Bienvenue (Wecome) au Quebec!

Ah, finalement...a chance to utiliser l'internet!

I'm in my second full day of life in Quebec. I'm writing this from a new friend's laptop, at her host family's house. At my house, ma "mere" (mother) Fabienne is trying to remember the password for unlocking the wireless connection *sigh*. She said she'd call the company today to get the password, so perhaps I'll have access when I return home later...

Right now, I'm listening to two girls in the program practice a duet for two fiddles. It's very laid-back here; we go to French class in the morning, have lunch a midi (at noon), and participate in an activity in the afternoon. The evenings are usually free (today we were done before 16:00...4 PM...but instead of practicing, I'm taking advantage of the internet!

There is NO English here; it's very tiring to try try try all day long to understand and speak French, but it's worth it! Already I'm understanding more than I did when I arrived. Everyone is very patient and willing to rephrase things a million times to help us understand. Oh, and the music school is not in Chicoutimi as I thought; it's located in a beautiful place called Alma.

When I arrived, I met my host-mother Fabienne and another student staying with her. Elle s'appelle (her name is) Eva, and we have sooo much in common. It's almost scary! Here's just a little list:
-we both eat meat, but prefer vegetables and fruit
-we both love PB & banana sandwiches, and like sushi
-we both love hiking, running oustide, and swimming!
-we're both going into our 4th year of college (in Canada, they don't go by Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years, just first, second, third, and fourth).
-neither of us enjoy shopping much
-neither of us like the taste of beer
-both of us came here with a goal of renting a bike and riding around to explore

...there are more things we have in common, and I keep finding out more each day. We're a good match :)

As for the other students here...there are 23 students in the French and Music program. Out of those, 20 are female (yeah, just 3 guys), and everyone lives in Canada except me! It's interesting...I'm learning little things about their culture, and they learn about mine. Did you know that in Canada, students have to sing their national anthem every morning? They don't have a Pledge of Allegiance like we do, so I had some trouble explaining about that. They also don't have quite as much of an accent as we always imagine, but the hockey stereotype is SO true! Already, we had a discussion about hockey in my French class this morning. We also sang "O Canada" in French, which I found ironic ;)

Well...I don't want to be hogging my friend's computer all afternoon, so I think I'll end here. Au revoir!