Grandescunt Aucta Labore

Here is just a quick update on what has been happening in the past week or so since coming to Montreal.
It feels like it has been forever – but in fact has only been a just over a week since I got here. Its cold (-18C!) and today has decided to make up for lack of snow lately and is now re-covering the roads. I’m getting faster at taking off and putting on layers everytime you go into class/a building and am finding and losing my way around the underground passageways that connects the uni together. With my sense of direction I managed to end up in the basement of the mechanical engineering building where they have heat transfer labs (it was like a sauna in there!) when I wanted to go to a biology lecture. All the signs are in french, but now I know that sortie means exit.
Speaking of which, french is going well – there is SO much to learn, but there are always opportunities to practice. I’m still behind in work, catching up on all of last week’s missed classes, but it is certainly getting there… and I’m enjoying all the subjects that I’m taking so far. The work ethic here is crazy… sorry Melbourne Uni… but McGill has one up you for academic crazyness. It is like everyone is a med student here :p
As for anything non-uni related, hrm.. this whole city seems a mecca for students. Here people will work soo hard over the summer and then move as far away as possible to go to uni. That’s like England too. I did go to the ‘old port’ the other day. There is an outdoor skating rink (on my to-do list) and plenty of art galleries. I might go back there on friday afternoon to get some warm ear muffs.
Tonight i’m catching up with international students at uni (free pizza) – so far I’ve managed to miss out on two ski trips, a hockey match and ice skating! hehe.. there is a fair amount of things happening that are randomly organised last-minute. For those back at Melbourne Uni, I encourage you to get involved with M.U.S.E.X or with any of the International student societies… they’re a great place to start if you want to be a tourist in your own country/city!

Most students live in the student ghetto which is about a 2 min walk east of the uni, I live about 20-30 mins south of uni… so apparently that is too far for people to come and visit. On saturday – a church I visited make up sandwiches and distribute them to the homeless in the city, which I think will be a good thing to get involved in and perhaps see the flip side of Montreal. So that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend if there are no other last min ski trips organised!

Au Revior!