Airport blues number 2: Québec, New York, Montréal et très bientôt on dira bienvenue Hambourg...

... time has flowen by and I am somewhat unsure of how I feel about all of that!! Am I ready to go home? far from it...

My past few weeks were filled with maybe some of my fondest memories of Montréal (yes people despite the barely existent spring-sunshine, and the abrupt jump to summer temperature it's been wonderful)
about three weeks ago amigoexpress took me to lovely Québec city were Miriam and I spend two days discovering this cute old town!! a weekend of birthday fun was topped with a trip down to New York ( I know I could now include a detailed list of what my days consisted of, but not only am I way too lazy to do so I don't think words do justice to my amazing days of once again wandering in this absolutely stunning city!! My recommendation: JUST GO THERE!!)
My last ten days consisted of taking everything in, living, breathing, drinking, eating this city (I know this sounds somewhat weird, but I just tried to make the most of it)
Moutainwalks, many last coffees, lunches, drinks, hugs, smiles, laughs...
I am leaving behind a place I call home, a place I love, a place I sometimes (mainly on slushy rainy days) was annoyed with, and oh so many amazing people!!
So I am sitting at the Montréal airport once again, this time unsure of when I will return and it feels strange, it hasn't really sunken in yet that this is it! so I am drowning my whisky (it is after 12!), crying my last tears in this city and am off to the journey back home!!
this is it from the other side... the next time i tune in will be from good old europe as I now really need to finish my drink!!!

Spring has been teasing...

... for about a month and I really do hope it finally stays for good, this city is just so much more alive when the sun cares to show its face and the degrees go up into the double digits!! time is flying by and I can not believe that I am heading home in about six weeks so Hamburg brace yourself I shall return to the most beautiful harbour city!!
So after another very intense period of paper writing my academic experience is over, and I have six weeks left... way too little time to do all the things I still need to do! But I am sure that this is not the last Montréal has seen of me!
Am I ready to return home? no, but then can one ever be ready? so I guess I am as ready as I could be after a crazy time in montreal!
Sitting across my lovely Mia in one of montréal's cute cafés on st denis I can not believe that soon we will not be able to do this anymore!! I know all things have to come to an end, and we got a taste of that before christmas when oh so many people left, but back then it was all so surreal to us, as we had months of this year left and once again I realize time is relative! The weather is matching my funny state of mind as it's rainy yet it feels like the sun wants to break through the clouds ... and while I am dreading the thought of leaving, as I am in that pink state of mind of living in one of the most amazing cities in the world soon having to return home, it's also exciting to come back...
The past few weeks were filled with many lasts, some firsts but mainly full of fun!!
Last classes, last papers, last coffee with Bethany at café neve (and if you ever come to Montréal go there and have one of their AMAZINGLY delicious cookies!!!)...


Followed by my first ever Cabine à sucre (in a nutshell this means lots of food paired with booze and even more maple syrup; which leads to a day of a blood sugar level next to zero...).
First easter ever without the family (thanks to my amazing university programm substituded with a very delicious easter brunch in lovely company!!)

Now that classes and papers are done, I am facing a strange new vacuum of NOTHING to do... a strange freedom I didn't get to enjoy in a really long time! And the plans so far: drinking as much coffee at as many different cafés of Montréal as possible, watch many many movies (attempting to shorten that long list of shame of films I still need to see), maybe attempt some more writing possibly about some of the crazies Montréal has to offer, enjoy the parcs, the sun (that will have to return at some point!!), the people so basically try to take in ever second of the time I still have (and yes this blog entry has had a rather strange feeling of Weltuntergang to it and I apologize for that, but I am feeling a bit overdramatic these days! I blame it on all the lasts, firsts and spring craziness, as this winter has had a rather depressing impact and I finally feel like there is somewhat of life back!! I honestly did not know you could get this excited about plus temperatures and the sun breaking through the clouds)
And I think some of my Andrea is coming to Montréal tomorrow excitement might have influenced some of these lines as well, but how can I not be crazy about this... it has been yet another three years since we last saw each other and I can not wait for these next few days that I will get to spend time together again. Alright I will stop this craziness before I start to freak myself out with being way to chipper for my own good! And I shall leave you all to happy thoughts with the movie-to-watch, this blog-entries choice: Machan by Uberto Pasolini; I will not spoil any content, just watch it, if you're in the mood for something light, something fun!

So that was it from the other side for tonight, thanks for reading and please tune in the next time we’re on bisous Merle-Perle

SNOWMAGEDDON... and a pancakecake!!!

After weeks of absence from the blogosphere I finally found a little bit of time to dedicate to update my live from the other side! So while spring has been teasung us every other week for a day we're back to square one with another snowstorm hitting the town... It's quite something to wake up and not be able to see out the window probably because the snow is as thick as fog! But as usual this city's public transport seems to be handle any amount coming down!!
These past few weeks have been busy with university, and I've been living and breathing books and films – to be honest what else can you do when it's that welcoming outside!!
This winter has kind of been a buzzkill lately and missing the family plus an overload of schoolwork has not been the greatest combination of things, but two papers are done and against personal belief, they were done in time!!
But life wouldn't be life if there wasn't still time for fun things to be happening... and besides the regular coffee-lunch-wine-dates there is a few night worth mentioning!
first the oscars, and no i am not mentioning them cause they are such a great event, but because I actually watched them live and at a movie theater for the first time, and as much commercial-breaks as you get, it still felt great to watch them live on a big screen while commenting on what we witnessed (and yes the Fuck, slipped by Melissa Leo made it into canadian television and was not censored from the show... gotta love the liberal aspects of canadian TV even though they did insert the "PG" logo in the left corner shortly after)...Now this is actually not the reason why this night is mentionable – it's more for a certain crazy guy that might be one of the weirdest encounters so far in Montreal. Daniel and I were waiting in line at Cinema du Parc and there he was walking right up to engaging Daniel in a conversation about Nikola Tesla – and as much as you try not to get caught up in conversations like that you find yourself incapable of knowing how to deal with this other than laugh... oh the randomness of strange encounters of life!
More special firsts coming right up: I made my first swedish Pancake cake with my favorite sweds Lisa!!! Occasion – a two months belated birthday celebration – called for special things such as half decent red wine and making pancake-cake (yes like in Petterson and Findus!!!) and all i can say DELICIOUS!!!!it's layers of yummy thin pancakes filled with chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and whipped cream!!!

Yes the international community of this city as lots to offer... but so does the local culture, and after watching Incendies, a truely heavy film, maybe one of the heaviest I have seen lately, I found myself at Le Bull, a small little bar on the east end of St. Catherine, why we went there, well it was the closest to the amc movie theater and when it's cold out you usually make it a habit to find the closest venue possible... and I was in luck this night and instead of grabbing a quick drink and calling it a night, a heavily started night turned into a free commedy show a slightly slippery walk home from the bus... this night reminded me why i simply love this town, in this place you end up in an awsomely funny commedy show, at a less than impressable bar with automated slotmachines, and all by pure accident!! other than that I've been trying my best not to fall and slip – which so far I have succeeded at but we'll see what these next days will bring! It's getting late and I am too tired to come up with anything else to write! I hope all of you are great!
So that was it from the other side for tonight, thanks for reading and please tune in the next time we’re on bisous Merle-Perle

p.s. almost forgot this posts movie-to-be-seen: Jenseits der Stille, by Caroline Link from 1996 (int. title Beyond silence)!!! (I know all the Germans back home probably know it, or at least I hope they do, but this is one of my favorites since being about 11... it's a beautiful picture, and one of the few gems of the 90s amongst German Cinema! should definitely not be missed)

Il fait froid....

So I've come to terms with myself, that I will never actually be highly involved in the blogosphere!! I am simply not self indulgent enough to post more than ones or twice a month about me myself and I oh and that amazing life I live over here, let alone doing it daily!!!
I have new found respect for people that manage that but I simply have to admit I am incapable of doing it myself!

Back in Montréal since a little more than two weeks and what can I say but IL FAIT FROID!!! Winter has actually hit this town, my prayers for a mild season have not been answered and evidence for global warming is far from being found! The thought of having to wait for spring until April is already scaring me, but maybe it's true what people say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and in the newly found attitude towards conquering this winder weather I decided to quit fighting it and instead join it and embrace it... and I've got to say, hot red wine and dancing will make you last outside for more then three hours without getting cold at all (yes I survived Igloofest without catching pneumonia and I am even considering to go again!)
Who would have thought that open-air is this much fun in winter!

I have to admit though that the temperatures do keep one inside and give a new meaning to MY BED IS MY CASTLE... if it wasn't for friends, school, and food I would probably just stay wrapped up in my lovely striped blanket watch movies and sleep until spring is approaching. On that note I am off to reading about film (cause that seems to be what I am doing these days instead of actually watching films...), but that doesn't have to keep you from watching some good stuff a must-see, preferably on a big screen if you do get a chance: Everlasting moments by Jan Troell
So that was it from the other side for tonight, thanks for reading and please tune in the next time we’re on bisous Merle-Perle

Winter Wonderland ...

The clock is ticking and I can not believe that within a week I will be home for christmas break... and while I am more than excited to be in Hamburg I can not believe that one term has already passed and that when I get back so many people will not be in this beautiful snowy town anymore!
Yes the snow has finally hit this town:

And yes i still love the snow even after a week of taking 5 to 10 minutes longer to get to the metro because walking through thigh high snow for parts of the way just takes its time! Christmas mood has kind of grown since having had homemade Glühwein twice this past week and the sight of everything being covered in sparkling white powder does its part of the trick... and if it wasn't for the fact that there was still one term paper to finish I would probably go nuts baking in the kitchen, but that'll have to wait until next week!
So there I am stuck at home thinking about causality, free will and fate when my fate should be to build snowmans outside, make snowangels, have snowball fights and slide oh wait sliding I actually did and I even got it on tape, but my attempts to upload it misreably failed due to the poor internet connection!!!
So yes I still manage to squeeze in some fun in here and there! there always has to be time, for chocolate fondue, yummy pasta dinners and drinks with friends! Because writing papers does most certainly not do the trick of making me happy!! But enough about university and being stuck inside, I am heading out but only after I leave you with my newest favorite film: In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-Wai – all I can say is that it truely is breathtakingly beautiful!!!
So that was it from the other side for tonight, thanks for reading and please tune in the next time we’re on bisous Merle-Perle

Où est la neige?!

So we had a day of snow and yes that was beautiful but did we really have to suffer two days of disgusting hamburg-november-rainy-weather?! seriously world, what is going on Europe is covered in snow and so is pretty much the rest of Canada, and Montreal gets this no snow bubble?? How am I supposed to get into Christmas-mood? No Weihnachtsmarkt, no Glühwein, and rain? I am sorry but this is not what I paid for... alright so I'll stop bitching, but only cause the weather forcast looks like this:



I know not the perfect temperature for snow yet but at least it's supposed to properly snow!!! Because seriously the less than fashionable winterboots i purchased need to be put to some use...

First good-bye tears have been shed and reaching december makes me realize how much time flies by. And as excited as I am to be in Hamburg for Christmas leaving in three weeks will also mean to say good-bye to many many new loved ones, and last Tuesday we all got a taste of what that will feel like! First one down and so many more to go, but thinking about that is not going to make this easier so instead of looking at all the seperation we're facing in three weeks I will focus on all the fun exciting christmas, winter activies the next few weeks will hold for us.


and on that note I am off to Ice Skating (sadly indoors, since the world climate has decided to cross me on a proper Winter experience, but not before you all get today's movie tip, I feel like december calls for some old school black and white chistmas-fun: Holiday Inn (1942) dir. by Mark Sandrich; btw the film where Bing Crosby berforms White Christmas for the first time ever!!! Could it get any better?


So that was it from the other side for tonight, thanks for reading and please tune in the next time we’re on bisous Merle-Perle

Being sick makes one grumpy Merle Perle

Once again a month has passed and I have failed to write more about what is on my mind... but juggeling life with all it's wonderfull, amazing and stressfull aspects turns out to be less easy than one thought!!!
The weekend consisted of me getting sick once again and Montréal's rather sad Santa Parade – I've gotta say I really miss Glühwein auf dem Hamburger Weihnachtsmarkt...
Snow has not yet hit the city and todays lovely drizzling rain just added to my personal comfort, soar body and a light pain in the head – could it get any better? But I think I should stop feeling sorry for myself, cause really, I am still in this amazing city and in less than a month I get to return to Hamburg for two weeks, which I will spend eating as much cheese as i possibly can! Because honestly as great as this place is, how much can you charge for a good cheese??? and while we're on it how much can you charge for bad cheese???

And since this kind of seems to be me on a roll how much can one charge for wine??? I have honestly taken it for granted to not have to spend 10 $ on a let's put it nicely average bottle of wine!
But thanks to lovely packages from home, and investing in some decent wine and cheese Pia and I managed to have a real night of treats!
I survived Halloween Madness as Go Go Yubari from Kill Bill and Daisy from The Great Gatsby – Yes I went all the way and had two different costumes ;) But I was just going with the Zeitgeist you know :P

"Zeitgeist" seems to be a word that one is hunted by studying and living in this country – I don't think I've even heard this word as often in my whole life as I've heard it in the past few months, and when I saw someone reading the Zeitgeist-Newpaper I just had to sneakily take a photo! Yep to a stranger I might have seemed like a PI or your average stalker but I just couldn't holg back!!!
And now it's late and I need to sleep but I promise I'll try to be more active on writing, and maybe a little more coherent I just realized that my short little text was more of a blurb of thoughts! So that was it from the other side for tonight, thanks for reading and please tune in the next time we’re on bisous Merle-Perle

P.S. movie tip of the week: Bella Martha (yes I am in desperate need of some culinary culture)