same name, same blog, different address

http://www.tumblr.com/edit/15300368952?redirect_to=%2Fblog%2Ftheottawanomad%2Fdrafts

I’ve ignored my blog for a while now, mostly because I honestly didn’t think my time in Europe was best spent recording my every move, because let’s be honest I had better things to do and hopefully you did too. Now that I’m home, with some free time on my hands between jobs, I can now devote some time to European reflection, some Ottawa gossip and rants as per usual.

Around this time of year I find myself trying to find something fun and interesting to do for the summer. Last year I found myself in the Newfoundland Wilderness (a term I’m using loosely) and the summer before that I spent in the backwoods of Ontario. At the moment things are kind of up in the air. I long to stay in the city for the summer (maybe playing some Regina Spektor on my iPod and showing some cleavage) but without a solid full-time job that winter-daydream is proving impossible. On the other hand a summer by the lakeside is looking very tempting.

So as we unofficially start the summer I find myself wondering what is going to become of it. Will it be classically romantic? (doubt it) An epic fail? (hopefully not) A time? (translation: a good time) or maybe just magically unique (my only real requirement for a good summer). Yeah, let’s be positive, summer 2011 cannot be anything but perfect (as long as what we define as ‘perfect’ is flexible!).

Good luck to everyone with your summer hopes/dreams/goals and if I do end up going to the backwoods again this year, please come camping! It truly is the best way to spend those summer nights.

Arras, the small town of 40,000 people that I call home, is about a 40 minute train ride north of Paris in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. I have come to associate the region with rain, stinky cheese, the ‘shhh’ pronunciation of words and a mostly friendly attitude. While the downtown makes it feel as large as smaller Canadian cities it by French standards a town. It has some beautiful squares and loads of history dating back to its use as an outpost during Roman rule. No big deal.

I’m living with six of my coworkers in a three story house just outside of what I would consider centre-ville but is still downtown. Our location means a ten minute walk to the main squares, train-station and groceries. I could only wish for this type of location back home.

What do I bring? What do I delete? Where do I put it?

iPods, external hard-drives, digital cameras and memory cards.

…and books? yes books but not as many as usual. I’ll trade my Canadiana collection  for my Bescherelle and leave it at that. Perhaps I will leave the weight of my electric toothbrush behind and try an old fashioned one, there is something nostalgic about that.

Can I leave my laptop behind? My voice-box, my window? If I can travel faster without it and discover something new perhaps all I need is the memory. Maybe I can find something else to connect to.

I better back up my emotional drive for a third time, just to be safe. I’ll upload my thoughts to the world but I’ll carry my friends in my pocket. I’ll bring everything I can but, if I must, I will pick and choose from a few of my favorite things.

Lucky for me there are no restrictions on data with Air Canada.

I don't travel lightly

While I would like to remind fellow cafe frequenters to mind their volume its also nice to know that sometimes loud volume can lead to some interesting information. While I’m not certain if this is already public knowledge it seems that the Ottawa folkfest’s location will be changing yet again. Some loud conversation at a great coffee shop seems to indicate that this summer’s event will take place near Hogs Back Falls.

I find it interesting that the festival is changing locations yet again after what seemed like some financial woes last year. At least this location is closer to the downtown core.

If anyone can confirm this gossip it would be great.

Last year I wrote a post entitled 2010 where I wrote about the woes of turning 20 and my goals for the year. A friend of mine recently pointed out that in some form or another I had successfully completed all my goals. It was a year of academic change, wilderness adventure, personal growth and nomadic travel. While I know I completed a lot of my practical goals there are still a few practical and much more impractical ones that have been festering in my imagination.

In a few weeks I will be off to Europe for the first time, actually it will be my first time out of North America, and in my mind it is a voyage that will be overflowing with new sights, experiences and adventure. After that it will be back to the University of Ottawa for a complete year, three semesters in a row, of home grown Canadian education. With this sketchy timeline in mind I thought I would continue my tradition of making some public goals and posting them here in hopes that I will be more likely to complete them.

1. My first goal is very practical: work on my French. I feel like having a job in France might have a positive influence on this one.
2. Spend some more quality time with my sense of adventure. Working in Newfoundland reawakened this aspect of my personality that had lied relatively dormant for a while now. I want to make sure I really live this year, not just when I am travelling but when I am home as well.
3. Work on my interpersonal relationships. I told myself that after finishing things with the IB and Pearson College I would take a solid year (and a little more) to figure myself out. After a year and a half of taking a  ’social holiday’ I think I’m ready to jump back in. I’m going to work on my current friendships, branch out some more and work on that other type of relationship
4. Stop thinking about ‘getting out’ and instead begin to think about ‘getting on’. Rather then having a ‘get out of the hometown’ attitude I think its just healthier to think about getting into a future that I am really into. At the same time I don’t want to settle for just anything outside of the familiar, I want something amazing.
5. Run the half-marathon. This goals is funny because usually I am not one for physically demanding goals like this but I have nurtured a love for running over the past two years. Having the courage to rock winter running tights was the most important step of all.
6. Keep my digital life in check. Those who know me probably consider me a bit of a facebook whore. They would be correct. This year I want to use technology in a way that expands social interaction and at the same time not limit my ‘real time’ social life.
7. Act, write, sing and create. One thing I realized this semester is that I have completely abandoned everything that was once creative in my life. I don’t act anymore, a barely write, I have stopped music all together(mostly after I left for BC) and I never carried on with my hopes of taking some art classes this semester. This year, more specifically when I come back to school in the summer, I want to get back into the arts. Art is one thing I have learned I cannot live without.

Ottawa is a really interesting city to live in. We have an incredibly well-educated population, loads of museums, a low key arts scene, history, green space, unpredictable climate and the benefits of being a prime tourist destination. This semester I’m taking a class on anthropological fieldwork and part of the class is going out and conducting, to me somewhat superficial, fieldwork. My group and I decided that a really interesting aspect of the nation’s capital is the tourism sphere. After doing a few observations this week I felt like writing a post on tourism and Ottawa.

When finishing high school out west I found that a lot of my peers were planning large trips. Although the adventures ranged from beach vacations to crossing Europe on bicycle they usually had one thing in common: avoiding the regular tourist. I always find it interesting when people refuse to label themselves as tourists and opt “to do what the local do”. I too usually say that we should do what the locals do but I honestly believe this is the most interesting and sustainable way to explore a new place. I always try to remind myself that I am a tourist, I feel like reminding yourself about this aspect of your temporary identity allows you so be mindful of your cultural-footprint on wherever you are visiting.

I think the relationship between tourists and the local culture is super interesting. Tourism itself is an insanely important part, for better or worse, of the globalization of culture. What a broad statement right? But the flow of ideas, economic systems, social expectations and physical flow of people are having an impact on the local society. In my opinion this globalized flow is usually for the worse but I think that tourism in the context of Ottawa is an important part of how our country and city operates.

Ottawa is the political and diplomatic capital of Canada and because of these two roles we are arguably the centre of the debate on Canadian identity. Ottawa serves as an arena where Canadian tourists and the citizens of Ottawa can battle, through a critique of our city, to create a cooperative construction of what it means to be Canadian. This can be displayed through our museums but also through our interactions with each other. As much as it is the battle ground of Canadian identity it is also the ballroom of diplomacy where Canadians have a chance to wine and dine foreign tourists filling them with what our country has to offer. The duality within our role as a tourist destination put Ottawa in a position that is unique in our country.

This discussion has lead me to ponder as to if Ottawa (and Gatineau if they like) should become the National Capital Region rather then a capital city within the province of Ontario. I think that it would allow Ottawa to grow as a city and represent all of Canada and could allow for our city to become a city for Canada, not just another Ontarian city. This is a concept that someone mentioned to me a while back and I’m still not sure what my opinion is on it but I think it’s a concept that we don’t often consider. If the government really wants to bring the best citizens forward to run their country perhaps we should create a city built for the people of Canada. I’m not really sure what this city would look like besides being super dependent on the federal government (which could see us having horrible services to save public money or with some much needed light rail transit) and perhaps even cleaner then it already is. Ottawa has the opportunity to be a great city, and it already is, but we have only seen the tip of the iceberg and should look for the rest.

I realize that this post started talking about tourism but then totally moved on to something else entirely but this is usually how my mind works, sorry.

Guideline #1: There is a fine line between people watching and stalking, know what it is. In my mind people watching in the same space, say a bus or a cafe, is fine but once you start following an individual you should know that things are getting strange. I feel like everyone people watches without realizing it, we do it everyday in class when we make observations like “king-hipster is wearing yet another cardigan, surprise” or when my friend EG and I make observations of when the hot barista is working at bridgehead. The last statement was a trick, making notes about barista schedules is most definitely stalking, sorry. Bottom line: watch, don’t follow.  Giving nicknames to those you see a lot is a way less creepy way of identifying individuals then knowing your ‘people’ by name  it’s also a lot of fun. I’ve added a checklist of things that may indicate you have gone from people watcher status to official CREEPER:

1. Looking for your ‘people’ on facebook
2. Memorizing schedules
3. Taking photographs without people knowing (sorry photographers and photojournalists I consider you the ultimate creepers)
4. Making notes about your observations or keeping a journal
5. Texting your friends when you see ‘people’ from people watching somewhere new…not going to lie, I’ve done this before (haha SR)
6. Following your ‘people’ beyond your place of watching
7. Don’t create a Blog about the people you watch unless you are doing legit research or it’s really funny.
8. Don’t people watch in washrooms, you are now leaving the status of CREEPER to something much worse

Guideline #2: If someone catches you people watching admit to what you’re doing, it way less awkward. Especially with fellow anthropology majors this guideline works really well, usually you will both laugh and the two of you will continue to people watch. Ideally you have nothing to hide and are not creeping but observing. If you do have something to hide refer to guideline #1.

Guideline #3: Understand the spectrum of eavesdropping acceptability. Eavesdropping is whenever one listens in on a private conversation, this in itself is not ok. This would be doing things like picking up the receiver on the telephone to listen in on a conversation, purposely seeking out the conversation of people who have moved to a private place or pretending to be a priest and conducting confession at your local church. What I consider to be ok is casually hearing conversations that are happening around you. In these cases you are most likely in a public place, you are not straining your ears to understand the conversation and you are not seeking out the conversation, you simply happen to be there.  If you happen to overhear a conversation that should be taking place in a more private place try to make an effort to not listen, it just seems like a chance to be ethical in this somewhat unethical pass time. In my opinion as long as you keep it to yourself you’re in the clear but BEWARE of those who call themselves people watchers and may be journalists or artists in disguise. This group may use you for inspiration, steal your ideas or very publicly share your convo with the world, so be mindful.It should be noted that attempting to read text messages is never ok as this is one of the ultimate forms of private conversations.

Guideline #4: Take a socio-cultural anthropology course. Anthropology, journalism, sociology, psychology and a number of other disciplines have a lot to offer to the sport of people watching. Who knows, it may even lead to a change in your academic major. This could lead to being paid for your guilty pleasure.

I guess the bottom line is know when and when not to evolve into a CREEPER.  If you are new to people watching here are some fun places to people watch:

• Cafés
• Lineups
• Shopping malls
• Church (watching people’s facial expressions during sermons is actually priceless sometimes)
• Movie theaters before the lights go off (afterwards that becomes creepy because they may not be able to see you)
• Classrooms
• Tourist attractions
• American Apparel stores (the interaction between customers and employees is really backwards and fun to watch)

These are just a few guidelines that I thought of off the top of my head, feel free to add some and I’ll keep this post updated.

While doing my favorite transit activity, people watching, I noticed a couple of folks with the most confused faces.  They were looking up into the grey sky staring at a small puff of smoke hanging high over the cornfield. Sure enough within a minute or two I heard a shot through the music on my ipod and sure enough small fireworks were being lodged into the sky. Only a few of us took notice of the glitter in the sky.

I noticed a few things about this event and the people in attendance. First off there were very few people who seemed to enjoy the early morning show, in fact even after a few fireworks the few people who noticed continued to look either confused or returned to what they had been doing beforehand. What was more interesting was that hardly anyone took notice to what was going on around them, instead they continued to listen to their iPod, stare into empty space or keep watch for the 96 which, as usual, was running late. It wasn’t even Canada Day, what a treat.

I am somewhat disturbed that so many people didn’t even notice that this was going on. How could everyone completely miss the loud sound and lights right beside them? Is what they are listening to really that interesting? I guess I’m just frightened about what we are missing out on when we plug into any device. Is being constantly connected giving us an easy way out of the random and exciting social sphere that is the bus stop? Or is being connected allowing us the enter a more valuable network of communication?

Once the bus arrived I was lost in a common imagined alter-reality where no one is wearing headphones and where cellphones don’t exist. This scenario often comes up in my mind when I zone out on the bus but today it seemed more vived. What would we do? What would teenagers do, would the generation who has been domesticated by technology be able to interact with other human beings in a world void of communication technology? Perhaps that is a bit of an extreme situation but it does make me think, and kind of laugh at the thought of kids from Kanata trying to navigate downtown without their google maps application on their smartphones and the help of their text message buddies.

Moral of the story: Look around every once and while and you may notice something interesting, even in Kanata.

In other transit news: OC Transpo and the Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) have combined their transit databases making it easier for inter-provincial transit. See the press release here.

After leaving Carleton University’s Roosters behind me and transferring to the University of Ottawa my first mission was to find a new hangout, ideally a student-run cafe. In less then two days I had spotted a sign for Café Alt (also known as Café Alternatif) and had set up shop. My first impression of the cafe was that it was a big square space with nothing on the walls, borrrrring. It had a diverse menu which indicated that it catered to an alternative and frugal crowd. It didn’t have any window, as its in a basement, but had lots of seating. To sum up: I was happy it existed but knew that significant improvements could be made.

After  a fun filled autumn reading week the peeps at Café Alt have made some great improvements. First off they have added Art to the equation, thank God, those bare walls were killing me. Second they have played around with furniture location, moving tables closer to electricity outlets, horah! On a general note, more people seem to be coming around but the fact that there are a number of recognizable regulars makes this my kind of coffee shop.

Café Alt is the newest of the SFUO businesses and is one of my fave spots on campus. They are all about sustainability, fair trade and healthy food options which makes me glad that i don’t have to walk all the way to Bridgehead on Elgin or Wild Oat on Bank to eat something my conscience can feel good about.

With lots of vegan and vegee friendly options this place is always a welcome alternative to the corporate coffee bean powerhouses one can find just off campus, but things can still be improved. I want music! Right now the friends behind the counter are playing a great mix of Mumford and Sons, Arcade Fire’s new album and some Said the Whale to top things off, please share!  More art is always a good idea and if we can fill up some of that empty space with more seating for the lunch hour crowd it would be appreaciated.