Mahschocolate

I feel like I could have written a book about what an expat should know about Belgium when moving to Brussels — I would have called it

“You want to be a Belgian resident?  Ha ha ha ha”.

A similar guide should be created for Montreal, with chapters like:

• Canada and its inferiority complex with its neighbor to the south
• How to live in -30 temperatures and still look fabulous
• Un char = a car and other fun quebecois phrases
• Everyone lied to you — Montreal is not Europe.
• Your kids will have to go to a french-speaking school.  Even if they don’t speak any french.  You can take it to court but it won’t do you any good.
• Transportation – Montreal rocks.

That last chapter describes my feelings about Montreal and transportation in general.  It is not the best city for public transport, but it has:

• wide sidewalks for pedestrians (everyone walks alot here)
• a decent underground metro
• good service on buses (at least in my neighborhood)
• plenty of bike lanes
• Bixi – the bike sharing service
• and communauto, the car sharing service.

We recently joined communauto, and have really really liked it.  It is simple, it is easy, it is relatively cheap (don’t have to pay for gas and car maintenance, which is nice in a city like this, where potholes and arctic temperatures create high maintenance cars).  There are plenty of car pick ups spots, and one is near our house, and we’ve never had an issue with availability.

I give it a big thumbs up.

Making new friends in a new city can be tough.  When people tell me that I will make new friends in Montreal, my usual response is, “I don’t want new friends!  I want my new friends in Brussels to mixed with my old friends in Seattle, mashed with my family, sprinkled with those I love around the world to come to one space and shower me with love all of the time!”

I do not thrive in change.

But here are some of the things I did that I think helped me with my adjustment to Montreal:

1 – Do some sort of sport.  Pedram found squash buddies on craigslist, I found a yoga studio I liked and went often, my friend Katie finds an intramural soccer team in every city she lives in.  It is a good way to meet people, develop a routine, and stay active.

2 – Find a group of like-minded people.  For me this was easy, as there is an active Baha’i’ community in Montreal, and I was instantly introduced to people who share a similar base of thoughts as me.  They also teach language courses there and have plenty of activities.

3 – Be a volunteer.  Granted, I volunteer with dogs, so I don’t get alot of people contact in my volunteer work, but through the trainings and events I have made connections.  Plus, that is how we got Rusby, and he is pretty great.

4 – Try a new activity.  Knitting, gardening, cooking, whatever.  Go into stores you normally wouldn’t, ask questions from experts, see if they have classes, etc.

5 – Meet people who are in a similar situation.  Expats are a great way to share information and compare experiences.  It makes the city feel much smaller.

6 – Just say yes.  Eventhough you may not be interested in attending the community fair, or the local festival, or attending an event where you know no one – I highly recommend doing it.  Just say yes to any invitation, and hopefully something great will come out of it.

7 – Take a class.  My first friends in Brussels were friends I made in french class, which was a great way to practice the language (we didn’t have any other language in common) and make great friends.

And of course, you have to be patient.  Which is hard to hear, but it is so true.  It just takes time to find your niche and some great people in your new home.