Friday, 28 March 2014

Montreal through new eyes

My dear friends, I think my time in Montreal is coming to an end.  I came here because I thought I was going to have a large social life. Every time I visited Montreal, I would be staying at a friend's and they would have friends over so I naturally thought that it was very easy to make friends here. Instead, for most of the time I've been here, I've just studied, then went back home. Studied, then went back home.

It's true, I could've tried harder.

As I was walking down the street today, I looked up and thought, "Where else (other than New York) would you see Hipsters walking next to Hassidic Jews? What other place has, right next to this neighbourhood, a mix of Greek, Pakistani, West African neighbourhood next to Little Italy? Someone from Colombia in my French class said that he loves Montréal because of the cultural diversity. "What about Toronto?" I asked, thinking about the city that claims that over 50% of its inhabitants are born outside of Canada. "Too Chinese," he repsonded. "How about Vancouver?" "No, too Chinese." As someone who is Chinese, I felt offended, and yet I understood what he meant.

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