Welcome to our updated blog

I have been won over by the world of blogs. As I have been perusing the blogs of friends for quite some time, I've appreciated the little glimpses into the goings on of their daily lives that I would otherwise miss out on because of the many miles (or kilometers, if you prefer) between us. So, here's my initial attempt to provide those whom I love with some little tranches de vie from our franglais existance in Montreal.

Don't hesitate to write us for cultural and linguistic clarifications. We'd like the contact from you! And perhaps this blog can be a meeting place for our friends and family from all different backgrounds. We're all about fostering quality interactions between Americans, Canadians, and Quebeckers, since the three of these cultures meet in our little household, for better or for worse.

So to kick off this renewed blog experience (after a two year break from my three previous postings), here's a little local humor a friend sent me. You'll probably find it funnier if you live in Quebec or have ever been here to visit, especially during the winter.


You know you live in Quebec if...

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you live in Quebec.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Quebec.

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year, you live in Quebec.

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you live in Quebec.

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Quebec.

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialled a wrong number, you live in Quebec.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE QUEBECER IF:

1. "Vacation" means going South past Plattsburg for the weekend.

2. You measure distance in hours.

3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and then back again.

5. You can drive 110 kph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.

6. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

7. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

8. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.

9. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.

10. Down South to you means Albany

11. Your 1st of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

12. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

13. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."

14. You think Cirque de Soleil and Celine Dion are the greatest shows on earth.

15. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Quebec friends