Secret Thrills of YYZ

Allo mes amis!

Non non.

I have been writing so many emails in French that my brain is turning into mushy French blah blah blah. On the plus side, ecrire-ing many emails in the French has resulted in a temporary home for me.

Places to live are good.

Now I'm in the Toronto Airport, paying astronomical prices to access the vast, vast interweb, confirming my "chambre meublee" (furnished room).

I had a window seat descending into Toronto. It was actually pretty just outside of the city, the quilt of fields, and many trees sprouting (or losing, I suppose) leaves coloured of fire. I also enjoy flying over the ... sigh... not Queensway *thinks intensely* the 401. It's such a smattering of roads and concrete. Lanes of traffic everywhere, overpasses, merge lanes, it thrills the wee geek inside of me that so desperately wanted to be an engineer (specifically to design roller coasters).

I also like flying into Toronto because you can actually *see landmarks*. (At least when flying from the east.) You can see the CN Tower, Roger's Center/Skydome, tall buildings, Toronto Island, etc. It always disappointed me when flying into Orlando that you see... nothing. At least nothing of note considering how many interesting things are scattered throughout the former swamp.

Things of note in Ottawa: a bus "98" exists. Charlene and I rode on it. Had never seen it before. I bought a new camera (but still love my old, broken-zoom camera). I spoke French to Brother's Girlfriend's Mother. She appeared to understand what I was saying. I understood what she was saying [she was intentionally speaking slowly]. I was relieved as after eavesdropping on other French conversations I freaked out about understanding... nothing. Except prepositions. ("Oh, she is something something IN THE something something. How joyous!")

Goals for tomorrow: try not to make an ass out of myself (okay, maybe a little bit), don't miss my train, hope immigration loves me and gives me no hassle, purchase amazing map of Aix, learn ten new French words, AND REMEMBER THOSE FRENCH WORDS. Perhaps even use them in conversation at some point?

Goal for Saturday: purchase amazing bike and begin foray into French culture by biking while carrying a baguette and puppy dog. Not get too lost more than four times. Try not to cry when so lost that I wind up in Spain. (Just kidding! Who would EVER cry about being in SPAIN?)

I watched Big Fish w/ Charlene last night. It's so hard to describe how that movie makes me feel... special and wonderful. I think it should make everyone feel special and wonderful, and realise the love that exists in the world among family, friends, co-workers, EVERYONE.

So that's it folks. Au revoir Canada! Je voyagerai a la France en une heure. Time to write another chapter :)