Christmas and Coffee in Quebec
I am attempting to blog from my iPhone at a cafe in Quebec. Asymmetrical blogging.
I have some time. I have a lot of espresso hurtling through my nervous system. If someone sneezes, I am so jittery that I might have a stroke. I first ordered a 16 ounce coffee, then a double espresso. Then, I accidentally gave the barista a ten dollar tip. The credit card processing system here in Canada is different than the U.S. Handheld devices. Prone to screw-up at the hands of dudes like me.
Rather than retract the tip, I let the tip stand. The barista tried to dissuade me but it seemed like a Christmassy thing to do. He then repaid me by making me a single espresso for free. Now, I got the shakes. The little espresso cup trembles.
I have found the Quebec natives to be quite reserved. I only know a bit of its culture, but this reticence seems historical. A walled city, where the French were beat in battle by the British in a sneak attack up a bad-ass hill during the French Indian War. Psychological/Historical tremors of distrust towards English culture. I think we Americans are seen as Brit-friendly. And anti-French. I met an Aussie last night at the best Beer Bar in Quebec. We hit it off like long-lost cousins.
I regaled him with my beer knowledge and the U.S. political system. Three branches, leading to gridlock. Separation of Powers and factionalism. A Madisonian mechanism at war with itself. Parliamentary governance is looking better all them time. I used the placemat as a map of demographic explanation of Pa. Red State/Blue State schizophrenia and illustrative of Obama's reign. A curse on both parties.
The only thing all of us first worlders share is a distrust of German hegemony. And I have a German name and ancestry. And look rather Teutonic. Yet, as my Dad reminds me, German expansionism was fueled by Colonial dominance of the Brits and Frenchies.
I had to leave the Cafe mid-blog. I was seated next to a native and friendly Quebec Fam with two squirmy kids. I am back in the silence and quietude of my hotel room where I can ride out this caffeine-infused jag.
The friendliest people I have met here was the Aussie, a Colombian server at a Quebecian restaurant, and some random Quebec-French dude who made a joke about the sun in my eyes as I evacuated from the cafe out on the sidewalk. And the barista.
I am going to end this blog now because I need to recharge the iPhone before meeting up with the Aussie to go see some Falls. Travel makes the world smaller and larger.
Update: Somehow the Aussie and I missed each other. Limited tech connectivity, more than one huge Hilton in town with a bus hub in front it it? Travel puts us not in control. Embrace the chaos and the unexpected. As a final note, I can't get a pic to post through my phone's browsers.
I have some time. I have a lot of espresso hurtling through my nervous system. If someone sneezes, I am so jittery that I might have a stroke. I first ordered a 16 ounce coffee, then a double espresso. Then, I accidentally gave the barista a ten dollar tip. The credit card processing system here in Canada is different than the U.S. Handheld devices. Prone to screw-up at the hands of dudes like me.
Rather than retract the tip, I let the tip stand. The barista tried to dissuade me but it seemed like a Christmassy thing to do. He then repaid me by making me a single espresso for free. Now, I got the shakes. The little espresso cup trembles.
I have found the Quebec natives to be quite reserved. I only know a bit of its culture, but this reticence seems historical. A walled city, where the French were beat in battle by the British in a sneak attack up a bad-ass hill during the French Indian War. Psychological/Historical tremors of distrust towards English culture. I think we Americans are seen as Brit-friendly. And anti-French. I met an Aussie last night at the best Beer Bar in Quebec. We hit it off like long-lost cousins.
I regaled him with my beer knowledge and the U.S. political system. Three branches, leading to gridlock. Separation of Powers and factionalism. A Madisonian mechanism at war with itself. Parliamentary governance is looking better all them time. I used the placemat as a map of demographic explanation of Pa. Red State/Blue State schizophrenia and illustrative of Obama's reign. A curse on both parties.
The only thing all of us first worlders share is a distrust of German hegemony. And I have a German name and ancestry. And look rather Teutonic. Yet, as my Dad reminds me, German expansionism was fueled by Colonial dominance of the Brits and Frenchies.
I had to leave the Cafe mid-blog. I was seated next to a native and friendly Quebec Fam with two squirmy kids. I am back in the silence and quietude of my hotel room where I can ride out this caffeine-infused jag.
The friendliest people I have met here was the Aussie, a Colombian server at a Quebecian restaurant, and some random Quebec-French dude who made a joke about the sun in my eyes as I evacuated from the cafe out on the sidewalk. And the barista.
I am going to end this blog now because I need to recharge the iPhone before meeting up with the Aussie to go see some Falls. Travel makes the world smaller and larger.
Update: Somehow the Aussie and I missed each other. Limited tech connectivity, more than one huge Hilton in town with a bus hub in front it it? Travel puts us not in control. Embrace the chaos and the unexpected. As a final note, I can't get a pic to post through my phone's browsers.
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