Hello everyone,

First of all I just want to thank everyone for their kindness while I was in . I met some new people and I’ve been really privilege to meet once again some really nice persons. I also had an incredible chance to see again my friends and that was probably the best moment during my stay in Oz this time.

My flight back o Québec was really long (again)… even more that I slept for approximately 4 hours the nights before. Yep, the night before I had dinner with Nikki and then I went for a coffee with Gavin. Then I waited the bus for ages to go back to Ashfield where I’ve finished packing for the departure. While I was ready to go to bed, I saw a huge Huntsman spider walking on the wall and hiding behind the shelves in Nerdland! So, I decided to borrow Ash’s bed for that short night and leave Nerdland to Mr. Huntsman! Then it was a big run at the airport to get my excess luggage registered and pay for that (special thank for maman Nikki who stayed with me all that time, so it was much more fun with her). Then I got in the plane hoping to sleep… 20 hours later I was landing in Vancouver with a magnificent view and a maximum of 2 hours of sleep. Imagine an early sunrise on a rainy day near the ocean. Then you have these huge mountains as a shore line and some had snow on the top and the highest one was hiding their head in the clouds. It was a very peaceful view and wishes you were there to see it. Then I did all the line up possible out there, got my luggage and deposit them in a new place… good news, everything followed me this time, nothing lost! At this point of the trip I looked like a zombie and I had to wait 3 hours till the next connection. Sleeping wasn’t a good option with my bag + computer and I knew I wouldn’t wake up anyways. So, the tea + walk in the cold option were the best solution in my case. Tea was good and the walk outside was good, but not THAT cold. I was hoping a -5 to -10C, but it was lots warmer (probably around 10C)! Anyways, I’ve survived till my flight and then jump in the plane to Montréal where I arrived really awake (but not much more sleep)… life is strange sometime! So, while I was waiting my last flight (to Québec city), I called my brother and chat for a while. That was great! Then I arrived at destination with my fan club (my parents and my boyfriend’s mum) waiting for me. Back at home the cat remembered me (is not that stupid sometime) and my boyfriend (Kler-Yann) arrived a bit later. It was nice to be back home and see everyone. To my surprised, Kler-Yann didn’t have a haircut for the last 3 months… that was the 1^st time I saw him like that! He looked funny, but I got used to since.

I spent the first 4 days with Kler-Yann and his mum. We visited a few things around the city and had dinner with my parents. Kler-Yann’s mum left to go back to on the 18^th and since then I’ve tried to catch up with my life here. I’m back to uni and back to work too; Kler-Yann is working a lot (and it will get worst in December) and the cat is having a normal cat life (sleeping most of the time).

To answer your question (I can hear it from here), yes we do have snow! We had a few snow flakes 2 days after I arrived and on the 20^th of November we had our 1^st snow storm (15-20 cm of snow in a day) of the winter. Since then we still have a bit of snow on the ground and some day we have rain, but most of the time we have snow. I took some photos of the 1^st snow here.

So, I guess it’s about all for the moment. I hope everyone is fine and I’ll still post updates and photos on this blog so you can hear from me!

Cheers!

Isa

P.S. I friend of mine (from British Columbia) couldn’t sop laughing at me this week when we had a chat… sounds like I have an Australian accent now.

Quebec city viewed from the ferry.

Finally together

The cat`s lunch... snow keeps them fresh!

Village under the snow cover... nice isn`t?

See, Snta Claus is living in Quebec! And, he`s not a fake one, HE IS THE REAL one!

Here`s Santa`s car!

My boyfriend and his niece having a nap after a long day! They are so cute!

Hi everyone,

I've finally move in my new flat near the city! We did a lot of painting cauz of the colors that were not exacly what we like... Look at the photos before and after!

Before we painted:

                                                                           The kitchen

Living room

The office

Here's after:

The living room with Roswel asking for the door

The kitchen

The kitchen again

The office

Hello everyone!

Last week I was in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada) for the wonderful Pectinid Workshop! Can you imagine around 70 persons (approx) talking about scallops for a whole week?! Well, I know that's sounds borng for the non-pectinid persons that most of you are, but that was such a good time. Actually, the people attendig that conference are a group of people knowing each other for a long time. Because we are living all around the world and don't see each other very ofthen, we are looking foword the Workshop (every second year). It's actually like a family party and we a good time with each others!

So, this year the workshop was in Halifax and I really enjoy the workshop for 2 reasons:

1) My PhD plannification progressed so much in that week... we did some really great contacts and we're looking for some great collaborations too.

2) It was so nice to see my good friends again! We had big days of seminars, but we had also big nights out to! Well, it took me a couple of days to recover actually!

Well, I'll let the photo talking for me!

We found that on the road to Halifax...

Halifax harbour, the 2nd biggest in the World...

Peggy's Cove (population = 40)

Typical house from there... I hate pink color!

Saw on a car...

 The Bluenose II, Bluenose 1 was the fastest sailing boat... this one is just a replicat of the original one!

Alex and I... ready to go fishing!

Tore and Arne, my 2 great friends from Norway! Can you understand why my neck was a bit stiff by the end of the week?!

I got the "best student oral presentation" award! I was so surprised but really gald! I got a wonderful book about the scallops (it's a reference book which I call the scallop bible).

Well, that's just a few bits from the workshop. Halifax is a very nice place, but quite small... after a few days you've seen everything unfortunately; well if there is no fog of course!

View of the harbour from my window in Halifax...