Snow.snow.snow.
Love it.
On another note, 12 days until I'm home for 2 and a half weeks. I'll admit I'm excited, and that it's too short. Love or hate life up here, I realized how much I miss home. Not in an overwhelming homesickness kind of way, more in a coming to the realization that regardless of how much I love to travel, after this year is over I will be attempting to find a job somewhere in the Townships or Montreal area. No more of this leaving for a year at a time. I guess you have to have distance to get perspective on such things, but the urge to flee has been extinguished, I think, or will be come June.
On a brighter note, I'm planning to go back to Europe this summer. Huzzah!
I stumbled across Project 365 when searching for something completely irrelevant, and was intrigued. Basically, the idea is to take one picture a day for a year (ergo the 365), based on some sort of theme. I'll be starting this weekend, mine is located here: http://365project.org/alleta2010/365
On another note, I finally tried beaver. Other than the rubbery parts, its actually rather delightful.
Survived two flea markets this week. It turns out that this is a flea market culture. I can't complain, as I ate all sorts of great foods (most of which I photograped and will upload when I find my memory card reader).
Haven't been updating much, as I started teaching sec 5 this week. Was given precisely :4 minutes warning, so you can imagine the amount of planning I had done. You can also imagine my level of cluelessness.
Day 1 of being the Sec 5 french/math/art teacher survived.
A couple of pictures from Waskaganish, this AM, before the freezing rain/snow/wind/more snow/hurricane force winds. View from my house. Better pics with more snow tomorrow, I promise!! But for now... the proof it's winter up here!
Back in Waskaganish after a week field trip to Montreal.
Arrived back to be greeted by winter.
It's a blizzard out there now. The wind is absolutely insane... I was actually afraid walking home just now.
Lovelovelove this season.
Rumours that school might be cancelled tomorrow.. even in the North, apparently, snow days do exist, to my surprise....
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.
