"It was like a bomb that just kept exploding. . ."

The above is in reference to a Sex and the City episode "Plus One is the Loneliest Number" where Carrie first meets Berger and he then just mentions after an afternoon of flirting/hanging out that he has a girlfriend, oh who he lives with.

Well, the average age group here is like 18 - 21 and there is way more women then men. So my "dreams" of finding a little boyfriend are diminishing. Although, actually, my goal was an older (than me) french boyfriend, so I guess people in the program are anglaphones.... enter my super dorky cute lefty prof who eats lunch with just me each day and we go to the fair trade coffee place together each day etc. All flirty ohhh and then he tells me on friday, casually he has a girlfriend.... of course! Then today we were outside on a break together and he casually mentions that this weekend he was painting his house and there are 5 of them at his house (I was like ohhh so he lives with his parents? roommates?) OH NO he has THREE KIDS with his "blonde" who he lives with! Hence, the quote above it was like a bomb that kept exploding. I seriously almost choked on my coffee. As Carrie says, one of the explosions was "this entire flirtation is your head". But just before the multiple bombs he had told me that I was exactly the type of person he used to want to marry when he was a bit younger, but now he's all settled and those are just dreams... I was like jesus fucking christ.... ONLY ME.

Lessons in French Grammar, learned the hard way
"Je Suis Trompe" / Baisser et Baiser
Okay, in the same vein. On Friday we were talking about the verb "lower" which is baiser - I think or with two ss's. In any case, the other one is like a slang term for "fuck" or "screw" if you will. And I asked something that everyone interpreted as me asking the prof to fuck. I blushed, he blushed then said, in english, but Joanna (with his french accent - so cute), we hardly know each other. Yes, I got redder. AND again today, I said je suis trompe, instead of je me suis trompe, which means something like I cheated instead of I made a mistake. Again, with the blushing when he corrected me because he said it is like you just said you slept with a married man. Gah.

I have to go to a lecture now on Quebec Legends and something else that is like legends.... but here are topics I will write on later today....
High School Dance - this past weekend
Yeah we had a "fete" on friday night with a live band who did some covers of the one of the only french groups I know les colloques.... it was a high school dance with one great exception - booze. but not enough. I can't fucking believe I forgot my flask in a box.... gah. After that we went to go the bistro which was a good idea in theory (bistro is closer more of a bar/pub feel) but it was too packed so we went to some discotheque type bar and I had to pretend far too soberly that I loved french dance music and "dance" songs from when I was in like 2-4th year.... (english ones that is)

updated, per my promise (Tuesday... from here to the bottom) )

Debate with a neo-con in French, more exhausting then your usual debate with a neo-con ideologue
So, in my class we have to lead a conversation for 45 mins each day (in partners) my partner and me are doing this this thursday... she and I had lunch to talk and we found out we're at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum but not only that she's got strong opinions on things she's either uninformed or misinformed on - and her french is worse than me. so it was a double-ly exhausting conversation for me... an example, she was saying that there is basically a conspiracy amongst gays who don't actually want to get married but they just want to fight for rights as such, they do this ... i was like hmmm way to a) essentialize and b) be crazy. but, she kept on going saying that that is why she loves the conservatives with harper because they realize that these decisions are for the courts and not for the house of commons! I was like bloody fucking hell did you even actually pay any attention to the elections (oh and she studies political science.... "oh mon dieu"....en tout cas...She's my partner and we've decided on a topic to debate in class - is post-secondary education a right, and at the same time, should it be free? (guess who picked this topic ;) ) She was like well who is going to take which side... I was like hmmmm let's be wild and say I'll be the more left-wing position and you the more right-wing.... hahaa. I have to research CFS sites or something tonight, ick.... yeah, sadly I know all the arguments inside and out... but, I do need to make sure I know french terms I know: frais de scolartie (although I sure as hell can't a) spell it or b) say it very well at all!); bours et prets.... maybe some others....



Job application
I submitted a job application (due yesterday) to work with the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women , I really hope to get it... so think good thoughts!


Volunteer work here in Chicoutimi
One of the activities we can do here is to do "integration social" and I was lucky enough to test highly enough orally to be allowed to do this my first day is tomorrow it's for an agency which does advocacy work and actual frontlines work for people with mental health issues.... I'm pretty excited to be able to a) practice french in the community and b) to do some volunteer work...

Sugar foot, :(
My parents called me on Sunday to talk about something or rather and then let me go. like 2 minutes later Jess called me back (my little sister) to ask if mom and dad told me about sugar foot. Me: no. Her: of course, yeah she died last week. soooo typical of my family. Mom calls me the day some older woman in the parish dies that I don't even know or never knew ... sugar oh yeah, by the way.... Well, she had a great life and I wish I could have seen her one more time but she was 11 almost 12 .... so en tous cas....

Boxed Wine....
Have introduced this to my roommates (the other one, the one who is very young no longer lives with us for the time being as she sprained her ankle .... I'm not going to adjust well if she moves back - she's been gone pretty much since the beginning... she's loud, and young, oh so young

Cinema Quebecois
YEAH! We got to see a movie last night see above... it was very very good. Every Monday night we have movies from Quebec...

"Joanna, you'd make an excellent separatist"
This is something that someone told me... because apparently I'm a "socialist"... je ne sais pas....speaking-ish of that, I just came from asking which newspaper has more by mistake and I'm usually so careful about this which newspaper has more national
news in devoir, or presse....after a little chat about how no no I mean CANADA not QUEBEC when I say national.... eek.

Phew... all covered now.