January 4th, 2010
New Year’s Resolutions
By Émile Thomas // 6 Comments
- Image credits ― Filofax; CityGirlBites.com
« Les résolutions prises lors des campagnes électorales ne sont rien d'autre que l'agrandissement de celles que l'on prend au Nouvel An. »
- W.C. Fields
2009 – Was it as good for you as it was for me? Now begins the first work week of the New Year and many of you will be revisiting the tradition of making resolutions. But this year, instead of playing the same tired game of promise-making/breaking, allow me to propose 5 resolutions that actually matter ― to all Montrealers. Here’s to a healthy and prosperous new year.
- Image credits ― Kenner116
1. Step outside your boundaries
Staying in the confines of your neighbourhood is so 2009. This year will be all about rediscovering the city you call home.
Leave your borough. Instead of getting drunk in the Plateau, make a b-line north to Villeray – the new hot spot in town. Rather than eating your regular downtown fast food, search for the ultimate roti in NDG.
Visit the suburbs. Not quite urban, not quite rural, it’s time we put the government’s métro extensions to use and pay a visit to our friends in geographic purgatory. At Métro Montmorency, support the arts at Salle André-Mathieu. In Longueuil, shop ‘til your heart’s content along Boulevard Taschereau.
Diversify. Sip on some ouzo in a greek restaurant in Parc-Extension, dance up a sweat at a queer event in Mile-End, and then wash your sins away at a Polish church service in the Sud-Ouest.
2. Flex your intellectual muscle
• #1 in North America for the number of university students per capita
• #1 in Canada for the number of foreign university students
• #1 in Canada for the total number of university degrees awarded
Now that Montréal is the ville de savoir, you better have something to show for it or risk being left behind. This year, take a class at one of the many educational institutions in our city ― the options are endless:
- Writing stories for Children at Concordia
- Anatomie et physiologie de la sexualité à UQAM
- Painting & Creative Expression at Dawson College
Have the holidays left you low on cash? Why not attend an intellectual discussion with the University of the Streets Café ― or check out the community class offered on Craigslist or Kijiji ― or establish your own network of knowledge exchange.
- Nacho Figueras and Sofía Vergara speak Spanish. Why don’t you?
3. ¡Aprendan español!
Forget English and French; if you reside in Montréal and have not yet attempted to grasp these languages, your New Year’s Resolutions should be more concerned with finding a new place to live.
The new millennium belongs to Spanish – according to the recent census, it is now the 3rd most common language spoken in homes across the city. And here’s another fact: More people speak Spanish in the United States than live in all of Canada. Besides, how else do you plan on seducing this increasingly influential demographic?
4. Release your inner artist
Remember when Gilbert Rozon proposed that Montréal become LA ville de création? It’s about time we put our words into action. Our urban island paradise is teeming with cultural events. Attend a vernissage along The Main. Learn to play the autoharp and start an electro-country band. Direct a 60 second film. Volunteer.
5. Embrace the winter
Winter is a fact of life; it should not preclude us from living a fabulous life. We could sit around and gripe about the wind chill and the snow removal practices of certain boroughs, OR, we can celebrate the next 4 months in true Montreal style. Remember, underneath the all those Kanuks lie the hot men and women for which this city is known.
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Comments
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"search for the ultimate roti in NDG"
The best roti in the borough is, I suggest, at the CARIBBEAN CURRY HOUSE on Victoria and Mackenzie. (In Côte des Neiges.)
Good makings for roti in NDG at Akhavan (Sherbrooke and Grand Blvd.)
Perhaps because many people confuse Villeray and Petite Patrie; even those of us who live and have lived in either or both of those central-northern neighbourhoods (I lived in Villeray for years just north of Marché Jean-Talon and now live a bit south of it).
Le Petit Alep is on the Villeray side of Jean-Talon as well, kate; so are the places on avenue de Castelnau. I know Le Petit Alep is not technically a bar, but many people enjoy a glass there with a tiny (mandatory) nibble.
I hate winter. It won't prevent me from doing stuff, and I have better things to do than gripe about it, but I have no intention of loving being cold or having to wear expensive, bulky, ugly garments such as Kanuks. With luck we'll be on our bicycles again in March!
Pity university classes have become so expensive now - I'd love to do a minor in Spanish (which I do speak and understand) and German. But I can't afford it for the moment. Community association and Cégep courses don't go far enough. "In my day" (air connu) university courses were far more accessible. Come on students! Fight to roll back those punishing tuition fee increases! Carrément!
Of course the advantage of Spanish is also that for anyone who speaks French, it is much easier to learn than some other growing Montréal languages such as (standard modern) Arabic and (the various languages of) Chinese. My problem has always been confusing Italian and Spanish - leading to something understandable but not standard at all...
Though I doubt más cursos de castellaño will give us or regive us the hot bodies of ¡Nacho or Sofía!
Hum, not sure if you've ever tried to hitch a bus to shop on Taschereau blvd., but it's the equivalent, in terms of pleasure, to licking a cattleprod.
Getting to Longueuil is easy enough, but taking the (over) 3$ bus ride to Taschereau takes at least 20 minutes, and not only that, but with the advent of the beloved Opus cards you can't get a transfer and hop on and off the bus. I'm not even sure you can get a day pass in Longueuil (RTL), that is, if you're "that" desperate for some 450 shopping.
But honestly, there's nothing there that you can't get in Montreal. Instead, I suggest heading over to cool shopping arteries like Plaza St-Hubert, Mont-Royal (so much more lively and artsy than Taschereau Blvd., no contention there!) or even on the Main (St-Laurent).
I love the spirit and the message of this article! Thank you Émile :-) Keep it coming.
I agree with Jody. I think that it's great to encourage people to get out and enjoy this diverse and cosmopolitain city. My girlfriend and I love to explore new areas and we would love to see more suggestions of things to do and interesting places to see.
Keep it coming indeed!
Villeray has one (1) trendy bar, the Miss Villeray. That's about it. Otherwise it's very quiet at night.
Other than that, though, good ideas.
Comment by kate M.
January 4, 2010 | 8:56 am