Les Halles (Paris)

Right before going to France, I had a discussion with an American friend of mine. His parents had been to Paris many years ago and remembered French people as pretty rude folks. I wasn’t surprised nor offended because it is a pretty common stereotype on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Japanese travel a lot and take pictures, Chinese kick ass at math tests, British have bad teeth, Australians wrestle crocodiles down under… you’ve heard them all before.

I entered France with my Canadian passport and I decided to become a woman with a mission. I was going to find out if French were rude. Who else could better find out the dirty truth about French than a former French?

About an hour after setting foot in my former country, I was ready to say yes. As soon as the plane landed, you could tell the French returning back home from the Canadians: the former loudly rushed out of the plane while the later politely let each other go first. The same thing happened at passport control: fortunately, there was a special line for U.E. passport holders so all Europeans were able to complain together about the uselessness of European policies.

I was still dazed and confused when I showed up at the train ticket booth in Roissy CDG. Yet, it was the kick I needed to find my French fighting spirit back. “The only tickets we have left are first class tickets”, claimed the bored employee. “For all the trains today?”, I retorted. “You didn’t say you wanted to leave today!” Feng watched me arguing and finally buying the cheapest tickets available, slightly taken aback. “I’m not rude, honey, I’m just getting us tickets”. Lesson one: sometimes you need to be a little bit rude assertive in order to get business done in France.

I soon remembered something I had forgotten: French always seem to go by two rules. 1) There is never enough for everybody 2) The system hates you and is screwing you. Case in point, public transportation. People board the subway/bus/train the way Chinese people do: they queue vertically and rush inside, grab a seat and defend their territory. When we arrived at the terminal to take the local regional bus to St Michel, about 25 people were already waiting. As soon as the bus arrived, people crowded together at the door. Feng and I looked at each other, slightly bemused. In Canada, the Greyhound is sometime very busy and there isn’t enough room for everybody – that’s no problem, another bus is brought in to accommodate the extra passengers. “I got you seats”, called my grand-mother, who had already fought her way to the bus front door. You should have seen the last few passengers fight! Because indeed, not all of us were able to board the bus, and the next one was scheduled… the following day.

But this “French are rude” stereotype is mostly just a big cultural misunderstanding. First, a lot of foreigners’ bad experiences with the French happen in Paris. In bigger cities, people usually mind their own business and may have less patience with tourists. Imagine being asked every single day where Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower is!

Second, the body language is different in France. For instance, French don’t smile as much as Americans and they certainly don’t smile unless they mean it. I personally found these perky coffee shop baristas annoying when I first came to Canada, because I could tell they were not sincere, they were just told to smile and sound upbeat to please customers.

Finally, the notion of personal space is different in France. Instead of the regular North American’s arm’s length of personal space, you may find people squeezing you and even — gasp! — inadvertently bump into you or touch you in crowded areas. Don’t be offended… it’s just the way it is.

I eventually developed a theory: French people are not rude, they just defend their territory and tend to be distrustful at times. However, they are extremely friendly and generous with those close to them, such as family and friends. On the other hand, Canadians tend to be polite and treat strangers better. But they value their privacy and personal space and are more reserved, even around their friends and relatives… and all that can be interpreted as rudeness by foreigners!

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Street Art in Ottawa

It’s only when I go back to France that I realize how “Canadian” I have become. Indeed, the first few days are not easy as I struggle between my Canadian way of doing things and my innate “Frenchness”.

Years after years, I take the pulse of the population and I can’t help comparing France to Canada. While the former is still a great country on many aspects, there are many reasons why I won’t come back to live in France anytime soon. On the other side, I recently realized that Canada taught me a lot more than I expected.

Canada taught me…

To have a positive attitude towards life: Looking back, I can’t help thinking that the French are slightly neurotic. Sure, the economy sucks, unemployment soared and the cost of living is higher than most can afford. It gets worse every year and while a lot of French predict a revolution will occur sooner or later, they are afraid of change. French are more pessimistic and worried than ever: the consumption of tranquilizers in France is the highest in Europe! Canadians are certainly more down-to-earth and generally have a “can-do” attitude. Sometimes life sucks but you work hard to make it better. I somehow embraced this positive attitude and learned to develop my abilities rather than complaining that I couldn’t do such and such. I’m more open to change and definitely less negative.

To speak both French and English (sometimes simultaneously): Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien famously said “It’s not a problem if you don’t speak English very well… it may sound stupid, but the more mistakes I make in English, the more I feel like your average Canadian”. French have extremely high language standards: spelling and grammar are of paramount importance and are used as a general indicator of someone’s education and social status. Similarly, French pick on foreign accents, criticize bad grammar and even dare each other to complete Pivot’s famous “dictée”, a yearly national dictation contest with complicated less-used words. French language is seen as a key element of French identity and a part of French culture. Although Canada has an ongoing argument about bilingualism, Canadians are much more relaxed when it comes to their official languages. First, a lot of English Canadians have to take French at school and they realize how hard the language is. “Bilingualism” standards are lower than they would be in France: in Canada, you are often considered bilingual if you can communicate in both languages, even if you make mistakes. Second, Canada is an immigrant country and people generally understand that a large part of the population may not speak English as a first language. Making fun of accents and mistakes is very much frowned upon and emphasis is put on actual communication rather than on grammar/ spelling.

To see citizenship and immigration differently: In France, you are considered French if you speak the language fluently, if you completed your education in France, if some of your family is French, if you have been living in France for several generations etc. The check-list is endless. It always annoys me when second or third-generations French kids are seen as “immigrants” simply because they have a foreign name. Examples of “integrated” immigrants are often examples of second-generation immigrants who are French anyway. On the other side, Canada welcomes a lot of newcomers, many of them from countries who are culturally far from Canada. Yet, most seem to adapt and to embrace the Canadian way of life, even if they keep some of their culture, which is encouraged.

To adapt to change: First, I learned to adapt to a new country, a new language and a new way of life. Second, Canada is the land of change. Weather-wise, you go from harsh and cold winters to hot and humid summers in no time. In this huge country, cities range from European Montreal to business-centered Toronto and you don’t have to drive long to arrive in the countryside, which is another world by itself. The population is multicultural and you can say “hello” in quite a few languages as you explore areas such as Chinatown, Little Italy and other ethnic neighborhoods.

To treat people well: I always feel that relations with people are generally less conflicted in Canada than they are in France. Canadians are more polite – it’s not a myth. They are also good at chit-chat, are quite civil with each other and value consensus. Don’t get me wrong: French are not rude. They are simply taught to respect the people they know well (family, friends) and to distrust strangers. For instance, the relation between customer/client and employer/employee is totally fucked up in France. It’s a power game rather than a win-win exchange. Similarly, socials classes still influence daily relations between people: liberté-égalité-fraternité, maybe, but people are quick to judge you based on your job, your education or your accent.

How about you? Has you country taught you anything?

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Self-Portrait in Nantes, France

A lot of you have been asking me questions about photography and how to achieve certain effects. While I’m by no means an expert, I’m an avid photographer and I had to chance to experiment a lot. I’m also always a teacher at heart and yes, I like talking about photography, because I’m sure I can give you some tips and learn from you as well.

So I decided to start the Saturday Series again, this time with a focus on photography. A new “lesson” will be published every Saturday, for a total or ten posts. Enjoy the “Ten Photography Tips“!

Digital cameras are now widespread and the price of both DSLR and compact camera went down quite a lot. Pretty much everyone has some kind of camera these days, whether it’s a small camera phone or a high end DSLR. But few people realize that it’s not that much about the camera – it’s about the photographer’s eye.

I became addicted to photography when I bought my first digital camera, in 2006. I went through a couple of film cameras before that: one of them was stolen in Panama, I still have the other but I was hesitant to experiment with it since developing films was quite expensive. But in January 2006, on Boxing Day, I walked into Best Buy and saw a small Kodak EasyShare C743 Zoom camera for less than $200. The price alone sealed the deal – I hadn’t planned to buy a camera that day and it looked like a sweet deal. It didn’t think twice and bought it.

It turned out to be a great camera, by my standards. I started experimenting, taking a lot of pictures, trying to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Sure, the zoom was limited, I kept on feeding it batteries and the shutter was someone to slow to capture quick action but it didn’t matter. It was a great camera to learn the basics. And it took great pictures too: this is the only camera we had in China, during our first two French trips and in Latin America. I feel terrible when people ask me what camera I used to capture that or that because they expect me to start bragging about my gear when in fact, these were taken with old outdated camera. I used it again last year to take pictures at the Metallica Concert (I was searched and my DSLR wasn’t welcomed…) and I was quite happy with the result.

Eventually, in June 2009, I decided to buy a DSLR and got a Nikon D-60 with a couple of lenses (35-55 mm and 55-200 mm). This is the camera I now use. But let me tell you: I’d suck as a photographer if I hadn’t learned with a compact camera first!

Indeed, compact cameras teach you to think outside the box. First, they are easy to master, this is why they are nicknamed “point and shoot cameras” This is what I did at first: I pointed and I shot. Didn’t like the results much, though. So I started experimenting. I learned that the best way to take night pictures wasn’t to use the “night setting”, but the “fireworks setting” which triggered a longer shutter. I learned that the “sports setting” was the one with the faster shutter, so it worked for all action scenes. I understood how important a tripod (or any steady surface) was for night shots, otherwise the pictures would be helplessly blurry. The zoom wasn’t bad (albeit limited), but I learned not to rely on it too much and to get close to my subjects to fill the frame.

When I finally bought my DSLR, I was used to being inventive and I knew the basics. It still took me close to six months to be comfortable with it – I wasn’t used to have control on everything, from shutter to aperture! It was frustrating at first: I had this beautiful camera in my hands and my pictures sucked. I had to take it one step at the time and learn everything from the scratch.

Of course, I now find having a DSLR very rewarding. It allows me to do so much more! Yet, I can’t help feeling sorry for the people who invest in a high-end camera expecting it to do everything – it’s not about the camera, it’s about the photographer. Enough of the “how many megapixels does yours have” and “how far can you zoom” silly little war. It-does-not-matter. What matters is your eyes and how you see the world through your viewfinder. That’s it.

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Growing up in Nantes, close to Brittany, I became quite familiar with rain. A popular local joke claims that “in Brittany, it only rains twice a year, first from January to June, and then from June to December”. Our winters are grey and damp, spring and summer are scattered with showers and Fall is often synonym to thunderstorms.

Yet, once again, the Canadian weather surprised me. In France, I was used to showers, i.e. a little bit of rain through the day and grey-ish weather. Torrential downpours and violent thunderstorms are all in all quite rare. On top of my head, I can only remember the two storms of Christmas 99, when wind speeds reached around 200 km/h and caused major damage across the country.

In Ottawa, it doesn’t rain, it pours. You barely get any warning at all: one minute, the sky is grey and you feel a drop of water, the next one you are as soaked as if you had taken a shower. Similarly, thunderstorms can be quite impressive in the area: flash floods and power outages are not that rare. It’s part of our severe weather-prone country, I guess.

Last Saturday, I was downtown Ottawa to take pictures when it started to rain pour. I couldn’t even cross the street to go inside the Byward Market — I would have been soaked in seconds. So I took shelter under one of the fruit stall and snapped pictures of people around me, trying to capture the atmosphere of a rainy day in Ottawa.

You can see the whole Ottawa Summer set here.

White Tulip and Rain Drops

Green Leaf and Rain Drops

Rain Drops

Waterfall!

Rainy Day at the Market

Reflection	Gonna Storm...
Bring Your Rain Boots	Rain at the Park
Come and Get Cool	Drops of Water
Under my Umbrella	All Good!

Girl with Umbrella

Umbrella Dance

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You guys know how much I love markets. I already showed you Toronto‘s, Nantes, and Montréal‘s local markets but for some reason, I had never really taken pictures at the Byward Market in Ottawa.

The Byward Market is somewhat of a fixture in Ottawa. It is located downtown, close to the Rideau neighborhood, between Sussex and Rideau St. There is a main market building (very similar to Kensington Market in Toronto or to The Forks in Winnipeg), surrounded by an open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.

I don’t care much for the marking building which is a bit of a tourist trap. The small restaurants inside are always packed but quite overpriced — imagine a fancy-looking mall food court. The area around the building is nice though. First, it is the city’s premier bar district. There are tons of restaurants to choose from, ranging from the touristy Hard Rock Café to smaller gems like the Ahora, a Mexican canteen. There is always something going on and buskers are quite inventive here.

But what I like best is the farmers’ market, which operate almost year round. I don’t eat much meat but I need my vegetables and I could easily survive on that alone. Prices are quite good and the products are fresher than at the supermarket. Besides, most are locally grown… and they look good!

You can see the whole Ottawa Summer set here.

Byward Market

Been There for 53 Years!

Watermelons

Ontario Fruits

Tomatoes Under the Rain

Fresh Fruits and Veggies	Corn
Québec Apples	Pears
Flowers	Pears
Québec Apples	World Famous Cheese
Ontario Peaches	Jam

Fruits Stand

Corn

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On a warm summer night, I grabbed my camera and headed to downtown around sunset. I hadn’t been around the Byward Market area at this time of the day in a while. It was close to 10 pm and the sun had barely set.

I stopped by to see my favourite sculpture in Ottawa, “Maman” the huge spider by artist Louise Bourgeois, stuck between Notre-Dame church and the National Gallery of Canada. It was a perfect still summer night – barely any wind, which made long exposures photography easier.

I then climbed Nepean Point, where Samuel de Champlain statue overlooks Alexandra Bridge, Parliament Hill and the Ottawa River. A boat was cruising below and the music was loud but somehow, it added to the atmosphere.

I love night photography. It truly shows the other side of a city.

You can see the whole Ottawa Summer set here.

National Gallery of Canada

Sussex Drive

Maman the Spider and Notre-dame Church

Maman the Spider, the Art Museum and Notre-Dame

Alexandra Bridge and Québec Side

The Ottawa River

Parliament Hill And Business District

Bridge To Québec

Parliament in Bokeh

Parliament Hill

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Has it been a year already? I guess so. Times flies, blah blah blah.

This week is walking down memory lane week. First, I came back to see these amazing sculptures on the shore of the Ottawa River, at Remic Rapids, that I discovered in August 2009. And then, last Saturday, we attended the yearly Lac Leamy Fireworks Competition, like we did last year.

We headed for the same great (and free) spot: the Galleries de Hull parking lot, right in front of the casino from where the fireworks are shot. I can’t say I’m getting much better at taking fireworks pictures: it’s a bit of a hit and miss. I use a tripod of course, and a wide focal lens with a slow shutter. Yet, it’s always difficult to not overexpose the fireworks and to come out with a picture that is too not hazy or smoky.

I’m pretty happy with these few shots, they turned out to be the best of an embarrassing numbers of pictures I took that night.

You can see the whole Ottawa Summer set here.

White Star

Yellow!

A Festival of Colors

Red and Green Stars

Kamuro Fireworks	Green and Red Spider
Palm and Crossette	Fish and Sparkles
Golden Crossettes	White Spider
Golden Spider	White Spider

Green and Red Spider

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A year ago, I stumbled upon this magical place, by the Ottawa River, where John Ceprano is working on the art of balance. Last year’s work has probably been dismantled naturally during the winter, but the sculptures currently on display just blew my mind. They are taller, bigger, and there are dozens of them.

The weather was gorgeous, with blue sky and big fluffy white clouds looming over the river. The river was so peaceful I caught a few perfect mirror reflections.

I spent an hour there, admiring both the sculptures and the patience needed to perfectly balance all the rocks. The sculptures are so still there were even spider webs spun between them!

You can see the whole Ottawa Summer set here.

Inukshuks On The Ottawa River

Hide and Seek

The Sculptures Site

Mirror Reflection

The Art of Balance

No Tricks... Just Balance	Perfect Balance!
Spider Web	Spider Web
Perspective of Balance	Three Flat Rocks

The Art of Balance

Inukshuks On The Ottawa River

Mushrooms?

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I don’t care for shoes nor jewelery – I’m a t-shirt girl. I’ve always loved collecting them. They are usually cheap, they last for years and they (almost always) fit. What’s not to like?

I sleep in oversized rock bands and music t-shirts: Metallica, U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers… I have my collection of Hard Rock Café t-shirts I started in Beijing, in 1999. I also buy designers t-shirts online at Threadless, such this nice one and this funny one. I have blue, red, pink, yellow, black and green t-shirts, neatly folded in piles in my closet. You can never have too many t-shirts, can’t you?

In France, I bought a bunch of beauty products. In London, I found a t-shirt mecca at Camden Market. Originally a craft market, the Camden Lock Market is now a thriving shopping area and hundreds of retailers sell clothes and souvenirs. You can find pretty much anything, from your basic “I love London” t-shirt to trendier vintage clothes. I fell in love with the Funky Chameleon brand and bought a few embroidered tank tops.

It’s also in Camden Market that I fell in love again with my teenage years shoes: the famous Doc Martens shoes. The British boots have long been popular with punks and other subcultures and they were very trendy when I was in high-school. I actually went through a couple of pairs of the iconic Dr. Martens 8-eye boot in purple, and I even brought back to Canada the first pair I got when I was 12 years old. In London, I fell in love with the same pair of shoes, in cherry red this time — for £40.00, it was quite a deal.

You can follow our trip to the U.K here on Flickr: United Kingdom.

The Girl on a Swing T-shirt

Funky Chameleon

The Girl with Big Eyes T-shirt	Wounded Bear T-shirt
The Girl with Red hair T-shirt	My Red Doc Martens Shoes

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American Dollar, U.S.A

Today, I’m excited to present you a guest post by Guillermo, a new Canadian originally from Argentina, who lives in Ottawa with his familya. Guillermo writes in Spanish and in English about his experience as an immigrant to Canada. Enjoy!

A few days ago I remembered all the things I had to buy during my first weeks in Canada. That “initial setup” at the beginning can sometimes be expensive… or not. no everyone arrives to Canada with the same amount of money, some people decide to leave some stuff behind and others just decide to move as much stuff as possible. The fact is that we all need to address a series of major expenditures that we must prioritize not to fall into bankruptcy too soon.

So, here are 30 things you may need to buy upon your arrival

• This is not shopping … but it has to be paid: The rental deposit of your first “home” in Canada … It may be up to three months in advance. That can hurt!
• And the rent too!
• Some bed(s) or, possibly, mattresses
• Sheets, blankets, pillows, bedding …!
• A table and chairs
• A TV… or radio.
• Cutlery, plates and glasses (which can be disposable at first)
• Phone service (mobile or land)… that will have to be paid every month!
• Internet Service… in this country you cannot be disconnected! Along with the phone, are a “must have”!
• Of course… you need a computer.
• And perhaps a printer, if someone asks for a resume by fax or regular mail
• Opening a bank account also has its cost.
• The monthly or weekly public transport pass
• You may chose to buy a car
• And if you did you’ll have to pay insurance …
• …And other related expenses!
• A Translation Service you may need for some paperwork
• Having to do errands every day means being away from home… and at some point you have to eat or drink something, right?
• Long distance calling card.
• If you have children you may want to send them to a “day care” or “service de garde”
• Some new Ikea furniture or used ones from the Salvation Army to locate some of the many things you brought.
• Children always want a toy… are you going to say no?
• Ooops! Season change! You need new warm clothes!
• Ooops! Season change! Let’s go for winter tires!
• Ooops! Season change! Heating goes up!
• Think about all you may need to face the Canadian winter and you don’t have!
• Small every day things like washing and drying clothes in the coin operated laundry room of the building  or routine purchases at the supermarket.
• The low cost French language course for immigrants because the government french classes will not be available for the next 6 months

And the list goes on and on…

You may wonder how can you estimate all this before arriving? Well, let me tell you it’s not simple. But the resources are online: search for supermarkets websites, read newspapers and classifieds online, look for utilities prices… everything can be done on-line and you may have an idea of what may be needed .

Many of these things can also be bought at low cost in the used market (Salvation Army, Comptoirs, garage sales , Kijii, etc.), but still, as I said above, when you arrive in a tight budget, everything may be a major expense and should be prioritized.

And you… how did you “invest” your money on your arrival? And if you are still in your country… what are you plans?

Guillermo, or Mr. G if you want, is a father of three and moved with his family from Argentina to Canada in 2005. He’s the editor of The Zieglers blog, where he shares their experiences as immigrants with a particular point of view. You can visit them at http://thezieglersblog.com

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