The Hugeness (4/10)

Unless you’re from Rus­sia or China, you will prob­a­bly feel that Canada is a pretty big place. And if you’re from Rus­sia, please let’s not argue about the North­west Pas­sage — it’s not like we can nav­i­gate it yet, okay?

Supper's Ready

Do you know why I’m not a per­fect woman? No, it’s not — only — because I like muffins (a lot). It’s a much deeper secret. Still don’t know?

Let me put in sim­ply. I’m French. And I’m a lousy cook.

The Tipping Dilemma

So, 15% of $30… is…

No, I’m not cal­cu­lat­ing my Adsense rev­enues (that would be easy: $1 + 0.50¢ = $1.50… last time I checked!). I’m expe­ri­enc­ing tipping-related stress. Don’t laugh: it’s common.

Top Ten Reasons I Love Canada

I would have relaxed myself (trans­la­tion: drink Diet Coke while smok­ing cig­a­rettes and read forums), but as the new year is about to begin, I wanted to end 2007 on a pos­i­tive note. So here are the top ten rea­sons I love Canada.

The Other Side Of The Story

The vol­un­teer took a step back as he spoke, as if my Euro­peanism could jump on him. I decide to not men­tion that I spent quite a lot of time in malaria infected areas in Latin Amer­ica, and got my yel­low fever shot last minute in Panama’s remote coun­try­side in a local health center.

On The Road To Nowhere

Occa­sion­ally, a bunch of dark coats men wait at the next sta­tion: tick­ets col­lec­tors. Upon see­ing them, weird things would hap­pen: peo­ple of all age would run towards the near­est doors, some would pull washed out tick­ets out their bags and pock­ets and punch them quickly, some would dis­trib­ute extra-tickets around them and the con­sen­sus would be “putain!*”.

Working Class Hero Is Something To Be

Rock’n’roll stars, rap artists, red­necks, tycoons, politi­cians, lob­by­ists, aliens… North Amer­ica has it all. But there’s one cat­e­gory that have never trav­eled across the ocean from its beloved old con­ti­nent : the nobility.

Don't Look Back In Anger (I heard them say)

Leav­ing France was not an oblig­a­tion but just an option. A very tempt­ing one, mind you. The world might be watch­ing us eat, smoke and have sex with a dis­dain­ful smile, yet it casts envi­ous eyes. But we know the other side of the story : no jobs, almost impos­si­ble to rent a place to live, a coun­try stuck in the days of its glory.