The Perspective That Wasn't Mine Yesterday
The perspective that wasn't mine yesterday
Somewhat continues from the post below..
But anyways news for those who haven't heard that I changed a job. Still in a video game industry but found a better deal in a different company where I started as a Linguistic tester a month ago. As much as I loved working at Babel, they couldn’t offer me anything else but functionality testing on call contract with evening shifts. Now with Enzyme Testing Labs I’ll actually get to do the linguistic stuff and have better pay, better working hours (no more evening shifts!) and the location is slightly closer to home too.
This is actually the first time when my employer is making a contract of any fixed hours with me. I’ve always been on call and luckily the shifts, often more than I could actually do, have always come in. So I do feel like I’m being tied down a bit. Can’t do any big or (at least long term) travelling plans or anything cause the summer is high season for video game industry and naturally employees aren’t encouraged to take much time off then. And not that I would have money for travels anyway...But so far I’ve been more than happy to explore and discover the city of Mtl and that’s why haven’t traveled much in Québec/Canada so if this is the furthest I can go I’ll be fine with it.
However, I did some travelling in April.
Made a Easter voyage to the Québec’s capital, also named Québec which is over 200km from Montréal to north. It’s been one of my “must go” destinations for years and it was truly a fascinating and charming journey to see all those places where the history of not only Québec’s but also of Canada and North America took place. This is where it all began. The place where they established hospitals, schools, newspapers, museums and churches among others earlier than anywhere else in North America. The city was a battle ground for wars and battles that later came to define Canada and Québec.
Moi, en Québec finalement!
Today the city is known mostly for the most photographed hotel in the world Château Frontenac and for Vieux Québec, the old part of the city which is partly 400 years old and obviously a Unesco World Heritage Site. If my trip to Ottawa last fall was an eye opening experience in Canadian culture and history, this trip was exactly the same in la culture et l’histoire québécoise. I could seriously go on forever about history of this city... #historyfreak #quebecoise
I ain't wearing my winterboots in April anymore damnit!
But what we actually did in Québec: stroll around in the still empty streets of vieux Québec (no masses of tourists yet), did some shopping, ate well and visited the musée de la civilisation where the First Nations were represented respectively too. The more northern location was easily noticed in the chilly weather and the amounts of snow they had in the parks and the streets. The three days were seriously a good exercise too cause the city’s been built on hills and it seemed like there was nothing else but a staircase after another. Oh boy did my feet hurt on Monday after the trip! But it was vraiment québecois and there is no place where you could feel the political atmosphere (anglos against the francos) clearer than in Québec in my opinion. This is not a criticism just an observation.
Moi sur les Plaines d'Abraham.
Weatherlike...Summer has finally kicked in! Had a few days of tropical +30 temperatures but otherwise it's been comfortably warm even thou spring was clearly late. In the beginning of May it was still quite grey and bald in naturelike but now everything has catched up. J'aime ça!
However, there is a one big down side in my life and year in Mtl. Room mates.. who I've had 15 in total by now and this doesn't include the new changes coming up at the flat within a few weeks. As much I love this appartment, the room and the location, it truly sucks that we don't have any saying about who's gonna move in. My landlord is great but he doesn't really care how we get along with each other as long as everybody pays their rents and don't seriously destroy anything...
Nothing major issues I guess but just stuff that truly bugs me. Having soirées late in the night during the week and not participating of the expences that we share together. Nobody cleans. It's also hard to have any kind of system with room mates that keep on changing this frequently. But oh well.. less than two months and these problems will be far away cause I'll be living with my mom again! And how much fun is that gonna be - NOT!
Allrighty then, I think that was it for now.. thanks again for reading! :)
More Posts from Lageografiademicamino and Others
Welcome is a cry and a comfort
So finally in CANADA!!
Toronto was huge and confusing with all of its different cultures. Didn’t see much of it though.. gotta go back someday and figure out what’s that city is all about.
Because of the flight stuff I also missed the orientation at the local SWAP office which was the reason why I decided in first place to stay for the couple of days in the city and not continue straight to Montréal. But the staff was really helpful and they gave me all the information afterwards. I stayed in a hostel called Backpackers Inn and it was comfortable just for the one night but I was glad to go to Montréal and have a proper home there.
Like I said I definetely didn’t see that much of Toronto, only bit of the downtown area. The only sight/attraction I saw was the city hall or halls since there are two of them. The most recent one built in 1960’s and it was actually designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell – never heard of him before though but all the publicity is for good right? Oh and I did see the CN Tower of course but you can see it from pretty much everywhere.
I came to Montréal by train on Friday and I was super glad that I had the flat all worked out. I’m not a big fan of staying in temporary accommodations. The flat was as good as it sounded and most importantly not a false one! I like my room even though it’s small..but the size has obviously been taken account when decorating it.
Small things matter, I have a big mirror, trash can and a bedside table. I’ve never had those things in my room while living Spain. My roomies seem nice. All French! Don’t know anything about the rest of the people living the same building or in the flat downstairs where I’ll be moving in September.
I absolutely love the area of Mile End where I’m living. My home street is so pretty. There are lots of restaurants, cafés, grocery stores in the neighbourhood. The subway is at 15min walking distance and there are a lot of bus connections as well. I’ve got a bank around the corner and also Starbucks(!). It’s a small town of its own. The landmark of city, “the mountain” of Mount Royal is also close.
I’ve given myself these couple of weeks just to adapt the change, the city and the language around me. I won’t even try to look for the job yet. I’ve just been shopping (because all my clothes were in the lost luggage), getting canadian phone number, bank account and sightseeing. This goes for a full-time day job, you know :D No problems getting a sleep in the nights.
The challenging part with the French quebécois is that the language is very old. They have an accent of their own, some expressions which don’t go together with the European French. Québecois won’t have a problem understanding Europeans francophones but it doesn’t work the other way. So I’ll have a bit of work to do there.
Though they aren’t as unflexible as I had imagined. Lots of people seem to be quite comfortable in English and there are of course some English speaking natives as well in the city. I do try always to start at least in French even though I’d have to change the language along the way. There are lots of tourists as well whom they “have” to speak English naturally. But otherwise it’s very French here. The emergency exits, stop signs etc everything is just in French.
Things are different here than what I imagined but definitely not disappointing.
Montaggio by Claudio Ciovati - Te ne vai Salutandomi Da quel luogo che è un luogo senza te Te ne vai da qui Con gli occhi lucidi Che piano si colorano Di bia...
Bye uncle.. grateful for having you in my life
My benefit
Never I would have thought of wearing a t-shirt in Montréal in October. Untill this week it’s been over 20C degrees over here and the fall has been sunny, dry and lovely so far. This weekend was the first one when you could actually feel winter approaching. The trees are getting bald and the temperature is dropping. A good thing really, cause all my biggest shopping findings (read: financial disasters) have been about fall/winter jackets! Totally unnecessary of course cause I brought my own from Finland but SO cool! If you ask me, snow can come in already.
(Moi, le touriste!)
At work, hours and days are passing by quickly and I’m gaining so much experience from every minute. Rarely I’ve been taught in a job as thoroughly. My employers seem genuinely interested about my learning experience. They’re quite different but I think they balance each other nicely. I’m loving the fact that I get to see the two fields in tourism industry that interest me the most. I’m so glad to have (finally) some structure in my life and a real mission to be here. Though gotta admit that it does bring limitations to my social life. I’m also missing some great events in the city but I guess more great ones will follow…
The atmosphere in both of them is very relaxed but still professional. Especially in the hostel where some of the employees live and there are long term residents, the atmosphere is very family like. The working tasks at the hostel are more routine based, normal reception work, taking care of the breakfast, doing laundry.. when at the gallery they’re different every time according to the upcoming event; preparing the space, decorating and that sort of thing. No routine there.. every day is different.
I try to keep it as a 5-days working week kind of thing and to have some weekends off as well every now and then. I don’t work more than 30h/week so it’s quite flexible. At the hostel I work usually three 7hours shifts and at the gallery 2-3 shifts but not longer than 6h at the time.
(Oratoire St. Joseph du Mont Royal in August - around 2 million people visit it every year and apparently it takes another two million dollars just to keep the stairs in shape.)
During my day off’s I’ve continued my sightseeing project. Visited the Oratoire St. Joseph du Mont Royal which is a roman-catholic basilica at the other side of the island of Montréal. Not the oldest thing there is but definitely the biggest. In the entire Canada actually. It took me hours to see the main sections. Definetely worth seeing for though. If you wanna know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph's_Oratory
I also returned to “the mountain” of Mont Royal which the city was named after. It’s not really a mountain and thank God for that cause I couldn’t probably climb any higher than that. Yeah but people of Montreal love to call it a mountain and it is an insult to refer to it as a “hill”. Anyway spent a lovely afternoon there in the rain of the colourful maple leaves. My pics won’t do justice though.
I love it that it’s so close to where I live.. 30min by foot and I’m in this great forest without a sign or sound of the metropolitan city that surrounds me. People go there to run, cycle, for a picnic, whatever and also for famous Tam Tams, a free live music event that takes place there every Sunday afternoon in the summertime. Unfortunately I missed that one cause when I arrived here in August all my Sundays seemed so busy with everything else. Bummer.
But I’ve got great stuff coming up!! Lots of things I’m looking forward to! Some personal stuff, favourite music and books coming out but also these great Northern American (sorry, don’t know if they are celebrated in Latin part of the continent) holidays; Thanksgiving and Halloween! I’m so excited! The first one is only one week away and I’ve been invited to a friend’s house to have a traditional Thanksgiving. So stay tuned! :D
(The monument of Mont Royal "The cross" in the night - the photo from: http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mountain1.jpg )
Masterlist
Contains my photos and blogs from 2017 on. Updating as we go along and digging some older posts from MTL times.
BLOG
Eurovision
UMK 22
Host City 22 : Turin
ESC 20 : Best Non-English Entry
UMK 20
Eurovision 2018, Lisbon.
ESC 19: Songs that I love but others don’t / Artists coming back to ESC / Songs that I don’t love but others do / Different genres / UMK artist guess /
ESC 18: Positive review / Negative review / Songs that I loved but other’s didn’t / Non-English songs / Biggest growers / Different genres / The BIG 6 / Saara Aalto Songs / Mid tempo tracks /
ESC 2023: 10 things I don’t want to see / Voting system to be changed / Who will qualify SF2 / Who will qualify in SF1 / Top 5 Non-English Songs /
UMK23: Keira / Benjamin / Robin / Lxndra / Käärijä / Kuumaa / Portion Boys / The worst UMK stagings / UMK23 review /
UMK24: Cyan Kicks / Sexmane / Sara Siipola / Jesse Markin / Windows95Man / Sini Sabotage / Mikael Gabriel x Nublu
Lisbon Life :
LX Blogs / LX tips Part 1 / LX tips part 2 / 1 year in LX / Sintra first impressions / Quilty 6 months in LX / Fall 2017 / One month in LX / 2w / PT expectations / Going to LX /
Something else
100 years of Finland / 3 x / Home / Geography of my way /
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Lisbon
Sintra / Lisbon before Covid-19
Lisbon Before Covid-19
Lisbon Before Covid-19 Part 2
Mixed: Olaias Metro, the most beautiful / Xmas / Less known LX / Random Part 1 / Pantheon + random / Rua August sunrise /
Waterfronts : Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 /
Parque das Nacoes: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /
Belem: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 /
Palaces: Queluz part 1 / Queluz part 2 / Belem Part 1 / Quinta da Regaleira Part 1 / Pena and the Moors Part 1 / Pena and Moors Part 2 / Pena and Moors part 3 / Pena and the Moors part 4 / Pena and the Moors part 5 / Royal Palace of Ajuda /
Lisbon Streets: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 /
Beach: Part 1 / Cascais / Praia da Ursa
Sétubal: Part 1 / Part 2 /
Arrabida : Part 1 / Part 2 /
Portugal
Berlengas: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 /
Azenhas Do Mar: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 /
Porto: Part 1 /
Nazaré: Part 1 / Part 2 /
Évora: Part 1 / Part 2 /
Braga: Part 1 / Part 2 /
Coimbra: Part 1 / Part 2 /
Costa Nova
Helsinki
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /
Lahti
Lake: Summer Part 1 / Winter Part 1 / Winter Part 2 /
Travels
Bologna: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /
Amsterdam : Part 1 /
Galicia: part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 /
UMK 2024 Song Review - Vox Poppuli
The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö ends with another rap entry!
Mikael Gabriel x Nublu - Vox Poppuli
Mikael Gabriel is one of the best known Finnish artists who started his career back in 2007 and has since released 7 studio albums and multiple smash hits. He's had more number #1s than one can count!
A big name UMK audience has been requesting to participate to the contest for years.
His mother is estonian which might explain why he is collaborating now with Nublu, highly succesful rap artist in Estonia. This is surely one of the most interesting UMK entries this year.
Vox Poppuli means in Latin the voice of the people. The song begins with eurodance entry but moves quickly to the 90's / 2000's rock-pop sound that will continue throughout the song. This reminds me of Blink 182 or similar rock band. There's a young energy here despite of its nostalgic sound for older generation.
As a rap song and as a non-rap music fan - this might be the least irritating of the rap songs in UMK24 - also even though musically this seems to be a bit tedious, one note kind of thing, I think this is delivering the crazy fun act better than Windows95man which had kind of similar idea with his performance. I like the choir a lot! Also points for Nublu's rap part in Estonian and not in English.
This has already become somewhat a domestic hit gathering views on Youtube and streams on Spotify. This is easy to listen even though not your cup of tea, it's radio friendly with a catchy memorable chorus and therefore a potential UMK winner. Also MG enjoys a loyal and young fandom so it is expected them to pick up their phones and vote on Saturday night.
Video clip keeps you hooked and we can expect a crazy staging at Nokia Arena at Tampere!
What do you think of the seventh UMK24 track and would you vote for Mikael Gabriel x Nublu to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!
More Coruña shots! This part of Spain has so much to offer!
No judgement but my dreams might be just a bit different from yours.
EUROVISION!!! THIS SATURDAY!
UMK 2024 Song Review - Sini Sabotage
The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö continues with another rap entry!
Sini Sabotage - Kuori Mua
Sini Sabotage is one of the best known Finnish artists but at the same time one of the rare female rappers in the country. She started her career with a banger Levikset Repee roughly a decade ago and has since released 3 studio albums and multiple radio hits. She has fought her way to the top.
Despite of being somewhat a dream name for UMK for years the idea of sending her new Kuori Mua song to the competition was actually proposed to her by the songwriters and producers.
Kuori Mua which means peel me in Finnish is bold even as a title. If you're familiar with her personality and music you'll notice how this instantly fits her like a glove.
Kuori Mua begins with inviting piano notes and moves quickly to the electronic beat. The song has heat, rush - it tells you how to move and focus. This screams gay anthem. All the banger elements are here and they're well produced.
The lyrics and beat are energetic and sensual - some might be irritated by the Finglish here but I'm not a Finnish rap expert enough to say if this is common for Finnish rap. Chorus is a bit flat, it doesn't bunch me as I'd wish it would. This needs several listens even though it is memorable though. Musically I especially enjoy the beginning of the second verse and the bridge here. The piano based moments give the juiciest sounds. The song improves towards the end but still doesn't meet the expectations in my opinion.
Kuori Mua is not on top of the Youtube and Spotify lists when comparing the UMK24 tracks and I think it hasn't grown to become the banger they'd hoped for even in domestic levels.
What comes to the live performance music video promises several options and it must be big since this has been chosen to start the UMK show on Saturday (Feb 10th). I have no doubt she wouldn't be able to deliver this live.
What do you think of the sixt UMK24 track and would you vote for Sini Sabotage to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!
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lovinmynewlife liked this · 11 years ago -
lageografiademicamino reblogged this · 11 years ago
Finnish traveler. Experienced Montréal and la vie québecoise 2013-2014. Living in Lisbon, Portugal since July 2017. Into photographing, eurovision, pop music, ice cream, coffee and travelling. MASTERLIST
280 posts