The wait is over

So after agreeing to work for the next day, after signing the contract I worked from 9-17:30. It was interesting and easy at the same time. Together with many other foreign native speakers from China, France, Brazil, and Argentina, the translations for a new add-on of a game, comparable to Candycrush, were reviewed. Of course, I cannot reveal which games were tested, as this is company confidential. Some games and their expansions are not even on the market yet. The review is about ensuring that the grammar, word choice, and spelling of the translation are correct. It is also important that the texts do not exceed the text fields. In addition, any defects, known as bugs, that are noticed are logged into a database, and every player must check in their game version if this error also occurs for them. All this happens while testing the game. The seemingly exhausting part of this job is to sit in front of the computer for 8 hours. In the past, that would not have been a problem at all, but today, when I want to move a lot, I can feel that it is exhausting. Fortunately, there is a 15-minute break every 2 hours, and in the break room, there are various options like chess and darts to distract oneself. There is also free coffee and tea in the cafeteria from a really modern coffee vending machine. However, the only negative thing about this job is that it is not a proper full-time job, and I only find out the day before by email whether I have to work the next day or not. That means I may work up to 45 hours a week or only 20 hours. This does not quite meet my expectations, but it's better than nothing. It makes it difficult to plan the days and possibly have a second part-time job. In total, I worked 3 times a week, 2 half days and the whole day on Tuesday.

By the way, I received a positive response from a Couchsurfer host. His name, etc, is Ronald Cawthorn, and he is a teacher for French and English for immigrants. He is very nice and friendly and has had many Couchsurfers staying with him. He also introduced me to his tenants and roommates, all of whom were Couchsurfers at the beginning.

The second half of the week was overall very culturally oriented. We were invited to a small concert by a friend who is a journalist and gets free tickets. The songs are by the composer Franz Schubert and were played on the piano by a pianist. The whole thing lasted about an hour, and afterwards, we went to their favorite bar Benelux, not far from Ron's apartment. After that, I decided to watch the event 'Montréal en lumière' that started that evening. Translated, it means something like Montreal in lights/illuminated. I was there for about 1 hour and looked at various stands and activities like Ferris wheel, slides, or curling. There was even a zip line from one tower to another over the event site. All these activities were different from what I know from German fairs because they were free. Unfortunately, I was too late for some activities or the lines were too long. After I returned to Ron's place, there were 2 former Couchsurfers and friends of his with him. They wanted to go to Mont Royal again at night, and I decided to join them. Both originally came from France, which means that during the ascent, which was much more pleasant in this case due to the very mild weather that day, I had to converse with them in French. After a challenging and slippery climb up the hill, the effort was even more worthwhile this time because the view at night is simply breathtaking!

The next day, I only worked half a day. Afterwards, I went to the German Goethe Institute in Montreal again, as I had sent an application there, among other places. Unfortunately, they were currently fully staffed, so they did not need anyone else. However, on Saturday, March 4th, there will be a kind of day/night of open doors at museums and cultural sites in Montreal, or I could help out as a temporary worker behind the bar for the evening. I gladly accepted this temporary job.

Afterwards, I went to a bicycle exhibition with Ron. We did not primarily go because we love bicycles, but because Ron wanted to visit his friend Imad, whom he met through car sharing in New York. Imad is from Lebanon, very friendly, and helpful. At the bicycle exhibition, he supported his sister, who develops electric bicycles together with her partner, which are even foldable. In the evening, I went to various bars with Cristian, a Chilean friend and roommate of Ron. He showed me a bit of the nightlife in Montreal.

The next morning, Imad came over with some croissants for breakfast, as he was going on a 2-week vacation to Mexico the next day, and Ron wanted to give him some travel destinations and recommendations along the way, as Ron himself was in Mexico a few months ago. In the afternoon, I went to Ron's gym with him and was able to work out there again. Afterwards, I went to the bicycle exhibition again since we had only had little time to look at the stands in detail the day before. I met up with Imad at his workplace in a vegan restaurant, and together with his colleague and roommate Simon, we went to the fair. I immediately made friends with Simon and was able to communicate in German with him due to his 2-year stay in Germany. At the fair, the idea came to me that during Imad's absence in the next 2 weeks, I could take his place in the shared apartment for a small fee. Both had no objections, but the last roommate would still need to be convinced. So I stayed until the end of the exhibition and helped a little with dismantling the booth for the day. Afterwards, we brought Imad's sister home, and then we went to the apartment and the room where I might soon be able to stay. The opportunity for this accommodation suited me well, as it was difficult to find an apartment at a reasonable price. In the evening, I was glad to be home after a tiring day, which, by the way, had a lot of rain. Cristian asked if I wanted to dive into the nightlife with him again, but I was too tired to go out again.

I spent the next Sunday collecting cultural experiences. I was invited to another classical concert in a museum, which used to be a church, by Ron's friend Louis, who was also at the other concert on Thursday. This time the pieces were by composer Johann Sebastian Bach. As you can see, or rather hear, German art was firmly integrated into my weekly schedule in Montreal!