Hello!

My name is Julia Howe. I'm a senior majoring in English, minoring in Film. Ultimately I would like to become a documentary film director. I grew up in Shelburne, VT (reminds me a bit of Mariposa!) but went away to a performing arts school in Boston at age 14. After highschool I danced professionally w/ Ballet Memphis for a year and quickly realized that the lifestyle of a pro ballerina is far from balanced.......so that's when UVM came into play! I spent last semester in Paris and I am now obssesed w/ everything French/European.

In terms of my Canadian knowledge, most of it has been acquired within the past week! Of course I frequent Montreal, but doing shots at the Peel Pub and dancing at Club Vattican is not really a substantial means of getting a feel for a whole country. These past few classes have been really eye opening for me.

Favorite writers...hmm....Vonnegut is up there with Hunter S. Thompson, Margaret Atwood (never knew she was Canadian!), Kafka, and Paulo Coelho. Over the summer I eschewed my role as "deep literature-loving english major" and got really into Coehlo, Eckhart Tolle and Alan Watts...it's important to feed your spiritual side as well, I think.

Ok, I feel like I rambled on. In short, I am really looking forward to seeing how this class will unfold throughout the course of the semester!

~Julia

Hi, my name is Meredith. I am originally from Toronto, so I currently hold dual citizenship. I moved to Stowe, VT. when I was 5 and lived there through my junior year of high school. From there, I went straight to college in Providence, RI for two years before deciding that the city life was really not for me.

I recently transferred into UVM as a Junior in the Business School with a concentration in Marketing. So far, I like the atmosphere of UVM much more but I am only there two days a week, and I work in Stowe the other five.

Some of my favorite things to do on a day off are rock climbing, snowboarding, and sailing on the lake! I love to read, and often read random things as opposed to following one genre or author. One of my all-time favorite books is The Alchemist.

Hello everyone,

My name is Jarvis. I'm a senior English/Poly-Sci double major with focus in non-fiction writing, English literature and American/IR Politics. I was born in Vermont and was the only non-Caucasian student in my school district from K-8.

I came to UVM in 2003 (my safety school) and will be graduating in December. In the spring, I will be attending graduate school in Boston, though I do not know what my focus will be as of yet.

Since age 12, I've been to Canada (Quebec, to be specific) once every 6 weeks. That being said, throughout the years, I've been to Nova Scotia, Toronto, Quebec City, Montreal and a few other places within our neighbor to the North. I've met Jim Carey and have purchased many airline tickets using Priceline.com, with whom William Shatner is a spokesmodel.

My favorite book is "The Lays of Marie de France", by an unknown female French author simply named "Marie de France" (Marie of France). Other writers whose works I've enjoyed recently include Maxine Kingston, Tom Dye, and Robert Baker. However, I generally enjoy all literature; spanning from Beowulf to contemporary works.

Hey, my name is Allison, I grew up in Killington Vermont. I've been teaching kids how to ski for six years (four at Killington, one at Sugarbush, and now Bolton Valley. I have been working in the terrain park at Bolton Valley and will be returning this season. Right now I work as the beverage cart girl for Basin Harbor Golf Club.

I am a super senior at UVM, and hoping to graduate this winter. I am an English major and a music minor.

As far as reading books, I don't have a particular author or genre I really like to read. I love Elie Wiesel's Night, Dante's Inferno, and any Joseph Citro books on Vermont.

Hey all,
My name is Lena and I'm an English major and a music minor. I'm originally from MA, and I was drawn to Vermont based on the fact that whenever I have free time I am rock climbing, skiing, or snowboarding.
As for any connections or thoughts about Canada, up until this past year, I too had only been to Montreal to party. Last August, I went on a climbing trip with some great climbers to British Columbia. I flew to Seattle, hitch-hiked a bit, and found my way to a bus to take me up to Vancouver and finally to Squamish. The water, mountains, and all of the old growth forests (practically bug and humidity-free) inspire me to go back and to explore more. What was very interesting, was watching the slow progression and landscape change from Seattle, WA to Squamish, BC. I could go on about this visit forever, though...
I enjoy reading a variety of books, as I'm sure many of you do. I appreciate creative non-fiction writing a lot, and I suppose Joan Didion is my favorite so far. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of her essays, never gets dusty on my bookshelf. This summer I took a course on science-fiction fantasy literature. It was the last class I thought I'd want to take, but I have an appreciation for the genre now, and I've gone on to read a couple books by Robert Heinlein. By the way, another Vonnegut fan here.

Hi!
My name is Ashley and I am a sociology major with a minor in English. I am from upstate New York and live right on the Vermont border.
I only have a few connections to Canada and most of them have been trips with my friends to Montreal. I have been to Toronto once when I was a child and have been to Quebec on a school field trip in high school.
I love to read every type of book. I prefer non-fiction to everything else, but as long as it is interesting I am willing to read it. I don't think it would be possible for me to choose a fovorite book so I am not even going to try.

Hi Everyone!
My name is Jaclyn and I am a senior at UVM. I am an english major with a minor in nutrition. Wierd combination I know, but I thought when I started out at UVM, that I wanted to be a dietician. Well that certainly didn't happen!!!
I grew up in Jericho which is only 15 minutes south of Burlington. I live on 500 acres which is totally awesome. I have two morgan horses, one a show horse who my 14 year old sister and I traveled to all the shows with this summer, and the other is my baby who lives at my house and is used for trail riding on the 500 acres. I also have three dogs: two goldens Ellie and Riley, and a chihuahua named Chi-Chi.
The coolest thing that happened to me this summer, and was the coolest thing to ever happen while I have lived in Jericho, was the night when our dogs started barking at 1AM and we couldn't figure out why, and then we looked on the front porch and there was a 300lb boar (Male) black bear!! He was so beautiful to look at, and thankfully nothing more happened with the bear so no drastic measures were needed.
Anyway, I look forward to working with you all in class this semester. Oh and by the way, I have only been to Canada twice in my life and that was to Montreal both times. It sure is a fun place!

Hi. My name is Andrew. I am a senior majoring in Business Admin. with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. I am from a town called North Reading, MA which is about 10 miles north of the city. I was first intrigued by VT when I came to UVM on a tour during high school. I always thought I wanted to go to school in MA, but figured it would be good for me to expand my horizon a bit. I enjoy playin hockey, lacrosse and golf during my free time, and I am a die hard Redsox, Patriots, and Bruins fan.
The past 2 summers I have worked as a co-op for a local construction company, trying to learn how to run one of my own some day. Prior to that I spent almost every summer in Newport RI with family working and going to the beach.

As far as Canada, i've only been there 3 times. Once to Toronto, to visit the hockey hall of fame as a kid, and twice to Montreal for a couple adventurous 3 day vacations with friends. I am yet to have a bad experience in Canada and I like Canadians. . . they just seem so jolly!

I enjoy reading almost anything. I read the Boston Globe religiously, as well as the handful of magazines I am subscribed to. I also enjoy relaxing on weekend and reading a good book. I dont really have a preference on authors or genre. My father reads a lot of books and usually I just take suggestions from him. My favorite book is Faith of my Fathers by John McCain.

Hey everyone, my name is Andrew. I'm currently a senior majoring in Political Science and minoring in English. I grew up in a small town called Fitzwilliam in southern New Hampshire right above the Massachusetts boarder. I came to UVM as a business major but soon realized I wanted nothing to do with that sort of profession. I enjoy politics, literature, and cooking. I've been cooking at Unos Pizzaria for the past few years making all those greesy pizzas and burgers that everyone seems to love. In my free time I skateboard and when theres snow I put on my snowboard.
I do not have any connection to Canada besides being French Canadian from my mother's side. I enjoy reading books from other cultures, thus this class was recommended to me by a friend. I've been to Canada a few times, mostly to hit the slopes so i never really got to soke in the culture besides soaking in the cold snow up my jacket.
I like reading all sorts of literature, mostly non-fiction. Biograhies of musicians and espionage definitely top the list. My favorite book is The Master Spy by Phillip Knightly about the sly life of Kim Philby.

Hello—
My name is Emily and I’m from a small town in New Hampshire. I made the “bold” decision to be a catamount, which I still catch much flak for, as I am a “traitor to the wildcats” at UNH. I’ll take my chances. Although the Northeast will always be a big part of me, I’m looking forward to expanding my world abroad and explore different horizons. I spent half a summer in Europe and cannot wait to get back.

Over the years I have accumulated quite a bit of time in Montreal, more to do with the atmosphere and nightlife than for the literary and historical aspects. Many of my good friends are students at McGill and living in Montreal full time, and I try to visit as much as possible. One summer my friends and I went to Montreal for Canada Day and also the Soccer World Cup. It was fascinating to witness the Canadian pride and dually the nationality pride and sheer emotion that goes into supporting your “roots”. As with any course, I’m looking for knowledge, sparks of interest from the literature, and some confidence in Canadian history that I can carry with me and explore on my future over-the-border adventures.

Tom Robbins, JD Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut will always hold a place in my heart as far as literature goes, and I also enjoy a variety religious theory books. However, I constantly find myself reading multiple books at a time, and for some unknown reason I continually find myself in the middle of a John Irving novel.

Hi all, my name is Jeff. I'm currently a junior Electrical Engineering major with a concentration in Computer Engineering. I came to UVM from the suburbs of Philadelphia, right by the Valley Forge National Park if anyone isn't familiar it is where George Washington and the American army stayed when fighting the British in the area. In my free time I like to listen to music, exercise, snowboard, see concerts and cook and I am soon to be getting a puppy which will occupy what free time I have left. Right now I'm also interning at Burton in R&D on boards and am loving it. My only connection to Canada is a town in Nova Scotia called Malays Falls which was founded by some family members some time back, sadly I've never been there, only to Montreal once, although I'd like to make my way all over when the opportunity arises. My favorite stuff to read would be anything by Nick Hornby, some Jack Kerouac, Vonnegut, the Godfather and Tom Clancy for some excitement.

Hi my name is Mary and I'm a senior this year majoring in Environmental Ed and minoring in English. I'm from Ludlow, Vermont, more commonly known as Okemo (which drives me crazy). Despite the ski town status I don't ski or snowboard but I make delicious hot chocolate for everyone coming off the mountain at the deli/coffee house I work at while at home.
I've only been to Canada three times I think. Once was partying with friends, once with my fifth grade class (we went to space camp) and once with my senior class. Every time I've had a great experience, and I'd love to know more about Canadian culture.
I also just enjoy reading and discussing literature. Thus far, my favorite english classes at UVM were Modern American Novel and Pop Fiction from the 1970s. Currently I'm reading George Orwell's 1984 and I just finished Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume.

Hi, my name is Danielle, and I'm from Malvern, PA. Not much goes on in Malvern, but it is conviently located ten minutes from King of Prussia Mall. This is my first semester at UVM, I transferred here from Penn State. I've been living in Burlington since the beginning of June, and so far I love it! I'm a Biology major with a concentration in Cell and Molecular Biology, and a minor in English.

My most recent hobby is making glass beads, or maybe I should say buying the supplies to make glass beads.

I have never been to Canada, and everything I know about Canada I have learned in the last two weeks of class.

I enjoy reading fiction, and I don't enjoy reading poetry. I'm not sure if I have a favorite book at the moment, but over the summer I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, which I highly recommend.

Hey All,

My name is Chris Straub and I'm a junior/sophomore at the age of senior! I'm originally from Bristol, about an hour south of UVM, but in '97 moved overseas to Bangkok, Thailand where my parents still teach at International School of Bangkok. An amazing experience, going to a school with 62 nationalities, all the traveling, and many more things.
I originally went to Middlebury College for two years and transferred up to UVM. I'm majoring in Psych but minoring in Psych and like the beginning of this class for Stephen Leacock reminds my of many great authors, such as two famous VT ones, Chris Bohjalian and Howard Frank Mosher. But I'll talk about that in my next post.

Hey guys,

My name is Lizzie and I am a sophomore at UVM. I am from Weybridge VT, which is right outside of Middlebury. I transferred here last semester from Skidmore College as I quickly realized that Saratoga Springs, NY was not the place for me. Though I have not declared yet, I am hoping to major in Environmental Studies and minor in English. On my free time I enjoy writing, snowboarding, skiing, cooking, hiking... the list goes on. As for Canada, this class has really been the first time I've thought about the geographics and history of this large bordering country. Like many of the people in this class so far, it seems my only true experiences involving Canada stem from weekend visits to Montreal to party. I am looking forward to learning more about Canada; it's just flat out embarassing to have little knowledge on this large country that borders my home!

Hi My name is Ashley Spina I am a senior at UVM and I am counting down the days till I am finished. My dad is from a small town in Vermont and my mom lives in Montreal so my childhood was spent in two very different places.
I am a major in psych and a minor in English. I love to travel and have been many different places. I enjoy reading and going to the drive in. I am looking forward to taking this class and reading some new and different authors.

Hi, my name is John Davis, and I'm a junior English Major at UVM. I was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but have lived most of my life in Rochester, New York. In my free time I write, ski, waterski (when I can), run, and bike. I love reading, but with all the reading I do for classes during the school year, I don't read much for fun here.
I've read a little Canadian literature, a couple of my favorite authors being Margaret Atwood and Robert Sawyer. Atwood happened to write my favorite book of all time, Oryx and Crake. I also loved the Handmaid's Tale. I doubt we'll read anything like Oryx and Crake (a depressing near-future novel) in this class, but I'm still looking forward to seeing some other stuff that Canadian writers have to offer.
If you know Robert Sawyer, you might be able to tell that I have an attraction to sci-fi, but I love all kinds of fiction.

Hi everyone. My name is Josh Appelbaum and I am a junior, English major at UVM. I am from a small town in western Massachusetts named Lanesboro. I love the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. I am a sports writer for the school newspaper, the Vermont Cynic and I hope to become a professional sports writer someday.

Hello, my name is Nicholas. I am a sophomore and come from Maryland. I am currently figuring out what I am going to major in, it probably will have nothing to do with any science. I enjoy all kinds of literature. My mother was my English teacher at school so I read a lot of books. I have been to Canada only once.I love to ski and do stuff outside and I am excited for all the books we are going to read over the next few months.

Hey everybody, my name is Sean. First, let me say that if there are any weird typing errors in the following post I'm not entirely to blame... I just got a new keyboard and the thing may as well be in another language. They really need to make these things universal...

Anywho, this is my third year at UVM (I transfered in the fall of '04 and the way the credit system goes I'm officially a sophomore... but the credit system is lame and it sounds much cooler to say that I'm in my fourth year of college). I started out at a small computer art school in Arizona majoring in Game Design, concentrating on the creation of the 3D models. But after they told me I couldn't test out of the beginner's classes regardless of how much experience I had I decided it was time for a change of scenery and came back home. That and I was never really keen on the idea that it was 90 degrees in the shade in the middle of January... kinda makes it hard to snowboard when the board is melting.

As for my ties to Canada, they are pretty small. Other than the fact that I've been watching Canadian TV for pretty much all of my life (anyone remember when Comedy Central used to run Kids in the Hall?). Basically what I'm hoping to get out of this class is a better understanding of our neighbors to the north through their literature. I mean what better way is there to get to know someone then to read what they have written?

Hi! my name is laura pedro and I'm a junior at UVM majoring in canadian studies and history. This means I should have a wealth of knowledge on all things canadian and i do. i am from a very small town in the smallest state of the union. i love vermont and the cutesy-ness of burlington but i miss the beach. the real beach, not north beach. also i frequently make up words that better describe things. my favorite author is toni morrison and i really enjoy historical literature, both fiction and non-fiction. recently, i have started to read sports magazines such as ESPN the magazine and sports illustrated in order to have conversations with my sports obsessed roommate. I do not believe in capitalization on the internet but if you would like to see my writing in all its glory check out the vermont cynic, though most of unattributed due to its inappropriateness.

Hi my name is Emily I am an elementary ed major and an english major concentration in my senior year. I am originally from New York and came to Vermont for the skiing. I can't wait for ski season to start but I'm sad to see beach season leave.

I really don't know much about Canada. I have a few friends from there and I've visited about three times. The places I have visited all kind of remind me of Burlington, very cute.

My favorite book right now is to kill a mockingbird. I just love the way that it is written.

I'm Viki, the girl in the back row with obnoxious red hair. I'm an English major because I want to spend my life reading and writing. I watch a lot of horror movies and I'm starting a club with my brother, Justin Kramer, to watch them with fellow fans. If you love horror flicks you know who to come to.
Frankly I know nothing of Canada save for a couple of visits to Montreal before I was legal and a couple childhood visits to Quebec with my family to see castles and art galleries hidden in warehouses. Montreal struck me as the cleanest city I had ever seen, and in Quebec people seemed quite snooty. Of course, in my warped young perspective, you could be snooty for refusing to speak English. Now, with a much broader and mature outlook, I am afraid to visit Quebec because I don't know their language. If I gain anything from Canadian literature, it will probably be a renewed interest in the country upstairs (usually) which will hopefully press me to use my proximity to my advantage.

Hi my name is Mark, I am a senior majoring in Math, however I just love the internet and the whole benefit it can bring to our studies. I really want to go on and get involved in website design which I do in most of my spare time I suppose I am your typical internet geek.

Hi, I'm Joe. I'm a senior majoring in Geography with a Canadian Studies minor. I'm from Moorestown (not Morristown) NJ and I spent last spring in Paris studying French. Being a Canadian Studies minor, I should hope to know quite a bit about Canada. I'm fascinated with the French/English thing going on in Quebec, and I really want to go to the arctic. My experiences with Canadian lit have been pleasant, my favorite Canadian book being Atwood's Handmaid's Tale. My favorite book is Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs. It's amazing.

Hello, i am Joshua Christensen and i am senior who is majoring in History and minoring in english and am planning on going on to get my masters in education right after i finish school which should be in the spring. I am from Hollis, Maine which is about 30 minutes west of Portland. I took Paul's Native Writer's class last semester and really enjoyed most of the literature which was my major reason for taking this class besides the fact that i really like Paul and needed the credit for my minor.I don't know much about Canada and have only been there once, to Quebec City in high school so i hope to learn a lot more. My favorite authors in no particular order would probably be John Steinbeck, Vonnegut, Hemmingway and about a million more. My favorite book is either east of eden by steinbeck or all the king's men by robert penn warren. I hope to learn a lot more about Canada and to have a pint with Paul this semester.

Hi, my name is Ben Pacelli. I am a junior english major and I enjoy reading and skateboarding. I signed up for this class because it came highly recommended by a friend and it counts towards my major. I really enjoy any novel about wilderness adventure or war. Some of my favorite writers are Jack kerouac and jon krakauer.

I have been to Canada many times and my favorite city is Toronto because of all the great places to skateboard. I also like montreal because the olympic stadium is a unique place to skate or just walk around. I look forward to getting to know the rest of the class.

I am Ryan. I am a Senior English major and I enjoy many things including a sport which most/all Canadiens love, hockey. My grandmother is from Canada, and my cousin plays soccer in a pro canadien league.

I hope to learn the unique styles of canadian literature and compare it to american literature, and perhaps see how each can serve as a mirror to each society.

I actually ran across your chat here looking for another chihuahua named Chi Chi, and I guess it was Jaclyn that got me here.

Luckily, I am a Canadian writer, so I hope you don't mind me dropping by...sure is nice to see you all studying Canadian Literature!

Dave

Hello my name is Petra, and I'm a senior Art History major. I've always been a fan of Canadian literature though, great blog!

I think one day i will study at canada