Farewell blog

It's the end of this blog, because I'm not in Victoria anymore. But I will open a new and better blog in a few weeks.

Thanks to everyone that read it and I hope you enjoy it.

This the end my friend

After five weeks of exploration and amusement, it's now time to come back home. I feel like that I leave Quebec city so long time ago. In another hand, time have run very fast since I'm here. I haven't be bothered here because we have some much activities to do. But, I wouldn't live in Victoria. Granted, it's a nice city and the environment is great (sea nearby as the forest, good weather [well, better and less franzy than in Quebec], quiet lifestyle, etc.). But, the city is to small and I don't enjoy it as much as in my hometown.

Today, we had a farewell lunch in a downton hotel. All the staff was there. The only dark spot was that most students arrived more than thirty minutes in late. They had a big hang over after the party of the last night. We have a good lunch, especially for the dessert, and some pleasant speeches. The emotion was high. We all know that it was the end. They give us a diploma, a 10x10 picture of the group and a calendar made of many pictures taken during the last weeks. These are simple but really great gifts.

I'm not quite what the imersion program bring to me. I've got a really good mark. But, I've sill got a lot of problems with my english grammar (as you can see in this blog ;-). Maybe it helps to point out these problems.

I've also met a girl. She's in love with me. Maybe she's the one. My feelings are not clear. But we have a lot in common and we feel good together. For now, I must wait and see.

I feel a little bit confuse about this program. In one way, all tax payer give us the opportunuity to improve our English speaking. On the other hand, I'm not quite sure that it worth it. It seems unfair, because we are the happy few that do the program. And when we think about the people that pay for this program, especially those who came from other countries, we are privileged. I hope that every Quebecers and New-Brunswickers will realised it.

To drink or not to drink, that's the question

Well, the other guys go out. They were drunk and a little bit crazy. I don't have money to go out and I don't think it's a good idea. I would like to dance and have fun with the others, but I'm not quite sure it will be good because the bar close at 2:00 am. And everybody was very drunk. In fact, a guy injured himself after jumping off a chair and falling down on the concrete floor. I prefer to stay here and do some writing.

High speed addictions

I've becoming addicted to the joy of high speed internet access. I've listened this morning the keynote of Steve Jobs at WWDC 2005. I'm still not sure it's a good idea to go for Intel. It's a win all/loose all decision. Maybe Apple will win his jeopardy and get a really good place in the market against MS, maybe he is going to break his neck. Even if some stuff irritate me, I really enjoy my Mac and I think MacOS X is one of the best OS for small computer (well, multiple desks of KDE or Gnome is still missing). I really hate when I must go back on a Win computer. In his keynote, Jobs talks about Podcasting. Even if I heard/read this word some times, I never care about it. Until now. Something big is happening right now : the 4th power start to be in the hand of ordinary people. The rein of the bullshit that CBS, CNN, Global, Quebecor, TQS, TVA and ad nauseam tries to sells us is now menaced. Because everybody can get a voice on the Internet. Websites, Blogs and WebRadios are just the tip of an iceberg that will break the actual media's Titanic. And Apple offer all the pieces for anyone to do it. Granted, they are just there to do money and maybe they don't really care if it's possible than left minded folks get a voice against right minded news media. Anyway, Podcasting is very interesting and should help more people to get into internet radio. I've listened some podshow, such as Adam Curry's Source Code.

I feel that I'm nearer of the Thing. Now, I'm moving to Ruby and Rails. I've got my blog and my flickr's website. I'm still behind. I don't have the money to get a high speed internet access and my own URL. But as soon as I get a well paid job, I plunge in it and I will rock the Casbah. For sure. I'm damn tired of all the shit that happens in the world. And my country is all fucked up with federal government stuck in a corner, some jerks in federal liberal party that fill their pockets with our money, and mindless, ballsless provincial government. My only hope is that Boisclair get the leadership of the PQ.

Anyway, with my Mac computer, some open source softwares and time, I can now create interesting stuff and expose it to the world. And I really enjoy it. Stay tuned...

Craigdarroch Castle

This afternoon, the CAs organized a visit into a smelly old mansion (well, they called it a "castle", but in my book, it's not a castle, even if there's a tower). Build in 1890, it was originally on a 28 acres area. Now, it's not even an acre wide, houses all around strangle the mansion. The rich wood finished interior was quite impressive. But I can't remove from head that it was built with the sweat and blood of coal miners. The CAs give us a crazy questionnaire on this castle. I think nobody, except of me, try to answer it. Most people runs through the house to escape as fast as they can to downtown.

After I've finished to answer all those silly questions, I went downtown. Always funny to discover some parts of a new city. Victoria it's not as great as Montreal or Quebec City (not a chauvinism think, just because must North American cities were built fast in a utility way of thinking). Well Victoria is greater than most cities at west of the Province of Quebec. But I don't really enjoy to walk in its streets. The town is a little bit too small in my point of view. We can get around the downtown in a few hours. If some part are great, it last just three or four blocks before we are surrounded with crappy buildings and strange guys. My point of view is not accurate, but at first sight, I would qualified Victoria as a mix of snob subburns and the capital of thrift stores.

Anyway, I can still enjoy to discover some great piece of (american) architecture or small pieces of interest. Sometimes they are comical, like I bump in a big Sulley in a front of a drugstore that try to sell anti-snore spray. Or surprising like a Jacques Brel record in a used records store.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I know that the Quebec's temperature reach a marvelous 32C. It's not the case here. In fact, I walk in the snow this weekend. Well, I was at 2284m high. But it was snowing and we saw nothing in front of us (just take a look on my pictures on www.flickr.com).

I couldn't go to West Canadian without spend some time in the Rockies. I've dreamed long time ago to see them. I would prefer to go to Banff, but I don't have the time nor the money. Even going to Whistler was a crazy idea. It was quite expensive. Well, I try to spend few money as possible. I can't afford such trip. But, I was so close and maybe I wouldn't come near from here in the rest of my life. Hopefully (or badly) there's the Visa card ;~/.

Anyway, I spent the weekend in Whistler. It's a kind of big brand new Mont Tremblant. A playground for the snobs and well-to-do on this part of the country. I does not really enjoy the shiny little village with all these flashy boutiques and high-rates hotels. But the site is really wonderful. Whistler is some kind of a paradise for skiing and mountain biking.

I climb on the top of Blackcomb mountain this morning. It takes 1 hour, 3 chairlifts and a bus to get to the summit. From the ground, we wasn't able to see the top because it was raining and the mountains was sleeping in the clouds. It was a very strange feeling to get through the mist of the clouds. Under me, black bears and deers was seeking some food. Quite impressive.

Each chairlift offer us a new experience. On the last one, it was so cold that I can't hardly grab the chairlift bar. My hands was frozen by the wind and the snow. On the summit, we wasn't able to see more than two meters in front of us. Some adventurers skied on the snow just under us. I take some pictures all around and handle to download to the ground. The first chairlift was like falling in an abyss : more than 10 meters from the ground, we can't even saw the next pylon that sustain the cable of the chairlift.

The highway between Vancouver and Whistler is called Sea to Sky and it deserve this name. It was quite impressive and offer beautiful viewpoints, even if the weather wasn't so good this weekend. Going to Whistler was like going in an other world. I enjoy it a lot.

Let's go to Vancouver

I wake up before sunrise. Short night. Some Quebecers came from UBC to visit Victoria. A bunch of guys get out with them in downtown and, as usual, they came back in a raucous manner. But that's dormitories' life.

A strange white black-spotted bunny live under my window. Each day, he dig a hole in the ground in the evening. In the morning, he fill it up. I guess that he sleep in it during the night. But I don't understand why he keep filling it in the morning. It seem to be a waste of energy.

Today, I'm leaving for Vancouver. I don't know what's going to happen. I have nothing planned yet. I don't ever had a map of the city. I will see once arrived there.

International night

The CAs organized an international night. Each group of students should had prepare a show that present their country. We had a presentation of the Korean, the Chinese, the New Brunswickers and the Quebecers. The Korean girl do a good job that explain very well her country (her fellowship do almost nothing). The Chinese girls' presentation was not always clear, but they show us a small and interesting part of their country. New Brunswickers do their best, but their presentation was not so entertainment, except for the "tintamarre". The gang from Quebec was to big and had some logistic problems. The presentation ended inefficiently and frustrating for the non-French speaker, because they do most parts in French. But the music was well done and great. Etienne, Marie-Eve and Mario did a pretty good job in the small amount of time they had.