Perth/Montreal

There are so many times when I think about Montreal, and how much I miss it. When I visited in the winter, despite the cold weather I fell in love with the city all over again.

Montreal and Perth are neck and neck in the e

valuation of best cities to live in overall, according to the Mercer Quality of Living Survey.

Here are the results, 1-25:   

1. Zurich, Switzerland

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Geneva, Switzerland

4. Vancouver, Canada

5. Auckland, New Zealand

6. Dusseldorf, Germany

7. Munich, Germany

8. Frankfurt, Germany

9. Bern, Switzerland

10. Sydney, Australia

11. Copenhagen, Denmark

12. Wellington, New Zealand

13.

 Amsterdam, Netherlands

14. Brussels, Belgium

15. Toronto, Canada

16. Berlin, Germany

17. Melbourne, Australia

18. Luxembourg, Luxembourg

19. Ottawa, Canada

20. Stockholm, Sweden

21. Perth, Australia

22. Montreal, Canada

23. Nuremberg, Germany

24. Oslo, Norway

25. Dublin, Ireland

Important criteria are safety, educat

ion, hygiene, recreation, political-economic stability and public transportation. 

Perth receives its high score for comfortable-

beautiful weather, proximity to the ocean and beaches, parks, low unemployment rate, cleanliness, etc. As a city Perth loses out in terms of burglary rates, high housing costs, public transit, being one of the most isolated cities in the world and limited options for going out.

Personally, I think Perth is a beautiful city. I would give it major points for a lot of the people, the foliage, animals and birds, the weather, great asian restaurants and proximity to beautiful places like Margaret River...I would say that its drawbacks are that things are very spread out, making a night out a bit annoying, unless you're in Northbridge clubbing. The isolation factor is a problem in terms of travel - it can be difficult, time co

nsuming and expensive to get anywhere, since Perth is so far from everything. The transport system is not that great. Perth is pricey, but wages are good. Shopping is not great at all, I have problems finding decent clothes and shoes here.

Montreal gets points for recreation, culture, lo

w housing costs, education and universities,relatively low crime, public transport. It loses out with traffic/roads, the rough winters, taxes, politics and the language tension in Quebec.

For me, Montreal is excellent, there is always something to do.  It is a city with a lot of culture, there is great nightlife. And hockey! Summers are great, and it's when the city puts on festivals, the most fun for me is the Montreal Jazz Festival. M

ontreal has a really good music scene. Since it's central, it's easy to travel to Europe, the US and the Caribbean, among other places. Public transport is good, although late at night it can be troublesome.

The weather can be a problem - the winters are very cold, and very long. Public transport is relatively expensive, the roads and traffic are pretty bad. One big problem is the political instability and the tension between languages. I'll elaborate on some of this another time.

It's a tough one...

Maybe it's just best to go with one closer to the top of the list.

Don't You Need Somebody To Love

Why do we enter the relationships we are in, and why do we stay in them?  Now, first off, this may sound like a crappy rerun of "Sex and the City", but I found myself considering it the other day.

JP and Kerry announced their engagement last week, and it brought Dave and I to talk about how many friends we have who are part of couples, and how many lovely, healthy couples we know.  Maybe it's the age we're getting to, maybe we know a lot of lucky people and are fortunate ourselves...

I feel very lucky to have met Dave.  I truly feel that with him I want to be the best version of myself I can be, and he is a source of constant encouragement and support. I don't want this post to be a smug detailing of how great Dave and I are as a couple. I guess what I want to say here is that I feel like I am with someone who shares interests and passions, loves, supports, compliments and challenges me, who I have fun with, and this is so great and so lucky, because I would not settle for less.

There is a common phenomenon that exists with both men and women.  It is the need for "someone". Not a particular person, just being in a relationship with someone, so that they are not alone.  I have known and know people who have been or are in this situation, and the reasons vary.  Due to low self esteem, many feel like they should take what they can get, even if the person is not right for them, has no character and/or has wronged them in the past. Some common statements may be,

"I can't do any better,"

"My partner may change in time,"

"There's nothing really wrong with my partner, he/she is a nice person,"

"If I leave it means I wasted all that time I spent with them,"

"They put up with me, I'm lucky,"

"I can't be alone/single,"

"It's better than nothing,"

I don't know, I just think that this is being with someone, being with anyone, and for the wrong reasons. I might sound preachy, apologies there, but to me, if a person is making these statements it indicates that they should be alone, spending some time discovering things about themselves, taking care of themselves, possibly healing themselves so that they can be an independent person and then perhaps meet someone who is a good match.  This might sound harsh, but when I think of my relationship with Dave I am happy to realize that I don't need him because I need a relationship with someone.  I am with him because I love him and want him to be around, with me, and the feelings are mutual.

In the past I have made some questionable choices in terms of who I would choose to spend my time with, romantically, and in friendship.  I discovered that I would rather be alone than settle down with someone who is not right for me.  

School Holidays

I probably say this again and again - I have to write more often so things don't get out of hand! Frequently, things pop into my head, and rather than saving them all up only to forget about them, I should write them down.

Term 1 at school absolutely flew by.  For the first few weeks I was so exhausted, I didn't know how I'd go for 10.  But as the term progressed and more things had to be done, time slipped away faster and faster.

For Easter Weekend and a few days after Dave and I went to Bunbury to visit Dave's parents.  We rented some videos, did some reading, went out with Renee and Owen and had a lovely lunch at Knee Deep winery in Margaret River. We visited a brewery, a cheese factory, went into town and to the rocks and the beaches. On the Saturday we all took a picnic to Honeymoon Pool, got our feet wet and watched some pretty funny kids swimming. A relaxing time was had, with no reminders of impending work to be done.

Thursday Dave and I walked to the city and I finally got a mobile phone. I guess over 2 years was enough time resisting it! 

Other than that, not much news - just relaxing for the holiday, and aiming to plan for the term coming up, so I'm not constantly behind.  Will update with news!

Congratulations!

Just wanted to express my congratulations and best wishes to Dan and Cara as well as JP and Kerry, who announced their engagements this week.  I'm sure both of these couples will have a really wonderful life together.  What lovely news!