Hello
all!
Doing
this program reminds me of the Teachers Institute I did last November in Ottawa – it’s
relevant, engaging and exhausting! Québec is beautiful and for the most
part, people are really friendly.
I
say “for the most part” because they must be used to kookie nutbars running
around trying to speak to them and striking up inane conversations for no
reason at all. Our program leaders have even prepared us with phrases so
that we can strike up conversations with strangers. For example, here in
Québec, the streetlights take forever to change for pedestrians but when they
eventually do, you can walk in all directions because ALL the traffic
stops. They told us to say “ces feux sont si longs a passer au rouge!” as
if any local would welcome us with open arms if we told them something they
already knew. I’ll keep my nutbar status to myself,
thankyouverymuch. It gets loose too much as it is. J
Thursday
was the opening of the Summer Festival (a.k.a. Festival d’Été) here. It is a
crazy-amazing outdoor music festival with multiple stages. Downtown
Québec turns into one big beautiful outdoor patio party. As you can
imagine, it’s really, really crowded. But it is worth it to see such acts
as Tegan & Sara, Lady Gaga, Serena Ryder, Steve Miller Band, Journey, Snoop
Dogg, Local Natives, Three Days Grace, The Killers, The Crystal Method,
Deadmau5, Queens of the Stone Age, Cypress Hill, Blondie, Billy Joel, Sam
Roberts Band, Soundgarden and Bryan Adams. And those are just the acts I
recognize! There are over 250 performances, including up-and-coming
French artists and international acts. There’s also a selection of free
performances every day, but I (and most of my program participants) bought the
festival pass in advance. $75 if I remember correctly?
I’ve
already seen Tegan & Sara and Lady Gaga – the pass was worth it right
there. Dang that Gaga girl sure puts on a show! I’d never be able
to afford to see her in Vancouver. I’m looking forward to many more
shows, but I can’t see myself going every night since I really have to mentally
gear myself up for those crowds. Haha.
This
program is turning out to be quite musical – in addition to having us sing
French songs every morning, they show us French music videos from artists
around the world. I have already found some new favourites!
We
did a workshop a few days ago that also gave me some favourites – for the
computer lab. They showed us a plethora of FSL and Immersion resources
that we can use for ourselves or for our students. Much of it was très cool – and I’ll be
coming home with a package of ideas and website links.
Another
activity they had us put together was a skit that we performed in front of the
group. Sheesh, doing things like scavenger hunts and performing skits
certainly gives me insight into what I ask my own students to do.
Especially my poor ESL students, haha.
We
went shopping! There are 3 huge malls here in Québec, and we figured out
how to take the bus there without much difficulty. Simons is my dream
store! I bought some stuff… a bunch of stuff. Good cheap
stuff! And, I had to talk to people half a dozen times and most of the
time there was no problem and no clarification needed. And nobody tried
to speak English to me, which made me feel great. J
Today
we had a field trip to la
Grosse Île in the middle of the St. Lawrence (and we had the choice to do
the tour in English, thank goodness, or it would have been such a wasted
experience!). It was used as a quarantine station in the 1800’s for
immigrants to Canada or the US. During the Great
Irish Famine, the island received a huge influx of Irish peoples, more than
the island could handle. They were lured with promises for a better life,
but instead thousands of people died from cholera, typhus, etc. It was
fascinating, and sad. At times the conditions described/recreated echoed
what it was like in concentration camps in Germany – except it felt more
helpless without anyone to “blame.”
Aside
from la Grosse Île, I have been trying very hard to speak French as much as
possible (although I must admit that when with my débutante roommates, we give
ourselves a little break haha). When we have gone to get groceries or
gone out to eat, I don’t let anyone speak English to me. Well,
almost. If there is a big lineup behind me or something, I might
cave. But for the most part I have been doing my best: I hand back the
English menus and ask for French ones, continue speaking French if they change
to English, and if necessary, tell them not to speak to me in English.
Having said that, the conversations I’ve had are pretty limited and mainly
involve the French verbs that I know. I have, I want, I eat…. Sounds good
enough, right?
I
should get to sleep now – but I’ll write again with more I’m sure. The
week ahead contains a chocolaterie,
more summer festival shows, and another field trip – this time to Île d’Orleans. Stay tuned!
Cheers
and love,
E!
E!
p.s.
– watch this totally cool music video from a Belgian musician! You don’t
need to know what the lyrics mean (I don’t), and it’s totally catchy and the
video is neato. The chorus says, “Where are you Papa?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiKj0Z_Xnjc
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment