email detailing my antics in ‘snow kissed’ Montreal (euphemism for slushy snow filled frozen town of coldness). No seriously the weather has been warming up, and today it was so sunny when I left for work. It looked great as, we’d just had a light snow shower. However by the time I left work this evening the roads looked like the bottom of a ‘slurpy’ right before you finish it. You know, like the ones you get from 7/11 and there’s always that one bit of slushy ice that gets stuck at the bottom of the cup, so you tip it up and it won’t budge, so then you shake it and shake it until finally the ice falls onto your face, or all into your mouth at once and you get an ice-cream headache.
That’s what Montreal was like today – a mud flavor 7/11 slurpy… but beautiful none the less. I really do love it here and I know for a fact that I’m going to miss it when it comes time to leave.
I was watching a travel show the other day and it said that Montreal was the 3rd most unspoiled tourist destination in the world -- topped only by Oslo in Norway and by some other place that I’ve forgotten. I think it was Baghdad or Islamabad but I could be mistaken. Anyway, I finished my 2nd level French course and now I’m onto the 3rd. I’ve been doing 6 hours a week, twice a week after work. It’s starting to get fun as I become more competent. C’est difficile, mais je trouve que je peux dire plus et plus chaque jour. (It’s difficult, but I find I can say more and more each day) Yes I know I’m just showing off now, but seriously I’ve even surprised myself.
Conversations are starting to last a lot longer and slowly I can understand what people are saying. I think the secret to success with language is that no matter what, you can’t give up. There’s always those disheartening moments when you can’t say or understand a thing, or where you accidentally ask the waiter for a roast donkey and a black sock in front of a table full of French people.
But if you just say in your head, “I will keep doing this no matter how long it takes”, sooner or later you’ll either start speaking French. Or otherwise give yourself a brain aneurism and die an excruciatingly painful death. So what have you got to lose! On a completely unrelated topic, I see this little girl walking with her father at the station every now and then. It’s quite funny. So I’ll tell the story. Not that it’s really a story, but more an observation. Anyway, I see this little girl sometimes. She’s always walking with her father in the metro station. It’s like deja-vu (which is literally French for “already seen” by the way) Anyway I always see her and I don’t know if any of you have seen the film ‘Schlindler’s List’, but she wears this cute little read velvet duffle coat just like the girl in that movie.
(except in this story she doesn’t end up dead). Anyway…for some reason she’s always crying. It’s hilarious how loud she cries. In fact I’ve never seen her do anything except look up at her Dad blubbering in French saying stuff like: “Pourquoi, Papa?” – Why Dad? “C'est pas correct!! !” – It’s not fair ‘’Pourquoi tu n'écoutes pas? ’’ – Why don’t you listen?
And her father always ignores her. So she crouches down against the wall with her bottom lip sticking out. It’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. And the sad part is, at 3, she speaks better French than I do.  But I’ve seen her like 3 or 4 times. It’s funny how you really start to notice and remember little things like that when you’re away from home.
Anyway I won’t babble on anymore. Except to say I’ve finished all my training at work. I’ve been getting some good sales figures and generally like the job so far. At Easter Marc, me, and a couple of his friends are doing a road-trip to New York. So I can’t wait to see all the museums and art galleries there. Also in a few months my friend Simon is coming to visit for two weeks. So we’ll be taking him around Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and hopefully Boston and New York as well.
I can’t wait to see Niagara Falls, I’m thinking of taking the barrel ride down them . I also thought I might try to find a new job in a bilingual work place in the summer so I can really capitalize on some French (or semi-French) submersion. Anyway, hope everyone is well. Please feel free to write back and tell me what you’ve been up to. I love getting emails because I get lonely sometimes (everyone go… Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww”  Nah seriously, it always makes my day to hear from people who can still be bothered reading this jargon. With that, I’m off to watch Marc’s new Bjork DVD and make myself dinner. Which will be hotdogs as I can’t be bothered doing anything that requires more effort than boiling water. See ya James 
