During the summer of 2024 we moved to Quebec for the school year. It’s beautiful and interesting, different and yet the same.
Different: French!
Different: Super C, a grocery store I’d never seen before.
Same: People are nice everywhere.
Same: Daily life. People working, making dinner, walking around the block, playing in the park.
Different: High school starts in grade 7! It’s a nine-day rotation! An app on my phone notifies me as grades are posted. There are three terms. It’s November and I have yet to meet more than one teacher.
Different: More potholes on the road. I thought people were flashing their headlights at my car to indicate that my headlights were not on. It turns out that they are just riding the bumps.
Same, mostly: Recycling
Different: Daily language learning. Online commercials are automatically in French. Emails from the school are in French. People chatting to each other around me. Regularly, a worker or passerby speaks to me in French. It’s a long road but I’m getting better everyday!