You Must Have Seen a Lot · Week 45
By Luca Bonafede · November 8, 2026 ·
A lot can happen in a week.
I was at my favourite club when a song came on, and the whole place lit up. Everyone started jamming and singing along, word for word, as if it were a national anthem. Everyone except me. I stood in the middle of the dance floor, the only one in the room who didn’t know a single line.
The song was “Confessions nocturnes” by Diam’s and Vitaa (2006). It’s a European song that has been around for almost twenty years, and somehow I had never heard it. The lyrics don’t really match anything in my current situation, but I love its intensity. I was so into it that I didn’t even Shazam it. Fortunately, a friend gave me the title later. Saved it. I once wrote that good books take their time, and maybe good songs do too.
That moment stayed with me. Think of how much we miss in Life by sticking to one or two languages. Somewhere out there, whole rooms full of people know songs by heart that we’ve never heard of.
Languages followed me all week. At a language exchange meeting, I can confidently say I was among the weakest in French. On the other hand, I could speak all three languages at the three different tables. That’s been my story for a long time. I don’t excel at any one thing, but I’m good enough to literally sit at any table, and that trait has followed me through sports, through jobs, and through cities. Hardly the best in the room, but always welcome in every room. I later found out someone took a photo of me that night, from behind. Next time I’ll try to pose, or at least smile. Or maybe just turn around.
The nights out added up to a couple, or maybe four. One of them was with my new friend Hector, between a few bars and a stop at Le Germain Hotel, which is very classy. One of those nights took me somewhere I hadn’t been in years: a proper drag queen show, probably my first since Australia. It sent me straight back to the years I spent between the best venues in Australia and New Zealand. I’ll admit my standards are pretty high, but a lifetime has passed since then. Of course, it also made me think of two dear friends from that world who are no longer with us. Some rooms you walk into carry more people than the ones you can see.
During the day, I was in the gym for several intense workouts to prepare for my competition next Sunday in Toronto. On the street, I was losing a different battle. Let’s have a moment of silence for the first day I had to wear a beanie. A Québécois friend looked me straight in the eyes and told me, “Luca, you are not ready for the winter.” I believe her. Layers already annoy me deeply. You can hide the best six-pack in the world under there, but to anyone you meet on the street, you just look like the Michelin Man.
This week I also crossed my first full month in Quebec City, and I’m glad I have a trip planned soon. As you know, I’m allergic to staying within the same city limits for too long. To really love a place, you sometimes need to leave it for a while. The same works with partners, in case anyone needed to hear it.
I also met someone who, in the middle of a very casual conversation, looked at me with something between curiosity, intrigue, and a little bit of fear, and said, “You must have seen a lot.” I paused for a second. Then dozens of flashbacks ran through my mind, one after another, like a scene from a movie. I don’t remember what I actually answered, but I remember exactly how it made me feel.
Seeing a lot has its price, though. This week alone, I missed my Mom’s retirement celebration, my Brother’s housewarming, and my Mom’s birthday. That’s the side of this lifestyle people usually don’t share. No complaints, though. I’m fully aware of my choices, and I’m living a great Life. I’m not rotting in jail or fighting a war for a country that doesn’t care about me. It’s just the honest side of the story.
I already move around a lot, and the plan is simply to do it more and more. Before my 40th birthday, I want to be in multiple locations throughout the year, far more than I am now. Way, way more. That way, being somewhere new doesn’t have to mean missing the moments that matter back home. To get there, though, an old part of me has to die first, to make space for a version of me who can carry that Life majestically.
Life does have a sense of humour, though. Hector, the new friend I’ve been exploring some of the nightlife with, shares my Mom’s birthday. I couldn’t celebrate with her, so happy birthday to him too.
It wasn’t my favourite week ever, but it’s weeks like this that make the others absolutely memorable. Without the quiet ones, the loud ones wouldn’t stand out. Looking back, even this week came down to that dance floor. There will always be songs everyone knows except you, tables where you’re the weakest, and rooms where you feel like the only one who didn’t get the memo. That isn’t a reason to stay home. It’s the whole point of going. Every song you don’t know yet is a door you haven’t opened.
A lot can happen in a week.
Thank you, and ciao for now.
Luca Bonafede
Quebéc City, QC, Canada 🇨🇦