Memoirs from my trip to Canada

I had some personal stuff to take care of in Montreal on Tuesday and I figured that if I'm spending all that money on the plane ticket, I might as well see a little bit of Canada too. So, after spending 2 days in Montreal, I drove off to Toronto for 2 days and then came back to Montreal for my flight back to Dallas.

Following are some of the interesting things that happened to me there:

-- I don't know if this is true for most people, but I love going to places where they speak a foreign language (or at least have an interesting accent) French was the first language in Montreal but they all spoke English too, so I didn't get a chance to show off my non-existent French speaking capabilities. The following conversation took place at a Tim Horton's drivethru somewhere outside of Montreal:

Speaker: xxxxxxxx Something in French xxxxxxx
me: Hi, do you speak English?
Speaker: Yes, I do (in heavily accented english)
me: proceeded to place my order in english.

For some reason, that was fun. I felt like I really was in some foreign country :p

-- I've finally decided that I will never go visit a new city/country alone again. Especially if it involves a six hour road trip (Each way)

-- Speaking of road trips, I never thought that American light rock music could feel so comforting. After driving for almost 6 hours (I was bored out of my mind) and with one more hour to go, I was fiddling around with the radio to find something to listen to, I came across this light rock music station. Let me tell you, if you're in a foreign country (even if it's only Canada) and feeling kinda homesick ... listen to music that you can somehow associate with home and you'll feel a lot better.

-- Oh and during the long drives I came up with various stuff to entertain myself (wait !!!! .... oh come on .. it's not what you're thinking .. lol)

Note: These antics were designed for a 2 lane freeway, but can be improvised for other freeways too ;)

1) Do you ever get annoyed when you're driving in the left lane (the faster one), going well over the speed limit and some wise guy thinks that you're still going too slow and begins to tailgate you? Well ... you can either move over to the right lane (which is somewhat boring) or you can choose the more exciting option. Just push the button to spray the windshield fluid on your windshield. Keep it pressed until you either run out of water or see the person behind you turn on his wipers to wipe off your water from his windshield. Then just move over to the right lane and let him pass and smile when he gives you a dirty look.

2) Find somebody who's going about the same speed as you are and then wait for the car to get into the right lane. And then pull up right next to that car in left lane and drive at the exact same speed as the other car. If the other car slows down, you slow down and vice versa. Believe me .. it's great for passing time.

3) Try and convince yourself that it's okay to feel a tad bit sad/disappointed when an unknown car driven by an unknown person, who you've been driving alongside for the last 300 km suddenly takes an exit, leaving you alone for the rest of the drive.

3) If you're going at 120 km/hr (20 km/hr over the limit) and you pass a cop writing out a ticket to somebody about every 45 minutes and on average a car passes you at a higher speed every 5 minutes. What is the probability of you coming across a cop who's free and sitting there with his speed gun trained on the freeway? I really had to resist the urge to pull out my calculator and calculate it.... hehe. (I had vowed to myseelf that I would never calculate another probability after my last statistics course)

Disclaimer: The above mentioned antics could have serious consequences ... not just limited to various offensive hand gestures from the affronted parties :p