Heartbeats

Now I can officially state that I have seen a film from Montreal. It was interesting but it's not going to be my favourite.

Roberto had studied arts and one day he asked me if I would like to watch a movie. "Of course" I replied, "show me something local". He has told me about the high quality of Quebec film making before. "Do you like art movies?" he asked. He didn't want to bore me. "Let's try" I said. "If it's too boring, we can still choose another one". He picked one that needed subtitling because I didn't understand a word from the first scene (people talking to the camera about their relationship, no context). It was in Quebec French... The whole work was totally local, we've been to several places where it was shot. This cafe, for example (somewhere at the Mile End, that happens to be Roberto's favourite part of the city):

The director and main actor is gay so there was a twist in the love triangle. (This topic is not unusual for Montreal, in the city centre there is a so called "gay village", a pedestrian street in the summer. The local government realized that those people have significant purchasing power.) As far as I know, the 24-year-old Xavier Dolan has won several prizes and is among the most successful Canadian filmmakers. I didn't really fancy the film. Just to make sure, I watched it again today. I thought I missed something that would make the whole story more clear but no. I really don't understand the motivations of the character called Nicolas. "Tres quebecois" Roberto said, "they don't talk about their emotions". (I didn't notice that. For me it's perfectly normal to be cautious at the beginning of a relationship. However, they could be very reserved compared to Colombians... ) What I truly enjoyed, were the soundtrack and the beautiful images.

Home again

It was really hard for me to return from Canada. At the airport in Montreal there was a moment when I almost turned back and I was desperate when my plane landed in Zurich. My friend Szilda was surprised that I was back in Hungary. She told me she had been convinced I would enjoy being in North America so much that it would make no sense to come home. That was when I realized that I always ask the wrong question. I shouldn't have looked for a powerful motivation to stay there but rather think about why am I attached to my homeland (I don't have many reasons for that...)

Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm at home. Of course, I can fly there again if I want to. The only worrying thing is the immigration procedure. I felt I wasn't convincing the first time, either. A young, Eastern European woman, travelling alone - there was a risk of not being allowed to enter the country. Good thing I knew the address of my (first) host and had a return ticket!

I am full of experience and this period was so dense, I couldn't even record all in my diary. I have uploaded more than 400 photos. I don't know if anyone will have enough patience to watch all of them but I just couldn't leave out more. Quebec City's centre is adorable with all those colours and flowers! It is always the small things that make a trip unforgettable The bells at Oratoire St Joseph that were sounded when Peter and I were about to leave. We stayed, of course, just to listen to them. Cirque du Soleil's Captain speaking Hungarian (= a language not understood by anyone else). My English-French interpretation between Antonio (my Quebec City host of Peruvian origin) and Theresa (the German couchsurfer I shared the room with). The closed cemetery on Mount Royal that Roberto (my last host, a Colombian-German) and I crossed to take a shortcut. Raccoons running across the path. The merengue disc from the 1970s. A black squirrel sounding like a crow. Travelling on the bicycle luggage carrier (prohibited). Drinking wine in the park at Petite Italie (also prohibited). Anticapitalist workshop about immigration. Canoeing on Lac Leon. Eating pancake (or crepe) on the dock with Nutella, banana and beautiful sunshine. Peace and calm at the lakeside forest. Clouds reflecting on the water. The sanguine biologist Isabelle who was our enthusiastic guide around the Biosphere...

I'm aware of the fact that all this is attractive because it is totally different from my everyday life. But I loved the city that was like one huge festival (even though I missed the greatest event, held a week before my arrival); people speaking more than one language and coming from different cultures. Roberto's family, for example, was amazing. He takes after his Colombian father (wheres his brother is rather like their mother). He couldn't tell me what his mother tongue is because he speaks English with his German mother, French with his Hispanic father and with his brother. He completed his studies in French but is fluent in all four languages. I should live in a country like that, too! I even got an answer to my question (that was intended a rhetorical one) "Who would need a Hungarian interpreter in Canada?": Roma immigrants! I haven't done explored this field yet, but it seems like an interesting challenge and it's exactly what I'm qualified for.

Do you have a couch available?

My mails were mainly about this question during the past weeks. In theory, my summer is totally free, since I finished the MA course in June (I graduated with honors :) ) and I didn't look for a job. I rather applied for a postgraduate course, starting in September. In practice this means that by then, I should be very good at 3 foreign languages, at least. I've had enough of private French lessons (they were good, I just had an overdose of organized learning) so I decided to spend my time in appropriate language environment. I bought plane tickets to Montreal thinking that Quebec is bilingual, I would have a lot of opportunities to practice.

Initially, I planned to buy a package of language course and accommodation, but an experienced traveler friend advised me to try couchsurfing. It sounded like a good idea, I wanted to talk to locals anyway (it forces you to use the language) so I registered on the site. First I was a bit sceptical. I thought that I, as a new member without any references, would not find a host who trusts me. Anyhow, I took the time to fill my profile, uploaded photos (I wouldn't host anyone that has no picture) and I also offered a couch in Balatonlelle. Then I started searching for hosts, I sent a request to a seemingly nice potential host in Montreal. I had no idea what I had started! Couch requests are public (if I tick the right check-box) and I started to receive invitations.

I tried to meet everybody, even those who didn't host me. I wanted to meet as many people as possible. Since my arrivel (23rd July), I've met a political activist fighting for the independence of Quebec, a French-Egyptian documentary film producer who had worked in Hungary, a young Iranian accountant who decided 4 years ago to immigrate to Canada, a French IT specialist working here, a Chinese guy studying operations research, an Algerian aviation engineer hoping to obtain Canadian nationality (quite easy for francophones) and a Colombian-German arts graduate who is a few years older than me but currently lives like university students. I'm starting to understand what the concept of the melting pot means... :)

My first host was a 71-year-old retired woman who immigrated to Montreal from Germany in 1968. It was an ideal start to stay at the city center, at a tourist guide who speaks three languages. Mechthild really knows a lot about the city and she even made me pancakes. (I ate them with maple syrup because that is normal here.) After a week, I moved to Peter's home (he is half British, a freelance consultant with home office). This place is a bit further from the center but it is an upscale neighborhood, close to Mount Royal. Luckily (at least from my point of view) he doesn't have a lot to do nowadays so he has time to drive me around the city in his Maserati coupe. (Who knew I would be travelling in a terribly expensive vehicle like that :) )

I will spend three weeks is Canada, roughly half of that time is gone and I have no reason to complain. I walk a lot, I've seen the Montreal's major sights and I even made it to the Rapids. Next week I'm going to spend a few days in Quebec City where I'll be hosted by a Peruvian. It's really exciting because he doesn't speak much English, we'll have to communicate in French. :)

Understanding can be difficult. On my first whole day I went to a couchsurfing meeting and tried to speak French. I soon had to realize that the noisy brewery is not the place for practicing a foreign language. Especially when I'm trying to understand someone whose accent is totally different from mine. (This can be problematic for others, as well. The Quebec-Bordeaux distance, for example, is enormous not only in a geographic but also in a linguistic sense.)

Before leaving for Canada, I hosted a Turkish surfer in Balatonlelle. On the first day, I asked after almost every sentence what he was trying to say. My only excuse is that besides his accent, he often made grammatical mistakes like phrasing a declarative sentence as if it was a question and I was wandering why he was asking me that... He happens to be a helicopter pilot, has served in Kabul recently and surely enjoyed seeing water and some green around him. :) He arrived for the Balaton Sound and convinced me to join him on the first day. I'm very happy about that because I wouldn't have attended the festival alone but this way I had fun. As an experienced couchsurfer, he invited me to Turkey. Maybe I'll only spend a few days at home, then fly towards East... :)