Part XI: FIRST PAID INTERVIEW!

Hello everyone. My name is Kelly Greig. I'm a journalist. A professional journalist. That's right everyone, today for the first time in the history of Kelly (consequently the epicentre of the universe) I have been paid to do journalism!
Break out the banners and ticker tape, I'm throwing a parade. Even though I'm student and just getting paid so that Parks Canada can cash in on that sweet, sweet Economic Action Plan moolah, it's still an amazing feeling. BEST DAY EVER!

Another first today: driving a hybrid car. I felt like I was 16 again because I needed a lesson on how to drive the thing. Firstly there is no key in the traditional sense. You know those Volkswagon keys that flip out from the base? Picture that, but instead of flipping a key out, just shoving the whole thing into a slot. Then pressing a power button. I felt like I was booting up KITT from Knight Rider.

It's quite strange driving the car. I have no idea what half the functions do and so I'm trying to assess a chart of kWh vs. time while figuring out how to get the only English radio station and why the car sounds like it's struggling whilst staying on the road.
Fortunately my passenger (Rosemary) and I made it back alive to and from our destination.

Also, totally off topic but did you know that the Canadian government authorized and participated in the bombing of beluga whale pods in the 1920's. They thought that the belugas were responsible for a decline in the fish stocks available for fishermen in the Saguenay and St Lawrence.


French word of the day: babouches. Meaning: flip-flops!

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.

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.

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.!**

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.

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!

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.