Ottawa

Take that, Bank Street!  The remake of my site Rémino ended up not lasting longer than all the work done downtown since the past few years.  Since I’m heading for Japan this year, it’s safe to say that I’ll never see Bank street, or rather “Bankrupt street”, as I like to call it, completely open during summer.

In Ottawa, on Saturday, March 29th, 2008, all the lights on Parliament Hill have been turned off from 8 to 9 PM to commemorate the second annual “Earth Hour.”

A little local thing. As the St-Brigid Church on St-Patrick street faces closure, Lauzon Meats has been sold, after 30 years of operations. The ownership of the corner store has been transfered on September 1^st.

Posted on the Ottawa LiveJournal Community.

I went on St-Patrick st. at around dinner time, and at the bus stop near the Loeb, I noticed the following sign. It’s all about a missing cat.

But this is no ordinary story. Trust me! (Click the image below to read more.)

(Maybe this picture is the Samaritan in question!)

Just looking out my window, I see and hear women walking down the street in support for research against breast cancer greeted by drivers honking for the Senators’ victory against the Ducks yesterday. I’m simply not doing much, and it is during this idle Sunday that I’m now writing about my weekend.

A buyer was interested in something from my spring sale. He also wanted to know if I spoke French. Since I do, he asked for my help. He needs me to be his translator while his cards are being read by a fortune teller in Gatineau who goes by the name of “Ida.” Obviously, I found the request to be quite unusual, but really sincere. I said that I was curious and proposed him to pay for my card-reading session, for compensation, to which he agreed. We saw that woman during the Friday evening. I did my job to be his personal translator and it turned out well. At my turn, the fortune she read came down to these points:

• Within the next eight months, something will happen at work that will make it less of paradise I imagine it to be now.
• A friend will soon offer me something to which I must refuse.
• Either me or one of my roommates will move out within the next year.
• I will go to a place far away for a long time, and I’ll need to cross an ocean to get there.
• A brown-eyed woman misses me and is currently thinking about me a lot nowadays. However, we’ll just stay friends.
• I will have a girlfriend with blue eyes with whom it will not work out.
• I’ll then meet a black-eyed woman from far away who I’ll marry during my early thirties.
• There will be mortality in my large (not immediate) family while I’ll be away, but I’ll easily move on.
• I will have back pain and sleep problems sometime before the end of the year, but I’ll recover.
• My father will also have health problems in the same time frame, but he’ll also recover.
• I’ll be lucky at the lottery within the next eight months.
• I’m someone who has a great heart to people I love, but will be quite rancorous to people I hate.
• My mother, as she said, “cries inside all the time and won’t let anything out,” and cares a lot about the people around her while neglecting herself too much.

She offers one great advice before every session, “Don’t base your life on the cards.” Some may do that, but I don’t. At least, I don’t think I do. Just yesterday, I friend of mine did offer me something, but I’ve accepted! There are some things she mentioned that I know are true, especially what she said about myself and my mom. I would have thought these readings were much more generic, as the TV show “Bullshit” suggested. However, considering the fact that she knows nothing about me, she gots many plausible points right. We didn’t even have any conversation at all. Again, she knows not a thing about me, and she certainly didn’t know about my plans to go in Japan in the near future.

My mother-side grandmother use to read cards, and often she got many predictions right. Though, what she sees is more about the present than the future. More about things that nobody else knows yet. Are those predictions true or not, I don’t know. Simply, I won’t let cards decide the future for me. I’ve had situations that opened a mind a bit more about spirituality. I won’t go in details right now…

Saturday morning, I waited for a friend of mine downtown. There were myself, herself, two of her friends, and the boyfriend of one of them. Five people to go see dinosaurs at the Museum of Nature, down Metcalfe road. Dinosaurs, birds, and everything else in the ecosystem, even beavers. It was the largest collections of fossils and stuffed animals I ever saw. The “immobile” zoo, I could call it. By the size of the dinosaurs, I’m just glad they are extinct.

After the museum, we went to the Chinese dumpling restaurant on Somerset both my friend and I like. Nothing kicks off an afternoon like a few servings of gyoza in your stomach. We planed to go see a movie at the IMAX theatre in the Civilisation museum after, but we were running late. The couple among us went on their own way, and the three of us remaining decided to grab a bubble tea for desert.

My friend is going back to her home country in a two weeks. I admit that I’ll miss her a lot. I like her a lot, too bad I have the impression that none of her friends seem to approve of me, which could make it difficult to go beyond friendship. She introduced me to several of her friends, and it went well sometimes, at other times it didn’t, but nevertheless, I doubt I’ll ever meet any of them again when she’ll be gone. I don’t really understand why she’s willing to hang out with me that often. I’m not even half active as she is, and with the large amount of pictures she took of places and friends across the country, I don’t even think she even has a single one of myself. Yet, almost every week, she wanted to go out with me and do something. Eating out, go to public events, see movies, even spending hours at my place watching “Death Note” and videos on YouTube.

I’ll need to find another “language partner” again after she’s gone. I’m starting to hate that term. Either I’ll meet someone who just wants to try and starts to think I’m weird, or simply hate me for no reason, or in one out of every four cases, the person will become a good friend of mine. Labeling such a person as simply a “language partner” becomes too trivial at that time. Meeting a new “partner” every now and then is not hard, it’s dealing with weird people that is. Since I still object to the Ottawa English-speaking Japanese Language Meetup Group, I wanted to see if there was any interest to start a “more advanced” Japanese practice group, in which every non-Japanese would be asked to bring a Japanese guest and everyone would be required to speak exclusively in Japanese. After a few days of silence, I got a few replies (plus one spam message), to which I haven’t got the time to read yet. I’ll see how it goes…

I also recently posted about finding a job in IT in Japan, and how I’m not interested in the JET programme. I thank everyone who has written any feedback on this, and it’s really appreciated. I didn’t have time to reply to everyone yet, but I’ll be doing it as soon as I can.

My friend left on a hurry to go to work. I was surprised her other friend just stayed to chat with me for more than an hour instead of just leaving with her right away. I thought she was just uncomfortable with me, but maybe I was wrong.

A few hours later, in the evening, while speaking with my friend NoMez on the phone, him and I were watching the hockey game. Ottawa beat Anaheim, 5 to 3. So, this meant a big party every downtown and a few hours before silence could come and help my sleep!

I’ll be attending a Japanese tea ceremony this afternoon. I’ll simply be a guest and I’m just curious to know what it is. At least, it’ll give me something to do today other than the work I need to finish for my clients at work due to my workplace’s Internet access being unstable since Thursday.

This morning, my external hard drive storage failed. Yes, as if recently losing 200GB of data wasn’t enough, I lost a lot of the stuff I recently worked on… again. I’m reformating the hard drive again, and there are luckily no bad sectors. I’m thinking it was sure a software issue, and I’ll simply resell my 500GB hard drive with my external hard drive case as a bundle. I’m tired of fiddling with data loss.

A nice week to all of you!

I always get surprised when a stranger suddenly starts talking to me. Yesterday, on the bus going back home, a guy about my age with big glasses initiated a conversation:

- Excuse me. Are the Sens playing tonight?, he asked.
- Um, yes, they are.
- At 7?
- I… I don’t know.
- The Sens are doing great this year, huh?
- They sure are!
- It’s good for the economy!
- Yes, yes, it is.

I’m not good at talking with strangers I know I won’t meet again. Plus, my only focus is to get home and I don’t care about the rest.

I never followed any hockey season before, but this year, I’ve been watching. Some people at work are huge fans of our hockey team in Ottawa. Even a Japanese person I know closely follows the playoffs, and even invited me over to watch a game. It was fun.

Unfortunately, the Senators lost yesterday.

Two other examples of conversation with strangers, fresh from the Tulip Festival. While I was counting the visitors, two Chinese girls approached me with a video camera and a microphone with a TV channel’s brand on it. As I suspected, they’re here to report about the event and to ask me a few questions.

- I saw many of my… um… well, many Chinese people here at the Japanese pavilion. Do you know why?
- Oh, it’s because the Japanese culture is opened to everyone and a lot of people are interested in it.
- Have you went in Japan before?
- Yes, just once, only for two weeks. It was great!
- Would you also like to visit China sometime?
- Sure. Any Asian countries. Japan, Korea, China…

That was it. Chinese people sure like to talk about China! Funny enough, I think I saw a few Korean people volunteering at the pavilion and no Chinese. I learned a few Chinese words and I should have said them during the interview. Damn!

Before that, while selling merchandise, a woman in her 50’s, looking a bit lost, was looking at the long lines of paper cranes on the stand:

- Wow. A thousand cranes? Can I have one?
- Sorry, those are part of the set. However, just behind me, there’s a free workshop on how to do your own! They’d be happy to show you.
- Oh… No… I just can’t do anything with my hands!
- It’s pretty easy! Anyone can do it.
- I’d like to buy one of them instead.
- They are not for sale. It’s just for decoration. Sorry.
- Is that a “no?”
- I’m afraid it is, yes.

At that point, I try to ignore her, while I speak briefly with another volunteer. When she goes away, the woman continues:

- Did you ask her?
- She’s not selling anything. She wouldn’t know.
- Are you a salesman?
- I guess I am today, yes.
- Well, apparently not a good one!
- …
- There’s no way for me to get one?

Gladly, the organiser was nearby, so I told her in Japanese that she was getting a bit annoying and she wanted a paper crane. The organiser looked at me, puzzled as I was.

Finally, the woman gave the organiser a flower in exchange of two paper cranes which were not on display. I was glad it was over.

During my time in Gatineau, while waiting for a STO bus on Rideau Street, a guy approached me and grabbed my arm. I gave him a stare to which he replied before releasing me:

- Relax. I’m not going to kill you!
- Uh…
- How are you?
- I’m fine. How about you?
- I’m alright. Are you going home?
- Well, after a hard day at work, I’m just looking forward to that.
- You’re lucky to have a home. I’ve been living on the streets for the past few years.

Turns out the guy was nice at the end. He was not annoying, but the guy in the following dialogue was:

- Do you smoke?, he asked.
- No.
- Good for you. I smoke and I know I shouldn’t.
- Why are you still smoking, then?
- Because it’s hard to stop!
- I see.
- I feel lucky.
- Uh huh?
- I have a home and a beautiful wife. I have her picture here in my wallet.

He pulled the photo out and… Damn… All I can suggest her is to quit the hair spray! The picture itself was a flashback from the 80’s more than I could endure!

Sometimes I wonder if I should wear a t-shirt saying “Talk to that person” with an arrow pointing to the left.

A few months ago, at a bakery:

- Hey, are you Rémi?
- Um… Yes?
- I saw your site! I used to go to the OJLS too!

Apparently, him and his friend were looking for turkey necks…

(Pictures: Hockey game by r0b0r0b and paper crane by tripu. Both from Flickr.)

The volunteer coordinator (left), myself, and another volunteer.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been persuaded to volunteer at the Japanese pavilion during the 55^th Canadian Tulip Festival, from May 4 to 21. I helped out selling merchandise and counting visitors, and I’m going back again this Saturday.

The pavilion is one among others under the international pavilions tent in Major Hill Park, behind the Château Laurier, in Ottawa. We’re surrounded by many other countries, including Thailand, Chile, China, Korea, Mexico, and Germany. Plus, for the first time, it is free for everyone.

Every time I volunteered in New Brunswick, I always got a bad experience. Obviously, I was reluctant when I was offered to help. However, it turned out a lot better than I expected. The people I work with are great and it’s a lot of fun. We all have to stand up for at least eight hours, but the time just flies and you don’t realise it.

I have a few stories to tell about this volunteering, and I will write them a bit later! Meanwhile, here’s a video of one of the ladies pictured above skillfully playing with a Japanese toy:

I’m always amazed at the amount of writing I see on the bus…

(Cross-posted in the OCTranspo LiveJournal community.)

I took that picture last week at the OCTranspo MacKenzie King stop and posted the picture just now on the Ottawa LiveJournal community.

If you’re looking for a better picture, here’s Ryoko Hirosue selling a new drink by Coca-Cola in Tokyo. I always liked Ryoko’s work, especially her with Jean Reno in “Wasabi.” And she looks prettier with long hair!

A month ago, I’ve quit the Ottawa Japanese Language Meetup group. Nobody asked why I did so, and when I wrote my reasons to the organiser, he replied to me and seemed to have taken my message personally in the time.

Among the reasons why I’ve quit the group, there are some which are personal, toward some regulars in particular, including the organiser. I wanted to talk them out personally, face-to-face, with that person, but the guy who once took my comments personally now didn’t seem to give any importance to my opinion. He just called me today, saying he only had around 10 to 15 minutes to spare, and wanted to talk about everything I had to say over the phone. When I said it’ll take more time and I wished to talk in person, he said he won’t know when he’ll have time and somewhat ridiculed my need to discuss about the issues in person.

Well, so be it. I’ll write the reasons I can write in public here, and since he doesn’t care about the rest, there’s no need for me to try to meet him then.

First reason, people speak in English. Around 99% of the time, during all the Meetup sessions I’ve went to, everybody was speaking in English. Doesn’t this defeat the whole purpose of the “Japanese Language” Meetup? If I want to talk in English that bad, I’ll go see the homeless people roaming on the sidewalks near my apartment — there are unfortunately plenty of them nowadays — or worst, I’ll speak with my roommates. Instead of the Meetup, I now hang out with many Japanese language exchange partners and friends of mine, while I have my weekly lessons, one private and the other at school.

Second, not enough Japanese people. Most of the rare Japanese people we got coming to our Meetup are people trying to escape their homeland. They don’t want to speak Japanese, they don’t want to speak about Japan. All they want to do is practice English and talk about Canadian culture (a.k.a. maple “everything,” Mont Tremblant, and Vancouver). Most of them only come once, too!

Third, not enough regular members. One of the reasons why I’ve joined the Meetup was because I was new in the area of Ottawa and I wanted to practice Japanese. I wanted to make new friends as well. Problem is, many newcomers never come again, and the people coming are always different faces everytime. Just a few are regular, and most of them are part of the organising party. I somewhat started meeting the same people outside of the group events, but sadly, I was never able to become close enough to them to become real friends.

Fourth, I tried to make myself a place in the group, but someone else always steals it. I really wanted to do something for the group. I’ve never had a chance to volunteer at anything I like in New Brunswick, so here was my chance. The organiser didn’t like the monthly fee imposed by Meetup.com at first, so I proposed we do our own Web site. I did, but then they didn’t want it anymore. I bought myself a camera later. To put it in good use, I thought I’d take pictures at every event and upload them to the Meetup Web site, since there were not enough pictures up there. But, the co-organiser bought himself a camera soon after and stole my place. I wanted to do anything for the group to grow and get more “stable,” but someone else, who is fairly new to the group, suddenly got promoted to co-organiser. The group seems to be more of a closed circle than anything else.

There you have it. There are other reasons, but the ones mentioned above should summarise my motive for leaving the group.

It’s too bad suggestions are just taken lightly by the group. I’m not the only one who has stoped going for the same reasons. I tried inviting people to the Meetup, but they get equally deceived. I’m now at the point where I tell people to not go, because they’ll probably lose their time like my other friends and I did.

I thought the Meetup group could become a strong community or Japanese people and Japanese language learners, but clearly it’s not reaching its full potential.