I’ve been in Trois-Rivières for just over a week now and it seems like I have both just got here and have also been here forever! There is a never-ending list of tiring new activities to try out which is probably a good thing because I never really had a chance to have one of the “freak out moments” that are so common with exchanges like this. This next coming week we will hopefully be settling into more or less of a routine, which will also be nice.
We (Kristen and I) are lucky enough to room together in the better of the two residences with two other amazing girls! Our apartment is beautiful for student accommodations. We have one and a half baths, a living room, a kitchen, and each of us get a decent sized bedroom. The only thing that I do not like about my room is the bed (like first year, this bed feels like a rock). The first few nights were kind of rough but I am slowly getting used to it, plus they keep us so busy that usually by bedtime I am so exhausted that I could sleep on anything! This also means that I am going to appreciate my bed when I get back home so much more!
I didn’t realize that the program would be so strict with us about speaking only French. I know that I am here to learn French and that it’s an immersion program but it’s kind of ridiculous. The first day that we spent on campus at UQTR the “amimateurs” (French for counsellors... although we are not a camp, some of our night-time and weekend activities are run summer camp-style) threw all of the students a big party. We played get to know you games, danced, ate, and generally had fun. Up until this point we had been strongly encouraged to speak in French but it wasn’t the end of the world if we didn’t. Then, at the end of the party the animateurs distributed bracelets that identified us as students at the International French School and had some pro-French slogan on it. We were then all mandated to raise our right arms and take an oath in which we promised to communicate in only French for the next six weeks (oops!). No one took it seriously until they explained the system of consequences and rewards. If a leader notices that we are making an effort to speak French in any circumstance we are given a blue card which can be entered into draws for prizes. However if we are caught speaking English (or Spanish or Mandarin or German, really anything else) we can be given a red card. With the red card our student card is taken away until we meet with one of the superiors and do something embarrassing like sing a French song in front of other people. Also, if we get a total of five red cards we can be expelled from the program. Intense. We all thought that we would be safe if we left campus, but a friendly taxi driver told us that he had a big stack of red cards ready to be handed out to oblivious drunk students, not very nice! We have also been warned that all of the stores at the mall and nearby restaurants have both red and blue cards, so toujours en français! Consequences aside, all here is wonderful and fun as long as you speak French you are basically good to go!
