Image Implications

Here are four more images I'm adding from the photos I couldn't previously access: http://gryphonsgallery.blogspot.com/2012/01/living-quarters-and-first-billet-hosts.html

The first pic is of my original host family in Quebec. In my final update, I went a little bit into the troubles I'd had with them. I also attached/linked some images of my trip in general, which included a photo of my second Quebec host family, but not my first, since I couldn't access the image. I never thought about it until I got a recent email commenting on my photos, but in my update, I complain about my first Quebec family, and then in the images, I'm with a Quebec family. I do mention that I had a second host family for three weeks near the end of the rotation, but I don't go into detail. So it's not surprising that some people would assume that the Quebec family image belongs to the family that was talked about more.

I feel like I slandered my second host family, now, who were actually very good during the time that I was with them.

Similarly, when I was publishing my photos on Facebook, at the point where I started posting Quebec rotation photos, I commented "Last and least: the Quebec photos". I said that, because I was reflecting on my bad experiences in Quebec. That only makes sense to people who understood the situation. For those who didn't, it just came off as anti-Quebec.

And to make it even worse, I had pictures of my good host family in that collection, but none of my bad family. So I slandered them by accident again. Plus, I have my good family as friends on FB, so when they were tagged, they would have been alerted to the image. So they may have looked through and seen the comment. My saving grace is that not a lot of the people that could get offended by that comment speak English, but I know my second host father at least does...

I'm not FB friends with my first host family, so they have no chance of seeing the dig...

Of course, I took out the comment and replaced it, but they would have been alerted at the time it was tagged, not the time where I change the comment, so if there was any damage to be done, it's likely already been done.

And I know at least three bilingual Quebecois friends went through those photos before I fixed my comment, and only one of them would have understood the context.

The only gratification I get out of having fixed the statement is that, after I uploaded the new images and changed my comment, the album was sent over people's inboxes, and another bilingual francophone looked through them. So I avoided attacking at least one Quebecois.

A couple days ago, I spoke with some old friends from Katimavik over Skype. If you don't know what Skype is, it's a handy little device that allows you to talk to people, as if over phone, but with the addition of having video image, and it's free! It's actually really useful, but I almost never use it. I don't know why.

My computer received them just fine, but the audio on my computer was apparently cutting in and out on their side, which sucks.

It's because of talking to one of these people that I know of one of the Quebecois to look through my album. He was also the one who knows the context, as we've stayed in touch.

Thinking on it, I know a lot of Quebecois...

For the longest time, my family's had this ugly robotic answering machine message. It's the default message, and it has always bothered me. Day after day after day... For A YEAR AND A HALF I put off changing that message (although I was only present for the six months between Katimavik and Canada World Youth). Whenever I would think of it, I'd think "Oh yeah, I need to change that! Right after I finish what I'm doing here..." and then forget. When in CWY, I just stewed and stewed, thinking of that stupid message. It scared my friend, who was in the military, it's so warped.

When I got back, BAM! Changed the message. What I put in was improvised and badly received by the machine, but I didn't care. It wasn't the robot voice. My bro heard it though, and changed it immediately to something more proper... A year and a half, and two messages get recorded on the same day....