Sunday 30 June 2013

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Bienvenue a Quebec!

It has already been one full day in Quebec and I have to admit, the homesickness is REAL. I hope that in the days and weeks to come, things will get smoother and that I will become more accustomed to the way that the Quebecois people live. They are quite fascinating people in the most polite and positive sense possible.

The two flights were very smooth, although our landing in Toronto was a little on the turbulent side. I had a Tim Horton's filled day and it was nice to see Timmy's in Quebec also, but everything on the menu was obviously in French.

I met my host family, the Cormiers, and they are very nice people. I am looking forward to spending the next 6 weeks with them. The parents are Simon and Karen, and they have 4 sons (from oldest to youngest): Mathieu, Felix, Remy and Remy (I am not kidding there!) They are all very nice and they have been very accommodating with my lack of French. I spent the first night talking in all English, admittedly, but at least we were able to do proper introductions and I was able to ask my questions.

C'est moi et Remy!
 
 
My first full day in Quebec started off with authentic homemade crepes and a first time mass in French. It was very interesting, because first off, it was only half an hour long. I am usually used to the 55 minute-one hour, possibly one hour and 15 minutes services, but half an hour? C'est tres bizarre! It was very interactive, in a sense that the homily had the priest moving around from pew to pew, asking people questions "game show" style, and people answering back. The church, Sacre-Coeur de Jesus was very beautiful on the inside and the outside, but surprisingly not full for its only service on the weekend.
 
 This is the altar at the church. C'est magnifique!
 
 
I was able to go to the shopping mall to get my sleeping bag for my camping trip to come as well as the train ride back home. We then had a lunch with all the Surrey/Terrebonne East kids and the host families at one family's home. It is interesting to note that most houses in Quebec have very spacious backyards and gigantic swimming pools. I did not go for a swim because it was quite chilly and I am still a little on the sick side >.<" But one day, I will take advantage of the pool that is sitting in the backyard of my host family's home!!
 
I also found that people in Quebec have their meals quite late (case in point, I had my dinner at 9 PM Quebec local time). No matter though, because the food is still good!
 
Here are some pictures from our lunch:
 
 <<   The fabulous food prepared for us! 

The pool in the backyard...           >>

   << The vast areas called backyards! :)

Ma nouvelle amie, Valerie! >>  

 << (L-R) Tianna, Helen, Fiona, me!, Valerie

CRAZY! (L-R) Tianna, Patrick, Helen, Fiona, Spencer, moi!, Valerie

 Terrebonne Est avec Janie, notre coordinator!
 
 
Well, c'est tout for now! I have to get up bright and early tomorrow for my first day of work. I am excited but also a bit nervous for my French, but this is my opportunity to improve, right? My nickname for the camp (apparently we all need one) is "Dragon" because I am Chinese and probably the only one there that is Chinese. I'll let you know soon...
 
Today in the car I heard a favourite song of mine that was sung in English and French together, so I'm going to leave that with you tonight. It is called "Summer Paradise" by fellow Quebec rockers Simple Plan, whom I'm very sure you've heard of.
 

 
Bonne nuit,
 
Rachel



Saturday 29 June 2013

At the Airport...

So this morning was pretty hectic but after all is said and done we are finally here at the airport... we take off in about an hour or less. I am feeling a lot better from the sickness but the nervousness and excitement has kicked into overload.

We woke up at 5:30 AM and then we went to Richmond for breakfast. Nothing like Chinese food for breakfast, right?

A plus tard (See you later)

Rachel

(song to come later!)

Thursday 27 June 2013

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Packing Challenges :$

Good evening everyone! :) So far I've been trying to pack and also get my room together for my twin student. Let's just say that it hasn't been the easiest task... to be honest, I have never liked packing for vacations or school trips, etc... 6 weeks is a very long time to be away from my family, my friends, my room, and my things, but I will make it work!

Also, it looks like the pictures are a go! I can't wait to post pictures here along with my blog posts!

My empty suitcase (courtesy of mom and dad!)
 
 
The packing is coming along...sort of...
 

It has been an interesting time, getting everything together and such... I can't believe that we are two nights away from departure! I just came down with a little sickness that I hope to get rid of before I leave... it has become a recurring theme, getting sick before I leave on trips! Nothing a little soup and a LOT of extra rest can do! :)

I'm going to miss everyone! :( Keep in touch via Twitter and of course, leave a comment on this post below! Today's song will be a tribute to all the good times in French 11 - a French song, "Reste Ami" by Nathalie Simard.
 
 
My next post will either be during travel, in transit during our stop in Toronto or possibly Quebec!
 
Bonne vacances! (have a good summer!)
 
Rachel x

Saturday 22 June 2013

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The One Week Countdown!

Good afternoon everyone! It's actually so surreal that I had dreamed of this moment, and now here I am, one week prior to departure!

Basically, this will be my blog to reminisce about my day(s), all the good and bad points, the memories worth retelling, and posting pictures (hopefully! I have to figure that out on my laptop!). I am taking cues from my band teacher who runs the music trip blogs at my school. It seems like a fun thing to do and I will definitely be updating as much as possible to let you see things on my end.

So what exactly am I doing this summer, and how did I get this opportunity?

In exactly one week from today, I will be leaving with other students from my community and joining 1200 other students from all over Canada and going on a summer work exchange in Quebec in hopes to come back with better French than "Bonjour" and "Comment ca va".This exchange is organized by the YMCA.

For me personally, I will be spending 6 weeks in a community called Terrebonne, which is a suburb 30 minutes away from Montreal. It is actually Montreal's third largest suburb with a population of just over 106,000 people as of 2011. I will be in Terrebonne with 6 other students from the Surrey area and we will be working as well as doing various sightseeing activities while we are here. As for where I will be staying, I will be living with a host family. It will be interesting as I will be living with young boys! (I've never done that before!)

I was introduced to the Summer Work Student Exchange by my French 9 teacher, and it had always been sitting in the back of my mind. When I was eligible to apply, I jumped right on top of it. I had a friend that went last summer and she told me that it was a blast. The waiting period was long because it turned out that I had applied extremely early! (total keener, I know!)

In about April I had begun getting emails from the YMCA and we had started the process of doing interviews, filling out paper work, even practicing my French with a real Quebecois girl! The wait was the most difficult part but in May I had been granted conditional acceptance, and by the last week of May into June, I was officially accepted into the program.

Earlier this week, on Monday June 25, I had met all the other students that I am going to spend this summer with in a pre-departure meeting. This was where we went over all the expectations of the program, what we will be doing, getting our job descriptions... it was such an exciting time!

This will be the longest I've spent away from home on my own, which is really exciting but also really scary at the same time. It's going to be a brand new place with new people, culture, and of course, a new language that I haven't mastered yet.

I am so thankful first of all to the YMCA for putting on such an incredible experience year after year and for choosing me as one of their participants this year. I am also extremely grateful to my family who not only supported me through this entire endeavour but will be having an exchange of their own: in my place, a girl from Quebec will be coming to stay with my family.

So that's it for now! I hope that you will continue to follow my journey. Leave a comment in the section below :)

Also, I think that every time, as I sign out, I will be leaving a song and a new French phrase/word that I learned that day.

In honour of French and getting over the 'franglais' phase, here is Stevie Wonder singing "My Cherie Amour". I have to say his accent is pretty good.

A plus tard (see you later),

Rachel