The program has begun. On Sunday I made my way to the Université de Québec à Chicoutimi. The people who worked there didn`t speak English with me, although they might have said a word or two when I couldn`t understand them. I spent the afternoon and evening at the home of the family that I`ll be living with. The only person who was there at the time didn`t speak English, so that was a good chance to practice my French. Later my roommate arrived. He`s from Vancouver, living in Montreal, and doing the same program as me. His name is Joey. Since we hadn`t signed the form saying we`ll only speak French, we spoke English. Later, the rest of the family arrived. They seem to know a bit of English, but they don`t speak English around us.
On Monday we were back at the university where we had our placement tests. I found the oral interview much easier than the written test. I don`t think I was ever totally sure of any of the answers on the written test. We also had a tour of Chicoutimi that afternoon. It has about as many people as Fort McMurray, but in some ways it seems like a bigger city. It`s probably just more established, whereas in Fort McMurray, they have to play catch-up with the infrastructure.
Today we had our first classes. I got put in a level 5 class (6 being the lowest level and 1 being highest), which is pretty much what I was hoping for. Today we also signed our forms saying we`ll only speak French, so there`s no turning back now. (I think I can still write email, write for this blog, and make long distance phone calls in English though.) I`m speaking French better than I ever have before, but I`m still not very good. This will be a challenge. I mentioned something about Jesus today that probably sounded really clichéd, so I don`t think I`ll be having any deep or complicated conversations for a while, not that I won`t try.
Seems like a great group of people here, but communication is harder than usual. I think I`ll enjoy it, but if you pray, please remember to pray for me.
Please leave comments in this blog. It would be great to hear a little something from all of you. (If the comment feature doesn`t work, send me an email so I can fix it. If you don`t have my email address, just leave it until someone else tells me it`s not working.) Anyway, I`m off to get a used bike.
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3 comments:
Hey Alex, I know what you mean about the comments, but rest assured at least I've been reading. Anyway, it's good to hear what you've been up since eMi. Check out my page if you ever want to see what I'm up to. Good luck with the French, it'd be a good thing to know for the job opportunities alone!
Contratulations Paul. You left the first ever comment in this blog! You win one million Alex-points! (Not redeemable for alcohol, tobacco, or lottery products.) Now everyone else should follow Paul`s example and leave messages. Sarcastic remarks are most welcome.
That's unfair!!! But you never told me about your blog till today! Do I earn 900,000 Alex points?
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