First Day at Work

Starbucks in Montreal is, in a way,different from the one in Vancouver (maybe it's solely this one that I am working for). The managing system is not that strict when compare to the one in Vancouver. I was so suprised that the manager asked me if I wanted to try the new Banana and Coconut Frappacino Blend Creme since he made more than needed. In Vancouver, my manager would never do that and anything in excess normally just go down the sink. Also, it's very interesting how they would serve a pot of coffee until it's done instead of following the 1h timer. Because in Vancouver, no matter how full the urns might be, the coffee must be down the sink after and hour or else they are not consider fresh.

I praise God for the customers because they were very patient with me, especially the French customers. I had to take a few seconds to convert the total amount into French and they would wait for me to finish the number very slowly, or translate it for me into English :0). And one of my co-workers William, only speak French and Spanish, very little English...haha....so that means I have no choice but to parler le francais ou...etudier l'espanol :p

I am so excited to know that one of my co-workers from Starbucks in Vancouver is moving to Montreal in mid-June!!! I really want to get to know her and when she quitted Starbucks, I was so sad and knew that it's going to be hard trying to keep in touch. Praise God....she's coming!!!

And for tonight's discipleship group, we had an overview of 1 Peter. If you have time, browse through this book of the Bible, it's very neat how it encompasses encouragement, reflection of the purpose or Christ's death and resurrection, and humbling of the hearts and more :0). One of the goals for my accountable group in UBC is to memorize 1 Peter. I planned to do it a verse a day, however, I am a week behind schedule :(

Praise God...I got hired today by Starbucks!!!! And I know that this is the first step to more exciting things ahead. I am very excited because the manager kept on emphasizing that I must improve my French and that majority of the workers there speak French. So i guess...it will be FREE French lessons!!! The place I work is only 15 minutes walk away from Solin Hall, therefore, I could save $63 a month on the bus/metro pass!

I am leading prayer tomorrow at 8 am....so I better go and prepare it now!!
Bon soir!!

Jenny's 2006 Montreal Project

I was hesitating if I should continue blogging a daily journal. I was writing my updates and found it difficult to summarize everything. So maybe I should try writing it out everyday in case I forgot anything.

Ever since Monday morning, we have been job searching in the morning and trainings in the evening starting at 7pm. Praise God that some people had already found jobs within the first two days. As for me, I am still looking for one. When I first arrived, I was basically mute because I was totally shocked at the French that did not sound like what I learned in school at all! And part of the trainings that we receive were done in French and I have to really concentrate in order to understand half of the stuff. Of course, the staffs weren't trying to be mean or anything, they really want us to learn the language (and that's what I like about this project as well).

I went to Robbin Baskin today and applied for a job. Even though I did not get it, I was so happy and walked out with a big smile because I actually talked with the manager all in French and I did understand 80% of the stuff she said (and she actually understood me)! That really boosted up my confident!

Job searching is depressing, but the spiritual side in me is growing :0). I have been trying to get up early in the morning and do my devotionals. I am now reading 2 Chronicles. God has been encouraging me daily and reminds me to remain faithful in Him through reading the history of the kings. The kings who followed and obeyed God were actually the only one that prospered and when their pride took over, they failed miserably. God has also allowed me to see the true side of Montreal. I was walking along East Saint Catherine yesterday to drop off my resume, and I got really scared when I discovered that every other store is either a sexe shop, strip bar, or XXX movies rental. I prayed and said "God, please get me out of here, I can't believe what I am seeing." I saw that UQEM (University of Quebec in Montreal) was closed by so I ran into the school. I walked into the court yard, all I could smell was SMOKE! 20/30 of the people sitting there had a cigarette on hand :0(. So I found myself a bench further away and sat down to pray.

Montreal is a nice city for sightseeing, especially with the magnificant church buildings along Saint Catherine. But I am not sure what the churches are like inside. To me, this is a wicked city where God's love is desperately needed.

La Premiere Journee a Ottawa- First Day in Ottawa

Finally, I arrived in Ottawa today at 9:30am. And it was interesting how it only took me 25 minutes to go from Toronto to Ottawa on Westjet (I have never been on a flight this short before). My first reaction when I got to the Pearson International Airport in Toronto was: sigh...I lost three hours and I was so tired that I slept for one hour on the bench using my sleeping bag as a pillow.

Christina Hu picked me up from the MacDonald Cartier Airport in Ottawa and on the way to Jessica's house, I saw Carleton University (we will go there tomorrow). By the way, Jessica Li is one of the participants in the Montreal Project and I am now currently staying at her place until May 5.

It was very interesting how when Jessica and I toured around Ottawa's Chinatown and Little Italy, everything I saw reminded me of the Orient. Especially when we walked back home along the Canadian Natural Resources Booth Streets, I felt like that I was in the Orient!

Things I found interesting in Ottawa:
- majority of the houses are red bricks in downtown (and Jessica's house is a huge red one), and many of them are twin houses (duplex)
- the drains on the side of the roads all have patterns of fish carved on them!
- the milk comes in bags!!!!! (there are 3 smaller bags inside and each of them is 1.33L!)