Scottish girl in a Canadian World

Hello party people (yes you, sitting on your laptop in your pyjamas in the middle of summer)!

Welp, I have arrived in Montreal!

The journey over was uncomfortable at best, I was pretty much sandwiched between my mum and a manspreader- I’m sorry but nobody’s balls are as big as this man thought his were.

Then for the first time ever I had my luggage searched at the airport. I’m not sure if it was because I forgot my address at customs or if I had a lot of bags, but either way scenes from Bridget Jones and Border Canada started flashing in my mind. But after a few moments of inward panicking and praying that there weren’t any dirty pants in my suitcase, I was let go and I took my first steps onto Montreal soil.

My first impression was just that it was really hot. REALLY fucking hot, and humid, and sticky. If hell had a climate this was it- and considering that I packed about 3 t-shirts (one of which I spilt foundation on the next morning), and no shorts, a mild panic began to rise.

After a one-night stay in a hotel, my mum and I went to an apartment/hotel room where she would be staying for the next 7 days while I settle in, and where there was a sofa bed for me should I want to stay the odd night.

Now it’s been 3 days and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve not actually slept anywhere else. My accommodation is nice enough, even if I’m mildly scared about falling off my loft bed/ trying to get up it after a few drinks. But for the first time in years I am clinging to my mother. I’m scared to go to my new accommodation because then this is real and I won’t be home for 4 months. I’ll be in a foreign county by myself, where I don’t know anyone.

I’m sure I’ll settle after a week or two; I’d better- my mum leaves on friday- but there are freshers or ‘froshers’ events that I’ve signed up for that I have no desire to go to. Thankfully out of the roommates I’ve met I don’t seem to be the only one who feels this way.

But for the first time in a while I actually feel scared- and I’ve decided that’s a good thing. I’ve decided that I can’t not do things because I’m scared, and for now big life decisions are being made by me because they scare me. I don’t want to look back on my life and wish that I’d been less scared or taken more risks.

Montreal is bigger that I imagined- and more eclectic. Not people-wise, although it is very multi-cultural which I’m pleased about, but the buildings are a mix, there’s a combination of old and new, with shiny skyscrapers standing beside quaint french buildings.

I’m not sure how I feel about it- it’s scary and unexpected, and there is a lot more use of the french language than I thought there would be. But again, I imagine I’ll get used to it.

In other news I think I have decided not to do a postgrad. I think I was trying to do one because I didn’t want to enter the real world just yet, and I wanted to stay in the fun little bubble of uni for a while longer, and now I have a direction to work towards, I think it would be better for me to look for work experience and pad out my cv, instead of just delaying my life because a new path scares me a bit.

For now, I think it’s time for me to be brave. And if I fail at that, I’ll drink a shitload of vodka and see where that takes me.

I’ll hopefully have a more fun post coming up- stay tuned for my regular screw ups just from a different continent.