Blog Review: Correr Es Mi Destino

Photo courtesy of Juliette Giannesini
(Creative Commons)

Juliette Giannesini is a blogger, translator, editor, photographer and all around fab person who has been living in Ottawa since 2004, after emigrating from her native France.  She started her eclectic blog Correr Es Mi Destino in 2006 after becoming a permanent Canadian resident, and named the site after a line in the Manu Chao song Clan­des­tino, which is sung in Spanish.

Juliette, who became a Canadian citizen in 2009, started blogging to share her experience of immigrating to an English-speaking province, given that most immigrants from France go straight to Montreal.  Originally she wrote in French, but soon switched to English, a language that she was not yet fluent in.

(As an aside, Juliette is one fascinating person.  She speaks English, French and Mandarin - her Chinese name is Zhu - and she tells me via email that she has visited every country in Central and South America, except for Venezuela, Colombia and the Guyanas).

Her blog has evolved over the years, although her main focus remains with life in Canada, immigration-related news, photography and travel.  She divides Correr Es Mi Destino (i.e. To Run Is My Destiny) into nine categories:

1. Cana­dian Life: Life in Canada as an immi­grant, with stories about cul­tural dif­fer­ences and occa­sional bitch­ing about the weather.
2. Immi­gra­tion: The immi­gra­tion and the cit­i­zen­ship processes, tips and advice for newcomers.
3. Trends: Pol­i­tics, news and events in Canada or around the world.
4. Snap­shots: Pic­tures of Canada and travel pho­tog­ra­phy, includ­ing from France, China, Finland, Latin America, Australia, Asia and the United States.
5. On The Road: Posts about her various trips, includ­ing to France, Beijing, the London 2012 Olympic Games, Cen­tral and South Amer­ica, and Asia.
6. Baby Mark Floyd: Shots of her very cute son Mark, her Canadian-Chinese-French baby, who was born in Ottawa on Octo­ber 12, 2012.
7. Work­ing Girl: Her experience work­ing in Canada, from small jobs to being a teacher, and then a translator/editor/copywriter.
8. Food­ies Cor­ner: Restau­rant reviews in Ottawa and elsewhere.
9. Just Blog­ging: Blog fun, memes and interviews.

Photo courtesy of Juliette Giannesini
(Creative Commons)

One part of her blog that I found quite interesting is her "Ten Immi­grants, Ten Inter­views!” series that she has been doing since 2010.  The 2013 version looks at the motivations of 10 prospective immigrants and newcomers to Canada.  In a recent post, Juliette talks to Isabelle, a woman from Lyon, France, who is thinking about moving to Canada.  An earlier post contained an interview with Cecille, a woman from the Philippines who arrived in Canada with her family in 2011.

Other recent posts include thoughts about turning 30, (happy belated!), as well as a interesting piece on how her French has changed since arriving in Canada almost a decade ago.  As someone who speaks Spanish but who occasionally breaks out in Spanglish due to my strong English Canadian influences, I can see where she's coming from.

Overall, this is a very impressive blog.  It has the feel of a magazine whose audience is made up of people with wanderlust, a love for new experiences, appreciation of photography, and interest in hearing interesting anecdotes about daily life in Canada.