Closure. Last Post from Montreal.

June 4 (Samedi)

Time is just flying past me so quickly. Today is my last day in Montreal & I have no plans other than PACKING. It doesn't take me a whole day to pack but there are things other than physical objects to pack too. I like Montreal. But I don't know whether I would feel the same about Montreal as I do about Vancouver if I had chosen to come here 2 years ago. Perhaps people get tired of their own city some point in their life. Everyone is looking for a way out, a different city that provides a "fresh" new experience.

Someone in my class asked our prof whether he likes Montreal after being here for 5 years. My prof didn't say that he likes Montreal b/c he had lived in Paris for 7 years and he said it was really difficult to leave it. You know.. when you have seen so much more.. you become disatisfied with things that just don't live up with it. But at the same time, every city is unique. You can't judge it with the same scale but you can choose what you like most about each city.

I thought I couldn't go back to Vancouver and stay there for another yr after this.. & esp so after UK. But now I'm seeing things in a different light. It's like an airplane passing through the thick clouds to the highest point where the sky is clear. I think every city has its character. In Montreal, you get all the city life, culture, history, art, french/english bilingualism mixed with true multiple ethnicities. In Vancouver, the city is not "alive" in the sense that Montreal is. It prides on its natural beauty and naturalness. When you're sick of bustling city life, it gives you a way out to get in touch with the basics.

It's all really subjective. 'tho I think Vancouver is great, I still cannot imagine myself living there for a long time anymore. 8 -9 years is enough. I was in Taipei for 12 years. If I minus the yrs that I was probably not "mentally-conscious" (or the concrete/formal operation stage according to developmental psychologists), I've really been there about the same time. Maybe it's just me.. I'm not a goldfish that can convert all the oxygen in the water around me while staying at one place; I'm a shark that needs to keep moving to keep oxygen-rich water flowing through me. C'est my lame excuse for going all over the place.

Oh well.. the end of one journey is the start of another one.. and I look forward to that.