Learning Vietnamese

I've started learning Vietnamese in preparation for my trip. I've decided I will not pull a Jeannette, and so will arrive with at least enough knowledge of the language that I will be able to ask someone if they understand English (sorry Jeannette!).

Or announce to everyone that I am American! Even though I am not American.

There is no doubt that the series of CDs I bought, Pimsleurs Conversational Vietnamese, is American. This is how a typical lesson goes (note these are phonetic spellings, because there is no guidebook that shows me how these words are actually written):

Man's voice: Imagine you are an older American man, and you walk into a café and notice a young woman from your hotel. Say hello to her.

Me: Chao Chi-i

Vietnamese Woman: Chao Aum
Man's voice: Ask her how she is doing.

Me: Chi co kray-ay krom?

Vietnamese Woman: Doi kway-ay làm, cam unh ang.

Man's Voice: Ask her if she understands English

Me: Chi co héa-ho din Ang krom?

Vietnamese Woman: Krom

Man's Voice: Tell her you are American

Me: What?! How is this normal?!

In about every lesson, the man makes me say this! It's quite funny (and typically American) that before i learn how to say 'Sorry', or ask someone what their name is, that i know how to say that i am American, and even know how someone would ask me if i'm American.

And why an older American man picking up some young girl in a café?

I'm still waiting for the man to teach me how to say that I am Canadian. Or Australian. Or British. Or how about how to order a bowl of pho?

Next Floor: Work Experience

So I have now changed the name of this blog from Chronicles of the 12th Floor, to Chronicles of the Next Floor. For those you don't know, the 12th floor is where I spent most of my time in University: the 12th floor of the Hall Building at Concordia. The change to the Next Floor represents my quest to find the next level, the level where I can continue learning in a more practical and technical way. I believe in some camps this is called experience.

In my very long search for employment following graduating, I became incredibly bitter with the fact that without experience (or sometimes more vaguely, time since graduation, as i had already some years of experience in my field upon graduating) you can't get a job. Even internships, that are meant for people with no experience, are looking for people with experience.

Luckily, I ended up finding a job, but in a field that I am just so tired of :recycling. It leaves no room for gaining more real experience. Just plain recycling. Oh and sometimes garbage, composting, and waste-free lunches at schools. There's only so much beneficial experience i can absorb by helping people figure out which plastics are recyclable and explaining that they can only put their garbage and recycling out between 5am and 8am on the day of pick-up. I don't care if you're attached to an oxygen machine that only turns off at 10am. Find a neighbour who can help. And stop telling me you don't have neighbours, you live in a god-damn city!

I've decided then that in order to get real experiences, one needs to sacrifice a little. And that is why I decided I am going to Vietnam. I will be volunteering for 4 months with an organisation who needs help, but who have very little to offer except experience.

It's something that i want to do, and need to do. Need to do in order to gain experience, become more independent, know where i really want to be (do i want to be in Montréal forever?), and know where i really want to go (do i want to break into the community sector?).

And so this blog will follow me on my journey to answer all these questions and to overcome the million roadblocks that i can see in the horizon. Hopefully i will find the Next Floor.

Last 3 Months in One Day: Journée Éco-Communo'Terre

If anyone is wondering what has been happening with the Chronicles of the 12th Floor blog for the last couple months, you should come to Pierce Street this Saturday, September the 1st. The street facing the Faubourg will be closed off between 11am and 5pm for an event that i have been organising. The Eco-street fair will host music, eco-vendors, and community organisations and a chock full of activities like Kung-Fu and East Coast Swing lessons, as well as a live mural painting by Jeannette Langmead.

This week's (or month's?) Concordia newspaper, The Link, has an article examining the lack of a community centre in the Peter-McGill district of downtown and how this weekend's event is an attempt to create a sense of community despite this lack. This week's Mirror has also gave it a mention.

Waste-free is the new recycle

Recycling has been a major part of the ecological movement for almost as long as there has been an ecological movement. It's popularity began with public awareness of the amount of waste going into landfills, and the popularity of the environmental movement as a whole (Rachel Carson's Silent Spring having much to do with it). Today, recycling programmes are popular not only because i this sense of ecological stewardship, but because of the market. Petroleum and woodpulp prices are high enough that using recycled materials is just as costly or more economical.

In all the efforts ecologists have been pushing (especially where i work, at the Éco-Quartier), i feel there is not enough of a push towards waste-free living. It's very simple for people to simply recycle all their waste and think that they are doing something good for the environment. Because in way recycling is not good for the environment, it is just slightly better than throwing something into a landfill. It still takes energy to transport those recyclable goods (whether they be packaging surrounding a consumer good, or a consumer good in itself) to you, and then to the recycling facility in it's after-life. Though it it less energy than producing from raw-materials, recycled good still require energy to be recycled.

It seems time that recycling should be considered common place, standard, if you will. Too often people feel it to be exceptional, as if it instantly makes them an ecologist, when in fact it is only the lesser of the two evils (evils being waste).

Given all this, it's encouraging to see that there are some steps being taken to reduce waste. The popularity of reusable bags is one thing. Three years ago, a grocery store clerk would give you a look of confusion when you would say you brought your own bag. Now it is not uncommon to see people carrying their groceries in reusable bags that are sold at any given grocery store, big chains and small. Today (as soon as i finish this blog post...), the Éco-Quartier is starting a bag-reduction campaign. This will involve making the cashier more aware of the excessive waste the use of plastic bags is creating, and to simply ask the customer if they need a bag instead of instinctively shoving it into a plastic bag. Hopefully, if this campaign works out, every store in downtown will have a sign urging the consumer to consider the environment in a small way.

New York City Vegetarian

I went to New York for Canada Day weekend, and didn't really take many photos. I'm not sure why, but now i wish i remembered some more of the trip. Looking at the photos now, i can't even remember taking half of them! I guess their drinks really are stronger over there (note: i experienced the worst hang-over of my life Saturday morning). Other than drinking heavily, Rob and i ate very delicious food, sometimes a little too expensive for my budget but nonetheless worth it.

New York seems to have a strong high-income vegetarian population. I suspect this is because it has become a trendy fad in New York, whereas in Montreal it is more of a grassroots type of thing (think Aux Vivres), but this is not too say that New York doesn't have any Granola-Type vegetarians (with all of their accompanied pretension). I just don't think Montreal has the trendy-type yet who would be willing to fork over 23$ for Grilled Cabernet Seitan on a bed of seasonal vegetables, french lentils and garnished with grilled peach salsa (which was absolutely delicious).

I will be sure to visit all these expensive restaurants again, as i dutifully scribed them into my Moleskine City Notebook. This genius invention is basically a city guidebook that comes completely empty (save for a city map) that you fill in yourself. Anyways here are the photos.

Foreground:
Pan-seared seitan & Pomery mustard sauce, with potato purée, haricots verts & glazed pearl onions.
Background:
Phyllo pastry stuffed with saffron-basmati rice, pinenuts & almond-orange blossom butter, with mint-cucumber crème fraîche.
And two sangrias. At Counter

New York has planted some plants in their carrés d'arbres as well (in Chelsea, at least). These perennials are much nicer than the cheap-looking annuals the city of Montreal distributes.

Gingko Biloba seems to be the tree of choice in Chelsea. The Asian-Native is super-resistant to pollution, and this city is pollution-central!

The view of Lower Manhatten from the end of Montague Street in Brooklyn

This was on almost every corner on the busier Avenues.

Swarm on Sainte-Catherine

I was sitting at my desk yesterday (ok.it's more of a table) and heard something that sounded like a swarm of locusts. Well, i can only assume it sounded like a locust invasion, as i have never experienced one but have watched enough movies to have a vague idea (as if the filmmakers knew anyway). Wondering (and somewhat eager) whether the divine-being (whoever the fuck it is) was finally obliterating the human race, i poked my head out of the office and saw a swarm of skateboarders and a sprinkling of cyclists speed down Sainte-Catherine. I ran down to the corner as the tail end passed, and there were a couple cop cars with their sirens on dodging traffic to chase the group. Does anyone know what that was?

Garden (again)

As if Blork and i are competing in a garden post-athon, here are some more photos of my garden. Whereas Blork's have an artistic quality to them, mine are simply amateur photos trying to capture the very short life of the blooms after my impatient pacing (for weeks, really). Perhaps this is a friendly challenge, but i see this as a learning experience. I really do need to learn how to use my digital camera (i have had it for several years now).

oh, and i have another excuse: my roommate Jasmine is out west for the summer, and this is a way of relaying the images to her.

Underground Parks

Montreal's sister city Shanghai has announced the development of an underground park that will be part of the city's large underground network. A fibre-optic network would 'wire' light underground, solving the issue of it being underground.

I am not familiar with the way the underground city in Shanghai is organised, but in Montreal the underground city (except for certain passageways) are private spaces. It would be very interesting to see the insertion of a lavish public space in an area that is normally the domain of private development.

It is no secret that Montreal's downtown is seriously lacking some public space. Save for Dorchester Square and the adjacent Place du Canada, the downtown has no public parks. An underground park, if considered by the city, would not only help create a much needed park but help balance the private-space dominance of Montreal's underground and allow some warmth-deprived Montrealers some greenery in the dead of winter.

Write to your local representatives!

Sustainable Option #1: Grapeseed Oil

Sustainability has become a sort of buzz word, companies and organisations (and even governments) throw the word around in hopes of capturing consumers' attention. People are attempting to seek a more sustainable lifestyle even if they are a little unsure of what it means. In what i hope will become many more posts, i will recommend several alternatives to everyday consumer items. They won't necessarily make much difference, but it will make you feel a hell of a lot better about consuming.

The first 'sustainable option' is grapeseed oil as an alternative to olive oil. Because the olives used in olive oil are grown uniquely for the oil, the footprint in olive oil production is quite large. According to this document [pdf] commissioned by the European Union, most olive oil is now produced using intensified production methods that require a lot of energy input in terms of chemical fertilisers. As well, there are problems of soil erosion and water shortages as a result of these plantations. Even the low-input, more traditional olive groves have been increasingly reliant of these fertilisers.

Though i am sure that grape production has a considerable footprint, they are grown for wine
, oil and leaves. This efficiency makes the impact of grapeseed oil considerably less than that of olive oil which is grown uniquely for oil. Grapeseed oil also has a lighter taste and a higher smoking point, which makes it better for cooking.

Of course one needs to consider transportation in making a choice. Why would we want olive or grapeseed oil if we can have canola oil grown right here in Canada? Well... that's your call i guess. Fields and fields of canola (aka rapeseed) are grown in Western Canada for oil production, and about 80% of all canola seed is genetically modified. Unless you buy your canola oil organic (which is expensive), there is no way to know if it is GM or not.

The best option, i believe, is to have a bottle of grapeseed oil and organic canola oil on hand. So, ditch the inefficient olive tree for the versatile grape, and use organic canola oil whenever you really feel you need it (and you won't be wasting precious money).

Grapeseed oil can be found in many grocery stores. It can be found at Segal's on Saint-Laurent.

Fourth Citizen Summit of Montreal

Today is the start of the Fourth Citizen Summit of Montreal, the theme being 'Planning the City, economic development and participatory democracy: The Right to the City'. The Urban Ecology Centre is hosting the 40 or so workshops that will be simultaneously translated in English and French. Most of the programming is in French, but they have 12 roundtables and workshops that will be in English. One that sounds particularly interesting is titled 'the role of citizens' actions and economic development: Milton-Parc, Benny Farm, Point St-Charles,' starting tomorrow at 10:30. Check out the programme for all the details.

Garden

This is the first full summer where i have my own backyard. I've done the whole balcony container garden thing, and i've done the whole community garden thing. Nothing compares to having your very own fresh earth to break right outside your kitchen's back door.

When i'd moved in, the backyard had not been taken care of by the previous tenants for many many years. Vines that had been planted had not been led up the walls properly and the Day Lilies were left uncontrolled. I've managed to do a tonne of work, thanks also to my father who came to help pull out those damn pervasive Day Lilies and alter the borders. Intermingled with the new plants and shrubs i've planted cucumbers, kale, nasturtiums, tomatoes, peppers, beets, spinach, sage, oregano, basil, thyme, parsley and rosemary. Here are some photos i took of some flowers that have begun to flower. Long-live the digital macro zoom! Hopefully as my garden progesses, so will my photography skills.

Note: I will be starting a new full-time job which will be occupying much of my time. So, you may expect these posts to slow down a little.

Ontario and Smart Growth

Here's an interesting article from the Toronto Star, by way of Spacing, on Ontario's adoption of a Smart Growth policy. I know that they have been commissioning reports from the Neptis Foundation right left and centre for several years, but it appears that the province is going to officially adopt such a policy. The most important facet of Smart Growth is that it involves planning growth on a wider scale, rather than the ad-hoc nature of most suburban development. Carefully planning out safe and walkable neighbourhoods to complement and feed public transit corridors. And of course the words 'sustainable' and 'sustainability' are rampant in the Smart Growth reports.

The article mentions that this adoption will not only affect municipalities (having to conform to the provincial legislation), but will permeate through all provincial departments. Using the article's example, the government liquor stores will no longer be able to locate in strip malls surrounded by parking. This shouldn't be only accomplished through tough legislation, though. Federal and Provincial governments should implement policies of 'consistency' (for lack of a better word) to avoid such obvious hypocrisy.