So there I was, in Canada. Thinking about what I was doing there, in Canada. Every day. I didn’t come up with an answer. I felt like I wanted to leave though, there wasn’t much doubt about that. But having spent a fair bit of time and money on the visa and the flight, I thought that just leaving might be a waste. Maybe I would regret leaving. But I couldn’t think of any reason why.

Montreal or “Mon réal”, as they pronounce it in French. So square, every street is a straight line.

At a sandwich store yesterday, I order in English. The guy behind the counter is big, with a coarse face. Somebody you’d see as a bad guy in a James Bond movie. While we wait for my order, he asks if I speak any French. “Only a little bit”, I reply in French. A smile lights up his big face, he reaches over the counter and shakes my hand. Everything here is in French.

Montreal has been quite bearable so far, with sunshine and blue sky every day. There are signs of the harsh winters around though. Half the city can be reached underground and any door leading from the big complexes to the outside is designed to keep the cold outside. It’s a big western city, so in that regard its rather boring. The people are generally friendly though and the Asian food is very good.

There’s icebergs floating down there. Somewhere between Greenland (unfitting name) and Canada, the sea looks incredibly cold. I’ve spent a fair bit of the flight with looking out the window and thinking about going to a country I was never much interested in. Thinking about how it came to that. Retracing my steps, it started in spring 2015. Back then I was deeply unhappy with my (work-)life and was looking for ways out.

Left Reykjavik some 2.5h late. Flying over Greenland was stunning. Had some minor issues at immigration but at 20:00 I was on the bus into the city.

Iceland looks pretty cool from above. Barren but interesting. WowAir hasn’t been wow so far. Flight to Reykjavik was ok, but the connection to Montreal is already 90 minutes late. More “meh” than “wow”. I still don’t know why exactly I’m going to Canada. But I don’t have another place I’d rather go. So might as well. Spoiled me.