La Queue de la Baleine

I hate to say it, but this will most likely be my last post for Baise-moué l'ail.

There are a few things I'm looking forward to about getting home... like seeing my family and Wesley, being able to cook for myself, not having to walk half a mile and take a bus to go anywhere, BISCUITS (and gravy), having a cell phone again (even though it really has been nice to live without it), and of course, above all, snuggling with tiny little Pedro!

Those things aside, I'm nowhere near ready to leave this amazing city. I especially don't want to get back to just speaking boring-old-English all the time. Everything is just so much better in French!

At least I can certainly say that I made the most of my short time here in Québec. The last few weeks have been especially awesome! The weather has been incredible... Highs in the low 70s for a few days, and never any hotter than 80. 

No doubt, the highlight of my 6 weeks has been whale watching. We took a 3-hour bus ride Saturday to one of the prettiest places I've ever seen in a tiny town called Tadoussac. The Tadoussac Bay with surrounding mountains was just unbelievable, and the weather couldn't have been better! We went out in a little boat for about 3 hours on the freeeeeeezing water, all dressed in gigantic rain suits to keep warm. We saw countless numbers of little whales, seals (phoques in French, which I've yet to attempt to pronounce out loud because with my luck, I'll definitely wind up offending somebody), and one giant humpback who even showed us his beautiful tail. I wish I could have gotten some better pictures, but it was certainly a day I'll never forget. Mme Dufour was raised close to Tadoussac, and explained to me that in the winter, the river is completely frozen so the ferry (the only way to get across... even in a gigantic tour bus) cuts through the ice, and you can just stand in the back and watch it freeze right back over. I'd love to come back in the winter... for a day or two, maybe.

So for the next few days, my life will consist of packing up and studying for finals. Not at all looking forward to my taxi getting here at 3:30 am Saturday. Hopefully I'll be too tired to be sad, because leaving this place won't be easy! 

Québec... Je me souviens...

I can't believe I'm already down to my last 2 weeks in Québec. I've been so busy with class, homework, exams, activities, and excursions that I've had no time to sit down and blog... and the time is passing way too quickly!

Since my last post, I've seen Santana and the Black Eyed Peas, gotten caught in some pretty crazy rain storms, zip-lined through the treetops, and even learned a little bit of French along the way, bien sûr.

Monday I went to a Québec Capitales baseball game. It was really interesting to watch baseball called in French, even though ALL the music (including the 7th inning stretch) was in English. The team they played was from New Jersey, so we even got to sing our own national anthem! Unfortunately the Capitales lost 10-9, but it was still a lot of fun. We didn't get home until around midnight though, so I had a very long and tiring Tuesday!

This week was filled with projects and tests for all my classes, so by the time I got finished with my Grammar exam Friday, I was ready to enjoy my weekend! Friday turned out to be one of the best days yet. Some girls from Groupe de Georgie wandered around Basse-Ville and took the ferry across the St. Lawrence to a town on the other side called Lévis. The town itself was nothing special, but we got some amazing views of Québec, and an incredible vanilla ice cream cone dipped in dark chocolate from the choclaterie favoris. Once we got back to town, we had dinner at a little pizza cafe, and I had pizza du fromage de la chèvre (goat cheese). By far the BEST pizza I've ever had!

Friday night, we finally got to see Cirque du Soleil. Unfortunately we have the worst luck when it comes to weather, so of course it was raining a little bit and the show was cut short for the safety of the performers. It was an awesome experience quand même! I stole some pictures from Katelyn because my camera just couldn't pick up anything in the dark. Since it's a free performance in the street, I think we'll try to go again another night to see the whole show.

Saturday I woke up bright and early to crepes and berries because Mme Dufour would never send me off on a hike without a good breakfast! Wish I always had a host mother! I went to the Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier, which I've been looking forward to since I found out I was coming to Québec. I was not disappointed! The weather was perfect, in the upper 70s with a good bit of wind, so it made for a pretty enjoyable hike. The views of the mountains and the rivière Jacques-Cartier were awesome, and since I was in the "sportif" group, I had time to go swimming afterwards while we waited for everyone else to get done. Vraiment parfait!


Today was.... interesting. I've been talking to the other students in my house about going to a church service here, and one of them found a "traditional Baptist" church to try this morning. He was WRONG. It turned out to be a contemporary Pentecoastal church in the gym of a middle school. It was still a good opportunity to learn some new vocabulary, but the service lasted 4 hours and was a little more bizarre than I was prepared to handle. C'est la vie?

I've signed a pledge saying I will live completely in French for 24 hours, and tomorrow's the day I chose. So that means no English whatsoever...  No speaking, writing, or typing, or THINKING in English. I'm sure I'll slip up on the thinking part, and that I'll have a serious headache by the end of the day,  but I'm excited! I definitely think it's necessary... I still have SO much to learn before 6:00 am August 7.

So I've officially survived my first week of classes at Université Laval...

The week really has gone very well! I'm taking three classes: Grammaire, Phonétique, and Expression Orale. I love all my professors, and my placement is perfect. Je suis contente! 

I'm surprised at how differently I perceive classes here. Usually, I sit in class, take notes while wondering how much time is left, then race home and dread having to study. Here, I actually look forward to my classes! I get there early and stay late, and while we're learning new structures and vocabulary, I get excited to think of ways to use them in conversation. I get home and do my homework first thing, then practice as much as I can at the dinner table. It's only been 2 weeks, and I've already learned far more than I could in an entire semester in a classroom at home. I'm just so glad to be here.

Yesterday was my first Saturday Excursion! We hiked to the top of Mont Sainte-Anne, swam in a waterfall, and briefly visited the Basilique Sainte-Anne. I didn't think the hike would be tough, but it was definitely the hardest I've ever done! I was exhausted by the time we finally got back home, but luckily found my second wind after supper so I could go out for drinks in Vieux-Québec with a few girls from Groupe de Georgie. We explored the stage at the pleines d'Abraham for Festival d'été, but there weren't any bands we cared to see last night. I look forward to seeing Santana, Rush, and the Black-Eyed Peas next week!

This morning, I woke up bright and early to see an 8:30am showing of l'Histoire de Jouets in 3D at the IMAX theater with Justin, Mme Dufour, and the 2 other students living with us. It was such a cute movie, and just like everything else, it was even better en français!

Loups-Garoux et Vampires

Happy 4th of July to everyone back home!

The sun has finally come out for the past few days and although all the locals think it's way too hot, I'm pretty glad to be able to wear shorts again!

Friday we went to l'Assemblée Nationale and had lunch at le Parlementaire, which was unbelievably nice! For an appetizer, we had pâté de caribou sauvage (wild caribou pate) with petite salade de pommes et radis aux baies de genièvre (apple and radish salad). About half the group refused to try it, but it was absolutely amazing. For my main course, I had médaillons de porc rôtis au caramel d'érable sauce au cidre doux (roasted pork medallions with an apple cider and maple syrup reduction) with croquant de pommes et noisettes (apples and hazelnuts). It was even more delicious than it sounds! For dessert, I had profiteroles aux trois saveurs, which was basically 3 cream puffs with chocolate, caramel, and strawberry sauce. Incroyable!

Yesterday we had our exam for Quebec Civ (that counts for 60% of our grade) and I am so thankful that it's over. I came back home for a giant piece of chicken pot pie for dinner and Mme Dufour and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. We stopped by the neighbor's house, where Justin was eating dinner, and I got to meet some people from Ontario. It was so nice to be able to speak English for a change! It turns out that they had been to Savannah and stayed at the Westin before, so that was neat. One of the older men even went to school with Shania Twain's grandmother!

Today, we finally got to see Hésitation! It was pretty cool to see a movie in French, and the fact that I've read the book really helped me figure out a lot of new words in context. Team Edward, definitely.

School starts tomorrow. Je suis nerveuse!

Un Échec Épique!

I'm almost done with my first week in Québec!

My life here is completely different from my life at home, but so far I really have enjoyed it. My host even commented last night that I seem more comfortable with my French!

The other night, Mme Dufour's friends from France came to visit for the night and we all went out to dinner. I loved sitting and talking to them because I could actually understand everything they said.... This Québécois accent is killing me!

Yesterday was Canada Day, which no one in Québec celebrates because only the Anglophones consider themselves to be Canadian. Still, the university was closed, so we went to la Musée de l'Amérique Française in lieu of class. It was a really interesting experience and our tour guide spoke slowly and was patient with our French, so that was wonderful. After the museum, the whole Groupe de Georgie went to a café for lunch, paid for by M. Chesnut! We all tried les escargots gratinés, and I had la soupe aux poix (Québécois pea soup) and croque buade (open-faced grilled vegetable sandwich with cheese). It was all delicious, just like everything else here. Despite all the walking, I'm going to be as big as a bus by the time I get back home!

After lunch, it was pouring rain but no one wanted to go back home, so we started our search for a movie theater to see La Saga Twilight: Hésitation. Of course, it was a long shot, and the one theater we came across wasn't playing it. We wound up just wandering around until time to head home for dinner, which wasn't terrible because I really love the Groupe de Georgie! I'm getting pretty nervous about real classes starting next week when all of us will be split up.

Today, it's sunny with a high of 77. We're going to l'Asemblée Nationale this morning and to a "chic" restaurant for lunch (according to M. Chesnut). Our big test is tomorrow, so I'm hoping we'll find some time this afternoon to study outside on this beautiful day! 

Euh.... Oui?

So, here I am!

Yesterday was beautiful and sunny, with highs in the 70s (which is amazing after a summer in Statesboro), but today was cold, windy, and rainy. I left the house wearing running shorts and had to stop by Old Navy on my way to school to buy some $7 pants! It was pretty funny to go into an Old Navy where everything was in French and there were maple leaves on all the t-shirts instead of American flags.

I definitely have the "foreign language headache" now. Between all the walking around and having to concentrate so much on speaking, I'm completely exhausted at the end of the day! It's slowly beginning to feel a little bit more natural, even though I still make mistakes constantly. I tried the Canadian dish called poutine today. It's French fries, gravy, and cheese curds. It sounds very strange but it really was delicious! I was telling Madame Dufour about it at dinner and she started laughing at me... it turns out I pronounced it wrong and actually told her that I enjoyed my first prostitute. Zut.

I've really enjoyed living with Justin, Mme Dufour's youngest son. He's so cute and has taught me all kinds of new vocab words having to do with Toy Story, Shrek, and Mario Kart. We've been playing Mario Kart on the Wii together and he keeps saying, "Fais attention, j'ai trop de bananes!" (Be careful, I have too many bananas) I seriously could listen to him speak French all day.

Voilà pour l'instant!

Les Préparatifs

I'm leaving in less than 15 hours! 

Wesley spent the morning with me and helped finish up some last-minute shopping, so I'm very glad Pedro and I got to see him one last time. I don't know how I'm going to handle 6 weeks without Wesley, Dro, and of course my iPhone...

Packing hasn't been easy since I'm limited to 1 bag that weighs less than 50 pounds (and if you look closely you can see Pedro laying in the bed watching, but NOT offering any help), but it's all starting to come together. I just can't wait to finally be there! The weather forecast for Quebec City tomorrow is rainy with a high of 72... I'll take it!

Au revoir, les États-Unis!