A lot of time between places, lately. Post-graduation Ithaca is breaking up and scattering, myself included. I spent some days in Montreal: hippy housing co-op, four rats and a dog, gusty rooftop, bread and cheese reclaimed from Jean Coutu’s waste; the Plateau, an old man taking an hour to eat a smoked meat sandwich, Ave Mont-Royal closed for twenty blocks to make room for people selling chicken sandwiches and underwear (I bought some); Sainte-Catherine nudists, beer pong, the Village; Silo 5, crumbling concrete and rust, looks terminally ill but too big to imagine demolishing (and a protected historic site now, I think); an old homebody, hosting 9 couchsurfers in a one-bedroom apartment by the pont Jacques-Cartier, bed and couch and floors occupied. Shook a little stiffness out of my French.

I changed some plans and came back to PEI for a little while. Not long enough to do everything I might have wanted, but enough time for a cold soak in the Atlantic. Enough to get a good chunk of the clan together for brunch. Dad drove me to the bus station, thanked me for coming and sleeping in his house and eating his food. He’s like that. I would hate, I told him, to be God knows where for God knows how long and know there was a time when I was a $150 bus ride away and didn’t take it. That day’s coming, he said.

To Boston. More hours than I care to count on the bus, all the way back through the Gare d’Autocars. Serious case of trucker arm. They never turn off the tube lights in the Riviere-du-Loup station, leave them buzzing over grumpy passengers at 02h00. I bit my nails in my sleep, I guess, woke up with my thumb bleeding. I usually do alright with buses, but not as a lifestyle. Freedom trail, cool walk around Union Square, lots of flags.

Now Jukjeon. I’ve heard quite a few times about Singapore Airlines’ sterling reputation for customer service. It’s true they are quite friendly and well-dressed, but that doesn’t do you much good when they lose your luggage. Tomorrow I start making extremely smelly first impressions. So it goes.