Leifs Braindump
Here’s a little video of me, playing the largest of my bamboo flutes. This was hand crafted by an amazing flute maker, namely Erik Sampson. It’s has beautiful custom design of old Norwegian pattern carvings and runes. Erik runs a nonprofit organization, Flutemaker Ministries, helping homeless children in Nicaragua with the money he earns on making flutes. Make a donation by purchasing a flute! They make great gifts too!
It’s been a while since my last post! The biggest news since the last update is that I’ve found and moved into a more permanent apartment. It’s a nice 4 1/2 in the downtown area. We’ve got some huge windows so, if you ever walk up Sherbrooke and feel like you’re being watched – you probably are! The apartment is still kinda’ empty though… I’ll post some pictures once we get everything straightened out.
Other than that, the daily routines have started to fall into place. I know where to go to get what I need and I’m starting to become more comfortable with the city in general. For instance; we found this awesome, old diner called Dusty’s where we eat breakfast every Sunday morning. Also, I start learning French next week! I’m guessing it will keep me busy for a while. After learning Russian I don’t think it’ll be too hard.
I finally got around to importing my photo archive, which consists of some 25 thousand RAW format images, into Aperture. Let’s just say; it took a while to import and clean up all those projects but now, it’s finally done! Here are some pictures from my first few weeks in Montreal! Some from the Montreal Tamtams, Parc Lafontaine (where we were feeding the squirrels) and some pictures of my temporary apartment at LaCité. More to come!
PS: Click a picture to make it bigger and see a brief description of each image. You can also leave comments on each individual image if you’d like.
I’ve been in Montreal for a little more than one week now. It’s awesome! Loving this city more, every waking day! Even though this first week was mostly about getting settled at work, getting a Social Insurance Number, signing up for Medicare, setting up bank accounts, getting a Canadian cellphone number and looking at apartments, I still had time to see the city and meet some new people!
Last Sunday, I went to The Montreal Tamtams, the worlds largest (?) drum circle. I had heard about it before I came to Montreal and really wanted to go. Since it’s now late September, it’s not that big (since it’s getting colder) but I really enjoyed it! The weather was perfect and we met some friendly Norwegian students there. I should say though; if you’re scared of the magic dragon, you probably shouldn’t get to close to where the drummers are sitting.
Another place I’ve visited a few times now is a bar called Le Divan Orange, where they have a lot of indie bands and musicians performing. There’s a lot of talent between those walls! We’ve also been eating out a lot, mostly on Saint-Laurent Street. I had the most amazing smoked meat sandwich at this legendary place called Schwartz’s, which is supposedly the oldest deli in Canada. Thank you Jeff for revealing this pearl! During the day, the wait can be really long but it’s so worth it! I recommend going there early in the morning. Be sure to visit those two places if you ever find yourself in Montreal!
Yesterday, Michael and I were at the top of Mont-Royal and we got to see Old Montreal, thanks to my friend Filip who was driving us around town, showing us all the sights. That day really gave me a nice “overview” of the city. I also found some shops that I’ve been wishing for in Norway for a long time. For instance; American Apparel, an official Moog store, some really cool second hand and antique stores, as well as a lot of nice cafés, restaurants and bars.
Oh, and I have ordered my new MacBook Pro, which should arrive some time next week. I haven’t bothered to import any pictures to the computer I use for work and hence, no pictures on the blog. Expect to see some pictures and more frequent updates once I get my new laptop!
Rumour has it that I’m leaving Norway for greener pastures. Well, it’s true and it’s finally official! On the 10th of September, my flutes and I will be sailing through the puffy clouds, over the Norwegian fjords and mountains in a winged contraption, conceptually similar to the one the Wright brothers made fly in 1903. Our destination, you ask? Canada! More precisely, the City of Montréal in the province of Québec. Now you ask; what in Heimdalls name am I doing in Canada?! Basically, as announced in todays press release, Funcom is opening a new development studio in Montreal and I have the pleasure to be amongst the early settlers. Awesome! All I can say is; dibs on the good desks by the window, next to the coffee machine!
Also, thanks to my grandfather, I now have an amazingly detailed record of our family’s history, which is another strong motivating factor for me to move to Canada. This is a great opportunity for me to familiarize with my roots! The eldest link we have (so far) is Michel Haché dit Gallant, born 1663 in Trois Rivieres, St. Laurence Valley. Hopefully, I will be able to dig even deeper.
Exerpt from Michels biography: “Michel acted as the police or “peace officer” at Beaubassin. In 1684, on orders of the Sieur de la Valliere, Michel arrested Jean Campagna, accused of sorcery by the inhabitants of Beaubassin. He established his residence at Port-Lajoie (Charlottetown) where he was harbor master and practised his trade as navigator and a carpenter. In 1724, he was captain of the schooner La Miscoudine, which brought to Louisbourg the Sieur de Beaucour, lieutenant governor of Ile-Royale (Cape Breton) …”
As a summary, I leave Norway with mixed emotions, where excitement and wistfulness dominate, with all the complimentary undertones. I will undoubtedly miss my family, friends and my beautiful home country! That said, I am very much looking forward to working in a new environment, meeting new people, exploring a new country, getting to know my roots, learning French, etc. Whatever the outcome, I’m sure it will be a great learning experience! So, Canada – here I come!
Many people have asked me why I choose to spend my summer vacation in Moscow this year. Honestly, I don’t know exactly why myself. I went there to study the language but also to see the city, have fun and meet new people. As for the language, I just like the sound of it and it’s relatively widespread and usable. Russian is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn because of the heavy grammar so, I guess I saw a challenge in it. In any case, it was a good opportunity to break the pattern and flip the cards for a while. I have to stir things up once in a while to stay on top of things.
So, how was my trip? I’ll try to break it down for you. The places I spent most of my time, the things I found interesting, fun and different. I promised this summary a long time ago so I apologize for the delay. I have been very busy with miscellaneous projects and preparing for upcoming events lately. On a positive note; as soon as things start to settle down, I’ll have plenty of things to write about again that might actually interesting for a change!
The Institute
The institute was founded in 1966 and goes by the name The Pushking State Russian Language Institute (Государственный институт русского языка им. А.С.Пушкинa.) I attended a 4 week international summer course, which consisted of 96 academic hours. We had classes on weekdays from 09:30 to 15:00, except Wednesday when we went on organized excursions. It was a fairly large institute, much larger than I had imagined! There was a bar, a grocery/general goods store, a library, a sports hall and a little gym on campus – everything in the same building. I can’t say for sure how many students were there since they were checking in and out at all hours of the day. (You can read more about the institute on their website.)
For those who are interested in the institute, it’s worth mentioning that that the Russian gouvernment offers scholarships to foreign students who wish to study in Russia. Check with the Russian embassy in your country if you are eligible to apply! I didn’t know about that before I applied so, I payed for everything myself. That said, it was very cheap but the standards matched the price to the penny; everything “holding” water was leaky, the paint was literally falling from the walls and ceiling and the dormitory building was basically a haven for cockroaches. If you’re able to see past the low standard, unnecessary bureaucracy and cumbersome safety measures, the school wasn’t all that bad! The people, the quality of education and the endless amount of sights in Moscow made up for that, ten folds.
The Language
I must emphasize, the classes were great! I really feel that I learned a lot, although the course was heavily focused on grammar. At first, I really didn’t like their academic approach but now I see that it made a lot of sense. I can construct sentences now, as long as I look up the words that I need. Memorizing words is a lot easier to do by yourself, as opposed to teaching yourself the grammar from scratch. You will also pick up a lot of words and phrases passively as you use the language.
I definitely feel that I have a good foundation to build on now and I’ll try to maintain what I have learned. The best way of learning Russian would obviously be to live in Russia for a longer period of time. Unfortunately, that’s not an option for me. Seeing how my situation has changed a lot since I decided to learn Russian, I’m not sure if it makes sense for me to continue. Right now, I feel like flavouring of a few other languages.
The City
Moscow is in many ways the most beautiful cities I have seen! The architecture is truly amazing. There’s always something new to see and something new to experience, ranging from art exhibitions and green parks to a pulsating nightlife. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of noisy clubs and discos so I didn’t see a lot of those, but from what I heard they’re supposed to be world class. On the other hand, I did visit some great bars and cafés! There’s something for everyone. It’s one of those cities where I think you could visit a new place every day, for the rest of your life. If you manage to get bored in Moscow, you’re probably suffering from some sort of undocumented mental condition.
Moscow is also one of the easies cities to get around in, thanks to the excellent metro system, the buses and the insane amount of private “taxis.” It’s very cheap to get around as well! Just be sure to breath with your mouth on the metro as the smell can really give you a punch in the face some times. You should probably be careful when using the private taxis. Any of firearms, blunt objects or alcoholic beverages on your drivers dashboard is probably a bad sign. Also, be sure to agree on the price before you get into the car or they will likely try to rape your wallet.
The People
Of all the things I experienced in Moscow, the new people were my favorite. I met a lot of interesting people at the institute, from all parts of the world. A minor downside might be that I didn’t get to know any locals since I spent most of my time with the other students. We ended up speaking English most of the time, which obviously won’t help you learn Russian. In any case, I made a lot of new acquaintances as well as some really good friends in Moscow, which alone was worth the trip. It comes to show that, regardless of the circumstances, your happiness boils down to the people you spend your time with.
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