BORING!!!

i meant to get out to the coast for the remainder of my days in france but apparently the public transportation staff would rather spend the last three days of my trip marching through the streets of paris, hanging off each other while yelling vive la france and drinking one and a half times their body weight in expensive french booze. however, because of the strike i was able to spend some actually time around the great monuments i had rushed over the past few days. and instead of viewing paris through the lense of my camera, i enjoyed them the way most of the people around me weren't ... sober.

that image is the arc de triumph. i didn't take it, but it is pretty much the same image that i would have taken a picture of. i found this image through a search engine. i took a lot of pictures, or at least i started to take a lot of pictures of buildings. However pictures of buildings are boring and I quickly stopped. i realized that i could do exactly what i just did, that is search online, and i'll come up with enough pictures to create a 3d model of most monuments in paris.

of course, i don't know what most of that last sentence means either, nor do i have the time to learn what it means, explain it and then carry out the task that it likely instructs me to do. instead, we can discuss how many pictures exist of any given tourist attraction.

take Notre Dame for example. as i walked around the building i admired every bit of it, and took a few pictures too. it has flying buttruses, which is both cool and complicated and explaining either would take up too much time and use too much of your valuble attention. instead, watch disney's hunchback and search flying buttruses on your favourite search engine or encylopedia series for the proper spelling and meaning. it'll save us all a lot of time.

as i took my pictures i came to the realization that i wasn't alone. a quick count told me fifteen others were doing the same. then i looked back at the shot i had composed and wondered ... why? what makes this shot i'm taking so much more interesting? why am i bothering to take it. it is hardly worth €0.25 in developing to see a picture a few clicks can find for me. so i took a picture of another person taking the same picture and put my camera down. i could have run through eight rolls in an hour with all the action around the cathedral. so i started to wonder ... is it possible to know how many pictures of Notre Damn there are?

i got bored and didn't want to finish this thought. paris was great. and i can't wait to go back because then i'll get to see the coast.

and now for something work related

waiting on an employer to get their schedule together so that i can know if they want me to trial is currently the biggest annoyance known to this man.

in other news, i revieved a phone call from another company who is interested in an interview. i had applied online just this morning and the call came this afternoon via my new mobile phone (they call them mobiles ... that is mo-bye-ul ... not cell's) through the head set i was listening to irish radio on. what a concept eh!: make the phone a radio.

none of them are job offers yet, but they are a start.

... in other news i'm back on face book. please forgive me.

Disney will bring us together

the one thing that all the travellers around the pub table had last night was their memory of childhood cartoon movies, and the ability to regurgitate mass amounts of useless knowledge that can only be used in situations like the one we all found ourselves in last night.

i didn't notice when it began but once it got going it was hard not to. we were in the pub that i'll be trialing (having a try out) at next monday, enjoying a pint of Beamish (a knock-off version of Guinness that the locals drink because it's cheap and brewed in the city) when i heard a familiar tune. i put my conversation on hold and turned my attention to the rest of the party. there were two girls singing a song that i had heard before ... in french ... ... or at least i thought it was french. as it turns out one was singing in french and the other was in spanish.

the german girl i was speaking with before the musical number broke out joined in ... in german. the three of them were singing as much as they could between laughs ... ...

and then it hit me. the tune that was so familiar was originally performed by Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book. So matty and i joined in too. we only knew the chorus so we kept singing that over and over again. after it was all said and done there were five languages layered together one of which i knew was a language and no bit of the song could anyone not at the table make out. french, spanish, german, english and swedish. all together. all singing our hearts out and laughing our throats dry.

love, and now disney, will bring us together.

landed

we've arrived in Cork after a grueling four and a half hour ride from Dublin, we enjoyed a pint of Murphy's stout (b/c the locals don't drink the Guinness) and shared a pint with a new friend from BC. Angie, our new friend, is the first Canadian we've met who speaks more than English. in fact she speaks Spanish and Japanese too! our party grew as the night wore and soon included a few Swed's, Spaniards, French and I think an Auzzie, but I never got talking to him.

today is the first day of job hunting, and that means getting together a CV, or resume as we call it at home.

wish me luck,

cheers,

godfather me

the weekend before i departed my parents and sisters and i visited my dad's brothers house, mark, and his family ... as well as gran and pop murray, aunt mary, aunt marilyn and cousin devin (dad's brother allen's son) and we had one of the first murray family jamm sessions. i was quite proud to be able to teach my cousin carolyn the first few notes of John Lennon's Blackbird (the only song i know completely) but proceeded to be humiliated by my goddaughter, and cousin (showed in the image to the right) Josie, who turn six that weekend, on the drums. t'was all in good fun and proved to be a wonderful warmup to my trip to come. we may have to look into getting that kickdrum loaded ... into the backseat folded down.

the pub crawl i spoke of earlier showcased the type of jam sessions, simly called sessions, that can be found in small pubs around ireland. i haven't found one yet that did appear to be packaged for the tourist gaze, (i'll explain the significance of the bolded words in a later post if i can remember it ... thanks prof hennebry and cs 403), perhaps Cork will have more to share.

matt and i head for Cork City this afternoon.

there are a few pictures up on my flicker (link found in the side bar), they come care of Nat, my french friend, and aunt mary from the north.

cheers,

--(bb)b

serendipitous

last night we went on a musical pub crawl, which was awesome, and we found out a bout it from two girls from ten minutes outside paris, which is also awesome because not only will we have a place to stay in paris when we go we might also have some visitors to ontario too. they are pretty excited to speak to my four sisters who are fluent(ish) in french!

but enough about the girls, back to the story of the pub crawl. the group, about 40 tourists, gathered at a pub called oliver st johns something something, met our guides, a fiddler and guitar/drum/singer player, and set out around the city stopping at traditional irish pubs. well, we learned that the second pub we stopped at, and the pubs that followed, were traditional and the first one, olivanders (or whatever), was not at all. it is the kind of pub we (the tourist group) would find in our home countries. it seems that "traditional" irish pubs do not have fiddles on the walls, guinness posters on the walls or sells shirts that say the leprechauns made me do it.

at oliver's we got to chatting with a few of the folks with us, a couple from texas who wanted their picture taken and i was happy to oblige. another girl, who i was happy to realize soon into our conversation that she was from Mississauga and we had a common acquaintance from laurier brantford, a couple from a little town outside new mexico called Los Alamos of which he said, and i kid you not, "you might know us from when we bombed japan".

matt and i laughed for a good fifteen minutes about that. "who says that?" was all matty could say.

the crawl came to a close around 10:30 and then headed to another pub where some real trad music session was happening. it was great fun, grand as they say here.

today we had lunch with matt's dads bishop connection who paid for it all too. it was nice to speak with irish natives, and what's more he gave us some connections in Cork to call when we get there (which is set for monday). and of course, being as this is dublin, pop. 1.5 million, who shows up at the same second story restaurant at the same time as us?... but the texan couple from the night before! i went to their table, they hadn't seen us yet, and started speaking ... she looked up with the expression of a woman who was getting prepared to speak to a waiter ... i told her i'd be happy to take their picture again if they'd like.

we had a good chuckle over the whole situation, and then i wished them a happy lunch.

matt's party for tomorrow night is growing in numbers. the two kiwi's i met a day ago are coming, norm from edmonton, and jaka from italy ... the two french girls can't make it cause they travel tomorrow morning which is especially disappointing seeing as the one has the exact same birthday as matty - day and year!.

that's all for now, cheers!

--b

kiwi and other fruit

matty and i meant to get to the guinness brewery today, but we slept to late and as it turns out they don't let people through the doors past 5 pm. we had our orientation in the morning (wihch we did make it to, but only b/c our american friend woke us up). i lost matty last night, but as luck would have it he found some locals irish and they took care of him. he turned the wrong way coming out of the bar and walked the distance to the hostel we were staying at, ... just in the wrong way. luckily at the spot he expected the hostel to be there was a mcdonalds, and where his bed was to be there was a bathroom. all ended up well!

tonight we're going for a few pints with a couple of girls from seattle, matty is packing a map to ensure he gets home.

matty made dinner tonight, and it was grand. our first home cooked meal since we got here - that is, the closest we can get. we cooked beside a Kiwi who was really full of energy and gave me hell for giving her cooking secretes away to a bunch of other girls. (you may have noticed by now that there are very few boys in my stories .. but that's just cause there are very few boys here!) The Kiwi's buddy, Tresa (TREES-ARE-GREEN ... but leave off the RE-GREEN) offered us some of the cheese because, and i quote, "we have a f*** load of it".

oh, and i lost my voice last night singing at the pub. it's back just in time to be lost again.

cheers,

--b

day one

matt sleeps like a bear. he doesn't move. and just sleeps there. i can move the metal drawer from under our bunk, of which he has the lower bunk, which lifts the bunk considerably, without him so much as moving.

this does allow me to leave a beer cradled in his arms for when he wakes up.

in other news, dublin is grand. everyone walks fast. very fast. and there are pubs everywhere. apparently, a radio station was giving €100 to anyone who could plot a path that avoided passing by a pub. the winner said that any path would do, simply enter everyone along the way.

we had a pint of stout this morning at some pub, i don't remember the name but that hardly matters, we had our pint anyways. our new american friend, TJ, whom we met in the terminal at Newark, who heading off to Belfast tomorrow to coach basketball, enjoyed a pint with us. we were all very tired after that, and rightly so ... stout is heavy on a tired stomach.

that was three hours ago. matt is still napping with his beer.

oh, and we're in a 16 bed dorm room tonight. HA. and better yet, in three days we'll be in a 24 bed dorm room. anything to save a buck.

cheers,

--b

t minus five days

over the past week i have been forced to arrive at a startling reality: everything in the world does not revolve around me.

let me explain.

I leave on the seventeenth, only five days, 23 hrs, 34 mins, 33 seconds ... approximately. Yet despite this fact, which is common knowledge to everyone everywhere, some of these people still find need in scheduling events that will occur after my departure. Until recently I had thought that I was somehow being unclear to the rest of Ontario that they needn't worry about things like that becuase i wasn't going to be here.

then it hit me. even after i am gone the rest of you will continue to function quite normally, barely pausing while i fly overhead. this is a very tough idea to grasp. i wish it was easier for me.

i was just called for supper. i'd better go. because there is only five more like these left for me until a year from now. tonight will be the best supper i've ever had ... until tomorrow.

and introducing ...

... brad.

Hi Mom and Dad! and thank you mandy for letting me share this space with you. i don't know if i'll be able to be as witty with my writing as you are ... you're one heck of an act to follow: like hearing John Lennon sing Imagine followed by a live performance from Art Alexikas of Everclear.

perhaps that is a little esoteric. so, onward and upward.

Irlenad is quickly approaching, nearing the one week count down. Matt and I depart on Sept 17th to arrive in Dublin the morning of the 18th. I beleive our first act of buisness will be to find where in the world it is five o'clock and toast a Guinness to them.

Matt is the brains behind this opperation, has been a friend of mine for over four years and a roommate for three. I jokingly made a remark about my wanting to go to ireland after school back in Dec of '06, and when we came back from Christmas Holidays in January he asked how serious I was. Matty has been the one to get the ball rolling with the trip with his constant badgering (that I beleive has been fueled by his mother's constant badgering) and unrelenting drive to get to ireland to celebrate his birthday (on sept 21st). Thank you Matty, we'd still be in the planning stage if you didn't step up.

The realization hasn't completely set in that we are going to be in Dublin, Ireland within a fortnight, and I am told that it won't until the plane is in the air, but what has set in is excitment and fear, occasionally knocking me over for the dog to pee on me.

Unregardless, thanks for tuning in.

cheers,

--b

edinburgh to belfast, ireland

so, we had a great time in edinburgh because it was such a student town and the night life was out of this world.. there were tons of things to do during the day and it was awesome..

we took a flight from edinburgh, scotland to belfast, ireland that lasted 15mins.. we were up most of the night before partying and whatnot and i was planning on catching up on some sleep on the flight and i only slept for about 5 mins when the pilot said we were landing. my ears didnt even pop.. we didnt get up very high before we had to come back down.. no wonder it was such a cheap flight. haha..

so, we arrived in belfast, ireland (still on the pound which was 2.5 times the canadian dollar and 1.5 times the euro) and it was STILL cheaper than living in paris and buying things in paris. we were shocked that drinks were cheaper in scotland even with the conversion than they were in Paris..

we were planning on renting a car in belfast so that we could drive around Ireland. we got to the car renting place and they told us that they cant rent a car to anyone under the age of 22 and the driver (jordanna) was 22.. so, we walked around to the different stations to see if anyone would rent the car to us. we found one but it was going to be almost 6 times more expensive for us to rent this car than we had thought.. we had a huge discussion about it in the airport trying to decide if it was worth still getting the car.. and we decided that it was. so, Vivian (our car's name) was to be ours for the next week.. and I'm SOO glad we got the car because there were so many things we wouldnt have been able to do had we not had the car..

highlands and Nelly

we went on a tour of the highlands and the loch ness area on our last day in edinburgh. it was absolutely breathtaking. the highlands is a huge area in the south of scotlands where they have millions of mountains and lakes. it was gorgeous. we drove around in a bus and stopped at a few places throughout the day to take pictures. Everywhere you turned, you felt like you were looking at a painting. If you turned in a circle the scenery changed so much. you would have mountains on one side, a valley and then a huge lake on another side. it was gorgeous.

we went to where the loch ness monster was supposed to have been seen a billion years ago. Unfortunatly, we didnt see nelly (or nessie, eh!??!?).. i really thought i was going to get to see her so i stood watching the lake for a while assuming that the monster would appear. it didnt. and i was crushed.

so, anyways, the tour was fantastic. i didnt realize that scotland was so beautiful. i had always heard that ireland was gorgeous but scotland is as well.

edinburgh

we got off the train in edinburgh and got to our hostel were we met 4 canadians who went to trent and were on their spring break and were doing a super fast tour of the UK... we went on a ghost walk with them (which was super freaky.. they talked about the history of the town, all the ghosts they have there and they took us through a cemetary..) we went out to the bar with them that night and had a wicked time. in edinburgh, you had to show ID at every bar.. i dont even know what the drinking age is there but you had to show your ID anyways.. well, Maria hadn't brought any with her.. so, as a joke, after i had shown the bouncer my ID, i handed it over to Maria right in front of him. i was expecting the bouncer to laugh at us and then tell maria to get her ID.. but, he didnt.. he didnt even notice me give it to her (even though we were standing RIGHT in front of him) and he thought the ID was maria and let her in. It was ridiculous.

we stayed in edinburgh for 3 nights.. this was my favorite city for sure. everyone was so super nice and it was such a student town (kind of like london..) and there were always tons of young people around and the night life was amazing. we bar hopped like crazy.. one night Maria and I went to 5 different bars. It was great.. and we'd meet cool people along the way and then we'd change bars. this one bar we went to was called espionage and we went there the second night and then again on the third night and it was great. there were about 6 different levels and it was built into a hill so you went in at the bottom of the hill and at the end of the night you exited at the top of the hill, on level 6.. so, each level was a different type of atmosphere.. they had a club level, a chill level, a pub level and others.. it was great..

on the second day, we went on a bus tour of edinburgh which was really cool.. we got to see the castle, some old buildings, some museums (were Dolly was cloned..) the castle in edinburgh is the main thing there and its in the center of the town on this huge hill.. its odd because the rest of the city is pretty flat except for this huge hilll with the castle on it..

glasgow-edinburgh

the next day, we went on a very cold bus tour of glasgow.. most of which i forget about now.. it was cool to see the city and its history. we went to the pub again to eat and met some more scots. UK's and irish people are so nice. we stayed another night in glasgow and then went to edinburgh the next day via train. the country side was beautiful on the way to edinburgh.. it was constantly changing with really nice mountains, churchs, old abandoned castles and whatnot... it was really nice.

Paris- Glasgow

so, we took a flight from paris to glasgow, scotland and had no trouble getting into the country. we got to our hostel with no problems. our hostel was a really huge room for about 8 people but the 4 of us were the only ones in it, so that was nice. Maria, who was still jet legged from just returning from Canada, slept for a few hrs while Dominique, Jo and I walked around the city a little bit. we found a nice bar and went back to wake Maria up to go and eat at this pub. There were tons of scots there watching a rubgy game and it reminded me of being at Molly's at home, hanging out. it was a really relaxed atmosphere and lots of fun. we met a few scots at the bar and turns out scots love Canadians so we were the hit of the bar. our hostel had a bar as well so as soon as the pub closed, we went back to the bar where there were tons of irish people there celebrating after the celtic win. the irish are crazy. it was one huge party with everyone laughing and singing and having fun. we started talking to these irish guys from dublin who came to glasgow to see the celtic rugby game and they were telling us about the history of the celtic (most of which i forget..) we ended off the night by staying up way too late as usual.. so late in fact that we slept through most of the next day..

internet/phone

alright, so I got back from Ireland and Scotland safely. I dont have internet or phone right now at my place and so it's going to take me longer than I thought to get my posts up to date but I will get there. basically, to sum up everything, I loved Ireland and Scotland. the car we rented in ireland was the best and we all returned safely to Paris. best kind. there will be more posts to come later on when i have a day off.

caught up

So, i'm finally caught up in my posts. finally.

I'm going to Ireland/Scotland tomorrow for about 2 weeks so I probably won't be posting for a while and when I get back I'll be behind again in my posts. Great. So, today, i'm hanging low, playing housewife, doing my laundry, groveries, cleaning. One of the girls i work with is taking over my room while I'm gone so i have to get ready for her.

a bientot. Guinness here I come. I hate Guinness

The Weather

I know that in Canada, you guys are getting some crazy weather and so I thought I would write a post about how nice it actually is here. Ha.

I had a tshirt on yesterday. I didnt even need a sweater or anything. It was actually sunny for the whole weekend with no rain. Which, I'm sure is some kind of record or something. Of course since i had to work the whole weekend, I couldnt enjoy it really. But now, I have a day off.. and its overcast. but, still not rain so its a great day!

now, when it gets nice out, French people love sitting outside on patios of restaurants for hours on end. And, since our restaurant faces the seine and Notre Dame, we get a lot of people who like to sit outside. Working the terrasse is awful. you have to keep walking back and forth getting things, bringing things in, getting people change. It's annoying.

The other day (this is seriously the funniest thing Ive seen since I got here) there was a group of people who wanted to sit outside so they took it upon themselves (before I even saw them outside) to take all the remaining chairs that werent being used from the other talbes to use for themselves. Now, since there wasnt a table, they set the chairs up in a circle on the cement. By goodness, I came outside and i saw a group of about 9 people sitting in a circle without a table and i lost it. I had to walk inside again because it was so funny. one of the girls came in and asked if they could have a table outside and it took all of inner energy to not laugh in her face. I wanted to tell her that her and her group of friends looked ridiculous sitting there without a table. it was seriously the funniest thing ever. Another man found an available chair and was just sitting there facing the street, watching the people, no company and was leaning his arm of a plant (also no table) man, it was funny.

Rouen

I went to Rouen last Monday just for the day. I went by myself. It was nice to get out of Paris. I think that no matter what city you're in, sometimes you need a change. So, I decided that particular day was as good as any to go to Rouen. I took the train which took about an hour to get there. Rouen is the place where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. and since i've done a few essays/projects of her, I thought it would be really cool. So, I got off the train and went to the "accueil" which is the information booth. I asked for a map (une carte) and the lady (who acted like it was a huge inconvienence for her to actually answer me) told me they didnt have any. Gee, thanks lady.

So, I went out and started exploring. As soon as I stepped out of the train station, it started to rain. big surprise. Right then, I was not happy I was in Rouen. So far, I had been fined, the info desk was of no help and it was raining. So, I started walking down the street and saw a sign for a tourist office. Excellent. Information. There, they gave me a map and advised me of some places to visit. They told me that the huge cathedrale that is in Rouen (one that Monet painted quite a few times..) was going to be open at 2pm (it was 11am) I thanked them for being helpful and went on my way. I was seriously the only tourist in Rouen that day. I dont know why they had three nicely dressed ladies working in the tourist office because I was clearly the only etrangere in the city.

The first place I went to was where Joan of Arc was burnt and they have a huge cross there, as well as a little chapel and a museum. So, I toured all of these things. I was the first person that day in the museum (the man hadnt even turned on the lights yet) and it was sort of dungeon-y in there so I left as soon as I could.

I went to the river (which is pretty much identical to the one in Paris except that Paris' is nicer. I sat there and ate my packed lunch. (oh, its still raining/misting by the way) and then I decided to tour some more. I walked around the little streets, looked at the buildings, the people, the shops.

At 2pm, I was standing outside of the cathedrale starring at a note that said that the cathedrale wasnt opening today because of the prefecture, which is like a government office or something. I went into the tourist office and advised them that the cathedrale wasnt open and she said (as if it made so much sense) that it was because it was too windy today and she went back to work. this seems to happen quite often. I was left standing there dumb-founded trying to decide if she had said wind or maybe something else that would actually make sense. I ran the whole convo through my mind again and yes, she definitely said wind. I left the office actually laughing. only in france.

So, since there was nothing left for me to do in rouen except go up the tower that Joan of Arc stayed in until she died, I decided that I would catch an earlier train home. (the tower was super cool. Joan of Arc only had little peep wholes that she could see out of, otherwise the tower was completely dark)

I caught an earlier train home and had dinner at the girls place and went out to the bar.

a bientot,

being fined

I have been fined twice since I've been in France.

The first time I went shoppping in zone 5. Paris is set up in zones and so if you're taking the metro, you have to make sure that you have the proper ticket for the proper zone and that time, i didnt. I knew very well that I didnt have the right ticket but i was being cheap and i didnt want to buy one. turns out, as I stepped off of the metro, there were about 20 officers checking tickets and i got caught. i had to pay a 25 euro fine. (the ticket would have cost me 3) and so i was really mad. I was fighting with the guy saying that i didnt know and that this was my first week in Paris and he wasnt buying it. I got fined.

The second time was the other day when I went to a little town north of Paris called Rouen (more about that trip later..) and i forgot to compost my ticket. Now, composting your ticket means that you have to stick it in this thing that makes the date on it. It has no purpose whatsoever because they still have train guys checking the tickets anyways when you get on the train. Its completely useless. and i was fined 10 euros. I was also fighting with this man, trying to be nice but firm at the same time telling him I didnt know you had to compost your ticket which is a complete lie and he also wasnt buying it.

now, had of i been in Canada and the police or someone stopped me because i didnt have the right ticket or because i forgot to do something so ridiculous, i would have gotten away with it with a warning and no fine. but here, they have no mercy. they get you where ever and whenever they can.