0630T0828

Woke up T0530 about and took a shower. Walked down Université (They couldn't quite decide whether to call it 'rue University' or 'rue Université' . . . I saw a sign with the 'y' in 'rue University' reversed horizontally (i.e., left-side-right) and pointed it out to Tom) to the Aerogare Terminal Centre-Ville, bought a ticket to Dorval "une billete (or was it 'un billet'?) pour Dorval s.v.p."

They probably can tell an anglophone (like me) from a francophone.

Anyway. Got to the airport -- they tax like nobody's business in Québec but the toilet in the airport is ill-equipped compared to the U.S. standard.

10 CAD for the airport improvement fee. Whatever.

About to board . . . T0832

T1116 Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Québec, Canada

Yesterday I talked with Rev Dr Wu about Taiwanese people in Montréal, Québec. He told me that there was a certain complex for these people -- they want Taiwan to be independent, but not Québec.

"It will just be one more country in the world -- what's the big deal?" The defence & currency of the sovereign Québec will still be Canadian (i.e., free association as in the case of Niue/Aotearoa New Zealand and Palau/US).

(I am looking at people getting cargo off our plane here in the Kuujjuaq airport.)

But Québec is to lose Nunavik if it becomes independent, he also said. (Of course he is no authority -- for the record)

Canada is great. Québec is great. Canada has ideals, and works to make it real.

Québec -- an island of European/French sanity in this insane North America -- dares to stand against Canada.

-- Well, I love that they use the 24-hour system in Montréal -- and the SI -- T1124

I am starting to feel a bit of the "traveler's stupidity" or, rather, "traveler's cluelessness". T1125

(They are loading the cargo now . . .)

(This is still in the Province of Québec.)

(I will be the first Darb to be on the Territory of Nunavut . . .) T1126

Dr Tai of the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Montréal also talked with me while driving me back to the Presbyterian College last night, and explained why Taiwanese people settle in Montréal:

• safe neighborhood
• used to be a 'goldmine' (figuratively)
• good anglophone schools (McGill, Concordia)
• one additional language as a plus

'first' mosquito seen in Kuujjuaq. T1131

«l'Église Presbyterianne Taïwanaise de Montréal»

T1214 Before arriving at Kuujjuaq, I read Maclean's (July 1999 issue) on the plane. It was about the events that made Canada in the past century. A few of them are about Québec.

It is amazing what a great influence Québec has on North America politics -- just look at all the French, even in stuff in California -- which sometimes does not have Spanish, but many had French.

I should be off the case of Québec now and enjoy Nunavut. T1217

T1239 NUNAVUT!

T2056 Met Benedetti at the airport. Went for a walk around 'Town'.

The sea seemed static. I could see the whole Iqaluit from the plane. The totally opposite experiencefrom that of flying into L.A. -- when one cannot even see where the city sprawl ends.

We checked in the hotel with 800 some Canadian dollars in cash -- courtesy of Benedetti.

Then Benedetti accidentally signed the USD travellers checks, but after knowing that they'd only pay 50 CAD for the 200 USD of checks, we had to pay the thing in cash & go to the bank.

We then walked around town some more and came back to the hotel.

Then we went to the restaurant Kamotiq and had raw and frozen

• caribou meat
• arctic char
• whale blubber

It had been raining since this afternoon.

'In the tundra it never rains' is a lie. T2139