Well, this is it. It's been exactly one month since I first graced Montreal with my presence. So, how are things going, you ask? Well, guess what, even if you didn't ask, I'm still gonna tell you!

Things I'm getting used to:

1) The cold - I'm getting used my thighs and butt freezing everytime I step outside the house. I'm getting used to those really cold, painful days when the nasal bones in my head start to freeze. I'm getting used to breathing being painful in extreme circumstances (for example, the one morning when I had to walk ten minutes uphill to school at 8am and it was -23 degrees before windchill... my lungs were in some major pain.)

2) The cold inside the house - Heating bills in the winter can get so high, especially in a place with wood floors and large windows with no curtains. Thus the heat is kept at 15 degrees when we're home, and about 12 when we're not, or at night. I've gotten used to wearing at least two pairs of socks in the house and a large fleece hoody (my jedi knight one, for those of you who know it). I've also gotten used to dragging a fleece blanket with me everywhere, and sleeping under a duvet, a fleece blanket, and a quilt.

3) The rudeness - In Victoria, if you're entering a building, usually the person in front of you will hold the door open. Not so in Montreal. The worst are the guys who have their girlfriends with them. They hold the door for their girls and then slam it, almost purposefully, in your face. No one makes eye contact on the streets, and everyone pushes past everyone else. I've learned to keep my head down and my elbows out.

4) The drivers - The safest time to cross the road is on a red light. I'm serious. Traffic cannot make right hand turns on red lights. Most of the streets in town are one-way. If you try to cross on the green light, you have to battle the turning traffic, which is always impatient and tries its best to run you over. By far the safest time to cross is, instead, when the light is red and there is no cross-traffic. I dread the day that they allow drivers to turn right on red lights...

5) The inefficiency - I was in a store the other day. I picked up what I wanted off of the shelf and had to take it to the saleperson behind the counter. He handwrote up a receipt for me, and calculated the tax by hand (making several mistakes and corrections along the way). I then had to take this receipt to the cashier, a woman reading a sci-fi novel who glared at me and sighed loudly when she had to put it down to ring my purchase through. I paid there, and then had to take *that* receipt back to the first counter (waiting in another lineup to do so) to collect my purchase. He then hand-filed my receipts. The funny thing is, is that all places are like this. Major department stores are a little better, but there they have no concrete lineups at cashiers, causing dissent and pushiness.

6) Salt crystals forming in the treads of my boots, and all along the bottom of my pants. No explanation needed. Just weird.

7) Good roads vs. bad roads - Montreal, although recently being voted into a super-city much like Toronto, is still plowed individually by the separate communities. Walking along Rue Ste. Jaques on my way into town, I've learned that it's best to walk on the north side of the street. Why? Well, the north side is plowed by the district of West Mount, while the south side is plowed by the city of Montreal. West Mount does a much better job. (As an aside, it's also cheaper for your car insurance to live in West Mount. L&B have friends who moved three blocks from West Mount into Montreal, and their car insurance went up by $300/year.)

8) Speaking in a pidgeon mixture of English and French. Again, no explanation needed. Just how the city is.

9) Cigarette smoke - Coming home smelling like smoke whenever I've been out anywhere (mall, restaurant, etc.)

Things I like about the city:

1) The metro - Quick. Easy. You don't need to talk to any damned bus drivers or anything. Annonymous. They run every ten minutes during the slowest periods, every few minutes during peak rush hour. No long waits. And it's $1.50 to get on the metro, and then you get a bus pass to take you further if you choose. Good system. Well-labled too. Clear. Easy to use. Two thumbs up!

2) Omer DeSerres - I've gone on about this store to a few people. It's a huge art and crafts store. I love it.

3) The little veggie places - Shopping here can be a pain in the ass, since supermarkets are not the best deal. However, there are these little fruit and veggie stores all along the main drag that sell nice produce incredibly cheaply. My favourite are the Washington Gala apples, for ninety-nine cents a kilo. They're almost twice that in Victoria, and they're from Washington, dammit! All colours of pepper are also that price.

4) The variety in food - Many many ethnic food groups that we don't get in Victoria. Yummy. And cheap.