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So: we're moving to Montréal! Sometime this summer!

Pete, rocking his usual awesomeness, is graduating in May with his PhD. He received three offers of postdocs from Pretty Distinguished Universities, and decided to accept a two-year position in Montréal. The prospect of leaving Madison is sad; I've spent the past few years (basically, ever since his graduation was imminent) lamenting all of the things that I'll miss about it: the water! Campus! State Street! The bus system! The friendly neighborhood-ness of it all! The bike paths! The fact that, when we get a foot of snow overnight (as we're supposed to tonight), I don't have to drive to work through it! When you're an academic, you don't have much say about what area of the country you end up in; you go where the jobs are, and the vast majority are in places that I don't like nearly this much. But Montréal? Dudes. I'm elated. All the things that I love about Madison, but bigger, with better food, better transit, indoor tunnels, plus the potential to force my French on the locals. Eeee! I'll continue to work on my dissertation while we're there, and I can't think of a better place to write.

While it might seem pretentious to label this as an international move, technically, it is. So, the next few months will be filled with getting everything in order: visa documentation, changing over bank accounts, finding a place to live, applying for interim health care, new driver's licenses and importing the car, dealing with new cell phone and utility companies, updating the cats' vaccinations, social insurance numbers, and seeing if Penske will give us the documentation necessary to take a truck across the border. It'll be a tremendous pain, but it'll also be tremendously exciting.

Bonne chance à Montréal!

Congratulations, eh!
What an exciting move. Being from Michigan, particularly Detroit, I understand your "it's not really international" views. But you do need a passport, so that's exciting!
You'll have to brush up on your French and your hockey.

Will Pete have to drink beer? Montréal has a whole underground city thing, too. I think I read it is second only to Boston in students per capita, or something like that. Sounds perfect for you guys! AND! And they won't torture you! Everything about this is good.

Congratulations again! I'm so excited for you guys. I emailed my Mom to see if we know anyone there (distant cousins most likely)... if we do, I'll let you know. Good luck!

You'll get to eat poutine, the best junk food ever! And I think there are some pretty good yarn stores in the area. My husband and I honeymooned in Montreal a few years ago and we loved it there so, so much! Congratulations, that's very exciting!

Congratulations to my son du Doctur and his lovely wife. Yes, brush up on the hockey. It is big there and in all Canada. It is like they invented it or something! Now you will have to 'follow hockey' or 'get out of town by sundown'.

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