Je me souviens

So I arrived back in Montreal, yesterday morning to find- it had snowed! Except it was like London snow- thin and patch with grey slush on the streets- after the three foot of powdery white in Banff it seems a bit disappointing!

Am spending my last couple of days here buying souvenirs, packing, saying goodbye to people, and saying goodbye to Montreal. I really really don't want to leave, but I suppose it's time to come home, when you see a Birmingham Punjabi family getting ready to board a BA flight to London, and you feel homesick (despite being neither from Birmingham nor Punjabi!).

If I'm being absolutely honest, the thing that scares me most is the 'come-down', like the one I had the last time I went abroad for a long time. Not the initial slap-in-the-face of the first few days, which can usually be overcome with the bustle of unpacking and catching up but the longer-term one which comes on over the next few weeks and months, which feels like slowly drowning. Everything feels grey. Everything feels the same, routine, predictable, except about half the pace. You trudge from home to hospital, home to hospital, walk, bus, walk, tube, walk, with your mind on nothing.

But- I'm hoping this time will be different. I hope i can recognise it before it happens and try and get out of it-taking walks, seeing friends, going to the cinema and watching old films. Although it doesn't help that when I return I'm temporarily homeless and all I have in the next six or seven months to think about is finals. No, that's not true. I am looking forward to seeing family and friends, and I am looking forward to finishing this degree finally and being MLM MBBS BSc. I just have to focus on getting there.

Anyway, this was meant to be about Montreal and what an amazing time I've had here. I really have. This city is incredibe- it really welcomes you and takes you into it's heart. You can go to any kind of restuarant, any kind of market, you can sit by the port or climb the mountain. You can come for music, for art, for shopping, or for nature. You can eat poutine. The hospitals have been excellent, and if I could apply for a job in one now, I'd do it without hestitation.

I have met some wonderful people, some from here, others from all over Canada and all over the world. I have spoken some good French and some bad French, and I can now recognise a Quebecois accent! I have bought clothes at ridiculously cheap prices, and I have had two Thanksgivings. I have seen not just Montreal but all over Canada, and I love it and the people in it. I recommend Canada to anyone, but certianly I recommend Montreal most highly of all. I will return, I don't know when it will be, but I will be back...

As I won't be continuing this blog when I return (not enough of interest to say, sadly) I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone for reading, and for the lovely comments.

Merci beaucoup, et groses bises,


Maple Leaf Medic,

xxx