Chez Dany

Salut Everyone!

Yesterday's oral presentation went well enough. Our teacher arranged us into groups and would listen to the presentations in groups of 6. Unfortunately, we ended up going last and all the pre-class rehearsal I had squeezed in had mostly left my head by the time I got to actually start speaking. Oh well. As far as I can tell I used all eight of the verb tenses we've been working with and fulfilled the time duration requirements. At least it is over! Same goes for the written exam today. The test was divided predominantly into two portions consisting of technical grammar (verb tenses) and vocabulary/idioms/prepositions. Picking the right verb tense can always be a little challenging but I know I nailed the second portion. Again, just glad to be done. The next course is quite intimidating as it is going to comprise completely new content, literally a whole declension of verbs tenses that I didn't know existed but on the bright side it will give me a leg up when I return.

Tonight was the night we went to "Chez Dany" - a traditional Québecois style restaurant. They had live music going and served each table a wide variety of dishes. Most of  (aka all of) the dishes contained pork, which many of you know is something I try to avoid so that was interesting. I gave everything a try except the ham which was just too outright porkish for me. Otherwise, they had some sort of ground pork pie, egg/omelette, fried crispy pork fat, a traditional Canadian lentil/pea soup, traditional style beans (which honestly weren't that different from the canned variety), pomme de terre, pancakes, and of course maple syrup to add to everything at your leisure. It didn't particularly do much for me but the atmosphere was cool, everyone got up and was dancing at one point, the staff busted out spoons for people to play, and at the end we got to do the traditional popsicle dipped into fresh syrup and put on ice. Very cool experience but definitely only necessary once.

Maple syrup - nom nom nom
L-R: Moi, Kat, Maria, Candace

The Québecois Soirée is later tonight and the national park is going to happen tomorrow if it doesn't rain. The fun never ends ;)

Love and Light,

Jacqueline

PS: Something amusing happened on the bus on the way to Chez Dany. One of the guys I was talking to was trying to guess my nationality. Apparently I look a lot like one of his friends who is half Jamaican. On a different day I had someone ask if I was half African. I mean I get it. The hair is crazy. To be fair though I am fair in both skin, hair, and eye color. Plus I am in no way rockin' the black girl booty. The 'guess my nationality' game has always been an entertaining one for me. The Ukrainian/English explanation just doesn't do it for people.

Week 3 Catch Up

Hey Everyone!

This trip is so much harder to blog than Belgium was. I'm going to go ahead and credit that to the fact that I barely have anytime to spare anymore. My course is INSANE. It is extremely difficult and because it is so condensed we don't get any nights off from homework and study. I literally write about 3-4 tests a week and make 2-3 oral presentations. Honestly it can be quite overwhelming.

Our program is split up into two courses. Tomorrow we finish the first course with a written exam worth 30% of our grade. Today we had an oral presentation worth 20%. The rest has been comprised of all the activities from the past two weeks. It all begins again next week but we have now officially moved from the Intermediate III level to Advance I. Aka my life now spirals out of control. We're moving on from indicative verb tenses to subjunctive... Heaven help me.

Regardless, it is still enjoyable on the whole. The few precious moments of free time I do get usually end in guitar jam sessions, hanging out with my roommates, or doing the Explore Program activities.

Tonight we are playing volleyball against the animateurs, Friday we are going to a traditional 'sugar shack' called Chez Danny, and Saturday we are going to a national park if the weather holds.

Last weekend we spent Saturday in Québec city. It has a very distinctly European flavor with all the fountains, parks, and statues. The old town in particular is cobble-stoned and caused me to reminisce of my European wanderings. If nothing else, my European travels have paid off hugely in terms of being able to write about them for assignments and oral presentations. Québec is just adding more fuel to the fire :)

In other news, I learned that one of my friends has the same flight back to Calgary as me. Wooo! That means I have someone to explore Montrèal with for the day and a half I have between program and flying out. Yay!

I will attempt to write more frequent shorter updates (for real this time). In the meantime, here is a picture from our day in Québec with my roommate family.

And this just cracked me up. Immediate flashbacks to 4th grade social class.

Love &  Light,

Jacqueline

Explore Bursary Program

Bonjour ma famille et mes amis!

Although I fully intended this to be a blog for my Belgium semester only, opportunity has struck and I will be studying for a month in Québec this summer! Because the French-Canadian culture is so different and it is a further step in my same journey to master French, I figured there was no point letting a good blog go to waste. 

Hence, here is the latest rendition of my travel adventures.
 

3866 km away from home. Not quite Europe but it will do!

I will be in Trois-Rivières, Québec, attending the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières for 5 weeks. Here is the general program concept:

"Explore is a bursary program for students wanting to learn French. Five weeks of discovery, new acquaintances and exchanging ideas, in a stimulating setting for learning your second or foreign language.

Three and a half hours of courses are given every morning from Monday to Friday. In the afternoon, students attend different workshops to improve their French such as: songs, dance, phonetics, theatre, environment, newspaper, conversation etc."

Throughout the duration of the program, I will be staying in the on campus dorms with other students in the same program. On top of the classes, the program provides us with the opportunity to take advantage of the culture around us. Here is a sample of the activities they plan for us:

• Welcome activities
• Tour of Trois-Rivières
• National historical site, "Forges du St-Maurice"
• Tour of Quebec City
• Tour of Montreal
• Day trip to the Mauricie National Park
• Folk evening at the sugar shack
• Indoor and outdoor sports
• Movies
• Thematic evening
• Casino evening
• Traditional Québecois evening
• Student show

Although I didn't get a home stay exchange as was my preference, I lucked out with my location. Trois-Rivières is absolutely perfect because you're exactly half-way between Montreal and Quebec City and get to take advantage of both.

I'm excited! I really think this will be a fantastic opportunity to continue my French and get to know and love my country even more. Having never been farther east than Ontario, this will be an exciting new experience.

The best part? Since it is a bursary program, the only thing I have to cover are my flights! :)

Love & Light,

Jacqueline