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Going to France...!
Yep, traveling again for a little while.
We are on our way to France and will stay in Europe until July 31 st. I haven’t spent a summer in France since 2003 — at the time, I was coming back from Australia and New-Zealand and I spent the summer studying for my university exams. It was the hottest summer ever in Europe and I spent half of my time camping at the beach with a bunch of friends. Seven years later, I don’t have that many friends left in France but Feng and I should have fun nonetheless — I remember summer in France as a nice season.
If any of you in Paris or around want to meet for a coffee or a croissant (yum, croissants!), drop me a line. This trip was a last minute decision so I haven’t done much homework and haven’t really contacted anyone yet.
So follow us for this French Summer and expect lots of pictures and lots of cultural differences articles from your favorite not-so-French-anymore adopted Canadian.
And before you ask… yes, it’s my hand on the picture and yes, the felt tip-pen drawing was hard to remove. Duh, silly me.
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The Nostalgic Chameleon
In a few days, my little 18 years old brother will take his final high school graduation exams. And I can’t believe I passed mine nine years ago. A lifetime, really.
I sometimes get hit by nostalgia, a strange overpowering feeling that takes some time to get rid of. It is usually triggered by little things: a song, a smell, a feeling of déjà vu I can’t quite shake off. I did so much in the past ten years that I think I have the right to feel lost sometimes. I rarely pause to look back.
It happened so fast. One minute I was in high school and the next one I was boarding a one-way flight to Hong Kong, with the self-confidence only 18 years old can have. Several years of traveling around the world and one immigration later, here I am, a former French, a new Canadian and a citizen of the world. It’s still me but I changed. Part of it can certainly be attributed to growing up but a lot is because I moved to another country.
My last year of high school was exhausting. I was a good student but I studied even harder because I couldn’t stand the thought of not graduating. Retrospectively, I think I would have passed anyway but this is such an important rite of passage in France that I didn’t want to screw it up. I have random memories of this last year: falling asleep reviewing my note cards in bed; staying up until 2 am on Saturday drawing and watching late night show; going to restaurants, to bars and to disco with my friends; begging my mum for notes to skip school and finally being able to sign these damn notes myself because I turned 18 before graduating.
The break was brutal after that: my French pop culture stops in June 2001. While I will still be French to a certain extent, I can’t be quizzed on pop culture past that date: bands, singers, movies, political scandals, crazes – I don’t know any. I feel like a habitant of one of these cities suddenly swallowed up by an earthquakes or a volcano eruption and found years later covered in a thick layer of dust. The world around changed but I remain stuck in the past.
It’s not that I didn’t try to keep in touch with French culture. At first, my mind stretched itself to join the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean – it was exhausting. I listened to French talk shows but I grew frustrated because they seemed to have little relevance to my current life. I read all the French books at the library – yes, all of them. I tried to translate jokes but failed miserably. I threw the odd cultural reference in that no one here got.
Things would have probably been different if I was living with a French, but Feng is Canadian and Chinese. He was interested in French culture but at the time, we hadn’t been in France together. Whenever I wanted to tell him a story, I first had to set it and that meant explaining cultural facts that don’t always translate well. Let’s say I wanted to tell him about the “Bac”, the French high school graduation exam, a major national rite of passage: I had to explain him briefly how the French school system works and stress on how draining (and dreaded) the exam is. Basically, by the time I was done with my lengthy explanations, I just didn’t feel like telling the story anymore. We had a lot in common, mostly our travels at that time, but my Frenchness often got lost in translation.
Ottawa is not a city a lot of French choose to live in either, most settle in Montréal. I have very few French friends here and most of them have been there for a little while so we are past the stage where we gather and bitch about how cold Canada is or ponder why there are no good croissants in this town.
And this is why, 9 years after leaving France, I’m probably less French than a lot of expats I know. I don’t mind it – people change, that’s life. It’s just a bit strange at times. This is also probably why I obsessively cling to my French memories – I’m a nostalgic chameleon.
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The Parliament is definitely the Canadian landmark I get to see the most: I work in its shadow every day. Yet, it still impresses me – I always seem to find new details and new angles.
Parliament Hill is a very busy place in spring: hordes of tourists visit the Parliament, politicians and MPs are wrapping things up for the summer and locals enjoy relaxing on the grass in front of the Center Block.
You can see the whole Ottawa Spring set here.
 Stop/ Arrêt |
 The Peace Tower |
 Bas-Relief |
 Bas-Relief |
 Support Our Troops (at the window) |
 No Parking |
 The One and Only Picture Spot (taken from behind the Parliament doors) |
 Bas-Relief |
 A Mari Usque Ad Mare (From Sea to Sea) |
 Gargoyle |
 Peace Tower |
 Front Door |
 Bas-Relief |
 East Block Door |
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Too Much Junk Food?
Last week, an article in Macleans, a Canadian weekly news magazine, caught my eyes: “Despite alarming rates of obesity in Canada, you won’t see calorie counts on menu boards any time soon. Unlike the U.S., there’s just no political will for it.” According to one of the doctors quoted in the article who supports better nutritional information in Canadian restaurant, “When we go shopping for things we look at price tags before we buy them so we can determine whether they’re worth it to us. When we eat things, the currency of our weight is calories.”
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The second main building I visited as part of the Ottawa 2010 Doors Open event is the Supreme Court. Located on Parliament Hill, the imposing grey building sits in the background, close to the Ottawa River.
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. To have permission to appeal a decision made by a provincial or territorial court, the matter must be of public importance. Immigration cases can sometimes be taken to the Supreme Court, such as in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v. Khosa or Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration). Other famous cases tackles equality, discrimination, dignity, rights etc.
The building is currently undergoing renovation (yes, it is construction season after all!), so I entered by the small door. Right after going through security, I stepped into the Grand Entrance Hall, with the logo of the Supreme Court, the “S” and the “C”.
The second floor has the Main Courtroom, an impressive room with wooden walls and red chairs. The federal court of Canada is located on the ground floor and has a similar design, even though it seemed smaller. Overall, the atmosphere was very formal and solemn. An interesting place to visit, hopefully I will never be anymore more than a visitor here!
You can see the full Doors Open 2010 set here.
 Outside the Supreme Court |
 The Supreme Court of Canada |
The Supreme Court Building
The Main Hall
 The Main Door (yes, renovation are underway!) |
 The Main Hall |
 Law Clerks Desk |
 Chairs and Desks in the Main Courtroom |
The Main Courtroom
Grand Entrance Hall
 The Federal Court |
 The Second Floor |
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Last weekend was “Doors Open” in Ottawa, a yearly event during which a number of places open their doors to the public. Not only admission is free, but you get the chance to peek into a number of interesting places which are not usually open to the general public. Being my usual curious self, I decided to go visit the Ottawa Paramedic Headquarter in Walkley.
As much as I like architecture and old buildings, which is what a lot of people come to see during this event, I was more interested in getting an insider peek into the day of the paramedics. Like most people, I occasionally see them racing on the freeway, or I hear the sound of the ambulance siren in the distance and know something is going on — that’s about it.
The paramedic headquarter was built in 2005. This is where all the staff reports before being dispatched. A huge indoors garage is home to what seemed dozens of vehicles, from bicycles (to access crowded places easily) to huge trailers which carry tons of supplies in case of a major emergency.
Several rooms stock the supplies: stretchers and little bags, full of drugs and medical supplies. They are all checked daily and repackaged as needed, and then sealed. The building also has a cleaning station for vehicles, which are all disinfected and checked for damages before being parked again.
Upstairs in the buildings are the staff gym and physiotherapy center (apparently, this job is hard on the body!) and the emergency control room.
Everything looked so organized and “under control” — I actually found that very comforting. And the paramedics seemed to be a dedicated team!
You can see the full Doors Open 2010 set here.
 Ottawa Paramedic Service |
 Ambulances Parking Lot |
Getting The Vehicle Ready
 Stretchers |
 More Stretchers |
 Supplies |
 Repackaging Supplies |
 Waiting for a Call |
 Cleaning The Vehicles |
 Ambulance Stock Supplies |
 An Old Ambulance |
 Training Room |
 Staff Gym |
 Emergency Control Room |
 Waiting For a Call |
Inside of an Ambulance
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Canadian Bear
Immigrating to Canada can seem a daunting task for prospective immigrants. Looking for information, filling out the paperwork, waiting, dealing with unfamiliar requirements, sometimes in an unfamiliar language… I can totally understand that.
I’ve been writing about Canada immigration since I became a permanent resident, in 2005. While I’m by no mean a specialist, I learned a lot when I did my research and I enjoy sharing the knowledge.
And the more I participate in forums (such as Settlement.org) and answer various questions from readers, the more I’m convinced some people are just either very mistaken, either very innocent, either simply… stupid.
Here is a list of five immigration mistakes to avoid… and why.
Lying when filling-up the permanent residence application – People make mistakes, we can all understand that. The problem is that “mistakes” you make when filling out the permanent residence application can have huge consequences – it’s called misrepresentation and yes, you can lose your permanent resident status for that. Case in point, people who fail to disclose the birth of a child or a marriage. They usually hope to immigrate to Canada easily on their own and eventually sponsor their relatives, husband, wife, kids. Problem is, if you didn’t disclose your dependents on the immigration papers prior to landing, they don’t exist to Citizenship and Immigration. Not only you can be charged with misrepresentation, but you won’t be able to sponsor relatives that don’t exist.
Applying for citizenship before meeting the requirements – I can never understand that one. In order to be eligible to apply for citizenship, you must “have at least three years of residency in Canada within four years immediately preceding the date of application” and “be physically present in Canada for 1,095 days in a four year period”. Yet, there are always people who apply for citizenship before they meet these requirements, and then they complain they received a residency questionnaire or that their application is scrutinized. Well, duh. A Canadian passport is a great thing to have but why jeopardizing everything because you are not patient enough?
Being convinced that immigrating is a right – Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for mobility rights and I don’t support closed doors or gate-keepers policies. But overall, I think Canada is pretty fair when it comes to immigration: the country welcomes 250,000 newcomers every year, and has several immigration categories in which you may qualify. Immigrating to Canada is much easier than immigrating to the USA or most Western Europe countries. Yet, not everybody can immigrate to Canada, the same way not everybody can be a top model or a football player. Deal with it. Immigrating is not a right but a privilege. And since we are it, drop the attitude – it doesn’t help, really. I’m tired of people who want to sue the Canadian government because their application have been denied.
Failing to comply with the residency obligation – In order to maintain permanent residence status, landed immigrants must live in Canada for two years for every five-year period. Yet, some people just land in Canada and then go back home. Years later (usually when their permanent resident card is about to expire), they wonder if they lost their status. You bet they did. Because permanent status is intended for people who actually want to live in Canada! I find these kind of situation heart-breaking – why work so hard to obtain permanent residence to not use it? Once you lost your permanent resident status, you have to reapply again from the scratch.
Doing research based on one and only source – I interviewed immigrants from all around the world earlier this year, and they all recommended prospective immigrants to do research on their adoptive country beforehand. I would further recommend you to gather information from different sources. Official sources, such as government of Canada websites, will give you the most up-to-date straight-to-the-fact info and documents. However, don’t forget that most of these facts are statistic and don’t really tell the other half of the story. Guillermo recently wrote a very good article on the subject “Los blogs, la inmigración y ‘la última milla’” (in Spanish), in which he explains that new Canadians’ blogs and immigration websites are the “last mile” that connect prospective immigrants with the reality. Most immigrants won’t “sell” you Canada – they will provide real snapshots of their daily lives and experience, and will include you in their network.
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- Arriving In Canada With The Permanent Residence (7/10)
- 10 Common Immigration Questions (8/10)
- The Two Immigration Myths (1/10)
Little Guy Peeing (and some obscure baseball jokes), Alexandria Bay, U.S.A
As a French, I have being taught that bathroom humour is a low form of humour. But I cannot hold it any longer (pun intended) – I’m Canadian now, and if I want to write an article about bathrooms, well so be it.
I was first introduced to bathrooms different to the ones I was used to in China. They really weren’t as bad as I had been told. I didn’t mind hole-in-the-ground squatting toilets because they were actually often cleaner. However, the fact that a lot of Chinese women do not close the door while doing their business, apparently because they don’t want to catch germs when touching the door handle, made things awkward sometimes. And in Hong Kong, the stalls were sometimes very low (i.e. waist level when standing up), which can make things difficult when you are taller than the average Chinese woman. The weirdest bathroom set up I have seen was in Beijing, in 2008. Our tiny hotel room had a “bathroom corner” (washbasin, shower and toilet). But the walls were made of glass – not tainted glass, not opaque plate-glass, just regular transparent glass. Let me tell you, we would always take a shower to fog the walls before using the bathroom!
In Latin America, bathrooms are quite straightforward but for one thing: don’t forget to throw the toilet paper in the garbage can provided instead of flushing it, because the plumbing can’t take it. Oh, and Bolivian men apparently love to pee everywhere, which made some bus rides very nauseating.
But are Canadian and French bathrooms different? You bet they are.
The first thing I noticed in Canada is that there are plenty of free and clean public toilets. In France, if you need to use the bathrooms, you need a lot of will and change. Once you actually found them, there are plenty of hoops to go through. In train stations and museums, bathrooms are okay but not always free, and the “dame pipi” (literally the “wee wee lady”, the toilet attendant who collect the money) can be downright bitchy. In U.S style fast-foods, to use the bathrooms, you generally have to enter a code printed on your food receipt. And don’t be tempted to use the bathrooms in a café: it is strongly frown upon if you are not a customer. Most cities also have paid futuristic-looking toilet booths but few foreigners dare to use them — too weird. Moral of the story: don’t take free toilets for granted.
Oh, one more – horrifying – detail: most French toilets in restaurants, bars etc. are unisex. It’s like at home: a small room with one toilet plus sometimes a urinal. This is mostly is big cities where space is at a premium. I personally don’t see why so many North Americans are horrified at the perspective of peeing after someone of the opposite sex – it’s not like you are going together. On the other side, French may consider North American bathrooms not private enough because the stalls do not have full doors – most have a foot of empty space from the floor to the door.
Bathroom setups in France are also different: a bathroom (“salle de bain”) definitely doesn’t have a toilet in it but only a washbasin, a bathtub and sometimes a shower. “Toilettes” or “W.C” (i.e the actual toilet) are in a separate room. In Canada, bathrooms always have a toilet and, to my surprise, a lot of houses have two or more bathrooms. In Paris, it can be the exact opposite: sometimes, several apartments share one toilet, located on the floor, with the neighbors. Even in Nantes, when I was a kid the bathrooms were outside but we had a bathtub in the apartment.
Now, getting specific. I find toilet seats in North America extremely low compared to France’s — they look like kids’ toilets to me, and I’m not even that tall! I have no idea how big American football players or hockey players can sit on those. That said, the toilet bowl is definitely bigger, with way more water. On the other side, a lot of foreigners complain they have trouble finding the flush on French toilets, which never seem to be at the same place. Recently, Cynthia reported on the French obsession for colourful and scented toilet paper – come to think of it, toilet paper is just plain white here. I also find North American toilers very standard — they all look the same! In France, some toilets are “à la turque” (“turkish-style”, that’s how French call squatting toilets), some don’t have a plastic seat and lid, some have fancy fixtures… using the bathroom there is always an adventure!
Sure, writing about bathrooms and toilets is not super glamorous nor classy — sorry if you were having lunch reading this blog. But it is definitely part of the funny cultural differences you discover when you travel or live in a foreign country!
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The weekend before Memorial Day (in the U.S) was Victoria Day, here in Canada. We decided to cross the border for a simple day trip without the hassle of a 10+ hour drive to one of the big U.S city.
The closest U.S border is at Prescott, Ontario, a mere 45 minutes drive from Ottawa. Armed with cold drinks and cookies (Tim Hortons, obviously), we hit the road. Crossing the border is still a cool experience for me, the French girl, and I admit I get a kick out of using my Canadian passport. This is only the second time I go to the U.S as a Canadian citizen – the first time was last winter, in Niagara Falls. The process is so much more straightforward compared to crossing with a French passport! Even as a Canadian permanent resident, I used to have to pay and have my picture and fingerprints taken. These days, all I have to do is wave my navy blue passport and say “I’m Canadian, eh”. Love it.
We first stopped in Ogdensburg, along the St Lawrence Seaway. The town is pretty sleepy but it was relaxing. A bunch of kids were fishing with their parents along the river and for a second, I wondered if the “ADD children who watch too much T.V and are obsessed with violent videogames” was just a myth. Sure, the nearby busy hot dog cart was busy but kids were also getting plenty of outdoor activity in the skate park.
Alexandria Bay, an hour drive from Ogdensburg, hadn’t changed much, even though it seemed more sedate than usual. Recession and bad economy, maybe? Nonetheless, it’s still pretty and we had a great seafood meal for $20.00 — can’t beat that.
You can see the full set of the pictures taken in the U.S.A here.
 Bridge to the U.S.A |
 I'll Give You That: Cool Flag Guys! |
Ogdensburg, N.Y State
A. Bay U.S Immigration Inspection Station
 On the Water... |
 Time for Ice Cream, Kids? |
 Alexandria Bay, Main Street |
 Baseball Jokes |
 Van's Motor Marine |
 One Way U.S.A |
 Gas Station and Motor Repair |
 Water Balloon |
Good Old Fast Food
A. Bay Marina
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Self-Portrait in Feng's Glasses, May 2010, U.S.A
Almost four years of blogging later, today I’m publishing my 500th article. Wow. I guess I’d better backup my database tonight!
It all started in October 2006. At the time, I had been a permanent resident in Canada for exactly a year (and I had been in Canada for already two years) but I was still getting comfortable with my new country. I had no idea what I would do with a blog nor did I have any idea how all that (all that being me in Canada, working as a teacher at the time) was going to turn out.
Four years later, I’m happy to say the jigsaw pieces more or less fell together and “all that” turned out pretty good. Sure, I had to adjust along the way — I gave up eating cheese (too expensive and not rotten enough due to Canada’s health regulations), I now invent French words when I forget my mother tongue (I have recently been told that “les végétables” is not a word in French) and I haven’t participated in a protest in quite a while (despite working on Parliament Hill). Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t always easy and I had ups and downs. But I never regretted my choice of coming here and I’m very happy with being both Canadian and French.
Blog-wise, I learned a lot in the past four years. First, I started writing on Blogger and eventually switched to self-hosted WordPress a year later. As I wanted to improve my blog, I became a mini-geek with basic knowledge of coding and web design. Photography is an art I came to appreciate a lot these last three years and I have tons of projects in mind. I learned the ropes with a simple point-and-shoot camera and I’m now having a lot of fun with a proper DSLR and a few lenses. Yes, I’m that weirdo who walk around Ottawa with a camera — say hi if you see me, and smile for the picture!
Above all, I discovered I truly loved writing and photography. I’ve always been in writer but in French, but since I was now living in an English environment, I wanted to see if I could express myself as well in that language. Again, it wasn’t easy but I’m quite happy to say I’m as comfortable writing in English as I am in French (don’t mind the occasional grammar slip!).
This blog means a lot to me:
- It is a motivation to take better pictures, to write about life in Canada, and it’s hopefully useful to a lot of prospective immigrants.
- It opened my eyes on the world, thanks to all the great articles from you guys I read everyday.
- It helps paying some bills, thanks to the (hopefully not too annoying) ads.
- It’s a great way to sell my photography and it is starting to work!
- It gave me the opportunity to meet great people, such as Gail (who came to Ottawa twice), Barbara (in France) and Priyank (in Toronto).
I wanted to thank all of you, those who stop by every day and those who read a couple of articles here and there, those who leave insightful and funny comments, those who share their experiences, those who encourage me and support this blog, those who take the time to say say “hi” once in a while and all the other who stay in the shadow. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all the great people I got to know through this blog, and even more surprised to see how many read it every day.
Writing and blogging is like traveling: I’m not sure where I’m going, I’m not sure I’m even going somewhere, but I’m going anyway and I’ll figure it out later. It all worked itself out just fine so far!
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After the Egyptian and the Thai performances, I just couldn’t leave without watching the Latino’s. Mexico and Venezuela put out quite a show!
Both countries featured a lot of very young dancers, both shy and proud to be the center of attention. Older dancers swirled and spun, their colorful flounced skirts following each one of their steps. The dances were fast, contrasting with the slow Thai performance, but as graceful.
You can see the full set of the pictures taken during the 2010 Tulips Festival here.
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After the Egypt performance was finished, I was about to exit Major’s Hill Park when I noticed a strange procession making its way to the stage. Hidden behind bright red sunshades, Asian-looking girls and women were shyly posing for photographers. From the pattern of their clothes, I gathered it was time for a Thai dance, and once again, I hide besides the stage to watch the performance.
The best thing about Thai dance is that the slow and graceful movements are quite easy to capture on camera. The focus was clearly on mysterious hand movements and the women barely moved their feet. Smiling all the along the performance, they gently moved their inches-long fake fingernails and shoulders to the beat of the music.
I loved the younger dancers, as they looked both scared and proud of what they were doing. Their faces and expressions were just beautiful.
You can see the full set of the pictures taken during the 2010 Tulips Festival here.
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I was on a photography hunt last Saturday when I heard some music coming from Major Hills Park, by the Parliament. I hurried there and stumbled upon the Tulips Festival’s final weekend celebrations. The festival is not just about gorgeous flowers, it also promotes international friendship and a number of performances from around the world are invited to star on the aptly named “International Friendship Stage”.
I walked as close to the scene as I could and hide discretely on the side to take pictures. Egypt was performing and a number of dancers, male and female, were moving to the sound of the tam-tam and the tambourine. A couple started dancing in front of the stage and the dancers left the stage to go mix with the crowd. The surprise on the face of the audience was fun to capture, but people quickly joined in a truly multicultural party — the enthusiasm was contagious.
Yes, it’s a banal sentence, but aren’t people beautiful when they are happy together?
You can see the full set of the pictures taken during the 2010 Tulips Festival here.
 On Stage |
 Singer |
Carring Incense
 Drummer |
 In the Crowd |
 Waving the Flag |
 Dancing with the Crowd |
 Make him Drink! |
 Leader of the Band |
 Portrait |
 Portrait |
 Leading the Crowd |
 Appreciative Spectator |
In the Crowd
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School’s for summer — not forever since I seem to be a lifelong student.
After attending three university sessions in a row (summer, fall and winter), I’m taking a little break. Trust me, I need it.
Since summer 2009, I took four classes, including the very useful French as a second language course I was forced to take (remember, being French is not a proof that I can speak French). It doesn’t seem much like that but I’m working full-time in a very demanding job, and since I already have a university degree, school is not my priority.
Mind you, I’m a good student: two A- and one A+, plus my beautiful bilingualism certificate. I didn’t do to bad for someone who attend classes and sit exams after an 8 hour-long workday.
On one side, my experience with university in Canada is pretty good. First, I hope that eventually I will be able to complete a Canadian degree, even if the goal seems to be very far away. Second, it helps me keep a balance with my crazy work environment. Culturally speaking, it is also interesting to see how things are taught on this side of the Atlantic Ocean: perspectives, especially on economics, history and politics are quite different from Europe’s. Students behave differently too.
However, I won’t probably go back to school full-time. I toyed with the idea for a while last year as I had always wanted to experience the North American university rite of passage. But I realize now that I’m probably too old, too cynical and too experienced for that. I’m sure it’s different at a postgrad level, but I’m stuck in undergrad (remember, my French university degree is not recognized here). I feel miles away from most of my classmates who live the student life: a bachelor pad on campus, busy nights partying and drinking, days cramming knowledge and updating Facebook status, a certainty that they can change the world… Once you’ve seen the world and started working, it’s just hard to fit in. I feel like an alien most of the time.
This is a set of pictures I took at the University of Toronto, for a change. They have a super nice campus too!
You can see the full set of the pictures taken in Toronto here.
 Toronto Skyline from the University |
 Tower |
 Blazon of the Arms |
 Orange Bike |
 Pumpkin Building (WTF?) |
 Hallway |
 Dome and CN Tower |
 Entrance to Courtyard |
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Construction Season
As the saying goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intention”. But for Canadians, the saying takes a very deep and literal meaning in the spring.
A popular Canadian joke claims that there are only two seasons in Canada: winter and construction. Indeed, after our long and harsh winters, crews of construction workers are dispatched all over Canada to tackle new projects, fix the roads and repair the many cracks in the pavement. A good intention, really. Yet, it is one that Canadians fear almost more than freezing rain and the perspective of losing the Stanley Cup to a US hockey team.
Each country has good intentions paving the way to hell. France’s is probably strikes – incidentally, “strikes and protests season” also starts early in the spring. There is always a strike going on somewhere but most are only worth a Gallic shrug. For instance, if you complain that you haven’t received your paycheck, the answer will invariably be “the cheque is in the mail”. Any further complain will be refuted as follow: “we posted it long time ago, but the Post Office may be on strike….” French are used to see part of their administrations and services working sporadically. It is not expected to be otherwise.
All in all, French only fear two kinds of strikes and protests: those affecting public transportations (trains and subways) and truck driver’s strikes. Transport strikes are big in terms on impact on users, especially in Paris where the population heavily relies on the subway and suburban trains. Besides, most – if not all – public transportation workers are unionized and are considered to have somewhat highly privileged work conditions, so support from the population can quickly wear out. Truck driver’s strikes have less of an immediate effect but can cripple the country in no time. They usually block supermarkets and gas supply, thus motivating the government to act quickly on the matter.
When it comes to the construction season, Canadians’ attitude is not unlike the French’s toward strike – a mix of despair, hope and resignation.
Despair is the best way to describe the feeling that crosses your mind when on one of the first sunny days of spring, you notice a bunch of orange signs and arrow scattered on the road. Most signs just say “detour” but you could swear they mock you: “you will never get to work on time, ah ah!” Construction sites appear to be totally random most of the time. For instance, on a long stretch of bumpy road, only a few square meters here and there will be patched. Yet, of course, the whole street will be closed for months.
For instance, I worked on the infamous Bank Street for almost four years. Every year, a portion of the street would be torn up and rebuilt, thus prompting the shut down one of Ottawa’s major downtown artery from April to October. Two weeks into the construction, we had no buses, no sidewalks and we were breathing dust for ten blocks. Businesses went bankrupt faster than the asphalt was sliced and getting to work became a daily challenge, even as a pedestrian. Yet, despite yearly pleas from local business associations and angry residents, construction on Bank Street invariably resumes every year. It actually became a fixture in Ottawa.
After despair comes hope. After all, construction crews are here for a reason – there is indeed plenty to fix. Bumpy roads are one of the stuffs Canadians don’t like and after winter, they can be downright dangerous. So Canadians figure it will just be a few months of misery, slow driving, road blocks, detours and one lane freeway. Yeah, you wish. Contrary to popular belief, Canada usually enjoys nice weather from May to October – so the construction season lasts for six months – half of the year. And no matter how well the roads are fixed, the job will have to be redone the following year.
To top it all off, the Harper government launched the Canada’s Economic Action Plan which aims, among other things, at “creating jobs through a massive injection of infrastructure spending”. But the measure is criticized: a lot of projects are said to be just ridiculous, like the replacement of door-knobs at the Parliament or the upgrade of water fountains. Still, I’m afraid we will see even more construction sites this year. Hopefully, it will at least help the economy…
Eventually, you know you reached resignation when you sigh to yourself “oh well, if Canadians like to destroy and rebuild random stretches of road, so be it”. I guess construction season is to Canada what strikes are to France – a cultural specialty.
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Canadian Souvenirs at a Busy Corner Store on Yonge Street (Toronto)
In North America, not spending money is almost a sin – what, don’t you want to help the economy? That’s probably why everything is conveniently set up so that people can shop anywhere, anytime.
In France, consumers have to abide by retailers’ will. Not so long ago, stores were closed between noon and 2 pm so that shopkeepers could go have a lengthy French lunch. Most stores still close at 7 pm, and by law on Sundays and for statutory holidays. There weren’t as many chain stores as well – if your favourite baker wanted to take a month off in August, he wasn’t going to hire employees to mind the store while he was away – he would just put a handwritten sign on the door, « fermé en août pour congés annuels”. Regular customers would show up in the evening to pick up their daily baguette and see the sign: “ah oui”, they would nod. “He took his August holidays”. If the bakery was really good, some would abstain from buying bread for the month of August. Indeed, it would be very awkward if the backup bakery would turn out to have better bread. In France, cheating on the baker is a sin, but enjoy it makes the sin worse.
This is not likely to happen in North America – at least not in cities. For a start, a lot of stores are chain stores. If your regular Subway is closed, you won’t shed a tear having to walk an extra block to get your sandwich fix. You will be served the exact same thing, no matter where you go. Besides, stores always seem to be open. Supermarkets close late at night and open early including on Sundays, some are even 24/7.
Whenever a statutory holiday is coming up, stores post their opening hours way ahead of time, as if apologizing for having to close for a day. The evening before the holiday in question, hundreds of people rush into supermarkets and stock up on non-perishable items such as chips, BBQ sauce, pops and frozen meals. It is as if the Germans are taking over the city. And the day after the holidays, when the wartime-like shopping restrictions are finally lifted, they shop their heart out, nostalgically remembering the day when they almost ran out of food.
But rest assured: in the worst case scenario, there are always corner stores, aka convenience stores. They are everywhere: under a block of apartments downtown or in the suburb, on the freeway, nearby landmarks and on empty stretches of roads. Convenience stores are here to sell items you are likely to run off of at ungodly hours, such as milk, cigarettes, toiletry products, gum, bread etc. There are one of the great things of North American life.
In France, the concept of the corner store doesn’t really exist, and certainly not in the form of chain stores such as 7/11. At most, in Paris, you can find what people unpolitically correctly call “l’arabe du coin” (the Arabic corner store). In other cities, you’d better not forget anything during your regular shopping trips: stores close early, period.
Convenience stores offer a fascinating cultural window on North America. First, the demographic: a large majority of convenience store employees seem to be relatively new immigrants, from all over the world. Sadly, the stereotype of the former engineer of doctor working as a shop clerk is just too often true. And while there is nothing wrong with owning a convenience store, I’m pretty sure that working there around the clock as an employee is not what most immigrants had in mind before they came to Canada.
Second, convenience stores best-seller items certainly tell a lot about the population’s tastes. While I can understand running out of milk and bread (two items that fit with my European taste), popular items such as jerky (marinated dry meat) and slushie (flavoured frozen drink) baffle me. However, you won’t be surprise to learn that a number of convenience stores have a Tim Horton’s kiosk inside — this Canadian addiction fits anywhere!
Convenience stores also tell a lot about a country’s way of living and pastimes. For instance, I rarely see people buying bus tickets (I always do), even though this is the most convenient place to get them. I guess Canada is a car culture country… However, every time I go to the convenience store, there is someone buying lottery tickets: Canada’s two national lotteries, Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max, are very popular. And God forbids you find yourself in line behind a lottery addict… validating tickets and picking new ones is a tedious process.
Hate them or love them, corner stores are part of North American life. I had some deeply weird philosophical conversations there. And they introduced me to a new country and a new lifestyle. For that alone, I’ll keep on stopping by once in a while.
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I think I finally found where Ottawa’s rebel youth is going to smoke pot and to talk about overpowering the government — at least, I like to think that if there is such a place, that’s where it is. Phew. I feel slightly relieved: at times, pretty Ottawa can seem a tad too polished and clean.
Not so far from Parliament hill, the Prince of Wales bridge is an old rail bridge that joins Ontario to Québec. As rail transport eventually diminished during the 20th century, it was abandoned. There are always talks of using it for a rail project that would connect to the existing O-Train but so far, the bridge remains unused.
I often drive on the Ottawa River Parkway and kept on noticing this old bridge. Eventually, we decided to go have a look. It is officially closed to the public but the door was open and frankly, I couldn’t care less about “danger” signs when I want to take pictures.
Urban decay is something I find fascinating – blame my French artistic upbringing. On top of having nice lines to use for photography, I love the colourful and somewhat witty graffiti on the pillars of the bridge. This place had a soul.
You can see the whole Ottawa Spring set here.
 Bridge Entrance |
 Spider Web |
 By The Water |
 Terrasse de la Chaudière |
 Across the Fence |
 Eat the Rich |
 Prince of Wales |
 Wise Advice |
 The Bridge |
 Drawing |
 What Ya say? |
 Train Tracks |
 Feng |
 Graffiti |
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Left Behind...?
Who doesn’t like free stuffs?
Free activities, free services, free goodies… it’s always good to take! Canadians are pretty generous, there are tons of free stuffs out there — you just have to find them. I put up a list of ten free-everything available in Ottawa.
Note that many of the finds here are also available in other cities across Canada, you don’t necessarily have to live in Ottawa to benefit from them… just look for something similar!
The library: I’m the freak who reads a book a day and I’m addicted to the library. But I have very good reasons for that. First, membership is free if you are a resident of Ottawa (it’s $50 if you live outside Ottawa). A library card allows you to borrow as many books, magazines and movies as you want, usually for three weeks. Public library branches also offer cardholders two hours per day at the computer workstation (with free Internet access and many programs), programs for newcomers (including language conversation groups and preparation for the citizenship test) and many other services, all that for free.
Visit the Parliament: Parliament Hill is one of the main landmarks in Ottawa – it’s kind of hard to miss the Peace Tower. But have you visited the Parliament? All tours and programs are free of charge. When the House is sitting, tours may be shorter so check the House of Commons calendar. You may visit the Centre Block and the East Block, go to the top of the Peace Tower and enjoy the view, see the Memorial Chamber, and have a look at the beautiful Parliament Library. Another fun activity to do is to sit in the public galleries and to attend Question Period.
City of Ottawa programs: the city of Ottawa regularly offers programs to improve the city and the country. For instance, the current TREE Program, mentioned by Guillermo a few days ago, aims at planting 100,000 trees in Ottawa by 2010. Ottawa residents can register for a free tree to plant on their property, and it will even be delivered right to your door. Other past campaigns and programs included free energy-efficient light bulbs, and I’m sure more programs will be promoted in the future.
Newcomers and employment services: the YMCA has employment counselling centers and programs. For instance, Job Connect helps people prepare for and find a new job, Second Career Strategy help recently laid-off workers to fit the local labour market, the Federal Public Sector Youth Internship program places young Canadians in federal organizations etc. Each of these programs has specific requirements but you will certainly find one that suits your needs. The YMCA also has a Newcomer Information Center staffed by multilingual employees who organize workshops, events and offer a library of resources.
Language test and language instruction: LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) provides free English/French language training for eligible individuals. You must be 18 years old or older, be a resident of Ontario and meet some immigration status criteria. This free service includes a benchmark assessment of your language skills (French or English) and a referral to LINC training programs (language classes that meet your needs).
Donation-based Internet access: National Capital Freenet is a not-for-profit community network owned and controlled by people living in the region. They offer a donation-based dial-up model access: you can either volunteer some time or make a donation of $5/ month to cover the coast of running the service. They also offer a high-speed DSL at $29.95/ month, which is very cheap for Canada. Their popular services also include email, webpage hosting, discussion groups and help for people new to the Internet.
Free learning materials: university is unfortunately pretty expensive in Canada and not everything has access to training at work. However, the Ottawa Public Library has a separate website, LearningExpress Library, offering all kind of learning materials online. For instance, you can take free TOEFL practice tests (this is an awesome tool considering how expensive TOEFL prep materials are!), prepare the Canadian citizenship test, improve your writing skills, learn how to create great resume and cover letters, take a business writing course, take a number of practice test to certified for a job (law enforcement, teaching, civil service…)… There are even “recursos para Hispanohablantes”! All you need to access these online resources is an Ottawa Public Library card.
A little bit of everything… free: in the “free” section of Kijiji, the popular local classified website, you can find a bit of everything: free doors, free phones, free rollerblades, free fridge… Plenty of people want to get rid of their stuffs all year long. But let’s face it, garage sales are not that fun in the middle of the winter – that’s where Kijiji comes in very handy. Just use common sense (i.e. if it’s too good to be true, it probably is…) and browse often for great finds.
Reading magazines at Chapters: Chapters is a large Canadian bookstore chains. They invariably offer a large magazine section as well as thousand of books and pride themselves on being somewhat cozy. You can often grab a coffee at Starbucks and use the chairs and couches inside the store – yes, Chapters does not discourage the reading of books inside the store! I love to go there once a week to read the French magazines I wouldn’t otherwise buy (imported stuffs are expensive!).
A free Canadian flag: and not just any flag, but one of the three flags that has flown on Parliament Hill. The government of Canada is regularly packaging and mailing the flags that have flown on top of the Peace Tower, and on the East and West blocks of the Parliament. To qualify, you must live have a mailing address in Canada. All you have to do is submit a request to Public Works and Government Services Canada. One caveat: the waiting list is rather long… 27 years for the Peace Tower flag and 19 years for the East and West blocks flags!
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Yes, it’s this time of the year again: tulips have taken over the city and dozen of tour bus are parked in front of the Parliament and at Dow’s Lake. People are desperate for colors after our long white winters!
Being my usual counterculture self, I actually went to take pictures on a cloudy day, ten days before the festival began. I noticed the flowers bloomed very early this year, plus flower pictures are better taken on cloudy days (clouds act like a natural light filter and colors don’t look as saturated). It got very cold over the weekend: strong wind, subzero temperatures and even “thundersnow” on Saturday night. I wonder what’s left of the poor tulips now…
Every year, it’s a challenge to find new angles. I hate taking the same boring shots. But I must say I’m quite pleased with this year’s pictures. Okay, I stop congratulating myself and let you judge by yourself!
You can see the full set of the pictures taken at the 2010 Tulips Festival here.
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Morning Lipstick Ritual
In my previous French life, there was one thing I would never forget before going to school in the morning, no matter how sleepy I was: to put make-up on. I’ve never been too high-maintenance, so most mornings, the routine was eyeliner, eye shadow and mascara. I fought hard with my parents for the right to put make-up on when I was in my very early teens and I intended to use that right fully. Pretty much all of my friends wore make-up (including some guys, but that’s another matter). I felt naked without it, I felt grown-up and mature with it.
Fast forward a few years. When I came to Canada for good in 2004, I brought my French products. Creams, nail polishes, lipsticks, gloss, mascara, eye-shadow, pencils… It’s not that I didn’t trust Canadian products – I was comfortable with mine.
However, I soon faced a few problems. First, if there was ever a place where make-up is not practical, that place is Canada. In summer, it’s extremely hot and humid – runny mascara on sweaty skin, anyone? And in winter, I was slightly concerned that it would literally freeze on my skin. Don’t laugh unless you have already experienced going outside with slightly wet hair, aka frozen hair.
My skin changed too. The Ottawa Valley is extremely wet according to Canadians. However, to me, because I grew up by the seaside in a very rainy city, the air was unbearably dry. My skin didn’t like it. While it had always been normal or even slightly oily, it started to peel in the winter. Glamorous, isn’t it? I would apply some of my precious French cream and my thirsty skin would absorb it in no time. I began to understand why my local drugstore stocked so much Vaseline cream. Eventually, I had to switch to alcohol-free creams to avoid looking like Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street.
All that didn’t bother me so much because Canadian women seemed to have different beauty obsessions than French. I noticed that women here don’t wear as much makeup. A little bit of lipstick or gloss maybe, or some eye shadow and mascara, but it’s very subtle (unless they are teens – but again, French teens tend to overdo it too). They may even skip it altogether.
However, North American women seem to focus much more on their hair for instance. This is something I had never ever cared about, as long as it’s healthy. I had long hair, short hair, red hair and I even had my friends cut my hair. Haircuts were for when I felt a bit down, mostly because I absolutely love having my hair washed. In France, straightforward haircuts averaged 20 €. But in Ottawa, haircuts generally start at $50, plus tax, plus tips… And North American women style their hair a lot: brushings, hair straightening, complicated buns… In France, the out-of-the-bed messy hairstyle is not designed by fancy hairstylists but courtesy of being too lazy to style.
Manicures and pedicures are also much more popular on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. There are salons everywhere and it is pretty affordable. Now, that’s a North America beauty obsession I embrace: relaxing for an hour on a comfortable massage chair while someone do my nails is bliss. Although I don’t understand what is so “French” in a French manicure… oh, wait, it is because they are designed to resemble natural nails? So why not grow natural nails in the first place?
And this is one major difference between North American women and French. North Americans tend to think that everything can be fixed and improved. Having small lips call for lip plumper or even cosmetic lips augmentation for fuller lips. Big breasts equal breast reduction surgery and small breasts, breasts augmentation surgery. Unwanted hair cannot just be shaved (God forbids!) or waxed, it calls for laser hair removal. Thin limbs? Work out at the gym and grow some muscles. Unhappy with your weight? Tons of crash diets to go on, plus pills, slimming products and various cosmetic procedures.
Meanwhile, French have nonchalant attitudes towards their body and laissez-faire is a way of life: embrace your imperfections for that are part of your personality. I think that ultimately, this is still my philosophy. I’m not perfect, I know it, but I love it.
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