２９歳けどまた学生になった

今週の月曜からフランス語学校に 行き始まった。　かなり大きい学校でビックリした、教室は３０個ぐらいもあって、学生は３００人以上が居ると思う。　知らなかったけど、フランス語だけ じゃなく英語も教える学校なんだ。　一日目の朝はレベル調べるテストを受けて、皆それぞれ自分に合ってるレベルのクラスへ行く。　レベルは全部８つがあっ て、クリッシーは絶対レベル１だと思ったがなぜかレベル２に行かれて・・。とにかくすっげーーー難しい！！NHKを見るだけ勉強したが、文法まったく勉強 してなかった！毎日長い間フランス語聞いて頭痛い！自分の話してるヘタクソフランス語聞いて自分も頭痛いｗｗｗ　日本語学校行った時韓国人だらけみたい な、なぜならモントリオールはブラジル人だらけ！　ブラジル人は超元気で、常にサンバパーティみたいｗｗｗ　しかもブラジル人すっげーフランス語上 手・・・全然追いつけないorz 同じクラスに日本人の子が居るけど、学校にルールがあって、学校にフランス語と英語以外の言語話すのが禁止されてるから、まったく日本語の話ができない！ 　

とりあえずカルチャーショックとかはないけど、エージショックが・・。半分以上の学生は自分より１０歳も年下？　最初の日はある日本の子と仲良くなった で、後で年を聞いたら１９歳ｗｗｗ　本当に大学に戻った気がするｗ　大体の人はこっちにホームステーしながら英語とフランス語にいい環境で言語の勉強をし てる。　でもあたしと同じシチュエーションの人とは出会った。UKから来た女の人は３０代で彼氏がここだからモントリオールに引越ししてきて、同じ状況だ から心強いので仲良くなったよ＾＾

あと、先週末はシルバンと川の隣にインライン行ってきた！　マジであたしすごい下手ｗｗｗ　街でスケートするのはリングでやるより倍に難しい・・・とにか く、ダウンヒルがあるとすっげー怖い！！　まぁ、下手でも楽しかった。　う～ん、もっと練習しないとね。　レンタルしたけど今度スケート買わなきゃ！　写真はここにアップした。

So I started going to school to study French from Monday. I was surprised to find that the school is actually quite big. There are almost 30 classrooms and probably more than 300 students. I didn't know before but they teach not only French but English as well. The first day we had a placement test to find out our levels and which class we should be in. There are 8 levels in total. I thought I will definitely be in level 1 but somehow they put me in level 2. Anyhow its REALLY REALLY hard!! I only studied French by watching NHK and I never studied any French grammar. Everyday listening to French all day long and my own broken French really gives me a headache! When I went to study Japanese in Tokyo my class was full of Koreans, and somehow the classes here are full of Brazilians! Brazilians are so full of energy it feels like a samba party in class all the time! And the Brazilians, man, their French are really good! I can't catch up at all. There is a Japanese girl in the same class as me, but there is a rule in school that you can't speak any other language except English and French, so I never even talk to the Japanese people in Japanese!

Anyway I don't really have any culture shock but more like age shock. More than half of the students are 10 years younger than me lol. On the first day I befriended with this Japanese girl and then I found out that she's 19! I feel like I'm back in college again! Most people come study here in an English and French speaking environment while doing homestay. But I did meet a lady who is in the same situation as me. She's in her 30s and moved to Montreal because of her boyfriend. It's great to have a friend that is in the same situation as yourself.

Also last week I went inline skating with Sylvain by St. Laurent river! Man, I suck!! Skating on the streets is so much harder than skating in a ring... downhill is REALLY scary!! Well I sucked but still had a lot of fun. I gotta practice more. We rented last time but I will probably buy my own skates! I uploaded the pictures here.

車買ったぜ！

１６階のマンションはゲットして、来週末はEAパパマンションから引っ越すのに、家具がベッド以外なにもないので、そろそろ家具買いに行かなきゃと思っ て。　先週末は電車に乗ってIKEAに行こうとしたら、それからバスに乗ろうとしたら、IKEA行くのバスは週末やってないので、激寒さの中歩こうとした ら迷っちゃって途中でギヴアップしたorz　東京みたいな電車でどこでも行けると思うのは甘かった。 他にも色々ムカついたのでそこで絶対車買うのを決心した。

とにかくクリッシーは車買うなら日本ブランドしか買わない主義ですｗ あたしは基本的トヨタが好きけど、シルバンはマツダ好きで。　トヨタならハイブリッドのPRIUSがいいなぁと思うけど、ハイブリッド車はまだ高いね。昔 持ってた大好きなセリカは狭いスポーツカーだからスノボにはちょっとやりにくいかと思って。　色々見てから、マツダのMAZDA 3 SPORTがスノボにぴったりそうな便利なカッコいい車と思う。　

次の日はあるマツダの売り場に車を見に行った。値段を見たらエアコンやクルーズコントロールも欲しいだったら SPORT が結構高くなってしまう。 (カナダの車はヒーターがスタンダードだけどエアコンが追加しないと普通付いてないみたい)　普通のMAZDA 3 の GS モデルならそういう全部付いても SPORT より安いで、車の形もカッコいいと思う。テストドライブしていい感じだったのでそれにするとした。

その次の日は別のマツダ売り場に行って、そっちの方が少し安いので、そこで交渉成立しました！　車は来週ぐらい届くから、超楽しみだわ！！　クリッシーは マニュアルシフトの車の運転はそんなに経験ないから、練習しなきゃ！　残念ながらシルバンはその車はヒール・アンド・トーができなさそうと言ってたｗ

やっと二日前からマイナスから気温が順調に上がってます。つーか今日は１６度ですっごく暑かった！ モントリオールは天気よくなってすごくキレイ～！！　昨日は一人で旧モントリオールという地域に歩いてて、St. Laurent川の隣にアイス食べました。すごく気持ちよかった～～ (一番小さいのレギュラーサイズ頼んだらなぜかものすごいデカくて^^;)　この一週間の写真はここにアップしました　(o*゜∇゜)o〜♪

Since we got the apartment on the 16th floor we have not gotten anything here besides a bed, and we are supposed to move out of the condo EA rented us by next week! We tried to go to IKEA last weekend with the subway and the bus, but somehow the bus schedule was so confusing, we just found out that the bus line we needed to take don't operate on weekends. So we started walking in the freezing snowy weather, got lost and gave up. I was too naive to think that you can get anywhere like the trains in Tokyo. Anyway there were a lot of times when not having a car really started to get annoying so we made up our mind to buy a car.

Anyway if I was buying a car I will only choose to buy Japanese cars. Personally I've always liked Toyotas, while Sylvain liked Mazdas. I thought that the Prius would be a nice car for the environment, but Hybrid cars are still expensive and out of the budget. The old Celica that I had was a 2 door sport car so it would be harder to take it snowboarding. After some searching I thought the Mazda 3 Sport is a cool looking car that would be perfect for snowboarding.

The next day we went to a Mazda Dealer to look at the cars. After we compared the prices the Mazda 3 sport would be a lot pricier if we wanted air conditioning and cruise control (it seems that Canadian cars come standard with heaters but air conditioning is considered as extra) The Mazda 3 GS model which comes with everything is still cheaper than the Sport 3 that doesn't come with anything. The shape of the car is really cool too. We test drove it and it was great so that's the car we decided to go with!

The day after that we went to another Mazda dealer and this place is a little bit cheaper so we made the deal there! The car will be here next week, I can't wait!! I don't have that much experience driving a manual shifting car so I better practice. Sylvain said we can't do a heel and toe on this car! darn it!

It's finally starting to warm up since 2 days ago. It was 16 degrees C today and it was warm! It's SUPER nice here in Montreal, when its warm. Yesterday I went to Vieux-Montreal by myself and ate ice cream by the St. Laurent river! It was so nice! (I ordered the smallest regular size, but it was huge!!) I uploaded the pictures I took this week here!

Big differences between neighboring countries

I was just eating lunch by myself at the center-ville of downtown Montreal today, and I thought to myself, what a wonderful city Montreal is and peaceful country Canada is.

Nobody comes to bother you, or ask you for money, or try to steal your purse while you eat your lunch peacefully. I went to the gym yesterday and this guy tapped me on the shoulder and I stared at him alarmingly thinking he might be up to no good. He pointed on the ground and smiled, "you dropped this." I realized that a 20 dollar bill had fell out of my pocket to the floor. How embarrasing of me to even think he might be a criminal!

People here are so nice and seems very happy in general. Last time I went back to San Diego, I was walking out of Best Buy. I happened to be in the way of this lady getting out of her gigantic gas eating SUV and with her screeching voice she told me "Excu---se YOU." I mean, what is the purpose to be mean to someone? Does that make her feel better about herself?

Don't even get me started on my story of when we came back to SFO from a great snowboarding trip from Vancouver, to these whale sized ladies (and their puny sidekick man) who was shouting so much trash at us, it wouldn't be strange if she actually slapped me in the face. I don't want to generalize, but I just so happen to run into more people who like to be mean for no apparent reason in the States. I'm not saying all Americans are like that but there just seems to be more of them there.

I've been living in Canada for only about 3 weeks and already I can feel the difference of atmosphere between here and the neighboring country called United States. What makes these 2 neighboring countries with so many similarities so different from each other. I think theres a lot more than the fact that you can own guns. Canadians can also own hunting guns with a license. Maybe its the political focus of the country?

I truly feel upset and sad upon hearing the tragedy of the Virginia Tech killings. Can't even begin to imagine that things like this could have been me when I was in school or to my family and friends. I watched Bowling for Columbine years ago and agreed with many of the things talked about on the film, but it's sad that even with all the effort people make to prevent stuff like this from happening, it still happens over and over again. Its also scary because what if kids start to bring guns to school because they feel that there is a need to protect themselves? I can just see the bad cycle already going on there.

When I was living in the States, I never even had a thought about how nice this neighboring country may be. When I went to college my friends from the upper states like New York always talked trash about Canadians, how we are so much better then them, etc. They really shouldn't talk because they didn't know what they're talking about. When we knew we had to leave Japan we had the choice of going back to San Francisco or Montreal. Lucky me to be able to move here because of Sylvain's job transfer, because now that I have lived in both places I know that we made a good choice to be here.


今日は一人でモントリオールのダウンタウンで昼ごはんを食べながら、この町がキレイで平和だなぁっと思いました。

誰 も邪魔してこない、お金くださいとか言われない、かばんを盗もうとしたりのはしない。　一人で平和で昼ごはんが出来る。　昨日はジムに行って、肩がある 男の人にタップされてビックリして、もしかして悪い人！と思って。　彼は床に指差してにっこりして「これ、落ちたよ」と。　それで自分のポケットから２０ ドルが床に落ちたのを気づいた。　この優しい方が悪い人かと思った自分がはずかしい～！

ここの皆は普通に優しくて、機嫌がいいほうと思 う。　この間サンディエゴに帰った時、Best Buyという店から出て、あるデカイSUVを運転してる女の人の前にちょっと邪魔になってしまったら、彼女がすごいイヤな声で「Excuse You!」と言った。なんでそんなに他人にひどいこと言う必要があるのかよ。　それを言ったら彼女が自分のことがえらくなると思う？

また 何年前のハプニングを思い出した。話が長いので短くしたら、バンクーバーに素敵なスノボード旅行からサンフランシスコに帰ってきたら、鯨よりデカイ二 人の女の人（と超痩せて小さい男の人一人）はあたし達にめっちゃ悪い言葉で叫んでて、まさかクリッシーの顔は殴られても変じゃないかと思った。　アメリカ 人は全部そういうのが言いたいじゃないけど、アメリカに失礼な人と出会う比率が高めです。

カナダに３週間だけで、すでにアメリカとの雰囲気が違うのが感じる。　すぐ隣のこの二つの国がなんかあるところ似たような、他のところが違うような。　銃が持てるのせいかと思ったが、カナダ人もライセンスがあればハンティング銃が持てる。もしかして政治の方針が違うかな？

バー ジニア・テックの悲劇を聞いてすごく悲しいです。なんかこんなことが学校に居た時になる可能性があるのを考えたら怖いです。何年前にボーリング・ フォー・コロンバインを観てすごく色々その映画からよく説明された。でもどんなに努力しても、悲劇がまだ起こる。　もしかしたら、これから学生達が自分を 守るため銃を学校にもって行く可能性があると思ったら、本当に怖い。　悪循環は始まりそうだ。

アメリカに住んでた時、カナダのことがいい 国など思うもしなかった。大学の時北の州の友達はいつもカナダの悪口してた、アメリカの方が絶対いいだとか。で も知らない人は話してもしょうがない。　日本から出ることが分かった時、サンフランシスコやモントリオールどっちか行くのが選べれたけど、あたしたちがこ こを選んで本当にラッキーでよかった！両方住んだことがあるから、ここを選んだのが正解と思った。

Grindhouse

Is the coolest, most awesome movie I have seen in a loooooong time!!
Be sure to go to the bathroom before you enter the theater for 3 hours and a half!!
I really can't say which one I like better, Planet Terror or Death Proof, but but f*cking rocks!!
Grindhouse is my newest favorite movie, so go see it and be prepared to laugh your ass off!
(if you are a kid or easily grossed out, don't go see this movie)

は久しぶりに超クールで最高な映画だーーー！！
３時間半の映画館に入る前に、まずトイレに行くべき！
プラネット・テラーとデスプルーフがどっちの方が好きなの言えないが、どっちでも超カッコいい！！
Grindhouseはクリッシーの最新な大好きな映画、日本に出たら早く観に行っていっぱい笑っちゃえ！
（子供とグロイに弱い人は観ないほうがいい）

カナダの初料理

どうだー。今日のメニューはステーキとLiptonのSidekicksパスタで～す。
美味しかったぜ！
主婦は以外と楽しいかも。
デザートはGodivaチョコソースのイチゴ♪

Today's menu is steak and pasta from Lipton Sidekicks.
It tasted great!
Perhaps being a housewife isn't so bad.
Dessert is Strawberries in Godiva chocolate sauce!

イースター

今 週末はイースターだった。イースターは、絵タマゴとうさぎのホリデーじゃなくて、ジーサス・キリストが復活の日です。カナダのイースターはアメリカより 大きいな記念日で、家族が一緒に食事したり、チョコのうさぎ食べたり。　なぜチョコのうさぎを食べるのがよく分からないけど、まさかチョコ業界の商売のわ ざかもしれない。

シルバンの家族はシャーブルークという小さい町に住んでる。そんなにやることがないから、週末は食べ会以外はほとんどギ ター弾いてた！指が痛いｗ　大学に ちょっとギターを弾いたけど、ほとんど覚えてないので、すっげーいい復習したわ！　これからも暇だから、モントリオールに戻る前に質屋で＄１４０の超安い ギターを買ってきたｗｗｗ　毎日練習できるイェーイ！

シャーブルークにスシ・ショップという日本食の店に行った！テンプラの巻きものと赤いイクラとアボカドと枝豆サラダなど、カナダ人ティストのお寿司があった！味は日本じゃないけど、美味しかったよ。　店が可愛くてオシャレだし、すごく人気らしい。

クリッシーはいつも写真撮りすぎかな！？ここにアップしたわ。

It was Easter last weekend. Easter is not a holiday about painted eggs or bunnies, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Canada, Easter is a much bigger holiday than in the US. Families gather together kinda like how we do in Thanksgiving. Having big family dinners, eating chocolate bunnies, etc. I have no idea why the chocolate bunnies, probably a sales tactic of the chocolate companies.

Sylvain's family lives in a small town called Sherbrooke. There's not a lot of things to do so besides eating alot, we played guitar all weekend! My fingers hurt! I played guitar a little bit in college but I don't remember that much, so it was a good review for me! I will have a lot of free time now so I bought an ultra cheap guitar $140 from the pawn shop before returning to Montreal! Now I can practice everyday!

Sylvain's sister took me to a place called Sushi Shop in Sherbrooke! (nice name...) There were tempura, red ikura, avocado rolls, and edamame salads, ones that suit Canadian tastes. Doesn't taste like the sushi in Japan, but it was pretty good! The store interior design was stylish and cute, I heard it is very popular among Quebeckers.

Do I take too many pictures?? I posted them here.

やっぱり寒いよここは

モントリオール着く一週間経った。着いた時は天気があんなによかったけど、二日前からすっげー雪振り始まって寒いーーー！！　四月の雪は生まれ初めて見たなぁ。

３００という映画を観た。これは筋肉祭りだーーー！　でも面白いよ！観とけ！

シルバンはモントリオールに住んでる従弟フランシスが居て、火曜日彼に家に遊びに行った。１７ヶ月の赤ちゃんのジュリアンがすごく可愛い！（ま、泣いてない時が可愛い）　一晩中フランス語聞くだけでものすごく眠くなったけどねｗ

水曜日はXBOX３６０のギターヒーローIIを 買って、もうこれはヤバイほど楽しいよ！！　大好きなロックバンドがたくさん入ってる、Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, The Police, Foo Fighters, Spinal Tap まで..! 色々知ってる歌を弾くとスッゲー盛り上がるよ。　コントローラーはよく出来て、本当のギターを弾いてるような感じる。弾きすぎると指が痛くなるのもリアル だ。　Pandoraのキャラがカッコよくて惚れたよ:*:・(￣∀￣)・:*:　とにかく楽しいので、日本でも買えるなら買っちゃえ！

今週末はイースター。ネットもない田舎に行くから、モントリオールに居ない。火曜日戻って来るわ。この数日の写真はここに～。


Its been 1 week since we arrived to Montreal. It was really nice weather when we got here, but its been snowing like mad for the past 2 days--!! It's the first time I've ever seen April snow.

We went to see 300. That was some muscular testosterone festival!! It was really good regardless. Go see it!

Sylvain's cousin Francis lives in Montreal, and we went to visit them on Tuesday. His 17 month baby girl is super cute! (well, when she's not crying) I felt really sleepy from listening to French all night tho.

Bought Guitar Heroe II on Wednesday and that is so damn fun!!! So many good bands like Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, The Police, Foo Fighters, even... Spinal Tap and StrongBad...!! Its fun to play songs that you know and like! The game controller guitar is really well done, feels like playing a real guitar! Your fingers even hurt when you play too much, just like a real guitar.. The character Pandora is super cool and cute! Anyway its a lot of fun, you should check it out!

Its Easter this weekend. We're going to the countryside to see Sylvain's family so I won't have internet. Will be back on Tuesday. Some pictures of these few days uploaded here.

仏蘭西語学校に行くわ

ずっ とEAパパから借りてくれた贅沢マンションに住めるならいいんだが、いつか子鳥は巣から離れなければならないので、アパート探しに。　これからちょっ と先クリッシーはニート主婦なので、旦那に負担かかりそうで贅沢はやめようかと思いました。　４月２８日まで引越しできるアパートを見つからないとだめな ので、そんなに時間の余裕もなさそう。　モントリオールの家は結構古い建物が多い。　外の見た目は可愛いけど、暖房の機能がいいかどうかが微妙だし、冬は 雪の掃除が超大変そうなので、南国カリフォルニア人のクリッシーはそういう家に住めるのが心配です。

そ んなピンチの中にかなりいい部屋が 見つけれそうで運がよかった！LaCiteというマンションはモントリオールに結構便利な場所に建てられている。　 ３０階建てビルの１６階です。　６０年代の建物けど、よくメインテナンスされて、フィットネスジムもあるだし（これは重要ｗ）、値段もとてもリーゾナブル （電気、ガス、水道込みで月１１２５カナダドル）。　小さい頃からもう一つの夢は、眺めのいい高層ビルに住むことなので、東京には叶えなかったがモントリ オールには叶えそう！無事でそのマンションを落としたい！ウキウキしてますｗ

そして今日はネットで見つけた仏蘭西語学校に行って、入学の 申し込みをしてた。　なんと受付の方はYURIさんという日本人の方で、仙台から来ました！　 申し込みは日本語でやり取りしました。　いや～日本から遠い国で日本人と出会えて嬉しいなぁ～（ツーか自分は日本人じゃないけど、なぜ！）　今期の学校は ４月２３日からスタート。　なぜかあたしは何歳なっても常に言語学校に通っているような感じだｗ　実はフランス語に全然興味がないけど、ニートなので時間 を無駄しないように、旦那の両親と話せるようになるといいじゃないかなぁっと思った。　頑張り過ぎないように適当で勉強すると思うｗ　

適当で撮った写真はここ！

It would be totally sweet to live in the super luxurious EA condo forever but birds gotta fly, so yesterday we went aparment hunting. Since I'm going to be a jobless housewife for some time, I don't want to put too much burden on Sylvain by renting a spendy place. We gotta move out of the EA condo by April 28th so there really isn't that much time. Most houses in Montreal are pretty old. They look cute on the outside but its hard to tell whether they will be warm for the winter time, plus it seems like a pain in the ass to clear the snow from the front door. I wonder if a Southern Californian like me could live in places like that.

It seems that we got lucky and have found a pretty cool place tho! It's an apartment complex called LaCite, located in a really convenient area. The apartment that was shown to us was on the 16th floor of a 30 floor building. It was built in the 60's but pretty well maintained, plus there's a fitness club (this is important), price is reasonable (electricity, gas, water included for 1125CAD). My other dream since I was young was to live in a high rise building with a nice city view. I couldn't realize this dream in Tokyo but hopefully I can realize that here in Montreal!

So today I went to register for French lessons at a Language school I found on the internet. The reception lady was named YURI, she came from Sendai, Japan! I registered for my classes in Japanese, lol. I feel so happy to have meet a Japanese person in a country far away from Japan! (this is weird cuz I'm not even Japanese). The school session will start on April 23rd. It seems like dejavu cuz no matter how old I get I'm always attending language schools. To tell you the truth I have no interest in learning French at all. I guess I don't want to waste time, since I won't be working for some time, might as well learn French so I can have a decent conversation with Sylvain's parents. This time around I won't be killing myself studying!

Check out some pictures here!