Montreal.

Posted by S. , Friday, November 19, 2010 11:42 PM

In Montreal for more than 30 minutes for the first time since... July?
I never thought I would miss, or even appreciate, this city.
I'm taking back some (not all) negative thoughts about the city.
The noise, the traffic... so many of my previous grievances with city living actually felt familiar.
It's amazing when we leave our world, our way of living behind for a life completely outside of our comfort zone how we begin to appreciate things that previously annoyed us, because they are familiar.
I would be lying at this point if I said that being back here for a week doesn't give me huge second doubts about staying until June. If I hadn't decided to stay... this whole adventure would be drawing to a close now (in 28 days), rather than not even nearing the halfway mark.
Then agian, western civilization, Montreal, my friends, the ski hills... will all be there for the rest of my life. What is another 6 months in comparison to the chunks of my irresponsibly incurred student-related debts?

It is weird feeling a bit like an outsider in my own world. It might be being on an organized, structured trip playing tourist in a city I've spent many days, nights, kilometres and hours in. It might be being here with people from Waskaganish. It might be the being within 45 minutes of home, friends, family... and not being able to go.
I feel some sort of animosity towards random, everyday people I encounter... because they get to live here. Because they don't appreciate this style of life, and take it foregranted. Because they don't know what life where I currently live is like. Because they have everything here, and don't even see beyond it. Maybe I'm jealous because I'm homesick. Maybe I'm remembering being ignorant in that regard myself, very recently.

And yet... I miss seeing the night sky in Waskaganish. I miss the Northern Lights, and the water.
There is some positives up North beyond the paycheque. I'm just going some sort of reverse culture shock at the moment.