though i'm more than 8 hours away by car, i was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Now Canada's biggest city, Toronto is home to about 4 million people (i think). and it is now undergoing a strike of all of its outdoor workers.

i'm actually quite happy that toronto is undergoing this strike, and i think it would be beneficial for all cities to see the same thing. why? because there is no garbage pickup. and so people are dumping their garbage in the streets... in parks... everywhere. and it's not disappearing. it's just sitting there, smelling for everyone to see.

i'm happy that toronto is going through this garbage strike because it forces people in toronto to realize how much garbage they produce. i know for a fact that since i was a schoolchild, we were always taught that if all the garbage was taken from the city from a single day and put in one place, it would fill a soccer stadium. it's one thing to know such a thing conceptually, it's another to wake up every morning and go to sleep every night having to see and smell what it is actually like.

maybe toronto will be wiser with its trash from now on.

hsc
from Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

Salut!!

Hier, j'ai arrivé à Trois-Rivières (une ville entre Montréal et Québec). Je commence une programme française a l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

Here, the keyboards are different. More buttons, and a mysterious "AltCar" key that I need to use to make the "@" sign. Bizarre.

Today is the introduction to the program. Tonight we have a party where we officially begin the immersion... no more English (or Spanish, or any language other than French) for the next five weeks.

What would one do without e-mail?

What impressed me the most was how little I packed before I came over. One surplus army duffle bag (formerly belonging to my uncle. It's from the Taiwanese army... I wonder what Chinese people think when they see me with it walking down the street) and a pair of rollerblades.

One thing that I've realized for this trip... it's quite prudent to pack a large piece of cloth... I recently acquired this very large cloth that probably measures six feet by six feet (uh... about 3 metres squared?). Very useful... it can be used as a blanket, to make sure things don't move around too much in your bag, a mat to sit on outside... very cool.

What attracted me to this program is that its workshops (which will all be in French) includes an environment workshop. It looks very interesting.

In store for me: French fluency... it should prove to be fun.

À la prochaine...

after a two hour bus ride from Montreal's Concordia University, we arrived in Ottawa for the mass demonstration that was to coincide with the G8 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta. Unlike what I had seen in the news of the FTAA protests in Quebec City last april, the police were not dressed in riot gear, though they were numerous. A friend of mine, who was at Quebec City, noted the difference. A row of uniformed policemen, simply having thier faces open and exposed, made a noticeable difference.

The demonstration was a peaceful.

Something struck me this morning as i was waiting for the bus to Ottawa... those waiting with me were not white 20-somethings often depicted in the media, but a mix of young and old from all ethnicities. There was also a major difference in how the media portrayed the demonstrators. Instead of 'anti-globalization protestors' they were 'anti-G8 protestors'. The streets were also lined with volunteer police liasons, with observers to ensure that the right to peaceful protest was maintained, and demonstrators themselves booed and dissuaded anarchists from clashing with policemen when such provocations seemed likely.

On the other hand, I don't think I've ever been filmed this much in one day. Every cluster of police had with them at least one officer videotaping the demonstrators. Though disconcerting, some protestors took this as a sign to wave.

I do wonder, though: of the thousands of demonstrators in Ottawa and Calgary over the past few days, how many work to be the change that they so desire?

Thoughts and ramblings...

Hey there. This is my first shot at this updating thing.

It's 12:11 am. I'm supposed to be packing. But instead, I'm procrastinating - it's not just a skill... it's an art.

I move this sunday to a place on Plateau Montreal. Once a place for students and the underpaid, the Plateau has, in recent years, become rather trendy. In fact, Montreal itself has become very trendy. Whereas finding an apartment three years ago was easy (one had the choice of two or three places to pick from), over the past few years, it's been near impossible to find anywhere to live, and rents have skyrocketed to the point where landlords are being paid thousands of dollars under the table. Bizarre.

How does that happen? I find it extremely interesting that trends that used to only attract the poor and the thrifty become... well... trendy, and the prices for these commodities increase dramatically.

Take lofts, for instance. A loft apartment used to be just for the poor artist and student. Now everyone is looking for a loft. Rather bizarre. The same goes for the city of Montreal. I remember hearing people whose rents were less than $300 per month. Not it's not uncommon for the price to be up to $500 or more.

A la fin de cette semaine, je vais aller au Trois-Rivières, une petite ville entre Montréal et Québec. Je serai là pour une programme française. J'espère que je vais être bilangue après cette programme... plus que je suis maintenant.

I know that my grammar is horrible. So give me a break.

I encourage everyone who is interested in Sustainable Development and the Environment to contact me. I'm always looking for friends and acquiantances. But for now, stick to the English and the français... I can't really read Chinese just yet... =)

hsc