Updates from Montreal

Campus (above), and Burnside Hall (below) -- My home for the near future!

Bonjour! Or as they like to say here, "allo" :-D

So far, so good in Montreal! It has take a lot of getting used to -- between living in a new country (i.e. TONS of paperwork), learning a new department, adapting to two languages, settling into an apartment, making new friends . . . the list goes on and on!

Mom, Dad, and I arrived up here on the 30th of August, and they stayed up here most of my first week. We all seemed to have a good time and were able to see and taste a good part of the city (in particular around Old Montreal and Saint Laurent/Saint Denis), and their help in moving-in made life a billion times easier! Classes started on the 1st, followed by a very busy move-in (classes all day, moving all night!). We managed to make everything fit into the apartment with very little alteration (outside of the bed), and it's finally beginning to feel like a home (complete with a messy desk!)

Before

And After! (The 'bedroom')

The 'closet' and 'kitchen'

The 'office'

Mmmm Dinner (Tofu experiment!) -- tastes better than it looks :-D

It's definitely still feeling a bit tight, but home is still home! If anything, the hardest part has been adapting to a life with no roommates around. After being home most of the summer, and spending the past four years at school with some of my favorite people living where I live, it has been a tough transition into the single life. But, more than one would be impossible for this spot! Regardless, the only other tough things have been a touch-and-go computer (booo older computer), only one burner operating out of two (presents some interesting cooking challenges), and lots of things that click in the night, such as heaters (yes, I know it's only September, but it's chilly here!) and fridges.

As for the school part of being up here (wait, school?!?), things have gone well thus far. Classes have been a mixed bag, with some being relatively easy and others presenting a good challenge. I've enjoyed getting to know my fellow first-year graduate students, and have been trying to make friends with as many of them as I can. It's always a bit tough building new friendships, but at the same time I look forward to seeing where these new friendships will take me! The department lacks some of the friendly confines of Penn State, but there are some good times that are had, including a free coffee hour each afternoon. In addition, I've joined up and become the first-year representative for CAOS, which is the graduate society for the department. I'm hoping it provides me a nice avenue into getting involved in the department kind of like I was for PSUBAMS. We'll have to see! I haven't begun any research yet, but I imagine that something will be starting up in the next few weeks. My adviser is returning to Montreal after an unexpected extended stay in Greece, and I'm looking forward to finally meeting up with him as an official student and to find out more about where my research will take me over the next few years!

And as for the city, there is a lot to explore! I've tried looking around a bit, but the past few weekends have been committed toward figuring out basic life needs, such as food, laundry, etc. However, I'm hoping to maybe explore some of the free options (some of the art galleries), visit the parks (including Mont Royal -- see below), and next week taking advantage of a few free museums via the international student status.

Mont Royal Parc

Au Revoir!