Quebec

Friday 31st August 2001

Arrived in Montreal late Tuesday night absolutely knackered as body believed it was 5 in the morning. The stupid plane (or should I say bus with wings) was delayed by 2 hours from Newark, and just as we were getting close to departing, two customs officials boarded the plane and insisted on matching up every piece of luggage with each individual passenger. So we finally rattled up into the skies above a sparkling New York City at around 10pm, half an hour after our intended time of arrival in Montreal. Jet-lag was not helped by the fact that the cabin crew had been chucking food, drink and complimentary airline peanuts at us from every direction all day without any consideration of regular meal times. Nor by the bloke sitting across the aisle from me watching a very noisy DVD on his laptop (no doubt interfering with all the aeroplane naviagation equipment). Nor by the ridiculously long time it took to clear immigration in Montreal. But most of all by the fact that however excited I was by the prospect of spending nine months in Quebec, I was also confused, scared and missing Ed. Still, it was my decision, and it's something I have to do, so no more complaining about this. Well, not for a couple more pages anyway... Got the shuttlebus to the hotel and ran into Sarah and Jenny in the foyer, with whom it turned out I was sharing a room. We found the fourth girl, Meghan, asleep in bed. Had to go to sleep myself straight away. And thus ended the first day.

Managed to miss a rather delicious looking breakfast the next morning by about 10 minutes, which was somewhat irritating to say the least, but met lots of other language assistants, which was nice, all of whom were tucking into the rather delicious looking breakfast, which was not. We waited for them to finish and then headed off to downtown Montreal on the metro. Managed to accomplish first piece of crime by failing to work out how to operate ticket barriers and neglecting to pay. Didn't get much sightseeing done, but we did find a Gap and spent much time shrieking over the favourable comparison between Canadian and UK prices. Bought a "much-needed" turquoise hooded top for $50, but then realised that shopping instincts must be at least partially curbed as all these lovely lovely bargains do have the disadvantage of a heft addition of tax (15%!). As we were due back at the hotel for an "introductory meeting" we only had time for a quick drink and stroll down the street, pausing to pose for photos outside "le Body Shop."

Back at the hotel all the reps introduced themselves briefly and then all the British, Irish and German assistants went out for a meal at the diner next door. Portions were huge (of course) and cheap, and we washed them down with a few drinks from the hotel bar, even though it did ressemble a sleazy nightclub and had a moody moose for a bar maid.

Thursday was a long day, but luckily we at least managed breakfast before a day of meetings with various co-ordinators, British Council workers, reps etc. Managed to escape the fierce air-conditioning for half an hour of sun by the pool, which cheered me up no end and made me look forward to a year of snow, moose and northern lights. It still feels so unreal at the moment. Sometimes I feel excited and other times absolutely terrified. Most of the time it's a mixture of both. I'm scared that I might not make friends, be able to teach, speak French, be likeable.

I've been on a coach since 1.30pm today - it's now 6 and we've only just dropped a load of people off in Quebec City - now we're heading east to the Gaspe region. It's raining and gloomy, I haven't phoned my responsable and I'm just plain scared. I wish I could cuddle Ed. This is going to be so hard, but I hope good - at the moment I just don't know.

Sunday 2nd September 2001

My responsable, Louise, is really nice and also happens to speak perfect English. Which is a good thing as the French spoken here might as well be Japanese for the amount I can actually understand. Louise took me on a Grand Tour of Matane yesterday morning comprising visit to the CEGEP, local shopping centre, supermarket and THE coffee shop. At the moment the plan is I move to residences in the CEGEP on Tuesday. I'm a bit disappointed as I did really want something a bit more than student accommodation, but it is cheap and a good way to meet people speaking incomprehensible languages. Even though I had initially thought that I didn't want to live alone, I think that after a month I may look for an appartment by myself. But living in the college for a month will at least mean that I stand some chance of making friends.

Yesterday I watched Fantasia 2000 with Rose, Louise's 5-year daughter, the only person I actually feel confident enough to speak to. I sat there like a complete imbecile, going "Regarde! Une baleine!" while Rose looked at me like she thought I might not be entirely right in the head. Louise's friend came over for dinner in the evening and I sat there for 5 hours not understanding or saying a word. Feel like I'm in shock at the moment - all I want to do is leave...