A Lil Anglos Attempts To Survive La Francophonie

[samtheanthro]

Hey y’all!

Just uploaded another vid to my channel talking about walking and methodology

Give it a watch and tell me what you think!

[ethicalmemes]

That’s still a lot of trees #EthicalMemes

[grimthetransman]

Here is the link in case anyone wants to donate some trees!

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[kedreeva]

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If nothing else, please help pass on the news here!

[samenfrancais]

Day 28, 29, 30, & 31

The rest of the week was less exciting although I did chat some more with the others before and after class which was nice

Im starting to get the swing of grading papers I think. It's not so bad if you skim for keywords or ideas instead of reading and underlining the entire thing

Saturday I was feeling a bit antsy bc all I'd done all day was study&do my laundry so I decided to find la dipperie to get a dipped ice cream cone which is my FAV

I got milk chocolate and sea salt caramel and omggggg it was so good. Montreal is gonna make me faaaat but I love it 😍

After that it was still fairly early and I didn't wanna go home yet so I decided to go to this lesbian bar I'd heard about was supposed to be really cool. I wasn't really gonna go go I was just gonna scope it out so that I knew where it was and I could always come back. But I...couldn't find it OTL

Idk if it just doesn't exist anymore or if it is well hidden but I tried my best to find it via google maps and even tho it was on google maps I couldn't find it. It told me multiple times that I was arrived at the location but I didn't see it.

So if anyone knows Montreal and can tell me if Le Drugstore is still open or if there is another gay/lesbian bar that is women friendly please message me, ive heard some of the places in the village are really male heavy so I've been reluctant to check out.

But yeah I walked around for a bit longer before heading home

[samenfrancais]

Day 26&27

Monday was another typical day but Tuesday quite a bit happened

I came to campus early to speak with my prof about my thesis and I was super nervous that she was gonna be expecting out of me. But she mostly just wanted to hear how I was adjusting and getting used to grad school and my new surroundings.

I was a bit frustrated at the time because I had been feeling like everyone but me had their shit together and was able to keep up in a way that I wasn't but when I talked to her she told me that I seemed to be very well read and informed and that I always added something valuable to in class discussions which was nice to hear ;w;

She said that next time that we meet I should have something prepared for her in the vein of a thesis proposal (although not the whole thing obvs) so that we can work towards an actual proposal together.

After that I had my TA office hours and...nobody showed up...again XD

After that I had class and then there would be a meeting for the TA and RA labor union.

As I was heading out of class one of the other students was like "hey, you're a TA too right? We're all going to the meeting later together so we're gonna hang out until then if you wanna join us

So I got to hang out with them for a while and it was cool and nice and a lot of fun and I got hot chocolate and a grilled cheese while we were waiting

Then at the meeting they said we were gonna have chicken and I saw them handing out boxes so I thought "oh boy, fried chicken? Yum!" Only to open it up and find rotisserie chicken XD

It wasn't bad I just wasn't expecting that. The meeting was not bad just very long and a bit arduous I wasn't expecting it to take over two hours

But afterwards we met at a pub across the street and the union gave everyone free drink vouchers and raffle prizes and I got to hang out with everybody some more which was nice

I have a good feeling that even if I'm not best friends with anyone I'll probably still be on good terms with them which is nice

[samenfrancais]

Day 25

Kind of a quiet Sunday

I didn't have much to do class wise so I took this as an opportunity to record for my YouTube channel

The editing was kind of tough bc I just bought Sony vegas and am still trying to figure out how to use the program

While it is leagues better than movie maker atleast I knew how moviemaker worked and was able to use it effectively. I spent the rest of the night pulling out my hair on it before giving up and deciding to edit more later

[samenfrancais]

Hey y'all!

Sorry I haven't been around much but my days have been kind of crazy with grad school so I'm gonna try to catch up by summarizing some of the slower days together

So:

Day 21, 22, 23, 24

So the rest of the week was pretty quiet, mostly just adjusting more to grad school and trying to get into the swing of things

It's tough at times bc youre expected to be managing your time and have so much to do that you're given A LOT of free time. Most of my classes only have 3-6 assignments for the entire semester and one only meets every other week and it's assumed that you're using that free time to do...something related to your thesis

It leaves me with this kind of restless feeling bc I think that I should be doing SOMETHING but what that something is I'm not sure. I'm not sure what to do with all this free thinking time I've been given. I've been using a lot of it to watch yt vids and play cookie run ngl but I wish that I was able to use my time more effectively

Anyways on Saturday I met once again with the fabulous @randomoranges !

She took me to fairmount for bagels and then this yummy ice cream place that had chocolate and raspberry ice cream

After that we checked out this really cool outdoor exhibit where they had taken the old historic metro cars that were being retired and retrofitted them with a coffee shop, or an art gallery, or a boutique inside. They also had a stage and live music and a bar.

It was all really cool. Part of our meeting was to just hang and enjoy the space but the other reason was to draw on a super secret birthday card for @rosesnmountains

I had a lot of fun hanging out and got to see other parts of the city. Plus it's fun to get @randomoranges on a hockey rant bc she is v passionate and also knows all the players names and explains things to a person who's clueless to hockey like me

After spending time with her I headed back to my home and made some yummy pasta and did homework

[samenfrancais]

Hey y’all!

Just put out a new vid on my yt channel!

Make sure to check it out and tell me what you think!

[samenfrancais]

Day 20 This was my first day of TA office hours and I was super excited but then disappointed bc no one showed up ;w; My class was nice and there was a lot of good discussions. It's funny that it's quite different from my undergrad where it felt like I was te only one talking whereas now we almost have to fight to speak XD and the prof doesn't like call on us so sometimes it's like, just a stare down until someone just starts talking But everyone was in a good mood and I got to chat to a couple of people which was nice After that I didn't really know what to do with myself I didn't really want to go home but I didn't want to stay and do even more work so I really wasn't sure I decided to take the bus to the Loyola campus bc I hadn't been (since I don't have classes on that campus) and I'm a bit jelly The Loyola campus is soooo pretty and old school it's like one of those New England unis you see in the movies From there I walked home since it's not very far and I stopped at an ice cream place that was on the way and got a scoop of bubblegum ice cream Stopped at a couche tard and got cheetos and Twix bc I was on my period and I deserved them Went home Had some nice crunchy salad for dinner bc I'm trying to eat more greens Mostly chilled and relaxed

[samenfrancais]

Day 19 It was Monday and I got to my final last class that I was going to for the first time I had only skimmed through the reading bc it was 80 PAGES but it wasn't hard to be a part of the discussions once they got rolling. I'm not sure if I really like the reading we're doing bc it's written by a sociologist and we spent lord knows how long debating semantics but I like how energetic everyone is After class I just read the article I needed to for my TA class and then called it a day. I walked on some of the other floors though and they had neat displays and info

[samenfrancais]

Day 16 9/7/18 Went to class and besides being hella sleepy the class was great It seems like it's mostly about in class stuff and less about doing readings and stuff so that's nice The teacher is also super cool and really friendly The anthro grad student union and TA labor union both talked to our class and it was kind of bizarre ? Growing up in Texas you get a pretty anti-union environment and certainly would our schools never allow us to get away with having them talk to us in class Still it was nice and after class the student union had elections. I went to meet people and also because there was free pizza and coffee They had pizza from this place I've never heard of called double pizza and it was SOOOO good I can't have pizza very often anymore but when I do I'd love to go there Everyone was super friendly and they asked me if like I'd been to the old port and if I'd tried Poutine yet I think we're all gonna get along, I got good vibes from everybody After that I just headed home and made dinner and worked on class stuff

[samenfrancais]

Day 18

9/9/18

Sunday was a pretty quiet day

I was mostly cleaning up my room and working on stuff for my YouTube channel.

It was nice to do recording again, but it feels a bit awkward in such a small space bc I worry that the people I’m living with can potentially hear me but they haven’t said anything yet so *SHRUGs*

Went to the grocery store that night and was finally able to find some cheap salami in so happy it was so good

[samenfrancais]

Day 17

9/8/18

Saturday I worked on my stuff all day bc I wanted to make sure that I had time to go out that night

Aaaaaand i got to go to @randomoranges improv show!

She and the other participants did a lovely job and I had fun watching it. It was all in french but for the most part I could follow. My favorite part was probably the bar scene that @randomoranges did with the guys, it was gr8

Afterwards I met up with her and we got to chat and it was really cool to meet her in person !

I was surprised by her not having much of an accent although you could hear it a bit on her vowels and it is v cute

We chatted for a while and I thought about asking her if she wanted to get dinner w me but she had a hot date w her mom so we said our goodbyes and that hopefully we’d be able to meet up again fairly soon

After that I went on an adventure to try and find somewhere to eat but I also just wandered around the street that night

It was chilly, got down into the 40s and I was enjoying the cool air

Buuuut I spent a little too much time enjoying it bc my phone died and I got lost XD

Found this amazing gelato place that I don’t remember the name of but I wanna go there again. They had salted caramel which is my FAV

After that I gave up and headed back to my place. While waiting for the bus at snowdon i went to the Tim hortons thats right there. I planned to get a donut and some croissants but they were all sold out of that stuff so I got a grilled cheese w bacon and it was delish. Also got a soda at te couche tarde next to it bc I was being fat that night. But the treats were nice

Then I went home and tried to get some more work done

[samenfrancais]

Day 15 9/6/18 Finally got my TA stuff figured out I had to go to campus extra early to get my SIN number Then I had a couple of hours to kill so I read and studied some more Got to the anthro dept office and sighed my paperwork, made me so happy that I was finally getting to this point bc it meant I knew that I'd be financially stable for sure Then I went and met with the prof I'd be a TA for. She seems really nice and reasonable for the most part. She told me that she had 75 students and that they'd have a weekly journal they'd had to write and I'd have to grade each one of them and she wanted them done by the time that the next class happened and IIIII was a little afraid bc I didn't know how I was gonna handle that on top of my normal work but I was also trying to see it as a challenge I was hoping that my Friday class wouldn't also add on another 100 pages of reading for me to do over the weekend

[samenfrancais]

Day 14 9/5/18 This day I didn't have class so I decided to go to campus to work on my studies Was having some issues with my TA position so I was going back and forth with the dept head tryin to figure that out ;3; Then I got back to my neck of the woods and I have to switch from a metro line to a bus at Snowdon and I thought "oh there's a grocery store nearby, this would be the PERFECT time to get some sausage!" But that grocery store...was hell! Unfortunately I went at 5:30 so EVERYONE was there and I couldn't find ANYTHING It was not fun and very exhausting And then when I got home I realized that the sausage I bought was halaal sausage so it wasn't even pork ;w; Got home and studied more and ate something else

[samenfrancais]

Day 13 9/4/18 This was my first day of classes and to be honest it was a little...overwhelming Well I guess overwhelming isn't the right word, it was more like it was just like the reality of grad school hitting me I was starting to realize that there was going to be a LOT of work that I was going to be expected to do and while I liked the challenge it was also scary to think if I could keep up with these other people who seemed to have their shit together better than me I found a tim hortons and got a maple donut and hot chocolate for a snack and while that donut was delish the hot chocolate was GARBAGE Worst hot chocolate ive ever had I got spoiled by the hot chocolate at St Viateur I need to go back there one daaaaay Anyways I hunkered down and went to the grad students lounge area to study in which is something I've never done on the first day of class but I had the realization that if I didn't start right away I'd be FUCKED once the ball started rolling So the rest of my day was just reading and writing notes I think I had more pasta for dinner and that was it

[samenfrancais]

Day 12 9/3/18 Today was Labor Day and so I didn't have class or anything to do really My legs were stiff from all the walking uphill and so I didn't really want to do anything The only thing on my agenda that day was getting stuff to stick up my posters with and to get groceries And I mostly failed The dollarama was closed for Labor Day but the Jean coutu was open and so I went there to get sticky tack But the grocery store was...also closed ;w; I ended up going to the A&W near campus It was the first time I'd really seen the city at night by myself I thought I might be safe but everyone was in good spirits with lots of laughing and chatter and Montreal just always feels really welcoming, even at night The food at A&W was so good. Ive never actually eaten there before but it was just really solid fast food and they served my soda in a giant ice cold mug and if you've never had soda this way it is the superior way of soda drinking I might have to go there again if nothing else than for that

[samenfrancais]

Day 11 9/2/18 Since I had had a quiet Friday and Saturday I decided that Sunday I HAD to do something and I remember someone telling me that the tam tams were a thing that happened on Sundays so off I went! When I left the house I was wearing a super cute sun dress, I'd even bothered to put on makeup and as I strutted out of the house wearing my sunglasses I noticed that it was so dark outside that I couldn't really use the sunglasses "Well...hopefully that's not a bad sign" I thought Spoiler alert; it was Took the bus up to mt royal (and waved as we drove by the HUGe cemetery that was there bc @allbeendonebefore had told me that @randomoranges ' mom works there) Then I got to what I thought was the place I needed to stop at ooooonly for it to start sprinkling moments later I tried to stay optimistic and keep going but it was starting to pour and my iPhone that I was using to navigate was getting soaked so I had to put it away and HOPE i was still going in the right direction I stopped under a little shoulder on the road to try and wait out the rain, some biker dudes were there too and politely joked about the rain in french with me. It really makes me happy how friendly people seem to be in these parts. I was afraid that I was gonna miss that when I left Texas but everyone has been really lovely 😊 Anyways after a little chat I decided I needed to keep going so I eventually made it to this little stop point where the buses also stop (which would've been nice to know before I got off) and a bunch of people were hiding under trees but they were so full of rain that they were still dropping water on us. I then tried to wait at the bus stop thinking if nothing else I could get back on the bus to go to the tam tams but the bus...wasn't showing up when it was supposed to, and being in the rain for so long was giving me a headache So I started to think that even if I could make it there, the tam tams would probably be cancelled bc this rain did not want to stop So my options were; wait for the bus in the rain, start walking down the road towards the tam tams area in the rain, or go the way that would lead me to the chateau and the cross that was covered in thick tree growth and could keep some of the rain out So I figured since I was already here I needed to see the view and the neon cross I then headed off in that direction and went down some windy little hiking trails I didn't really know where I was going and the gps wasn't much help at this point so all I did was if there was a trail split and one was more uphill I went to the uphill one. Also if I came across a jogger I went down the way that they came from since I figured they had to come from a main road. I told myself that I was not gonna let the mountain win, that I WAS going to find the cross. Doing this I was able to stumble across the cross. She was a beaut and I spent a few minutes admiring her and patting her. I was also surprised with how big the cross was in person. I felt super victorious but the fight wasn't over bc I had to find my way to the chalet Unfortunately this was when my phone died so I had to navigate completely on my own I thought at first I had found the place since I saw other people but that ended up being like a radio tower of some sort? I found my way to the main road and went in the opposite direction all the people were going. It was raining a bit again at this point so I figured everyone was leaving the chalet And I finally made it all the way to the top and found Nothing. ;w; Because of the stormy weather that day the city was completely blocked from the view Worse yet as soon as I got into the chalet it started to pour again and the weather was getting colder. At this point I was completely soaked and hungry and basically trapped on the chalet I found somewhere to plug my phone in inside but for whatever reason my phone was getting no service so even turned on it was useless ;w; Eventually the rain calmed down enough that I could make it to the windy stairs down to the area by McGill And I have to say, McGill is really pretty. I'm a little jealous since the downtown Concordia campus doesn't have all these pretty stone buildings but it's fine Concordia is still cool >3> Anyways at this point I was exhausted, wet, and starving I tried to think of somewhere to go or something to eat but I was out of ideas After forever looking for the metro I found it. I also discovered that there's a SECReT MALL attached to it! It was really neat (even tho a lot was closed bc Sunday I guess) and if I wasn't exhausted and starving I probably could have adventured in it for a while I was kind of curious about this Barbie expo that they were advertising EVERYWHERE for I found the food court there and I should've gotten food there but I get nervous trying new food places esp if it's in an area I haven't done research on/it's a type of food I'm unfamiliar with So I...gave up and went back to the metro ;w; Back in the metro I saw signs showing that I was super close to the musée des beaux-arts and i was super tempted but just too tired so I figured I'd save it for another day Finally got back to my area and I...still hadn't eaten anything so put of hunger and needing to put food in my body I think I bought some fries from A&W just to tide me over Then I went home and made alfredo pasta All in all a bit of a crazy day mt royal was pretty but it was so hectic trying to find my way around and I couldn't even see the pretty view I'd like to go again some time, maybe with someone who knows where they're going and try to enjoy it more The same with the secret mall and the musée, it just felt like a day of missed opportunities and I'd like to be able to see it all again on a day when I'm not soaked and exhausted