Go Go Maple Leafs

C'était la lettre de bonne année que j'avais écrite en m'inspirant partiellement d'une interview du perchiste Romain Mesnil. Elle me fera toujours marrer:

C'est une année complètement folle, presque absurde. Je retiens la manière dont je me suis battu aux niveaux pro et extra-professionel. C'est une année dont je suis fier. J'ai toujours envie d'être tranquille mais en fait j'ai plein de projets en même temps. Je sais que j'ai du mal a avoir une to do list vide et ici je me gave.  C'est dans la difficulte qu'on fait ses preuves. L'experience de randonnee m'aide puisque je sais que plus le sommet est dur a monter plus la vue est belle.  Je vous souhaite une tres bonne annee 2010, plein de bonheur.

Hello.

I have a lot of good news.

1. 1. I have found fresh yeast in a Polish bakery for $1. This has helped me to improve my croissant recipe but I still have a lot of progress to do.
2. 2. I have some dates for next weeks. More details about that later on if that works.
3. 3. I got a new job at Lobways thanks to Kristell. I will work with her during the next 3 months translating some SAP training documents. That will be fun and I hope it will help me to get a contract in a SAP BI project.
4. 4. This is my birthday next Wednesday and I will go out with some friends in Toronto. That will be definitely fun.

I will keep you posted very soon. There will be some wintery pictures. Promise

JB

Hi there.

Next week, it will be 4 months since I left France. I miss you, guys. I miss cheese and wine. I miss Paris.

4 Months. Enough to make a turn around myself in my jeans after the slap I received by arriving here. Enough to get a first job, to improve my English and to prepare myself for the winter.

Now, the first phase of my plan in Canada is over and I really have to plan for the future.

I have to ask for the permanent residency. I got my driving license and, next Thursday, I will get the OHIP, the health insurance in Ontario. I still have to find something to quit my work but it will be really hard with the actual context.

I met a lot of nice people here. Still not enough but at least I keep seeing them.

See you.

Hi there,

Sorry for keeping you in the dark like this during this last month, especially when my last entry is that pessimist.

I am nearly fine right now. When I realized three weeks ago that I have lost 8 kilos since my arrival in canada, I figured out that I had to change several things in my new life. I started to run again. I has been painful at the beginning but now I can run easily twenty minutes and my legs are back after a little injury. I have a new computer I bought after a long crisis with my last one. This picture shows how it was speaking to me.

This one is way better but I had to learn how to make é è ô and à with an american keyboard. I have learn to cook several canadian dishes and now I don't think about tartiflette anymore. If you know me, you can tell it is a huge progress. I have started again to send resumes. Now, I ve sent 91, but probably more than 1 hundred. I am sure I am not counting well.

Two more pictures to show you the town a little more and that will be it for tonight.

A man and his hotdogs cart just near St Andrew Subway station.

A group of people playing soft ball near Finch subway station.

See you soon for more pictures.

Let's continue with some information far more interesting: FOOD.

I have already tried several places to eat since my arrival in Toronto. In order to pick up the good ones for me, I have by a little book "Cheap Eats Toronto". It lists cheap restaurants (<15$ service and taxes included) in 48 neighbourhoods in Toronto not far from where I live. I have already try 5 different restaurants in 5 five different areas.

Guess what; I have started with the chapter "Want a great burger?" thinking about the second episode in the fourth season of the TV Show "How I met your mother". I have tried three burger restaurants (included burger king which isn't in the book).

The best of them is "Burger Shack" (North Toronto, 233 Eglintown Av West). Quite good. The steak is not very big, but the garlic and the sauce are very good. The ambiance is good too. It is far different from France. In fact, it was a fast food but the food is very good and you can choose what you want in your burger.

OK that’s it for today. I hope you will understand what I have tried to say.

See you.

!!!Hello,

This is my first entry in my blog. Sorry for my poor English writting but I bet it will help to improve me. It will be fun to see how my writting skills evolve.

My name is Jean-Baptiste Gaudier. I am a french Guy who used to work as a SAP BI consultant in Paris for Logica Management Consulting. To summarize my old life like this would be wrong because I love my family and my friends. I was also volunteer for "Solidarité Sida", a french association who helps people who have aids. Each 15-24 months, I was used to have great holidays. Last ones were India Kashmir (July 2004), France Corsica (October 2006) and Scotland West Highland Way (March 2008). After Scotland, I started to ask me what I can do next. It is not an easy question to answer after beeing a teacher to little boudhism monks in India, after finishing the most difficult trek in Europe or after trekking along 200 km in Scotland at the end of the winter. After several months, I decided to go to Canada in order to live there during, at least, two years and to spend some time with my cousin, Julien. Several things in France made me change my original plan a little. Finally I decided to leave France at the end of June (29th) after quitting my job (25th) and doing some volunteering during Solidays (26-28th) in order to spend a week with Julien in Montreal before arriving in Toronto to find a new home, a new job and everything with it.

So, today, it is my first full day in Toronto. I arrived yesterday by Gredhound bus...

I was supposed to write a little about this first day in Toronto, about the lovely neighbor I had in the bus and about the wonderful week I had in Montreal with Julien (alias JUJU) and his girlfriend, Marine (I still don't dare to give her any alias ; ) , but it will come!!! I am thinking about it), but it is 5 past midnight, and I am still tired so I am going to sleep. I must be rested tomorrow because I was not really efficient today to find a roomate and I still have problems with my bank HSBC.

So see you tomorrow. I promise there will be more pictures.