O' Canada


May 31, 2017 - June 2, 2017

The train to Montreal was nothing like the shinkansen in Japan but it was still interesting to experience. The train looked almost like a freight train. You had to really lift yourself up into the car. But taking this way of transport instead of flying allowed us to see the country a little bit more. The area between cities would be like what you expect, mostly open space and possible farm land. It was green though and parts of the trip you could even see the water. We arrived in Montreal in the late evening so it was hard to do anything the first day. Thankfully, one of Caoliang’s coworkers allowed us to stay in his place for our Montreal stay. I have been to Montreal before a couple times but not really enough to remember areas of the city or where things were exactly. But to my surprise, the area in which we stayed was pretty close to many things.

We didn’t have many plans for Montreal except seeing a few different circus shows in the evening times. But along with circus shows, many of Caoliang’s coworkers would be in Montreal as well, for training or because they were vacationing at home, so there were many chances for spontaneous plans. 

DAY 1

The first morning, a friend from work, Robert, would be coming to pick us up for lunch. I had gotten the chance to meet him many times before in Japan so it would be nice for me as well to see a familiar face. Robert took us to this amazing brunch place called Regine. Robert said there is usually always a wait but I think we showed up in just the right time to catch a table straight away. The place was had a whimsical feel, varied menu, and tables full of people with mimosas, pastries, and breakfast. For brunch I had the french toast that was topped with ham and eggs all on top of a fudge streaked plate. Yummy! It was actually too much for me to finish but luckily in Canada it isn’t strange to take a doggie bag home, which I did. Having brunch with Robert was really nice and enjoyable. 

For the remainder of the day, I went to have some time to myself getting a hair cut while Caoliang had a straps workshop. After we got back together we took a break at the apartment before heading out to see Cirque du Soleil’s new show, Volta. I didn’t know much about Volta before going but was always up to see a circus show, especially having a different connection to circus than before. 




So after a couple hours of flashing lights and booming music, the show was over and I was sadly disappointed. Now this critic is solely just my opinion as a viewer so please don’t read so much into it. So basically the show was entertaining and successful IF your point was just wanting to go see just a show, but if you go to a Cirque du Soleil show wanting to see CIRCUS then you probably would be highly disappointed like myself. Why? Well because Volta was not circus. Jumping rope, BMX bikes, and dance? Ok dance would be incorporated into circus but if I wanted to see ballerinas I would go to a ballet, if I wanted to see BMX riders I’d just watch the X-games. Come on Cirque! What happened? This show didn’t take me to another world, it didn’t create a fantasy land in my mind, it didn’t capture me or aw me or even make my palms sweat. Nothing! Sure the artists are talented and they could do stuff I could never do, that I can appreciate, but honestly me disappointment was in the wanting to see a circus and not getting that. From a name like Cirque du Soleil, you expect THE BEST artists and I feel like here it was very mediocre. But I won’t leave you with just bad points in the show, what I did like was the show’s circus. He was funny and actually made me laugh. Along with the clown there was also an act that was pretty impressive a lady that hung by her hair! Yup that’s right, her hair. She had it tied in a bun and then a loop was attached to a long chord which hung from the ceiling. It made me think, what conditioner does she use? Hah! 




But anyways, it was good to see another Cirque show and to watch it with different eyes. And extra lucky for us, it was free! So one circus show down and one full day in Montreal finished. Tomorrow would be a day at the amusement park with some friends from Totem. How exciting!

DAY 2

So like I said before, this day we were asked by some Totem friends to join them at the amusement park for the day, La Ronde. La Ronde is actually a theme park by Six Flags so I was excited to ride some roller coasters like back home.



That morning we met up Robert, Matthieu, MC and AC for a fun day at the park. It was great for us, too, because the park wasn’t far from where we were staying. For half the day we rode many roller coasters. It was nice because it was actually the first day of the season the park was open so there weren’t so many guests as during peak summer season. The longest we waited in a line was maybe 20 minutes. I actually have motion sickness when it comes to certain situations and roller coasters are one of them. But even with that, I ride them anyways, just with a limit. I think I probably rode about four or five rides this day and that was enough for me. A headache was brewing and I didn’t want to make it worse for the rest of the day. As all of us became tired and had other things to do, we decided to leave and go about the rest of our day about 4pm

This evening we had another circus show to see but this time it was’t a “professional” level show but a senior show from a circus school here in Montreal. As Caoliang is always looking for ways to better himself as an artist, he wanted to see what senior students were putting out now as their end of year performance. I was keen to go just to see what a circus school’s end of the year project would look like being that I’ve never seen such a show. 

The show was at 8pm but we left the apartment a bit earlier to get a proper meal beforehand. AC had recommended a tapas place called Tabio to us which we decided to check out. The place was nice and had really good food. I couldn’t remember the last time I had such a nice meal with white cloth napkins! It was really nice to have a dinner like this especially after being on the move so much the last couple weeks. Also meals in Japan always have paper napkins and I didn’t often go to fancy places. Even then so, the fancy places (based on similar price) also would give you a wet towel, nothing like the elegant feelings of a cloth napkin. So thanks AC for the recommendation!! Once we finished our meal, we called an Uber to get us to the school.

The senior’s final show, for this day, was called L'Amour Et Les Extraterrestres. In Montreal, I’ve noticed that most things are in French first before English. So even though I didn’t understand the title, it was still intriguing to see. The show featured different types of circus arts, such as straps, trapeze, hand-to-hand, aerial hoop, and Russian cradle. Some of the acts I had never seen before and was blown away by these student’s strength, flexibility and creativity. Along with their circus skills there was also theatrics that was part of the show. This show was different than any circus show I’ve seen before, which were only Cirque shows. This show was more emotional and much more theatrical and genuine. Honestly, this show was better and more satisfying than Cirque du Soleil’s Volta the night before! A big opinion but one I really felt. 

Happy with this evening, we headed back to the city to get some rest for the next day. 

DAY 3

Good morning chilly Montreal! It seems like the weather had gotten chillier and chillier since we’ve arrived. I’m trying to enjoy it before the heat of Texas but cold weather just doesn’t sit well with me. For breakfast, we found this cute little cafe really close to the apartment. It had such yummy foods and nice atmosphere, I wished we had found it earlier! This morning Caoliang had another straps workshop with the same teacher as two days ago. So we spent the first half of the day doing that. I went along, upon request. Interesting for me though, I got to see what it looks like inside a circus studio and all the different types of apparatuses you must have to satisfy the wide range of students and practices. From hanging trapeze, to straps, to silks, this small but tall studio had it. After looking around a bit, I left Caoliang to himself and I caught up on my writing. 

After his workshop, we met up with some of his friend's parents. They accompanied us to lunch and it was nice to see Caoliang catch up with some old friends. 

This last day in Montreal was rather busy. In the evening we prepared to go back to TOHU Theatre to see the other senior show, Hangar des Possibles. Like the evening before, the show was spectacular. The students' strength and discipline really impressed me. In this show, my favorite artist was this young woman whose practices were on rope as well as the cyr wheel. She was fantastic! Strong but graceful, she handled both apparatuses so well. It was really a joy to watch her and her classmates.

With it being our last night in Montreal and possibly the last time for me to see many of Caoliang's coworkers that lived in city, we made plans to grab a drink with a few of them before departing the following morning. So the rest of the night consisted of drinks, first experiences, and poutine!

It has really been so much fun to travel so much before making the trip home. The last week in Canada was nice and I was happy to be with Caoliang so much but a part of me is ready to unpack my suitcase somewhere!! So thank you Canada for the hospitality and helping with the transition back to North America.


xx
t

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