Remembrance Day (Jour du Souvenir) at the National Assembly near the Citadel
The last few weeks have been filled with all kinds of "bouleversements" like we say in French; loosely translated, the term refers to the way laundry gets thrown around in the dryer. :) I have had a sort of epiphany lately about how I have been going about my life here in Québec. After weeks of feeling very lost in my homework, thesis preparation and life plans, I think I've started to shift gears a little (since the way I was going about things really wasn't working for me at all). To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, applying to grad school last fall. And grad school in a second language, to boot. Not that it has been a bad choice; on the contrary - I think it will pay off nicely in the end. But frankly, back in Vancouver, I had no idea things would be this complicated. I find myself spending twice as much time correcting the French grammar in my assignments as I do actually putting all the content together. I think that in my desire to really perfect my French while here at Laval, I forgot that I was here to study Political Science and prepare for my future career. Sounds funny, but those who know me well know I have a one-track mind - no chewing gum and walking for me, thanks. ha. Now that I realize what I've been doing, I think I will better be able to focus on my work and worry about the language afterwards.
Speaking of language, I have two new jobs! They only total about 3 hours of work a week, but it's a start anyway. My main position is teaching English to public servants at Revenue Canada. I know I promised myself that I never needed to teach ESL again (after all, getting away from ESL is why I am back in school for these 4 extra years), but desperate times call for desperate measures. ha. Anyway, my class is made up of ten 30-50year-old Quebeckers who are already quite advanced. Because they work for the Federal government, their work pays for their language training, so once a week for two hours, they get to hang out with me. :) In Vancouver, I worked almost exclusively with Korean students, so I catered my first lesson to a Korean audience (as in, I do most of the speaking, etc.). Well, before I even opened my mouth to begin my very first lesson, the fire alarm rang, and the whole building needed to be evacuated. About 20 minutes later, when we were all back in the class (and I gathered my wits about me), I started to talk when one of them interrupted me and said, "So, I guess we will all introduce ourselves to you ... " And there began a 45 minute session of them telling me all about themselves. One lady even shared the details of her love life with the whole class (and I mean details you would only hear in a French classroom - no kidding). I sat back in my 'teacher-chair' and thought, "I'm not in Korea anymore." Well, I went home, overhauled my whole plan, and since then, things have been going so well. They are such an amazing class. Who knew teaching adults could be so fun and rewarding? They are so responsive and interested in learning the language. They aren't afraid to make mistakes, and they love to talk (which works for me, because I would rather not). They have given me a lot of positive feedback, and it is quickly becoming the highlight of my week. Even the security guards I need to check in with in the lobby try to practice their basic English with me. It sure shatters the stereotype of the anti-anglo Quebecker that we hear about so often on the news. Can't believe everything you hear, I guess.
My other job is a little less glamourous, but it is something I enjoy anyway - proofreading and translating for one of my professors. I've only been given about 3 projects so far, but hopefully, things will pick up so my financial worries will lessen.
Another dry aspect of 'shopkeeping' that has added to my feeling more optomistic about school is that I have completely thrown out my former thesis topic and have decided instead to study what really interests me: questions of National Security. My former topic ("The Socio-Economic Impact of the Diamond Mining Industry on Northern Canadian Natives and the Inuit") - though interesting - kind of led me to a dead end. There wasn't enough research done to support an 8 month project, so I needed to let it go. As soon as I decided on the new topic, a series of Federal Government recruitment seminars and conferences came up all within the same week related to my new topic. This gave me hope for life and work after school is over, and it's inspiring me to regroup and try to 're-tackle' the way I have been going about things. I feel a lot more confident about where I am headed, and hopefully, this is also where God would have me go.
Well, I better get to bed. v x ua ... Uh, those last letters were typed into my computer from a stack of textbooks that spontaneously decided to jump off my top shelf and land directly on top on my computer. Scared the daylights outta me. Now I can't stop laughing. Oh, that's so embarrassing when you're alone. ha. Well, OH! I forgot - I have to tell you a funny story ...
The other day, I was at a friend's house for a girls' pizza party/movie nite. We were all (10 of us) seated at the table eating pizza and salad, and there was also a bowl of croutons beside the salad. When the hostess had finished most of her pizza, she said (to everyone in general, but us out-of-towners in particular), "In Québec, we do something a little strange. We put margarine on our 'croutes' (that was the French word she used)." I thought about what she said, and wondered, "'Croutes'? What are 'croutes'? ... Maybe that is how they say 'Croutons' in French ... but I thought 'Croutons' were French ... Well, I should never assume anything ... " She went on for a while about it, then walked to the fridge to get the margarine. When she came back to the table, I was still really confused, so I asked (loud enough so everyone could hear, of course), "But how do you put the margarine on the croutons?" She looked at me blankly, paused, then said, "What?" "You know, they're so small ... " Then she burst out laughing, saying, "No, not 'croutons' - I meant pizza 'crusts'!" Then she thought a little more about my thought process and couldn't stop laughing at the image of me trying to spread butter on every little crouton. Trying to save my dignity, I responded, "Well, THAT's how we eat our croutons in Vancouver ... " To which she replied, "Yeah, right!" Sigh. Fun was had by all.
Anyway, gotta get to bed. Talk to you soon - God bless.
KNL
