NOT A CHAPTER

just info update!

For obvious reasons, I will not be nerd blogging during this wittle vacay, but thought I'd post some contact information for those who are interested.

I will be staying most nights chez Loanne and Chincks and the telephone number here is:

416-693-5927

Nothing at the Hincks House comes without rulez, so here they are:
1. No calling after 10pm.
2. If you get the machine between 530 and 630pm, we're eating dindins and listening to your msg.
3. No complaining about the dinosaur-era busy signal.
4. No calling after 10pm.
These rulez have been in place since we got a phone in 1993, so plz respekt.

As always, I'll check e-mee and f-book regularily.

In answer to X-Tina's query, I will be in K-Town and you are my peeps in K-Town so we have to get together!

Otherwise, I'll be partaking in such activities as:
-drinking TO tap water
-eating sushi on Bloor St.
-asking complicated questions at information booths
-smiling at strangers
-scoping teens at the local mall

See you all soon!

Signing off,
Hincks.

Chapter 105: Obama+Hincks=BFF

nerd blog post #110

Oh hello! Too busy packing for CANADA to blog? Never!!

This has been a great week in Paris and I'm glad I sent that horror Bronco home so I could relax before heading home for what is sure to be a whirlwind of a visit.

I went to see the clown school's final performance on Friday night. It was the first time they performed for the public all year and I was VERY excited. There were nine short pieces (three groups per class and three classes). They had various themes or places that they explored and then devised a piece from. It was really nice, and a bit nostalgic, to see Viktor on stage again. It was if we should have been in Canada or something, but weren't. Raffi stood out as a performer and I was a proud gf. One of my favourite themes was deafness. Having a deaf cousin and feeling particular affinity to disabled people, I was skeptical of how a group of hearing people would be able to create the world of the deaf. I was moved with the ways they could bring us into that world. They had one scene at a school for the deaf in which I remembered my time at deaf camp - a place I hadn't thought about in years. It's sort of hard to explain the pieces on here... But anyways, it was a cool show and I was so happy that I was still here to see it. It could be the last thing I see at Lecoq.

Afterwards, Raffi, Nicole and her bf and I went for food and then cracked some champagne. We then joined the others at the bar/cafe across from their school where we danced, chatted and drank OJ for hours and hours. A really fun night.

Saturday's highlight was an exceptionally long chat with Doctor. I don't know how we do it, but we manage to talk for hours and hours every week. And I never grow tired of it. He's in Finland now!

I was suuuuuuuper excited to go to work on Sunday. I got to the area about 45 minutes too early so enjoyed one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Paris. The Latin Quarter. Always swarming with my fave type of peeps (German tourists and strangers in general), I poked around and tried to figure out why there were so many people around on a Sunday morning, particularily cops. All of a sudden, I heard loud cheering and crowds moving towards the road by the side of the Seine. It was Obama driving by! I didn't quite see him, but I was THERE. I think we're pals now.

Then I went to work. I worked at a scary, mobster bar before but had only made drinks, not really served them and I didn't deal with money at all. When I arrived, I was given a special cash machine key and a brief tour and then was told I was in charge of the patio. My boss was there, but it was really just this chick and I doing everything. I took orders, set tables, brought drinks and food, cleared everything, took money. Rinse and repeat. Around 2pm, it got crazy busy because of some tennis game. No offense to tennis lovers, but I don't get it. Anyways, it got so packed that there were no more tables. My section was expanded to include the whole front section of the bar, plus the patio. It was really busy! I learned a lot in a really short time and liked it more than teaching. Oopsies! I also made a ton of tips. People don't really tip in Europe, but with tourists and the Canadian feel, people were more inclined. Plus, it's pretty expensive, so peeps have more money. I was shocked that people were dropping over 100 euros for BRUNCH for two. I felt like apologizing when giving them the bill. "Your brunch is 48Euros. I'm so sorry... I wish I could help." But really, they know how much it is and don't caresies! Amazing. I sometimes forget about rich people. My boss seems really nice. He's from Montreal. The other staff are from all over - France, Canada, Australia... The customers are also from all over. The patio has one of the best views of Notre Dame, so there are tourists from everywhere. And many of them speak better English than French, so The Great Canadian Pub sounds more inviting than Le Petit Cochon d'Amour. You know? There are also regulars, which include peeps working for the British Embassy and other jobs where you are sent somewhere you might not necessarily really care about and where your job is still in English so learning French isn't a big deal. There are also French peeps. A third or so of my customers were French, but that may have been because of the tennis. Who knows. Anyways, I love my new job. Looooove the new job. TheGreatCanadianPub4Life.

Today, Raffi has a final solo performance for his teachers that he's been rehearsing pretty hard. When it's done, he'll be finished all "assignments" for the year. We're going to a mime show this afternoon and then out for dindins. I will be hyper, I can already tell. I can feel the excitement bubbling inside.

That's all for now. I'll post some Canadian contact info latron.

Much love,
Hincks.

Chapter 104: Sarkozy+Hincks=BFF

nerd blog post #109

And so, after seeing Bronwyn off on Sunday, I have been in Paris. I am very happy to be here, despite the antsiness I feel knowing that I'll be in Toronto very soon. Still, Paris is feeling like home and the days in Rennes seem quite long ago. I have really been able to relax this week and regain an appreciation for this city.

Raffi's class is doing their final show tonight. This will be the first time I see him doing his thang. It's crazy that we met the week-end before his first week of school, and that now it's coming to an end. And I have never seen a show or a class or anything. So you can imagine how excited I am to see what I've only been hearing about for eight months. Anyways, the point is that he (and the others) have been really busy this week and I have been hanging mostly solo. Which has been good.

On Monday, I went to a little museum in the Jardin des Tuileries called l'Orangerie. It is home to Monet's Waterlilies and other famous people's paintings. I really enjoyed it. I hope this doesn't get me sniped, but I wasn't super impressed with Monet's paintings. The only thing I could really say is that they're big. Otherwise, they were just okay for me. What I loved, though, was watching the people looking at them. They were all snapping pictures as if the place was about to go up in flames. And videorecording, too. I wanted to let them know that a google image search would give them superior results than their take-a-picture-shift-to-the-right (rinse and repeat) technique of getting the whole thing on their camera. I really enjoyed some of the other work that was there, particularily by one French guy who isn't dead yet but I forget his name.

I visited Brian at the bookstore and decided to buy a (used) book. I have run out and have read most of what interests me on Raffi's shelf. I bought Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa. It's about his safari with his wife back in 1933. I like that Hemingway writes about real things that he's done. I like real people's stories. That's why I don't like Harry Potter and his friend, Jar Jar. This book I like, though. And I feel instant solidarity with Ernest because I, too, have gone shooting.

I saw Merrill one afternoon. She was on her way to London for a week but stopped in Paris for the day. We had coffee and poked around the Marais. It was good to see her and hear the happenings of Rennes. She's tired of being there, as I can imagine, and looks forward to going home at the end of the month.

I also saw President Sarkozy, but that wasn't planned. I was supposed to meet a friend from Queen's (Andrew Kelly) who is backpacking through Europe. We had a planned meeting point outside of Notre Dame, near this statue. I waited for half an hour and he didn't show (misunderstanding etc). Anyways, the point is that there was a massive something going on in the church. International camera crews were there and the mass was being played over a loud speaker. There were hundreds or a thousand peeps in front of the church. Turns out, the funeral for the families of the disappeared Air France plane was happening and Mr. President was there. When the funeral was over, I followed an Italian film crew near the front and saw him exit the church. I thought waving was inappropes, so I just looked. I think we're pals now.

I lost a game of Scrabble.

Yesterday I met up with a guy from Queen's who's now at Law School in England. Mark Dean and I had a class together in my first year, and then were bf/gf for a short time some years back and now I'm glad that we can be friends because I think he's a very nice and funny man. We checked him into his hostel and then explored the Latin Quarter, the Seine and Montmartre. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up some peaches and beer and consumed them on a bench in Montmartre, overlooking the city. We then had a beer at one of the restaurants up there that had live music. We laughed a lot and remembered funny things and talked about life in Europe (he lives in Leeds) and our excitement to go back to Canada (he left today). It was a really nice time.

I also decided this week that I would like a Summer job. I feel as though I haven't worked in ages and I miss it. I also want a way to meet people who aren't clowns. I love the clowns, but I also want my own friends and a way to keep busy. A job would also help me live more comfortably in this very expensive city. And so, I marched into The Great Canadian Pub and I have my first shift on Sunday. Unlike my last bar experience at the Greek Mafia Bar, these peeps seem awesome. Very relaxed about my schedule ("Hello! I'd like a job! I leave Tuesday for three weeks... Sorries!), concerned about working papers, happy I'm from TO but speak French, and just really laid-back and nice. I think it will be a fun place to work. Doctor said that it's more than a bar, it's like a theme park. He's right. I love my new job already and can't wait for my first eight hour shift in ages, this Sunday.

I think that about sums up the excitement of this week. It's been nice to walk around and read and enjoy the city, as well as see a couple of friends. I am looking forward to the show tonight, my job on Sunday, and my return to Canada on Tuesday. I am a purring lionness.

Much love,
Hincks.

Chapter 103: Barcellorca

nerd blog post #110

Spain was unbelieveably fun. It was the first time on the trip that Bronwyn and I were alone and it was also the first time we were going to somewhere new for me. (Not Barcelona, but Mallorca.) So all of those things made me very excited for this final leg of the trip. Not only that, but the weeks where I was finishing my job and moving out had been a bit stressful, but after recovering in Amsterdam, I was ready to put all of my energy elsewhere.

And so we arrived in Barcelona around 11pm after a day of travelling. When landing, we were told the temperature was 24 degrees. We were stoked since it had hardly been 24 anywhere else at any time, and it was nighttime when we landed. From the airport shuttle drop-off, we were a tad confused as to where to go, but navigated well on the metro and then on foot. Finally, around midnight, we reached our hostel.

Barcelona is the pick-pocket capital of Europe and the sketchiness can be felt on the streets at night. Bronwyn and I were obvious tourists (suitcases in tow) and so were very relieved when we got to our hostel. But when we pulled on the door, it was locked! We buzzed and waited, but nothing. Then, a young German named Stefan came out to smoke and told us that the reception had gone home for the night. The website said 24 hour reception, though! Yes, he laughed, the internet said many thing that is not truth. So we went in anyway and asked some Americans if there were free beds and they said yes. We put our stuff there, went out with Stefan for beer and food and squatted in the hostel that night. The next morning, we helped ourselves to free breakie and internet before I went to reception to confess what had happened. I was expecting an apology, but instead got attitude by some chick from "Cali" who was crusty that we didn't use sheets. Oh, I'm sorry! I guess my girlfriend and I should have slept outside, using our passports as pillows. Our mistake. Eventually, though, she softened, and was nicer. We left our luggage there for the day.

In Barcelona, we walked down La Rambla, the sort of touristy stretch that sells cool stuff and has street performers. I had fallen in love with a street performer in Barcelona back in January and was delighted to see he was still doing his thang. We then hit the beach where we chilled for a few hours, stopping only to eat delicious food at a beachside cafe. In the afternoon, we headed to Mallorca.

We decided to treat ourselves to our first cab ride of the trip, from the airport to the hotel. It wasn't far, but we got ripped off. We swallowed it and checked in. For Bronwyn and I, who had been sharing a room on a good night, and a bed on a normal night, this hotel was delux. Our own single bed!? Amazing! The hotel was lovely. We had a buffet breakie and a balcony and pools and daily entertainment. The staff was really nice and we were surrounded by my fave type of peeps: older Germans. We were the only visitors in the 10-40 range.

The days in Mallorca were wonderful. We tanned on the beach. I'd like to note how I much I love that Europeans are not prudes on the beach. Born a nudist at heart, tanning topless is wonderful and normal here. So that's all I want to say about that. We ate at the same cheap beachside restaurant every day that had great seafood. We also went shooting. Henk won, but I got 83, which Henrik said was good. It was my first time shooting a gun. We bought matching obnoxious hats and wore them everywhere. We hung out with a Madridian stag party who bought us beer. We danced at the live entertainment at the hotel. We rented bikes and rode 26 kms, into the capital of city of Palma and poked around there. We also went out one night in Palma where we danced and received many free drinks for being the first in the bars.

Basically, it was the best holiday and I was sad to leave. Bronwyn was the perfect companion, and it was nice to have a girl with me. She was also very brave, trying many firsts, like swimming underwater in the ocean (despite a fear of sharks) and trying a shrimp (despite a fear of new foods).

We had a long travel day back to Paris and stayed one last night at Raffi's before heading to the airport the next morning. It would have been a very sad goodbye if I wasn't going to be home next week. Still, I miss Bronco quite a bit now, having had her by my side for three whole weeks.
So now I'm chilling in Paris. I feel very relaxed and happy to be here, though the thought of being in Toronto so soon is making me very excited!

I hope you are all well. Much love to Canada.

Signing off,
Hincks.