From an e-mail

This is an e-mail I sent that sums up most of my trip so far.

I can certainly say that life is not sweet for me at the moment, but it isn't terrible either. In terms of it being overwhelming, I think it's the first major environment change I've ever had (minus the small towns, which are mostly the same). I went through Asian food withdrawals, as well as having no people to hang out with, and doing virtually nothing with my time due to no school and no job. I've mainly fixed the food issue, though there is no visible Chinese district here. As for the rest, I'm still dealing with it. But like I've said before, the first month is the hardest part.

All the people that I have met have been nice to me. Some unfortunately switch straight into English mode for me. It's not so bad though, since that ratio of people is moderately low. Probably not as low as I would like it, but that's just how it is. On a contrasting note, I have had one person yell something to me from a moving vehicle the other day, but I had my headphones on so I didn't hear anything. I imagine it was a slur of some sort, but I could very well be wrong and he wanted to tell me my fly was down...

I've had silly issues involving oral communication. Something as simple as not being able to hear a number that I've heard lots before. There are also other problems like missing vital syllables or complete words, millionth rewording of a question.

e.g. mon, ma, mes vs. ton, ta, tes, Where are you from?, Where did you come from? Where were you before? Before Quebec, where were you? Where did you study? From where did you come?

But it's definitely manageable, in part thanks to people having enough patience to repeat themselves a few times.

You are making me write a very long email. But I suppose this is what you wanted, right?

And on another short reprieve, I would also like to say that I haven't really contacted any churches yet. I believe this is the first weekend where I can get a ride to one, as well as get introduced all nice and proper. There are a lot of churches here, but from the looks of things a lot of them are orthodox. I also get the feeling that they either have low attendance or the people going are "Sunday Christians". I'm sure you understand what I mean by that. On that note, the family living on the main floor are non-practicing Christians and my roommate is a Muslim from Chad. Cultural discussions will be interesting once I grasp the language.

I'm not sure what to think of the swing dancing here so far. There's essentially two different groups with some mingling in between the two of course. There's the Port-o-Swing group of whom I don't know much about yet. By this, I mean the instructors and the people going to the lessons. Most of them don't hang out in the Tuesday Night venue at the Turf resto-bar. And those people that go, are the other group that require mentioning.

So far I've only been able to come to the Tuesday soirées. The floor is a bit small and slightly sticky as well on account of it being a restaurant. I assume that's what keep most of the instructors from coming. The various levels of dancers there is definitely refreshing. There were a group of people that made me feel welcome right away. Merci Mélanie, Blanche, Céline, Mélanie, Tim, Katherine, Andrienne, et Guillaume! However, I did feel kind of snubbed out by some people who won't take the time of day to stop talking to each other and welcome someone, as I don't like to interrupt a conversation. On that note, I've still managed to enjoy myself at this soirée and I won't let them ruin one of my better nights of the week.

Port-o-Swing is a large group. They sent 16 competitors to the American Lindy Hop Championships! Most are in teams, but yeah...crazy nonetheless. Their studio is nice too. The classes are relatively small, generally between 5-10 couples. They hold an open house for the beginner classes on the last week of the 2-month sessions. I sat in on Balboa 1, Lindy 1, and East Coast 1. I actually got to participate in the last 2, as a result of the instructors believing I knew what I was doing. And I learned new things in both of those classes. They even did Neil's dip (if you don't know it, that's ok) to end off East Coast 1. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Now to finish off the swing dancing part, I have to mention, although I've learned a lot of intermediate moves, techniques, and concepts, that I missed a lot of stuff in the beginner to intermediate stage. This kind of slows up the schedule that I was planning for while I'm here, and burns a bigger hole in my wallet than I'd like, but will probably be better for me in the long run. Most of the swing vernacular is English, so the only thing I'll be missing are the odd joke and probably some proper technique...Final note, I'm going to Montreal from December 1-3 to learn from Skye Humphries and Frida Segerdahl! That'll be so awesome!! Oh, and see Suneil's favourite vocal performer there too. It'll be a blast. http://www.montrealsmackdown.com just for your own reference.

I hope that everyone is doing well in Winnipeg. I sincerely miss all you great people. There are still times that I wonder what the heck I'm doing here.

Final notes:
-Onion rings are eaten with honey here (apparently only in Quebec, according to a follow from France).
-If it hasn't been noticed yet, swing dancing is one of my primary focuses.
-I hate the traffic lights here (they alternate one at a time, instead of both parallel lanes at once. Pedestrians have to wait 3 minutes before they can cross a road legally).
-Quebec is colder than Winnipeg in the fall. And I can't wait for 4 ft.+ of snow!
-Definitely the longest email I've ever written.

Dei Gratia,
Keith


And not going to be in French (unless I get really bored).