Thoughts on Week One

The gate to Vieux-Quebec

Things have been moving at an extremely fast pace since last post. Activities run by the program organizers cover most of the days' time, if you elect to attend all of them (many are obligatory), and activities either informally suggested by organizers or arranged by friends and/or solo missions take up most of my days' time, and there has hardly been a time to reflect on the ever-eventful reality that has been part of my being in Quebec City. To put things into perspective, I have to mention that the famous Quebec City's summer festival, Festival d'ete de Quebec is now underway, and will continue until July 18; the weather has been very hot throughout the past week, so very little time is spent in the dorm rooms, there is the yet-to-be-discovered-fully Old Quebec, which has earned three visits from me so far, and there is stuff going on on- and off-campus everyday.

Meeting new people has not stopped yet, and we are all at a stage when it is acceptable to ask for people's name again a few times more, as there are too many names to retain and remember. The diversity of the people attending the program keeps on expanding with the number of new people that I've met so far: every parts of Canada, North America, a few from South America and even Europe.

Now that I think back about the first few days of my stay in Quebec, I think they were of interesting perceptional fluctuations in terms of how I view(ed) French language and the people of Quebec in general. First, effective the first day of classes, we were forbidden from speaking English (or any other language besides French, by implication) anywhere on campus. This is part of the contract that is strictly enforced by our mentors, who are usually around campus every day. Then, there was this sense of being in a different place with a different language, and most likely different culture and values. When confronted by the situation in which French was the only language to be used, and the expectation that I accept that challenge had an interesting consequence.

In the beginning, there was this denial that French cannot be the only language that is used in the day-to-day lives of the people that I encountered. How is it possible, I asked myself, that most of the people that I meet can understand me in English? I now feel stupid for thinking so, but I generally found it hard to accept French language was the language of the place I was staying in. I questioned the possibility that TV shows (even the most popular sports channels) are broadcast in French, and that they are viewed here in French. In short, I found it hard to accept that French was solidly the language of communication amongst the peoples of this place. I understand this has a lot to do with my denial of my difficulties to face the pressure of having to communicate with a language that I am about to use for the first time in my life ever, but it also exposed my ignorance of the significance of identity and language. I now think, having come from an Eritrean background, I should have known better than just conjuring up an irrational thought that it was not possible for people to speak a different language than the one that I have been exposed to in my immediate surroundings. This denial died away as I started to become comfortable with my ways of communicating with people around here.

Paradoxically, there was another assumption that has been proven to be not so accurate: that Quebecois will either not understand English or will attempt not to use it when the visiting person doesn't speak French or is struggling with it. This has not been the case, as I observe so far. In fact, I at some point felt guilty of not practicing my French when a very nice woman at the gym had explained to me in English all I need to know about the facilities in the sports and activities complex. Most of the people I have encountered off-campus have been willing and able to explain stuff in English, even though that has me fearing that I may get spoiled and slow down the pace of my French learning.

A lot more to say about a lot more happenings and reality, but I have now to go to a Cirque du Soleil that I know very little about, but my friends know for sure is taking place tonight, and is a Quebec-thing.