Thoughts... on Learning French in Canada

~Go to my blog to read this, otherwise the formatting probably sucks~

So I've been in Canada for almost 3 weeks now, Montreal to be precise. I feel obligated to update all of you what I've been up to. I must also apologize to my uni-lingual friends for writing so much in Chinese. 你看我因為你們忽視多少人... 開玩笑啦 :D

It didn't take long for me to adjust at all, being already familiar with North American culture and all. Speaking French was a bit more challenging for me at first, but now all my previous years of learning French has come back to me and speaking is no longer akin to an intense work-out. All languages, Chinese, English, French, C, Java, Assembly, etc. follow set principals. Once you get the underlying concept, all that's left is memorizing vocabulary and practice, lots of practice.

I am studying at a language school called the ILSC, learning French until September, which is when I'll go to Toronto or Oshawa to complete my degree. It is extremely diverse a the school; by that I mean there are a lot of different nations represented here in relation to its small size. Let me show you what I mean:

Last Friday I (Taiwanese) played soccer with Brazilians, Colombians, Mexicans, Japanese, Koreans, Italians, and some others I wasn't sure (Venezuelans most likely). This was in a group of 22. Tomorrow I'll have a Swiss housemate, so that'll be interesting too. For a third culture kid like me, this is a dream come true. It's a bit sad that there are almost no Taiwanese here... and so few Asians learning French.

Because of the South Americans (and francophone culture), I am getting used to the kiss on the cheeks greetings. People here are also more touchy; it is completely normal to put your arms around people. 哈，我回台灣時應該把這裡的文化帶回去。Basically, just imagine a French city that also speaks English. Culturally, it is more French but the diversity here changes everything. To make it easier for yourself, come visit me and you will know what I mean.

Note: This happens everyday.

The other day a Korean guy bought me coffee, a really delicious Moccaccino for which I am quite grateful. In addition the Italian guy in my class treated me to a nice Italian restaurant one time too. We had a decent glass of red wine to go with our pasta that lunch. 對，我很有男生緣。XD

The only downside now is that almost nobody speaks French after class since everyone who is learning French also knows English well, except one. I wish more people would speak to me in French but for now I am already thankful for the one Japanese girl. She integrated me into the "Asian" crowd. You can't imagine how happy I am to find a fellow Asian learning French. Hard as I may try, the majority of friends I have here are Japanese and Korean. Go figure. *Stress on majority*

C'est tout. I'll take any question you have. Ask me and you shall receive an answer.

[Part 2]09台灣遊之灰熊精采

~請到我Blog看這篇~

這次我要講去加拿大前在台灣做的事，這次沒有上次忙，過的比較casual.

動物園:

哈哈，我上次去動物園大概是中學的時候吧，超久以前的。我們去好像是耍白癡的，沒有幾張正常的照片；但我其實還比較喜歡這樣，這樣照片會比較有意思 (加上我有drama queen之名號)。

好像沒什麼好說的... Amy她們好像還蠻愛玩的，好像去哪裡玩都是跟她們... 或我表姐。Anyways, 我們看到了孤單的貓熊團團(圓圓好像被隔離之類的)，那時候還以為排隊會很久，沒想到15分鐘就好了，不錯不錯。但看完沒有什麼特別感想，就貓熊而已... 但至少現在我可以說我親眼看過貓熊。

我們還跟想吸大麻的台灣黑熊拍照。喔還有一個裝可愛比賽，我贏了詩怡。很厲害吧噗喲 >.<

反正就動物園，能看的就那些，那天玩的蠻高興的 (因為照很多很誇張照片，反而照很少動物 XD)。

註: 有好多經典的照片，要看去facebook看吧。

親戚:

我表姐Amy 3月去日本，這次4月了又是去日本。而且時間都剛好是我回來的那一個禮拜，那麼巧啊...

BTW, 她很喜歡玩紙上遊戲，想買了話她有在團購，可以找她。還有很多人都說她很可愛，一定是優良血統。

說到優良血統我的另外一個表姐也不錯，表妹也是超~漂亮的，不誇張。

我不是在幫她們徵友，只是說說。但你認為你配的上她們了話請留言，我來interview. XD

*OK, 開玩笑*

美食:

為什麼剛剛說到親戚呢？因為我的親戚寶寶與波波請我吃TGI Friday's! For波波這可是超難得的，所以我很感謝她們。但我記得是小舅媽掏錢包的，ㄟ妳們還她錢了嗎？

為了表示感恩我送上了高及白咖啡與經典馬來西亞零食Twisities. 波波，我會幫妳找國外男友的。呵呵~

Friday's有很典型的美國風味。我點了一個配上很讚的醬的漢堡，嗯~~好好吃喔。其他人點了Fajitas之類的東西還有Chicken Tenders。嗯，是高興的ㄧ晚。

註：For不知道Friday's的人。

其他美食:

我還吃了很特別的番茄牛肉麵，去圓山大飯店享受精緻的下午茶，吃了幾次很不錯的日式拉麵，吃了每次回台灣一定會吃的鼎泰豐，當然還有嚐到"早安!美芝城"的早餐。難怪盧廣仲會寫那種歌。我還有去幾家連我都不知道的公館餐廳... 好肥喔，真的是一直在吃 XD

詳細一點的下次作美食筆記的時候在好好解說吧，但相信我，我知道台北很多不錯的餐廳。

考機車:

我考到了機車駕照，而且我是用自己的機車。覺得正常嗎？No, it was not.

我一個人去的。我考照的地方在淡水那裡(北邊)，但我騎啊騎啊竟然到板橋了！我那時還在想為什麼路很不熟... 結果我只好沿路問人最近的捷運站在哪，到了竹子翠站進去拿了一個地圖才又騎去考機車，還差點沒油。最後考試的時候當然就過瞜，畢竟我已經騎了那麼久了。他們竟然沒有問我怎麼來的，看到我一個人騎著車進去不會懷疑我無照駕駛嗎？

所以那天花了3個多小時就為了考機車，而且那天是第一天騎機車耶! 小朋友，不要違法，這是不好的，一定要有駕照才上路。

註：考場，那直線加速比我想像難；其它就很easy。

雜七雜八again:

那天會考駕照是因為晚上要用到機車；加上我本來就很機車，所以很match對吧？我晚上去威秀看Monster Vs. Aliens; 告訴你，很好笑，你一定要去看！還沒到"超"好看這個境界但還是很值得看的ㄧ部卡通。啊~那晚笑好多次喔，而且是那種難以控制的大笑。:D 旁邊那位"懶兒"睡著了，真奇怪... PS. 這名字好像是Amy亂取的，連她都不想要。

詩怡和小龜去了church, 後來我和詩怡又花了很多時間討論基督教，生命的意義，還有...一些聽說只有室友知道的事，呵呵呵。在這裡勉勵她一下吧：在這邊沒辦法講太詳細，但簡單說她比正常人還會思考，而且是愛思考。

這次好像沒有跟太多團契的人碰面，還蠻少這樣的... 誰叫他們都不知道在忙啥(很難約你知道嗎)。

感恩

我想要藉這個部落格好好謝謝所有跟我出去過的人：我知道能跟我這超人在一起已經是如此不可思議了，但還是要感謝他們。對我來說是假期所以我時間多的要命，但對那些不是在公作就是在上課的人時間沒那麼充裕。所以：謝謝抽空。還有這次有請我吃過飯的，謝謝 (大部分是長輩)！

我離開前有收到離別禮物喔，有一個現在放在我手機上的十架吊飾和一個利用太陽能左右搖擺的搖頭娃娃。我收到時還蠻意外的，想說她們也對我太好了吧；完全出乎意料。

不要看Amy她平常那副**樣子，她還蠻重義氣的。在江湖上她可是寧願槓上武林七大派也不會離棄朋友的。詩怡就不確定了... 好啦，我真的要謝謝妳們，我很感動。除了需要上帝外應該沒欠缺什麼吧。要有自信，自信。其他要說的上次都說了，大不了MSN在說... *妳這樣滿足了吧？*

*題外話*我家人(尤其爸媽，阿公阿禡)這次對我好太多了，真的很好。但這次focus是朋友所以我才一直沒提。

註：這就是小林休假送的。可愛吧？我每天看他一直搖啊搖啊搖~~不停的笑啊笑啊笑~~

[Part 1]09台灣遊之假Goodbye

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這次我要直接從這裡link我blog的網址, 點我。

我真希望facebook不會搞亂我的format...

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我答應過大家我會寫一下之前在台灣的旅遊日記... 過了一個多月後我終於要寫了 XD

可惡，現在過了那麼久害我都忘了每一天做過什麼，我印象中每天都有出去就對了...

我其實有蠻多要寫的，但因為這樣會太長了所以我只寫飯局以外的事。對我每一天都有至少一個飯局，有跟爸媽啊，外公啊，基恩啊... 很多。

我要先澄清我其實蠻常回台灣的，只是上兩次剛好去很多地方，見到了很多人...

2009三月底回去的那一次:

我那時應該是要直接去加拿大的，但因為我簽證又搞烏龍了所以我31號還是乖乖的回馬來西亞。

我待了一個禮拜，還記得第二天就去釣蝦了...

釣蝦:

釣蝦基本上就跟釣魚一樣，只是竿子比較短，整體也比較簡單。當然釣起來的蝦最後結束就吃掉。

我第一次釣蝦超爛的... 最後只釣到3隻，而且2隻是因為老闆幫我很多 :(

但高興的是我旁邊的人超~好的。她雖然是老手，但因為看到我釣的很辛苦，所以她一隻都沒釣起來！人很好吼？Amy, 妳不需要再假裝妳很爛，下次盡量釣沒關係。妳這樣的話不夠敏感的人會覺得妳是真的很爛！妳的貼心我感受到了，謝謝。By the way, 我絕對絕對絕對無諷刺之意!

烤蝦的時候蝦子還一直跳來跳去，然後慢慢的ㄧ個一個死掉；有幾隻蝦還跳出我們用來烤的鐵籠子！當時雖然感覺有點殘忍，但反正它們不會感受痛 (有"觸覺"但"痛"的定義關係到腦部活動)。而且吃下去的時候就不會想那麼多了 :D

註：你注意看我衣服領子的話會發現我是被中間的詩怡抓進來的 XD

醫學院:

我去了他們的禱告會。

我之前就一直很關心醫學院的人事物，所以有持續禱告。說到這個，綺聖啊為什麼？還有你的3分鐘個人見證是打算不寫了嗎？

Anyways, 醫學院有禱告會是好的，請你們為所有禱告會禱告吧。

再來就是護理之夜：Fight for Who! Who? Who? 護理!!!

我是第一次看到一段舞裡面有那麼多人被暗殺，哈哈哈！我們也沒有看完整個故事，綺聖表演完我們就走了。這好像是一個平民和一個公主的愛情故事，但後來出現了hip-hop忍者... Ya... 台大護士真奇怪... 其實台大醫學院都很怪... 其實台大的學生都是怪咖 XD 難怪我那麼喜歡他們。

陽明山:

你採過海芋嗎? 我有，在陽明山... 坐公車坐了很久後迎接我們的不是一片耀眼的花園，而是另外一個接駁車... 再來到了嗎？No! 再來還有一段超長的路要走... 我們到的時後你知道看到什麼嗎？巴士站！那時為什麼不是直接坐到那呢？那就要問導遊了... 好啦，其實走那段路有看風景啊那些，還蠻享受的啦。加上我再這樣機車下去Amy應該會把我殺了吧，我需要John當擋箭牌 XD

Okay, 過程呢... 沒有時間限制但採一支海芋要10元，ㄟ，其實我有點忘記了... 是多少啊？重點是我們在他們設定的區域慢慢的挑選最漂亮的海芋。海芋生長在水池裡，所以他們需要放很多條小路讓人可以行走。雖然這樣但好的海芋都離路很遠，採那些的時候要整個人蹲下來，一手抓住旁邊的人，一手伸到海芋的根... 整個人其實有點感覺會掉進水池，真驚險...

註：代表作- 這張照出了竹子園的壯觀，一直到後面房子那都是海芋，而這只是其中一個區域！

雜七雜八

我跟韡承去師大吃了炸香菇，綠色臭豆腐，還有可麗餅 (Crepe)。我們還拿到免費的可麗餅因為好像有個新人在練習，lucky~

炸香菇不錯吃但臭豆腐金好吃喔，我覺得並沒有比公館的那一家好但I like~ 不知道公館哪一家嗎？跟我說，我下次回台灣帶你去。其實我很喜歡嘗試新的餐廳，要跟我一起冒險了話也可以說一聲，RPG裡英雄都需要夥伴。

下一次返台是三個禮拜後的事，那次是真的say goodbye了。

Part 2 會講那時候的事，那一次返台的遊玩心得 。

~To be Continued~

終於

我好久沒寫部落格了...

改天再寫一下這幾天在台灣做什麼好了，其實過的蠻充實的耶

哈哈，看來這篇會是一個完全沒有內容的爛文章，因為我等下打算用亂寫的方式混過去 XD

加上我文筆本來就不怎樣... 嗯，你為什麼還在讀？

喔對，我現在在整理行李準備今晚去加拿大了

這次終於要去了，終於簽證沒問題呀，終於沒有忘記文件... 終於要離開台灣一段時間了

還有終於要繼續讀書了，我這一年多的休學終於要結束了

我2007 12月被趕出美國，現在也2009了... $@!#，時間怎麼過的那麼快？

2008真的是充滿回憶的ㄧ年，真的認識了很多人，交了一些朋友，去日本，遇到可以與我白頭偕老的那一位... 但我和John一天就分手了 (看這篇, facebook的鄉民還不趕快直接到我部落格, facebook可是沒format的)

行李還是沒進展... Anyways!

終於要走了，我還沒感覺到這一次真的要走那種心情... 等一下，我在試一次

"嗯，我終於要走了，而且一次就去3年吧..."

Nope, 還是沒感覺，反正我Christmas應該還是會回來幾個禮拜，要不然我就是太習慣這種要離開的心情...

PS. 我現在開始懷疑到底有幾個人跟的上我的思路，好像蠻亂的... 我也懶的整理, screw it

行李啊，你就自己收自己啊，還要我收，夠大牌... (心裡想的是"Let the dead bury their own dead", 哈哈...不get it沒關係... XD)

終於要離開我的愛了... 把愛~~剪碎了隨風吹向大海~~ (Pacific)

我發現啊... 我的幽默感很奇怪，找到真的懂我笑點的ㄧ定要珍惜...

行李: "認真點啊小子!"

Sorry...

我有很多依依不捨，有點想要繼續在這裡的生活，不太想離開朋友，還有女六的那些白癡"姐姐們"... John, 你同意吧，7號, 你不需要回答

台灣，等我回來吧，下次再給我美好的回憶

台灣的朋友們，別翹課

台灣不翹課的朋友們，我會常想你們的(但不可能每天都想，只有家人我才會每天想，你付出有他們多嗎？你說啊？你說啊!)

台灣在屬靈爭戰的，我有在禱告，時常禱告

台灣應該和我一起靈修但會偷懶的，別翹課，喔當然也要靈修... ya

台灣不認識神的，哈！嗯，對，去認識祂吧

台灣的Tony, 不就是我嗎？真帥 *陶醉*

台灣的啤酒，沒喝過因為我只喝紅酒

台灣的寶貝，what? 誰誰!?

台灣的每一位，我終於要走了，掰掰

這次不是幾個月就回來... actually, 12月也才幾個月... 被自己嗆... 好悲慘...

OK 所以這次也是幾個月就回來了... 那我幹嘛say goodbye成這個樣子，奇怪...

行李: "..."

我: "幹嘛？"

行李: "你有夠白癡耶"

我: "... 還輪不倒你罵，我跟你講話已經夠給面子了"

行李: "靠貝... 還趕頂嘴！還不快整理！"  <--(有沒有感覺某人上身? 莫名其妙... 別亂上我行李的身！)

我: "還說髒話... 好啦好啦，我去整理"

我終於要去收拾了，竟然跟行李說話... 誒...

G-20 Summit without Taiwan

比較不想看英文的直接讀這篇就好了 (http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/webarticle.php?id=36372). 我真的很傷心, 也很生氣, 非常生氣...

The G-20 Summit this year was held in London on April 2nd.

For those of you unacquainted with the term, it is a meeting for the leaders of the top economies in this world (effectively the top 20 countries as determined by GDP). Actually it is the top 19 countries and the European Union. Check here for full details (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20_industrial_nations).

World leaders, smile!

As you can see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)), Taiwan ranks number 19. Yet Taiwan was conveniently left out (Iran was the only other nation left out too). So many other situations like this plague Taiwan's international affairs. What pisses me off is how this barring was not due to any fault on Taiwan's part... the injustice in this world eh? Is it bad that I hate this more than I hate murder?

Taiwan's economy qualifies us for a voice in the G-20 Summit, whatever the political issues, leaving Taiwan out is not the best thing for the global economy. I can write an article every week about the injustices done to Taiwan on an global level, across even "little" things like gaming conventions. But I won't do this every week for the sake of the diversity I want in my posts. For all you know my next post might be about zombies.

My goal is to raise awareness. Now that you are aware, spread the news and stand up to it when given the chance.

And now to talk to all you Taiwanese, stop bickering and be stronger. Screw oppression, screw misunderstandings, the world sees strength and money is power; as long as we are strong economically, everything else will follow. If you don't love Taiwan like I do, that's fine, just do your part for society. But if you actually hate Taiwan, make sure I don't hear you say that or you'll feel my wrath long after the sun goes down (unless you provide a intelligent logical explanation for your emotions).

I love Taiwan. That's the second time I confessed my love for Taiwan here.

Blog Statistics... not really

Only 3 visits were linked from facebook, and they only stay an average of 11 seconds... Guess no one clicks the "view original post" thing at the bottom of my imported notes and the ones that do click don't really care anyways. I miss my old days when I had this Guild Wars fansite with about 1000 visits a day... But to the most important point:

According to my data I have more native Chinese speaking users reading my blog than native English speaking ones. This makes me want to just write in Chinese... If it weren't for my awe-inspiring ways with the English language and laughable skills in writing Chinese I would be using Chinese 100% by now.... in blog posts that is.

I guess all my English speaking friends have withered away... Makes Tony a sad little boy... Apart from the "little" bit, Tony isn't that little, he's 178cm (5'10"), he just slouches a bit... Also apart from the "boy" bit, Tony is what most people call "a real man", no really he is, please believe me. Okay maybe Tony isn't that sad either, he just enjoys over-correcting himself.

Speaking of over-correcting... I'll be learning French soon (Yes I know it wasn't related but I needed a paragraph transition). I've had about 3 years worth of French studies in both high school and college. Still my French is as good as 周董 (Jay Chou) is with English... I think. Anyways!

A la Quebec mes amis!!! Je vais a Montreal dans trois semaines. C'est une nouvelle sensationnelle non?

Power Leveled by John

Again for those facebook users, if you are reading this on facebook that means it was imported. But the format is probably messed up, so click on "view original post" to link to my blog. Yes, do it now...

It seems more than 3 people have asked me to write in English. That's about 3 more people than I expected. So to feed their insatiable desire to read my writings, here is a blog post in English. But seeing as how my muse has ran off with another man... again... this post will not be as elegantly worded nor as distinctly humorous as some of my other works. For those that think my other posts were crap, your mom seemed to think otherwise last time I saw her... I really am typing at an extremely fast pace without editing, so bear with me, it's going to get crazy.

So what have I been up to...?

Him, the one on the right.

The one on the left is my brother.

John and I are finally going to be open about our relationship. It is an exciting time for both of us. I'm a bit concerned though, most long distance relationships fail after a while. They are so hard to maintain you know? Any tips and pointers would be much appreciated. 高約翰, 我們一起加油吧. >3<

How we met

As most of you know, I grew up in Penang. John and I went to both Uplands and Dalat School together. We only really started getting to know each other after 11th grade though. He, like myself, am pretty much a typical nerd. Maybe that's what drew us together... Fast forward to summer 2008. Summer was when we really got to know each other.

Maybe it was the beach, or the loneliness... Either way we connected. We started talking online and before you know it, boom! As much as I'd like to go into the intricate details of our physical and emotional engagements, I'd like to leave that to your imagination. Let me now describe what we have together, our connection.

John's a great guy, not many people has that many 70+ characters in WoW you know? Actually he probably has a few lvl80's by now... His skill in real time strategies is only matched by my twitch reflexes in Unreal Tournament. We match like a priest matches a warrior in a 2 hour dungeon raid meant for 4 people. It's like 2 expert fake instrument players gold starring Dragonforce. Like how Marcus saves Dom after a direct shot by a Brumak (if for some reason Dom wasn't ripped to shreds). Like how Mario goes to all these castles for Peach, only for us John is never in another castle. Like how Farah always saves the Prince of Persia, making dying impossible in the game but nonetheless fun. Like how Chris and Sheva takes down an Executioner Majini in Professional. Like how Snake and Otacon work together to infiltrate place after place, ultimately saving the world from the control of the Patriots. Like how a Protoss Dark Templar transports to the Terran ally's base to rescue it from a Zerg rush (though realistically Dragoons should have been enough)...

You get my point. John and I match.

EDIT: Well, just to avoid any misunderstandings, though I never once stated we were engaged romantically, I strongly implied it... for the sake of continuing our little April Fool's joke. Ya, I'm just clarifying now that it is April 3rd. Perhaps I should have left it as is... Would have been funnier, and I got nothing to lose anyways.