Many things...

crowd in to make life complicated! "It is never good to try to tackle too many things at once..." fine words for a man who got married, left the church in which he was raised, emigrated and set up home in a different country, in the space of less than a year! It seems that cares and happenings always come in batches rather than being smoothly spaced throughout the year. Such is life, and the multitaskers among us are put to the test infrequently but intensely.

To resume the thread of my thoughts, which has been a little muddled and tangled due to happenings and predictable events too; last week was busy!

Wednesday was significant in that I finally managed to attend my interview for language evaluation; the whole interview was conducted in French, and I was asked to write a couple of short sample pieces to demonstrate written and grammatical French. The upshot was being rated as "intermediate and above" in French, which I found something of a surprise. It's my guess that I need confidence and practise far more than a general course in the language, and in daily life I do get some chances to speak it. Presently I am waiting to see if they will be able to fund my language courses, and if and when I can claim my employment insurance in the meantime. The interview was conducted in an awful building, which made quite a statement to me about the actual attitude of the minister for culture and integration! Thankfully it was en route to school, and as I completed the written assignment extremely rapidly, much to the delight of my interviewer, I had plenty of time to watch the football on the projector at school! This projection of the World Cup onto the wall in the dining hall was a master stroke, and proved to me that I am not the only one in Canada who is ignorant of football!

Wednesday was also marked by an earthquake, felt only as a minor tremor in our building, and many students did not even realise the nature of the vibrations. Some of the lab experiments were disrupted by the tremor, which had its epicentre somewhere in Ontario. Nearer the heart of the earthquake, more people panicked, and some office buildings were evacuated. My wife, in downtown Montreal only felt the vibrations, but work carried on as normal, as befits a government department! This happening could have been seen by some as an omen, but statistically, it was a fairly likely occurrence. We experienced one in Stamford in 2008, which damaged the plaster of my house there, and was much more violent, despite the house being on rock foundation.

Thursday was Quebec's "National" holiday, St Jean Baptiste. To other Canadians, it is a day they prefer to treat as normal, but there was no school and no work for most people in our vicinity. It was very like an English Bank Holiday, people calling at the depanneur for beer and cheap wine, barbecues on the balcony, and strange Quebec music playing in the public parks. It was also very hot, so we enjoyed being shut in with the air conditioning and taking time out from our schedules.

On Friday, we decided not to completely vegetate, and took the bus and Metro into Montreal city. As we often do, we took the opportunity to visit the Grande Bibliotheque, that amazing library which we find both rich in resources and frustrating in its inconsistency. I borrowed a few DVD movies, and books to read and fill the gaps in my "education" of JRR Tolkein. With plenty of time to spare, we decided to take a stroll along Ste Catherine in a direction we had neither of us explored before, heading Northwards. The street began to get more and more colourful, and we realised we had walked into the midst of the Village, the gay part of Montreal. Given my upbringing, I felt a certain instinctive caution, but the place was noticeable for its tolerance, and a very peaceful feeling. If this is what being gay has done for the world, then we need a lot more gay people to keep the world peaceful! We dined at the St Hubert, in true South Shore style, enjoying the excellent and unlimited coleslaw which is a famous feature of this restaurant chain with each of their meals. It was nice to see a "new" part of Montreal, especially on a comparatively quiet Friday, when most people had taken time off to make a four day weekend.

On Saturday, we finally got to achieve a dream, that of attending the annual firework championships which run every summer Saturday. These spectaculars are laid on by a different nation each weekend, and are a feature of Montreal life. Last year, we intended to see them, but the constraint of time and living in another person's house prevented us from ever following through with this. This year, with time to ourselves on the Sunday following, we were prepared to have a late night!

The International firework festivals are held on the island midway between Montreal and Longueuil, called La Ronde. They are fired almost on the doorstep of the amusement park, and though the park charges for admission, the general public has access to an amazing grandstand viewpoint: the Jacques Cartier bridge, which spans to the island of Montreal via La Ronde. The bridge is closed to traffic from about 9pm, cordonned off by multitudes of police at both ends, and Montrealers and South Shore people begin crowding on foot, onto the bridge. We caught a bus which brought us into Longueuil at 9pm, and already there were many people encamped on the tarmac and the bridge walls, waiting expectantly. The bridge gives fantastic views of the downtown, and is somewhere I wish to visit again soon for night shots of the city. We chose a neutral spot, and watched the scene, the boats on the river, the huge crowd advancing from the Montreal side, and the slightly threatening skies above. Poland was the nation to perform their best display, and for the first time. When the display started I began to feel a little underwhelmed, as it was not anything as spectacular as I had imagined; however, I did enjoy the experience immensely, as it was enormous fun scrambling for a viewpoint, being a part of such a huge crowd, and watching some beautiful pyrotechnics.

When the crowd dispersed, it was reminiscent of a disaster movie, and I expected Godzilla at any moment to rush the bridge and rip away a section of the crowded platform! We arrived back home without incident, and plan to attend this show much more frequently, weather and bus passes permitting.

Sunday morning was filled with TV, unusual for the both of us. First the Grand Prix of Spain (Euro Grand Prix, Valencia) was aired, and I found it a disappointment. Not having much faith in my countrymen's team, I was not especially surprised or disappointed when England failed to hold onto the football match against Germany. It seemed quite a foregone conclusion, even with the very poor decision by the referee to disallow a goal that was proven to be legitimate by the video evidence. I spent the rest of the day in revision for today's exams, as the weather was hot, humid and not pleasant for anything out of doors.

I am feeling emotional as I write this, having left the latest news until last; I had a message on Facebook this morning from a person in England, informing me that someone had drowned on Saturday. I was filled with disbelief, as the 24 year old man was someone who I had watched grow up, into a promising, happy and very nice young person, only to be cut short like this. To add to the tragedy, his uncle and aunt had both died during his lifetime, being cystic fibrosis sufferers. My first thought was "Why them, how much more tragedy can this family take?" I remembered also how close I came to drowning at that age, in a swimming hole near to Peterborough. As the young man is in the Sect I was once a member of, I doubt his relatives would be interested in contacting me, and I hope their faith will give them strength to get through this. He himself was a member as far as I know, at the time of his death, and I hope they derive comfort from that. I think the tragedy tapped into a well of emotion that I have had trouble releasing, and made me think of my own family and parents, who have never seemed so distant as now. Thankfully I have a wonderful woman as support and cheer to help me through life, and also many good friends who share a sympathetic ear in times like this. I don't feel alone, which is perhaps one of my greatest fears in life. I am learning too, of the comfort that animals bring as neutral, but observant companions which can sense our feelings and perhaps even respond more helpfully because they do not attempt to rationalise things which cannot be.