How a blog post got me to talk with the Dalai Lama on the CBC. Sort of…
Farewell Montreal (Hello London)
December 1, 2010
In exactly one month, I will be hopping on a plane to London (UK, not Ontario) to join a new job, a new city, a new life.
On ne sait vraiment aimer que ce que l'on a perdu
I can’t quite reconcile my memories of several Quebec winters with the nagging impression that I landed in Canada as a “permanent resident” only a few months ago. All I can say for sure is that Montreal gave me a chance to be with the one I love, to work with wonderful people and learn a ton from them, make new friends, feed from the peculiar energy and multicultural creative tension of this place.
A friend once lamented that Montreal is a place of transit, where too many creative and intellectual minds come, rest, regroup, find new inspiration and leave. I never thought this might apply to me, too.
Now is time to go through the almost familiar dance of packing, paperwork, home-hunting and cash-gutting expenses. I can’t say I love this part of the process, but given the stakes, I don’t mind.
On the other side await (yes, amongst more bureaucratic anguish) a new period of discovery, new friends and a new, exciting job full of fantastic challenges.
So here’s to one last month in Montreal amongst great friends and colleagues, and to what comes next.
11 Responses to “Farewell Montreal (Hello London)”
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Taking the Bus with the Dalai Lama
2010-10-31
Hello London (Farewell Montreal)
2011-01-08
It's hard to fall in love when the heart's already taken. I was decided to give London a fair chance. Surely, the costly and exhausting move in the middle of winter, when my typical working day would hardly let me see the light of day and only let me see the new city through a veil of night and rain, surely all this would be handicap enough without me making it even harder.
i’m gonna miss you lots! Good luck! Keep inspiring and being inspired! Inchallah we see each other soon! :*
Thank you Celine! You too, stay strong, and passionate, and smart and everything – wherever you are and wherever you end up.
This one makes me happy on so many levels… for so many reasons.
Have a good ride my friend. BBC (Internet) technologies are in good hands.
I’m sure you’re just happy that you’ll have the mile end all to yourself now ;)… And something tells me we’ll see one another a fair bit in the future.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by karl dubost and Yves Raimond, olivier Thereaux. olivier Thereaux said: Not quite an announcement, but… Farewell Montreal. (Hello London): http://bit.ly/eg19Cb [...]
I don’t know you well at all (we met only once), but still you’ll be missed around to call out Stationnement de Montreal and the STM on what they do wrong.
Anyway, good for you to have a new page to this Life’s book.
Bonne chance !
F.
Thanks! I don’t think I did half as much as I could have to make this city a better place. I’m glad I leave it in the hands of a lot of people, like you, who care.
To let you with something, find the second occurence of the “iBUS” string in that PDF document.
http://goo.gl/6iZ4r
Promissing ? ;)
Google knows nothing about it as of today
http://www.google.ca/#hl=fr&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=978&q=ibus+stm&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=fd7d1583bcb41da0
Unlike Karl, I think it sucks for many reasons. Except for the part about you getting a very cool job, of course.
I say meh to friends leaving. Meh to the lucky BBC. Meh. :P
I agree Martine. Departures suck, whichever side of the equation you are in.
But I know this life ahead will be full of surprises and travels, and I do remember a (snide) comment from a family member, who’d remark that they saw me much more often since I left for Japan than when I was living in France… We should see one another a few times before I go, though!
Omedeto! Sounds like an amazing gig and a great city. I’ll be sure to be in touch should I pass through.