Monday, May 31, 2010

Part X: Kwebec


Welcome to Quebec. Capital: Quebec. The Quebec Nation, and don't you forget it. The above photo was taken at a local auberge (hostel). I'm not going to get political in a blog related to my job, so 'nuff said.

Slowly but surely I am getting better at French. My writing is still atrocious, but my oral skills are coming along. I think today while setting up six interviews and repeating my name, job and the reason for my call I really got the same paragraph downpat. It seems that there is no avoiding making all three of my movies in French. Out of the 10 interviews I have lined up, about three of which can be done in English. Unfortunately, those three are all on different projects.

I am conflicted about making the films in French. I realize it is a great oppertunity for me to show my versatility (look! I can make TV shows in English and in French!) but at the same time I feel like the language limits my audience. Face it nobody likes subtitling unless it's this:

So alas Quebec, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Part IX: Moonlit walks with Carey Price

In my endless research of the day I uncovered that Tadoussac's Royal family are the Prices. This is the family of wealthy Anglophones who owned the sawmills in the 1900s and pretty much help colonize the region. Could Carey Price be part of this prestigious line of Tadoussac nobility? Here's hoping yes. Family reunion St-Jean-Baptiste weekend, fingers crossed ladies.

Also today in Tadoussac news, I think I have my last story. Keeping it under wraps right now (except for feedback from Sean) but it involves many trips out in sea kayaks, zip lining and general tourist fun. Please approve my pitch national office I'm praying to the gods.

Last night the werewolves were out in Tadoussac. For the record no, I'm not talking about those Twilight style werewolves. It was a full moon last night. A huge full moon. Like the size of my fist raised in the air full moon. It was beautiful. My new friend Rosemary and I took a walk along the bay to get s good spot to watch the moon rise. It was really chill- there was a pair of guys playing guitar on the picnic tables beside the shore and the sound of the low tide waves crashing.

The whole atmosphere was breathtaking, it can't accurately be expressed by photos. But I try anyways...

The ferry by sunset. This is the fjord.

















Moon rising. It looks a lot smaller in the pictures than it did in real life.


Reflection.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Part VIII: Pitches and School Aged Children

I had one of those days today, one of those great days were nothing seems to go wrong and all you want to do is look and the mirror and go YES! Then give yourself a big hug and fist bump your reflection.

We all love the beach. Face it, there isn't anyone who doesn't like looking out over the water, squinching the sand in their toes and smelling the salty water. It's manna for the soul. The beaches along the St-Lawrence are great, which is a continual surprise to me. When I think St-Lawrence and beach images of the banks of the Chateauguay River come to mind, the beach of debris under the Mercier Bridge. Unappealing to say the least.

Today some of the Parks Canada superteam, myself included, did a beach clean up. Twist: with elementary school students. Sounds terrible, but was surprisingly fun. We showed up at a school in Les Escoumins and had a little chat with the kids about plastics in the ocean and how birdies and fishies think that it is food and try to eat it. Result: gore and horror in the high seas!!!! (Insert wicked laugh here)

Accompanied by grades 5 and 6, I headed out to the vista of water bottles, chip bags, two tires, an old pool cover and four dead birds. By the end of the two hour clean up, the kids (Kindergarten through six) had filled the bed of a pickup truck with all the stuff they had found! Right on for community activism!

On a different note...

The pitch deadline is fast approaching and I've been freaking out. The deal is that we (the 32 lucky students) have to make at least three movies this summer. There are four pre-selected themes to choose from: the visitors of Parks Canada, the natural beauty of the parks, the jobs at the parks and a creative license free for all. Now, I knew right off the bat I didn't want to do visitors of the park. It seemed like a streeter and with the combination of languages it would be a nightmare to subtitle.

So I think I finally have all three ideas in. Problem is, you'll have to wait for them to be officially approved before I tell you about them. Sorry guys, don't want to be let down publicly.

Now that I feel like I have three solid ideas that have a snowball's chance of being approved, I'm throwing myself into the research, cold-calls and thousands of introductions. (Bonjour, je m'appelle Kelly Greig et je suis une etudiante d'ete avec Parcs Canada.-Don't dare correct my spelling!) Finally I can stop worrying and start planning. Phase Two has begun. Next step: world domination.

Aww yeah.

Today's french word of the day: Falaise. Meaning: Cliff


**Also, I made a friend! Rosemary works for the park with me. She is from Vancouver, my age, speaks English and is Korean. Yay for a sliver of a social life.!**

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Part VII: Whale Report Day Nine

It's been nine days since I've been in Tadoussac and I am ashamed to admit I hadn't seen a whale. I mean this is Tadoussac, land of the whales. They have paintings of whales, statues of whales and even a car that has been turned into a whale (think Harry's sheepdog van in Dumb and Dumber). So today I decided to tempt fate, tip the scales in my favour, rig the deck so to speak. I went on a very work-related whale watching tour.

It was a strange morning in Tadoussac. The hill where the house had blue skies and bright sunshine. Down by the water where the office is was pure fog. I decided to go anyways, what's a little fog when it's time for adventure?

Well apparantly a lot actually. Out on the water in the fog was freezing cold at 9:30 AM. Visibility sucked but what killed was the wind. I'm so glad I brought a tuque and my Olympic mitts. The sunglasses were kind of unnessecary. The sun wasn't getting through that layer of fog. So we started out on the hunt for whales. I felt like captain Ahab, except a girl, and with a camera instead of a harpoon, and I didn't want to kill the whales. Anyways, a full hour passed before the fog lifted. We left at 9:30, by 10:15 I was soaked but still loving it. I felt very sneaky in the fog.

Once the sun came out, it was beautiful. We passed the Tadoussac sand dunes- dunes that are about 70 ft. high, people used to ski on them- and lots of capes and inlets, but still no whales.

Now at this point I'm thinking, "wow, I just wasted some government money on this trip, at least I have some nice shots of blue water against blue sky," when I hear a splash to my right. Everyone on the boat started freaking out. Finally- a... seal. Damn it.

As we approached Tadoussac Bay to go into the fjord we finally saw them. A pod of belugas coming up for air. They were beautiful, slick white backs glinting in the sunlight. They came right under our boat! It was truly amazing. Unfortunately I have no photos because I was shooting them with the video camera.

We saw another pod of belugas and a minke whale. As we were watching these beautiful creatures, I couldn't help but feeling a little uncomfortable about the whole experience. I mean here we are on these boats, invading the whale's space and all gawking at it. It felt somehow cheap and contrived. I think next time I'm going to go with a kayak company. It feels more natural, like the whales might not get freaked out by all the noise and turbines etc...

Despite this feeling, I marvelled at the creatures. It's no wonder Tadoussac is such a tourist hotspot.

Then we entered the fjord. Beautiful. The waters under the boat are as deep as the cliffs surrounding them are high (how's that for an SAT question). This fjord was carved by a glacier which left a huge underwater valley, almost 300 m deep in some places. Combined with the 4 degree water, it is whale haven here. Food, freezing temperatures and a fun underwater valley to explore- what more could a whale want.

The tour took about three hours to complete and by the end the sun was shining, people were happy and so was I. I hope I got some good whale shots but I have yet to go over my footage.

In terms of shooting the big boats are good because they are really stable and you can set up the tripod but they are crowded and often you'll get people's arms and hands in your perfectly composed shot.

So I've finally seen some of these elusive whales. I was starting to wonder if they were more myth than reality. A successful day hwhale hwatching (Sean).


No whales here!



Sue me, my pictures suck. There's a beluga.



Me, duh.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Part VI: A Promise I Will Break

I solemnly swear to try to update this blog everyday. Since my social life has been eliminated then I really don't have any excuse not to. This may exclude weekends as I won't have much work-related infos to pass on.

So, as you all wrap up your long weekend I bet you have been wondering what your favourite Kelly has been up to. Well loyal followers I will tell you.

Taking advantage of the perfect weather this weekend I decided to hike in the provincial park. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Kelly, I thought you were working for Parks Canada, not Parks Quebec." How astute of you, give yourself a pat on the back. This is one of the unique feature of the Saguenay St-Lawrence Marine Park. The national park is entirely water. Seriously, no land point lies within the park. Surrounding the fleuve and the fjord is a provincial park. Parks Quebec operates and maintains it. So this means that to access the national park you have to go through the provincial (unless you have a boat and can just cruise on in). I digress.

I went hiking up a mountain. Now this is a feat for me because generally I am lazy. A good Sunday hike is exactly what I needed to realize how horribly out of shape I am and motivate me to pick up the pace.
I climbed up the mountain Adela-Lessard. Now, this mountain isn't very big and I have no idea who Adele Lessard is/was, but it does afford a beautiful view of the park and of Tadoussac itself.

Looking down onto the fjord. Runners courtesy of a second hand store in Berlin.






















Victory!


Someone had fun in the park



I was really surprised at how well the parks are maintained. It was a breeze to follow the path and there were even stairs at some points!





I also met this little guy, about the length of my arm. I was walking along a path and he came out of the grass right in front of me. This is my first experience with the local wildlife and it wasn't even a whale.




So I've explored the land part of the park system. On tomorrow's agenda: whale watching!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Part V: Musical Taste

Yesterday I was entrusted with one of Parks Canada's cars. Probably not a great idea but luckily both the car and I made it back in one piece. I am one of those drivers that loves to blast the radio and speed along to my favourite songs. As I scrolled through the FM channels available in Tadoussac I realized how much I truly hate French music. I found one station playing English songs. That's right, the entire FM dial offers one English music channel. It's top 40s. Old top 40s. Since my musical interests has now been expanded from metal to English, here is a selection of songs I found myself singing along with in the car, music blaring and windows down.

Whitney Houston's It's Not Right but it's Okay Not much to say about this except in my head I can belt it like Whitney. Bobby Brown!

Christina Aguilera's What a Girl Wants Whenever I'm feeling grateful towards my boyfriend I break out into choreographed song and dance.

BoyzIIMen's I'll Make Love to You
*This video is strangely like a porno. Man installs security system, romances young female homeowner. Soon is joined by three other men.

Timbaland feat. Katy Perry If We Ever Meet Again A new song that I find annoyingly catchy.

Robyn Show Me Love Not quite my favourite song but Do You Know What it Take to Love Me? features Robyn driving a rapist van.

Mandy Moore's Candy Quite possibly the first time I ever saw a longboard. I especially love the weird sign-off in the middle of the music video. Also, if you sing in the middle of a skate park, you're probably going to get hit. I wonder if Avril stole the skatepark set from Mandy.

Part IV: Local Bar

I would like to share with you all a truly unique experience that took place this week. Tadoussac is a small town, I understand and sympathize, I am a small town girl. As many people know, during the playoffs I like to go for a little refreshment and genteel discussion about the finer points of the game of hockey.
I was told by my co-workers that the only bar in town, l'Auberge, carries the game and shows it on a projector. "Perfect," said I, "a chance to meet the locals and partake in the game."

I arrived at said bar at about 6:40, a perfect twenty minutes before the main event. I was sporting my team colours: a red Habs t-shirt, white tank top and blue shorts. A vision en bleu, blanc et rouge. As I approached the bar I heard an unusual sound wafting into the Tadoussac night. A guitar, violin and... was that a megaphone? Indeed it was. A local band was set up beside the door for pre-game entertainment, and they were good. Really good in fact. I lingered outside watching the show with about 15 other people before deciding to head in and scout some good seating.
To my surprise the moment I walked into the door I was in a boat. That's right, the bar was built into a boat. "Amazing!," said I. Staying true to the Quebecois roots I promptly ordered a 50 from the barmaid and had a look around at the clientele. Old men were scattered throughout the bar taking in loud voices about, "l'asti'd Gorges," and "les refs tabranac." Beauty.

The decor of the bar was quite interesting. Hung all around the walls were Nordiques jerseys. Now for those of you who don't know, the Nordiques were Quebec City's hockey team. Their shelf life wasn't long as they were only in the NHL from 1979-1995 and were the 'newest' arch-rivals of the Montreal Canadians. The rivalry was as much politics and language as it was sport however as the Habs represented the English liberal federalists and the Nordiques represented the French PQist seperatists. This bar was decked out in the blue and white colours of the Nordiques- a team that hasn't existed for 15 years. The only Habs jersey I saw was the one hanging right beside the big-screen, opposite a Philidelphia Flyers jersey.

Parked immediately in front of the big screen were movie theatre seats. Now I don't know if there was a local theatre that went out of business, they looted a theatre nearby or if these were slightly smoke-damaged, but damn they were comfy. I took one of these chairs, right in the front row, and waited for the magic to happen.
At this point I'd like to introduce one of my favourite locals. He was short, Quebecer to the core and sat right beside me. Everyone in the bar seemed to know this guy and imitate him. He would get so angry at the refs that he would jump up point and yell "crisse!" and everyone would do the same. Also a big Gill fan, #75 could do no wrong to this guy even he scored on our own net and took Halak down.
As the game progressed, I learned that every time a Hab scores, the entire bar gets free shots. 5-1 Habs, enough said.
A truely Tadoussacian experience.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Some Photos!

My office. Right next to Tadoussac Bay. Also, it shares a building with the local elementary school.





Oh yeah, this is defenitely Canada's Greatest Summer Job.





All work and no play.





Work, work, work.





Got some sweet wheels!





Footprints in the sand




The rocks at the Centre for Marine Discovery. I feel like it could double as one of those Windows backgrounds.





Lake Louise, frozen.







About 1/4 of the way up Tunnel Mountain with the Buffalo Squad




One of the best parts of Banff. The view. Oh, there are also mountains behind me. This is the dining room with full view of the Rockies. Life is hard.

The Awesome that is Marsha

Announcement reader:
I say reader because there is only one. I have a follower! You rule Marsha!

Part III: Week One

Phew! Week numero uno esta finita (I don't speak Spanish, I can barely speak French for crips' sake). I arrived in Tadoussac on Monday night after an 8 1/2 hour bus ride from Montreal. I thought it was kind of funny that the highway you take to get here is the 138. That's right, a nice direct route from Ormstown to Tadoussac.
My first vision of the town was from the ferry that connects the two sections of the highway. That's right, there is no bridge over the Saguenay river, the only way to get across is the ferry. My host, Claudine, picked me up at the bus stop in front of the town bar (Howick anyone?) and we were off to my new home for three months.
So Claudine and Stephane have four kids, all between the ages of 9-13. So were are seven in the house. Oh boy, a little crazy.

So my first week at the Saguenay St-Lawrence Marine Park begins. Arrive at the office and it's a miracle: my equipment is all ready and waiting for me in my cubicle! Hooray! All that is missing is my laptop, external hard drive and extra battery. I did the rounds of the office and met everybody and talked in French the entire day. My god, it was a crazy experience- I didn't know I could butcher such a beautiful language so badly.

My job this summer is to make three movies (at least). There are four pre-determined themes to choose from, plus whatever other films I want to (or have time to) make. The themes are: jobs at Parks Canada, the visitors of the park, the beauty of the park and a freebie, whatever I want to do. I immediately dismissed the visitors of the park, I think it feels too much like a streeter.

There is so much to learn about and explore at this park. Luckily the staff here is amazing and all so helpful. They've already offered to take me out kayaking, on the Parks boat, on scientific research trips and most interestingly, to pick up whale carcasses. This last offer is the most appealing, imagine the footage that comes from a dead belugas.
Originally I thought baby belugas was the way to go, but dead beluga might be the runner-up.

The week has gone really well overall, I have a shooting schedule and prepared a little press-kit about myself. I felt really weird with the latter, it was like some sort of strange personal ad but I doubt many media outlets will be interested in me.

Today was by far the best day cause I took out one of the Parks cars and toured around the park. It was a bit hard because this park is entirely water, so a car can only get you so far. Actually this is the only entirely, 100%, bonified only-water park in the country. So the car was good to get to all the lookout points over the water, plus I got to actually see the area.


So I'm thinking about starting a kind of dictionary. No, a list. A list of french words that I learn. There are some words that you don't know that you don't know until you need to know them, right? Working in a marine park brings some unusual vocabulary to the table, words I thought I knew until I'm tongue tied in front of my supervisor.
So here is today's word: phare. Phare is the french word for lighthouse. Sadly, my french word for lighthouse was, 'le maison avec la lumiere pour que les bateaux n'a pas un accident.' Truly, my mastery of the language amazes me too.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Part Deux: Zee Banff Exper-a-ence

Listen. We need to talk. Maybe you should sit down. There are some things I haven't told you yet. Some things that might change your life. Actually, they changed mine. Whatever, who cares about you anyway.

So, actually this wasn't my first day of work, exactly. See, when you start a new job you need training right? Right. Well I did my training last week. In Canada's first national park. In Banff. That's right, Banff. In Alberta. Tell your friends.

Right now you may be asking yourself: why would they send a bunch of new student employees to one of the most beautiful places in Canada, on the federal government's tab, right at the beginning of their jobs? Fair point, dear reader- give yourself a pat on the back.

Well, we went for to learn about the Parks. Let me tell you, we had about a week's worth of Parks Canada training in about one morning. It was a crazy cram-fest of information. I'm sure there were 32 saturated brains on the difference between a park and a park reserve, how to make videos that were internationally viable and most importantly: star swipes. We listened, we absorbed, we shot, we visitied, we edited and we ate. Oh lord did we eat well.

The best part about the trip was the oppertunity to meet the 31 other students from across Canada who won this job. One of the best days was actually the first few hours in the Calgary airport when we job to know each other.

Overall we represent eight provinces (sorry Newfoundland and Sasketchewan) and three territories.

Banff is truly breathtaking. It's so different from Ormstown and I love the mountains. Just the smell of the fresh, clean air is intoxicating... also the beer helped. I really wished that I had the chance and the equipment to go snowboarding. Unfortunately with the 10-14 hour workdays all I had the energy to do was go out for beers and get extremely little sleep. Time well worth it.





Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Part I: Day One

Tadoussac, Quebec.
Population: 850.
How did I end up working somewhere even smaller than Ormstown?

My name is Kelly Greig and I'm one of 32 winners of Canada's Greatest Summer Job. Basically, I get to run around a national park all summer making videos of my experiences and actually get paid to do journalism. My first professional job.

How did I get here?
Well, I have broadcast documentary class and a severe boredom to thank. Barry Lazar (my professor extraordinaire) sent out a simple e-mail advertising this job he saw on a message board. How can you ignore the name Canada's Greatest Summer Job. I mean really, it's the greatest freakin' summer job. I digress...
One short questionnaire later (yes, I knew that Wayne Gretzky is the Great One and that Nunavut was created on the first of April 1999) and I was into the second round: make a one-minute video about my favourite topic of all time, me.

A little background into the awesome
So me. Glorious I. Born and raised in Ormstown, Quebec on August 16, 1987. A day that changed the world. Grew up exploring my dad's dairy farm and playing sports (rugby, soccer, basketball and field hockey). When did I want to know I wanted to be a journalist? When I wrote my local papers review of high school sports. Humble, typo-ridden beginnings.


So here I am at the Saguenay St-Lawrence Marine Park in Tadoussac, Quebec. One of the 32 selected Field Units to receive a summer student. Luckily for them, they got me. Get ready Tadoussac, Kelly is rockin' the North Shore.