Life is going on here in Montréal. This week, some more courses started, today I had the best one so far… A really useful one called “Pratique professionelle de la Recherche”. I’d really like do take this course although it’s on Friday but it’s not sure yet if it will be possible. Normally students have to write about the project they are currently doing for their master’s thesis or PhD and I’m not working in the lab here. But if I’m lucky, I can do it with my bachelor’s thesis. I’m waiting for the professors decision. Next Tuesday, I have to submit my final choice of lectures. But don’t be afraid, university is not only hard work ;-) Last night, there was a great concert organized by the student’s association, for free. The headliner was “Karkwa”, the best band from Quebec according do my flatmate (who is playing in a band himself).
I’m also discovering the best places for shopping. On Tuesday, I went to the Marché Jean-Talon to buy fruits and vegetables. For only 13 $ I bought five bananas, a melon, two zucchinis, three peppers, tomatoes, onions and champignons. Much cheaper than in the supermarket. Another thing you should not buy in supermarkets here are cosmetic articles. You buy them in pharmacies like Pharmaprix (In Germany, I would never go to the pharmacy to buy a shampoo but only if I’m ill). Today I went to such a pharmacy and it turned out to be quite similar to German dm or Müller. Apart from a small corner where you get medicine, you can buy perfumes, all sorts of cosmetic articles, office staff, CDs, food etc. Unfortunately, so far I couldn’t find really good bread here. There is a Boulangerie (Bakery) close to my home but the bread I bought there can’t compete against German bread. And on Tuesday I discovered that the shop where I spent so much money in Quebec City is also in town. I shouldn’t go there…
Yesterday, Nadine and me rent roller-skates and took advantage of the good weather (it’s still quite warm here). The guy in the rental agency gave us the advice to take the bikeway along the Canale de Lachine and buy some ice-cream at the Marché Atwater. The ice-cream was really great =) The day before, I played Squash (for the first time in my life) at the university sports center with an Austrian exchange student I met here. It was really fun…
I still didn’t tell you about my last weekend that I spent with my friend Marie-Claude I met in France 4 years ago. As most of my courses hadn’t started so far, I was free from Thursday till Monday (Labour Day). And I was lucky because she and her boyfriend were on vacation, too. By the way, when I saw in the academic calendar that there will be two holidays on Mondays (Labour Day and Thanksgiving), I thought we were really lucky that this year these holidays happen to be on Mondays what means long weekends. In fact, Labour Day is always the first Monday in September and Thanksgiving the second Monday in October ;-)
Okay, back to my weekend which was a very quebecois experience and not at all touristic. I had to listen to the special dialect all the time and learned lots of typical expressions. And I didn’t speak any German but only French what pushed me into the language again. But it was also really exhausting, in the evening, I was extremely tired although we relaxed the whole day and slept for 10 hours. I met some friends of Marie-Claude and her whole family because they were celebrating the birthday of her sister-in-law and also of her boyfriend which will be on the 18th of September. Strange thing, he already got presents and so on!
As her parents never left Canada, they were really curious how a German girl looks like ;-) I had to explain the whole history with eastern and western Germany and that the wall was only in Berlin and not through the whole country. They have their knowledge about Germany mostly from films and Marie-Claude said that she’s fed up with these films. She asked me if there are no films about simple love stories playing in Germany. Are there any apart from German productions that never reach the North American country??
We also talked about the separatist ambitions of the party Bloc Quebecois. Most people I talked to told me that an independent country of Quebec would be nice to maintain their culture that differs from the rest of Canada but that it is not realistic as their economy is to weak… (There has been a referendum in 1995 where 49,42 % voted for their independence!) Another interesting discussion was their opinion about the French language. My friends from France told me that the language they speak here is no French. Now I know the other point of view to… The people in Quebec are proud of their dialect that uses still some words from the time of the French colonies in this area, thus the older and more original French. In some cases they use even less English words than the people in France (e.g. “Fin de la semaine” instead of “week-end” in France). And if they use English words, they don’t try to pronounce them in a French way ;-) Although surrounded by English speaking populations, most people on the countryside don’t speak any English.
I’ll finish with some pictures…
Yesterday, Nadine and me rent roller-skates and took advantage of the good weather (it’s still quite warm here). The guy in the rental agency gave us the advice to take the bikeway along the Canale de Lachine and buy some ice-cream at the Marché Atwater. The ice-cream was really great =) The day before, I played Squash (for the first time in my life) at the university sports center with an Austrian exchange student I met here. It was really fun…
I still didn’t tell you about my last weekend that I spent with my friend Marie-Claude I met in France 4 years ago. As most of my courses hadn’t started so far, I was free from Thursday till Monday (Labour Day). And I was lucky because she and her boyfriend were on vacation, too. By the way, when I saw in the academic calendar that there will be two holidays on Mondays (Labour Day and Thanksgiving), I thought we were really lucky that this year these holidays happen to be on Mondays what means long weekends. In fact, Labour Day is always the first Monday in September and Thanksgiving the second Monday in October ;-)
Okay, back to my weekend which was a very quebecois experience and not at all touristic. I had to listen to the special dialect all the time and learned lots of typical expressions. And I didn’t speak any German but only French what pushed me into the language again. But it was also really exhausting, in the evening, I was extremely tired although we relaxed the whole day and slept for 10 hours. I met some friends of Marie-Claude and her whole family because they were celebrating the birthday of her sister-in-law and also of her boyfriend which will be on the 18th of September. Strange thing, he already got presents and so on!
As her parents never left Canada, they were really curious how a German girl looks like ;-) I had to explain the whole history with eastern and western Germany and that the wall was only in Berlin and not through the whole country. They have their knowledge about Germany mostly from films and Marie-Claude said that she’s fed up with these films. She asked me if there are no films about simple love stories playing in Germany. Are there any apart from German productions that never reach the North American country??
We also talked about the separatist ambitions of the party Bloc Quebecois. Most people I talked to told me that an independent country of Quebec would be nice to maintain their culture that differs from the rest of Canada but that it is not realistic as their economy is to weak… (There has been a referendum in 1995 where 49,42 % voted for their independence!) Another interesting discussion was their opinion about the French language. My friends from France told me that the language they speak here is no French. Now I know the other point of view to… The people in Quebec are proud of their dialect that uses still some words from the time of the French colonies in this area, thus the older and more original French. In some cases they use even less English words than the people in France (e.g. “Fin de la semaine” instead of “week-end” in France). And if they use English words, they don’t try to pronounce them in a French way ;-) Although surrounded by English speaking populations, most people on the countryside don’t speak any English.
I’ll finish with some pictures…
This is supposed to be the place where you get the world's best soft ice.
Marie-Claude and me in Lévis. In the background, you can see Québec City again.
Marie-Claude's house in Rivière-du-Loup with view on the St Lawrence...
Rivière-du-Loup, a small town in the north of Québec situated on the riverside of the St Lawrence River
The beach of Rievière-du-Loup is the second most beautiful place on earth for watching the sunset (the most beautiful one is in Japan).
Picnic on the beach Monday morning before I returned to Montreal by a lift with allostop.
This weekend, I'm going to stay here in Montréal... Have a nice weekend!!
Kisses,
geli
"I had to explain the whole history with eastern and western Germany and that the wall was only in Berlin and not through the whole country."
ReplyDeleteThat one really made me lough - just imagine :D:D
And obviously you're still excited about... well, buying fruits. I'm sure that's a real canadian experience ;-)
Anyway, some really interesting insights this time, keep it up!
Best wishes and hugs from your favorite brother who (once again) posted the first comment
PS: you look... - weird on the picnic picture
and heck, why am I the only one posting comments?? What's wrong with you people?
ReplyDelete