One advantage of being in North America is that it doesn’t cost inordinate sums of money to bring famous intellectuals to speak to an audience. So while the Jewish community finds itself with one esteemed guest after another here, and I heard from Adin Steinsaltz a couple of weeks ago (he came to Sydney last year but I missed him), tonight I had the opportunity to hear Elie Wiesel speak. The holocaust survivor, acclaimed author, social activist, Boston University professor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate lectured and took questions on the topic of “Building a moral society: the urgency of hope”. (more…)
A couple of weeks ago (yes, this post is late) Keren for the first time experienced a real party for All Hallows Eve. Invited by a British exchange student and, although in Sydney, found herself surrounded only by foreigners in much more elaborate dress (after all, she also has Purim to dress up on) and pumpkins cut like from a cartoon. Halloween’s simply not a big deal in Australia, and you don’t realise what you’re missing, or not. (more…)
Not really in Montreal. It’s been raining for the past week or so, but rarely more than what I’d think of as heavy sprinkling. Still, people here don’t like this weather. Waking up to look out at a white sky and slippery streets of wet, yellow-brown maple leaves and people making their way around in rain coats, and everything tinted with grey. I personally think it’s much nicer than Sydney’s rain, which comes suddenly, heavily, or sloshes on for days in thick droplets, when it isn’t coming down in torrents. It’s not that cold here, either… yet.
It’s getting to a few weeks into my studies and I haven’t written anything about some of the exciting things I’m learning. Okay, so exchange students are typically not meant to actually go to their classes, but I’ve seemed to go to most so far… (more…)
I haven’t run out of things to say. I sometimes seem to have run out of time to say them. Or maybe I’ve just found overly effective forms of procrastination. And my life here is less made up of events than of themes and relationships, so is harder to pull apart and capture in neat written entries.
In my second week in Montreal, I received a phonecall. (more…)
The long-awaited chronicles from my first week or so in Montreal are finally here…
Once again, I had little sleep on an overnight bus-ride. (more…)
So it was the 24th day of August when I landed in Toronto. Having had very little sleep, I also had a headache. And big bags. I had called the residence in which I would be staying (thanks to Simi) and spoke to Granny before the plane took off, seeing as I would no longer have any mobile phone reception after takeoff. A lift from someone I randomly met at the airport (after playing a game of Jewish geography with a few common acquaintences from Toronto and Sydney) helped me get to their place, only the car left before I realised that the note on the door instructed me to call Granny if I wanted to get in. Of course there was no way to do that. So, on the porch, with my bags beside me, I ate a classic lunch of Brooklyn bagels and avocado and wondered (through my headache) what next. (more…)
I will yet tell you all about my adventures in NYC and Toronto, but figure I should update you at least with a phone number. I had decided my prepaid plan and turned up to Fido Wireless in downtown Montreal today at about 4:45. I was a little confused for a while, not sure how to interpret all the people standing around and the two ticket queues labeled in French. After a while I realised these queues were going very slowly and I had better take a ticket, and also identified “service technique” as not something I needed. So I joined a queue, number 318. They were up to 241 or so. I waited some time, and decided waiting was a waste of time, so I went and did some shopping, dragged it back to my room, and at 7pm hurried back to Fido. They were up to 315. I still needed to wait 10 minutes before being served, but I finally got a number.
And here it is (call me!): +1 514 6594 506.
For those of you who are extraordinarily attentive, the last 6 numbers are the same as on my mobile phone in Sydney. A box from Sydney has also arrived in Montreal as I have, so I will soon have a mic to Skype with, among other things, so please catch me there (it’s a lot cheaper than the phonecall).
