The Rest of Everything

Well, continued.... I shall now tell you about the last week and a half that I spent in Jonquière. At this point, I am fairly certain that most people will have given up reading this, since I am back at home and can tell you most of my adventures face to face. But for posterity's sake, I will finish things. Leave it nice and tidily wrapped up. No loose threads, no leaving anyone hanging...

July 26th to 30th. To summarize the week:

I sadly have already forgotten so much, but I think that could be positive - less writing. I will just lay out the events that stood out.

Monday evening definitely stood out. My mandatory group activity was les Danses folkloriques, (folk dancing) which to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to. My friends Bronwyn, Rong, Emily, Morgan, Sarah, and Anita were all in the same group as me, and we were all curious as to what the evening would hold. What it held was this: The dance teacher had apparently been captured by extra-terrestrials (that is truly the excuse we were given), and so we had a choice, of either doing sports activities in the gym, or learning the dance moves to Lady Gaga's "Telephone" with one of the students, named Ryan. He knows the moves to nearly all of her songs. Or maybe all of them. Either way, it is very impressive. I decided to break out of my comfort zone and go for the Lady Gaga. It was such a good choice! We all had such a ridiculously fun time, knowing that we looked hilarious, feeling stupid, but also feeling pleased that we were actually learning something worthwhile.

Wednesday was the last full day for our class's Spanish student, Gabriel. We were all sad to see him, and the rest of the Spanish students, leave. He was also my seat buddy, which made things even worse. Thursday's class felt so lonely.The departure also started the rest of us thinking about the final departure, and how we only had a little over a week left together. That night was also La soirée chansonnier, a mandatory activity where a musician came in to sing and play Québecois songs with us. Each class was paired with another class, and together we had been learning a designated Québecois song for the past few weeks. My class's song was "Les ailes d'un ange" by Robert Charlesbois.The evening was pretty fun overall, but it was hard to get into some of the songs... seeing as none of us knew the words. (Although, we were given lyrics, so it was fun to try and sing along!) After the soirée, there was much hugging, good-byeing and almost crying.

Thursday involved painting a somewhat gastly design on a glass, and an unexpected and nerve-wracking audition for La soirée des talents/La défilé de mode with my teacher's cello. (How wonderful is that, that of all the teachers, I ended up with one who was currently learning the cello?! And was willing to let me borrow it? Merci Dieu!)

Friday's main points:

Found out I was going to play at the soirée.

Practiced in the Cégep's music room, which was basically in the very pit of the school. But the solitude was nice. I had really been missing my cello. And thank goodness for scanners and emailing and computers and printers and helpful parents who emailed me some music to play!

Described our class's model's outfit with another classmate for the fashion show (La défilé de mode) in front of everybody. Public speaking... always a bit intimidating, especially when it is in French!

Played the cello... in front of everybody. So incredibly scary. It is one thing to play a classical piece at a recital, in front of a bunch of people who are there to hear classical music. It is another thing to play a classical piece in front of 300 of your peers, a bunch of teenagers, most of whom you know at least a little bit. It is again something else to play said piece after having just gone to the washroom, only to re-enter the theatre and hear your name being announced, and so struggling not to panic while frantically taking out your cello and trying to explain in French to non-musical people that you need their help to carry out your music stand and cello peg belt so that you can play. That is something else entirely.

Thankfully, I still played okay, and received many accolades after the show!

Poutine followed this evening, at Chez Pauline. Mmm... delicious.It tastes better than it looks.

That weekend (described briefly):

Québec City!!!! (Saturday)

Just like everyone says... so beautiful. So European. I even bought some art there! And so historical. For those who say that the Plains of Abraham are overrated: They are not.Although it was my first time going, so I am rather biased. I also enjoy history. But truly, they are lovely and sweeping and a really cool shade of greenish-yellow. It is weird to think that about 250 years ago, those plains were soaked with blood.

La Château Frontenac is also gorgeous.

Journée à la plage - Day at the beach (Sunday):

Sunny - lovely weather, very nice water. Relaxing.

One of the monitors, François, also found a skull. That was very cool!

August 2-7

Highlights:

Ice cream on Monday - After our evening activity, Rong, Bronwyn, and I ran through the rain to Pinocchio's, one of the most popular ice cream shops. We got very wet, but had a lot of fun.

Jumpaï on Tuesday - A bungee jumping sort of thing, that is a ridiculous amount of fun. It is also surprisingly tiring, but apparently Explore made me more fit than I had expected, because I actually was a decent jumper! In fact, I almost did three flips in a row! I certainly was able to do two, both forwards and backwards. It was so amusing. I would like one in my backyard; I think that would be my preferred way to work out. It really does tire the arms!

Class on Wednesday - We combined with another class to write a speech/poem to be presented by two people, one from each class, at the ceremony the next day. We paired up and each pair had to contribute at least two lines to the poem. My friend Erica and I came up with some pretty good stuff! Here are the lines we wrote:

Chaque jour de cet été

La crême glacée était mangé

Les Halles, Pinocchio et IGA

Nous ont beaucoup rempli de gras

Translation:

Each day of this summer

Ice cream was eaten

The Halles (market hall), Pinocchio, and IGA

Filled us with a lot of fat

Somehow the English translation isn't quite as poetic.

Les aventures d'un Flo on Wednesday - I can't quite remember if it was a musical, but I seem to think it was. Either way, it was so much fun to watch live theatre in French, and see how vastly our French comprehension had expanded. After the show, all of us who had come from Explore walked around and talked with the actors, and took pictures with them. At the end, it was funny because the main actor seemed to think he knew me from somewhere, but we both agreed that that was rather unlikely after I told him that I was from British Columbia!

La remise des diplômes (closing ceremony) on Thursday - We all dressed up nicely and were taken by buses to a hotel, where the ceremony took place that afternoon. It was so weird that it was all over. We were given a sort of mini newspaper, for which Emily, a friend named Tovi, and I had written an interview. It contained all sorts of anecdotes and pictures and articles.

We all got our friends to sign them, and it was like the end of the school year, only a lot worse, because we knew that we would likely never see most of the people from the program again.

The evening was filled with time spent with friends. Emily, Morgan, Anita, Erica, Sarah, and I went to the college for a little while to say goodbye to as many people as possible. Afterwards, we went out for ice cream, one last time.

I took a taxi home because it had gotten so late, and getting into that cab, staring out the back window as they all disappeared from view, was unbelievably sad.

The next day, Emily, Rong, Bronwyn, Tatiana (another friend, one of Rong and Bronwyn's roommates), and I went to Chicoutimi. We explored the festival, Rhythmes du monde, (Rhythms of the World), which took up several city blocks, and was lined with booths showcasing wares from various nations. It was a fun, cultural experience! Much better than simply taking the bus to the mall.

Apparently the festival is the biggest outdoor cultural and tourism-oriented event to ever come to the region of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. It was interesting to hear the different accents with which people spoke French; a man from Argentina had a particularly interesting one.

That evening, Emily and I went to Rong, Bronwyn, and Tatiana's home for one last hang-out and goodbye. It was awful saying goodbye to a final group of friends. Then I went home, and made a card for my host mom. I stayed up much too late, and had about two hours, or perhaps it was only 40 minutes, of sleep, before I got up to be driven to the airport at four or five AM. My host mom was so kind to drive me there that early. We never became extraordinarily close, but we did bond a little bit. She helped me check in my bags, and made sure I was all ready to go. It seemed to me that as she drove away, she was trying not to cry.

Sitting in the tiny airport in Bagotville was disheartening. There was a large group of what seemed to be Explore students from Chicoutimi, all together, reminiscing... thankfully a few students from the program in Jonquière were on the same flight as me to Montréal. We chatted, and felt sad together. That was nice.

I flew from Montréal to Calgary, and the waiting in the Calgary airport was the worst. I was close to home, yet miles and miles from all my friends. I wanted people to cry and reminisce with, but instead I was alone, sitting in the terminal, waiting for my flight to Kelowna. It made me think of Thailand, and the awfulness of saying goodbye to everyone, but at least we were all in it together. Thank God for friendship. I was texting my friend Emily, who was still in Jonquière for one more day. It was so odd, my sitting in an almost entirely Anglophone environment, while she was still completely immersed in that small Francophone city. And there we were, texting, just as we had on countless other days in Jonquière, yet we were nearly 4000 kilometres apart.

I arrived home, in Kelowna, walking off the flight alone, excited to see my family but missing French already.

My incredible cousins Talina and Conrad were there with my (real, no longer host!) mom and brother. My mom and I left them at camp, where I was to join them as a cabin leader in a week. What a dramatic shift. From Québec, a relatively secular environment, to the wonderful Gardom Lake Bible Camp, all in the space of one day. From complete submersion in French to an environment where hardly anyone spoke it. So it began. Life went back to normal. And it honestly wasn't as bad as I had expected. I love my family and friends, and thankfully, they love me too. It was good to get back to normalcy, in a way. Amazing friends, family, my own bed, and delicious food! But even taking the time to finally write this all out has been hard, as I have relived certain moments of my Québec experience. I miss it. One cannot live in the past however, and as François put it:

Ainsi va la vie qui va.

Which loosely translates to:

And so life goes on.

Samedi le 17 juillet - Cap Trinité

So, this entry has been a long time in coming. I am terribly sorry about the wait, but here you have it.

What a wonderful, exhausting, beautiful weekend.

We left for Cap Trinité early Saturday morning. (Now over two weeks ago!) My friend Emily and I spent most of the 1.5 hour bus ride talking to one of the monitors named François, hearing about his various football injuries. One of these involved his calf muscle protruding from his leg. All I could think of was how glad I was that all of the descriptions were in French, because if I had thoroughly understood everything he was saying, I am sure I would have been a bit more queasy. Or maybe I am finally toughening up.

At Cap Trinité, we were left to find our own way up the mountain.

Having been told that some sort of statue and an incredible view awaited us at the top, we set off with our backpacks and cameras. It quickly became apparent that this was not going to be a simple stroll. A sign posted at the beginning of the trail told us that the hike up was 3.5 km, and that the trail's level of intensity was difficile. It definitely was.

The hike started off innocently enough, but soon led to flights and flights of stairs and trails that were all straight up the hill. Everyone was sweating within a few minutes, and the humidity was no help. After we had been hiking for a little over an hour uphill, the trail began to turn downwards. This was slightly disconcerting, because we had all thought that the statue and view would be at the very top of the hill. But, since there was only one trail, we trudged on for another half an hour, and finally made it to our destination.

(from left to right: Erica, Sarah, Emily, Anita, Myself, Morgan)

The view really was beautiful, and the statue was interesting, but not spectacular. Lunch however, was.

(from left to right: Myself, Bronwyn, Rong)

Once fed and rested, we headed back up, and then down, the hill. It felt so good to just sit at the bottom, and think of how much good we had done ourselves.

On the bus ride back, we talked with two of the monitors about everything from rabbits and fishing, to politics and abortion and music.

It was a very interesting discussion, one that left me feeling quite energized and excited about how much more French I had learned. Plus, good conversation is just energizing in general!

That evening, after a shower and short rest, Megan and I were ready to meet our respective friends for dinner.

Unfortunately.... it was pouring. Il pleut à boire debout - a Québecois expression for when it rains ridiculously hard, and which definitely applied in this situation! So... we wimped out and called a cab.

A few minutes later, I arrived at Le Barillet and met my friends for dinner, which was delicious! We were all feeling very hungry, and veritably gobbled up our food.

After dinner, we took a cab to a corner store, Le Corneau Cantin, and bought Nanaimo bars and something else that was delicious and sugary. Mmm!

We then walked to Anita and Erica's house, and watched 27 Dresses. When it came to watching the movie and actually eating the snacks, we were so filled by the sugary unidentified snack that we decided to save the Nanaimo bars for whale watching the next day. All in all, a most excellent day, and I'd have to say that the delicious dinner and snacks were definitely well-earned.

I also took a cab home after walking Morgan to her house, since it was almost midnight. First time doing that alone! Haha, exciting things happen here in Québec.

La Nourriture

Mmmm. We had two hot dogs smothered in chili and cheese with fries for dinner. With no veggies. Again. Now don't get me wrong, I love my host family, and the food that my host mom cooks is delicious. But when you indulge in potatoes and meat and fish and fries on a regular basis, isn't there at least some need to try and complement the carbs and protein with maybe some.... carrots? Or a salad? Or at least something green?

The cafeteria at the college isn't much better. The veggie/fruit options are kind of weak, with the carrots, celery, and apples being soft and flavourless. For salad, if you have already taken a meal plate, you are limited to filling up a tiny paper cup that is comparable in size to a cupcake wrapping. My favourite way to "be healthy" for lunch is the little plastic bowls that contain a variety of canned fruits, such as those delicious, sweet mandarin orange pieces that swim in juice.

There is one mystery vegetable that shows up from time to time as a part of the meals. My friends tried to guess what it might be, and figured it could be a parsnip. Funny how we all had heard of parsnips, but none of us actually knew what one looked like. After a Google search, it turns out that the mystery vegetable is a parsnip! We are now all much more enlightened.

Today I bought two grapefruits, and a health smoothie that told me it would provide me with two fruit/vegetable servings. I was unbelievably excited.

Val-Jalbert and Pédalos

I realized that I still have not written anything about last Saturday, which is a shame because Saturday was quite an enjoyable day.

On Saturday, (over a week ago now) we took an hour long bus ride through some of the most gorgeous countryside I have ever seen. Bright fields of yellow, beautiful forests... and, locals are proud of Lac St. Jean for a reason - as we passed it, there were audible gasps all along the bus aisles. It is a tremendous lake that stretches nearly to the horizon. Positively stunning, and just so... immense!

There was a little town, called Chambord I believe, that was situated on the lake. It was filled with white houses and pretty views and looks like a place where I would like to live for maybe a little while. Like a place out of a story book where a young teacher comes to work, and is all alone but then finds love and fulfillment with teaching the young children of the town. Something cute and cheesy and heartwarming like that.

Our bus ride took us to the historic village of Val-Jalbert, a now-abandoned town where the economy used to revolve around a pulp mill built at the foot of a waterfall. The town was built in the early 1900's, but was deserted after 25 years of occupation when the pulp mill was closed down.

It was a lovely place, with a beautiful waterfall, hiking trails, a télépherique (mini gondola),

and, of course, deserted buildings.

There was one house in particular that I would thoroughly enjoy living in. The house was filled with colours, none of which matched the others, and all sorts of old furniture.

An old school building also stood nearby, with somewhat ineffective period actors, although their presence did serve as a reminder that nuns were the teachers at the school.

I bought an overpriced iced tea, and looked in the recreated "General Store", where there were equally overpriced souvenirs. And large patterned furry coats for sale. I suppose those are appropriate to the time period... Overall the day was grand. I am reminded again and again of how much I love the outdoors. God is so beautifully displayed in His creation!

On the bus ride home, nearly everyone fell asleep. Back in Jonquière, my friend Emily and I wanted to go paddle-boating, but by the time we arrived at the rental shop, they told us it was too late to go out. Instead, with another group of girls from the Explore program, we met a funny elderly Québecois gentleman.

The conversation started as someone asked him to take a photo of our group, and he positioned the camera with the lens facing towards him. He looked taken aback, and exclaimed that he couldn't see anything. (In French, of course.) Someone helped him flip it around, and the photo was taken. We were all barely holding ourselves together, as it was quite the amusing display! We continued talking with him after, as he asked each of us where we were from, and how we were liking our time here, questions about the college, stuff like that. I somehow managed to explain to him in French how the educational system in the rest of Canada differs from the educational system of Québec. It was a bit of a challenge, but it felt so good to see him finally understand, to know that I had succeeded in saying something of use, using words outside of my normal vocabulary!

It was Sunday evening, after the Fjord en arbre, that Emily and I went down to the river (La Rivière aux Sables) and succeeded in renting a boat to take out on the river. We were with

three other friends, Sarah, Anita, and Erica, and as such, being an odd-numbered group of people, had to take out one pédalo (pedal boat) and one canoe. I sat in the bottom of the canoe while Sarah and Emily

paddled... :) .... and Erica and Anita took the pédalo.

The sunset from the river was gorgeous! I must say, I like the colours of the sky here in Jonquière. Or maybe I just like sky.

Afterwards, we went to a little place called Ici le café, and ordered delicious drinks that were more like desserts when you considered the amount of whipped cream that topped them. All in all, a very enjoyable day!

First Full Week, Part 1

Wow. I have been here for one week as of this evening, but I feel like I have been here for weeks, months maybe. It has been incredibly hot every day so far, except for Friday, and today. Friday was 25-30 degrees Celsius. A nice respite. Although the humidity index was still about 94%! The level of humidity here is insane, especially when coupled with thirty minute walks both to and from the college. It makes me incredibly thankful for the basement room with a fan that my roommate and I share! So, let me recount to you some of this week's events. First, the basic schedule is:

- Wake up at 7 am.

- Shower if I didn't the night before.

- Eat breakfast.

- Walk to school.

- Classes start at 8:30 am.

- Break from 10-10:15 am.
- Lunch at 11:30 am.

And then afternoons vary.

Monday

We headed to school for 8:20 am, and had a big group meeting, then were assigned to different classrooms to take placement tests. After that, we had lunch, then regrouped in the main meeting area. We were given an orientation, and then headed out for a scavenger hunt! It was a fun concept, as it took us all over the town so we got to know our way around, but it was incredibly hot. In the downtownish area, there are these lamposts with flags on them from countries around the world, and they have different stats, some on the Francophone

populations there. It is really interesting!

Megan (my roommate) and I walked home for dinner. And it started to pour. We were honestly drenched to the skin by the time we walked in the door.

Later that evening, there was a mandatory dance. I was rather nervous for it, because I had no idea what to expect. I had never been to a dance, as my school doesn't hold them. As it turned out, it was basically just fun mingling, and getting to know people. Not so bad! The basic conversation consisted of getting to know a person's name, and then asking where they are from. In my case, I usually say either Vancouver, or Kelowna. If I say Kelowna and the other person gives me a blank look (which is most of the time), thenI say, Je viens de Kelowna, c'est proche à Vancouver. I have said variations on that sentence many times now. Generally, the only people who know where Kelowna is are fellow British Columbians, and some Albertans. Of course it varies a bit, and it is always exciting when someone from across the country knows about my city!

Tuesday

Classes officially began, and I was placed in Intermediaire II/III. Right in the middle! It is perfect.

Our class at this point consisted of six boys and six girls. I got to know

one of the girls in my class named Emily, and since then she and I have hung out a lot.

In our class, we do a lot of discussion, and a bit of grammar. Each day, someone brings in a newspaper article and explains it to the class. We aren't allowed to write down what we are going to say. Every day, someone also finds a Québecois saying, and tells us what it means. Whenever we learn a new word, it is always explained in French, rather than just immediately translated into English. I love this, because it helps us really associate French with our thought processes, and actual actions, rather than just with an English word.

During class, we signed the "pledge", stating that we would only speak in French during the program. That pledge is proving rather difficult and inconvenient to keep! I have two friends here who are from Vancouver, Janice and Philip, and they have never taken any French classes. Until now that is. It is so incredibly courageous of them!

That afternoon, we signed up for activities, and got our photos taken for our student IDs. I have yet to discover a use for the ID cards.

Later on, I went swimming in the college's Olympic sized pool. With a swim cap. First time with one of those! I really appreciate the sanitary benefits they provide.

That evening, I went for a short nighttime stroll with Megan. I adore the colours of the night sky.