Oh Comedy!

Sometimes I watch the weather in Leipzig for fun and then I immediately sweat a little less. Not that it's not hot here too, but not 'the streets are melting' hot. I hope you're all eating enough ice cream and using sunscreen diligently!
Here, we have something like air conditioning that works great if you don't plan on leaving the house, because outside it's always even hotter and you have to sweat even more. That's why it was nice that I spent last week in Montreal. It was also pretty warm there, but I only went out in the evening all week and managed to avoid most of the heat. In Montreal, it was 'Just for laughs' or JFL or Hahaha. Comedians from all over the world come to this festival, but most of them come from the USA, England, and Canada. The first week of the festival mainly had French-language shows, and at the end of July, when I was there, all the shows were in English.

The Couchsurfer told me that since it was a very spontaneous vacation, I could still stay at his place and he would just throw his key into the open mailbox! He just told me not to tell his older neighbor that I'm a Couchsurfer, but a friend, otherwise she'll get scared.

Bath from another time :)

Well, there I was in this super clean apartment in Montreal. I have never seen such a clean apartment with a Couchsurfer before. So, I had a kind of Airbnb that I didn't have to pay for, and I could eat the blueberries in the fridge :) I am very grateful for the trust, but I'm still not quite sure if I would have done the same. Although I now have 30 references on Couchsurfing, saying that I'm okay and can be dealt with, but I don't think that would be enough for me.
Also, that didn't solve my 'I'm all alone and no one loves me and goes with me to the comedy festival' problem. I wasn't in a hostel, where potential short-term friends usually hang out, and I had a Couchsurfing place without a host. I spent the first two days more or less alone and only occasionally spoke to people on the bus when it was really necessary.
I had bought a pass for 3 shows at the comedy festival: Dylan Moran, 'OH Comedy' a Canadian perspective (so I can experience a bit of Canadian culture), and 'The Ethnic Show'. I can't imagine someone in Germany naming a comedy event 'the ethnic show'.

Since I bought this ticket, I could choose as many additional shows as I wanted, all included in my ticket. So, I fully took advantage of the festival and saw 10 shows in the 6 days I was in Montreal.

One of the most beautiful places in Montreal is definitely 'Eva b', a second-hand shop on St. Laurent Boulevard. The store is huge, spread over 3 floors, and you can probably find any type of clothing you could ever need here. Plus, they have cheap food and a nice terrace.

On Thursday, there was a Couchsurfing event with a small farmer's market in a co-op, which also had a small café, a gallery, and plenty of space. Unfortunately, the event was poorly attended, even though it was indoors, as it was pouring rain outside. The organizers were not allowed to hang posters outside the building because the farmer's market was seen as competition for the supermarket around the corner. So, I took some flyers and, in the spirit of freethinking, stood in front of the door and approached people. It worked with 2 people, and one of them then stood outside and excitedly told the rest of the people at the bus stop about the farmer's market :D

At the 'Stand up show with Katherine Ryan', I met Kyla. We quickly realized that our event calendars were almost exactly the same and made plans for the next few days.

We met again on Saturday for 'Political comedy in the pre-apocalyptic world', where 5 comedians talked about how you can't fill a show with US President jokes anymore because the President himself is a joke and no one can compete with his madness. It was also great that Hitler was mentioned in the first 10 minutes. So, in the 'audience questions' round, I asked if the Trump administration is heading towards dictatorship. Of course, I also introduced myself by saying, 'Hello, my name is Lea and I am from Germany. Thanks for bringing up Hitler in a political discussion in the first 10 minutes'. Nobody seemed uncomfortable :D

After so much politics for lunch, I went to the park with Kyla and her friends, and we philosophized about whether 'Into the Wild' is a good movie while slacklining.

Since there are about 20 festivals happening simultaneously in Montreal in the summer, I also went to the fireworks festival in the evening.

In the time I was there, there was also a metal festival, a Holi festival, the Fantasia Film Festival, and probably several more that I didn't hear about. I suspect that in the summer, every place that has a slightly larger space is used for one of these festivals, I can't explain it otherwise.

Sunday (July 29th) was my last day in Montreal, and I tidied up my Couchsurfing/Airbnb apartment and handed the key to the small white-haired lady next door, who, in a mixture of French and pantomime, pointed out to me that I'm a noisy person. Apparently, I ran up the stairs too loudly in the evenings. Well, she still showed me which rubbish bin was the right one :) In the afternoon, I went to the Tam Tam event. It may sound silly, but that's exactly what it is. Every Sunday, enthusiastic drummers gather on Mont Royal and drum :D

After that, I went to my last show 'Netflix Special with Ivan Decker and DeAnne Smith', and of course, Kyla was there again :) I could leave all my stuff with her because the show ended around 9 pm, and my ride was at 11:30 pm. In that time, I wouldn't have been able to make it to my Couchsurfing house and back to downtown. After the show, Kyla showed me her extensive game collection, we played a 'history card game', and we shared our enthusiasm for the musical Hamilton. A proper 'girls' night' :D

At this point, I would like to talk about a '10 Things...' list that I read a few weeks ago. 10 things about work and travel in Canada and Australia. It included things like: Yes, it's hard to find a job, and often it's farm work, which is not fun, but you shouldn't work all the time because we found that traveling is much more fun...Really? Amazing.

Here's my list of '10 things that happen to you during a work and travel stay in Canada'

1. Showers: Every new shower you encounter is different. Sometimes it says which one is hot and cold, but sometimes you're in Quebec and think 'c' stands for cold, but it stands for the French 'chaud', which means 'hot'.
2. You lose things, but realize it too late and you're already in another place, wondering if you can manage without the lost item. But usually, you end up buying a new towel.
3. You plan something and then someone asks if you want to go sailing. Of course, you go sailing.
4. You're traveling with someone, but realize you'd rather be alone.
5. When you go hiking, you need 'Bear Spray' in Canada. Many people sell unused Bear Spray in Facebook groups. No one sells used Bear Spray.
6. Your backpack is always too heavy. When people ask me how I can even carry it, I usually think: psychology. Don't carry the backpack for longer than 10 minutes because you can't remember those 10 minutes anyways, and then you forget how heavy the backpack was. Repeat this process.
7. You fall in love.
8. You learn which stereotypes are true and which ones aren't.
9. I have to talk about showers again. I can handle all types of beds and just sleep in them, but showers. If there is no point between hot and cold that is a mix of both, but only really hot and ice cold.
10. You meet people you like, but probably never see them again, and that's okay.

Well, that's it :)
See you soon!

Lea

*Bonus material*