So I’m seriously considering moving to Montreal in the spring. Haven’t told anyone yet. I’m just feeling like my life is getting to be a bit stagnant and overly hectic, so I should switch it up a bit (by moving halfway across the continent? Sure, why not). Plus, I mean come on, Montreal is like the fashion capital of Canada. I would fucking love it there. And the rent over there is like 1/2 the price of what I’m paying here. You can get a fucking room for like $150 bucks over there.
I’m excited about the possibility. I’m not excited about having to pack up my life here and start all over again. Oh well. I guess I can always come home again if it doesn’t work out.
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December 28, 2007 at 7:28 am
James
Promise you won’t make the mistake of pretty much every other young, intelligent, talented and artists ‘western’ Canadian who moves to Montréal… please please please make the effort to learn some French. I’m an anglo (but from the other direction) who spent a year in Montréal balancing work, life and a bit of travel around your glorious country. But by the time I left MTL I was getting sorely sick of the sight of whiny anglos who came to Montréal thinking they could waltz into any media / arts / design / fashion job they liked with only their native tongue. There are indeed English speakers in Montréal, and even some jobs that require only English, but there are many more jobs and much more money if you dive in at the deep end, take night classes (I recommend the downtown YMCA) and speak the language of lurve… : )
Hang on. Weren’t you thinking of moving to London a month or two ago? Hm. London or Montréal… tough call : )
December 28, 2007 at 11:33 am
TTV
Haha. That’s the one thing I was kind of worried about! I’m fairly fluent in french (took it all thru college and lived in Paris for a few months), but I’m a little rusty, so I’m going to try my best to learn as much as I can before I get there.
And yeah, I was thinking about moving to London a while back (very observant!). But as I started thinking about it, I realized that there is a lot more work involved to move to London, whereas with Montreal I can pretty much just pick up and go. Well, not quite, but it’s alot easier than London. And I know a hell of a lot more people in Montreal than I do in London, so that helps too.
I dunno…I just need to get out of Vancouver. Geez, I’m so indecisive.
December 30, 2007 at 7:10 am
James
Go for Montréal. Know now that it will probably be harder than you expect (it was for me… I’m an architect and I had no luck finding work in my field when I arrived) but enjoy every moment of life in that city. Avoid the anglo ghettos, and try to live somewhere on the Plateau or Mile End, bearing in mind that those areas can sometimes become ghettos full of anglos trying to live la vrai vié Montréalaise : )
As I said, the downtown YMCA near Peel métro do great French classes. Intensive two week packages (with gym access etc) or night school… the twice weekly Grammar and Conversation course will take whatever you learnt at school and bring it into shape in no time.
Good luck… see my blog between September 2005 and September 2006 for some of my life in MTL.
January 4, 2008 at 5:58 am
TTV
Thanks James, great blog. I’ll definitely look into the YCMA classes, they sound perfect.
I’m thinking I’ll probably live in Mile End at least for the first few months until I get settled, and then move to Old Montreal or the Plateau later on. I’d love to get a loft in Old Montreal. The prices are a lot cheaper than in Vancouver, so I can probably get something a bit nicer and bigger for the same price as I’m paying here.
Now I just need to find a job!