Once upon a time, I was naïve. I believed in the false rumour: If you lived in a place, you would gain fluency in a language. Without language barrier before in my life, I jumped at the opportunity. I moved to Alma, a small town in Québec, which is a French region in Canada in [...]
Category: Quebec
I started my teaching English and learning French career in Quebec, Canada. After graduating university in 2012, I went to study French for the first time in Montreal for 5 weeks , followed by living 10 months in Alma, where I taught English. Living in a small town was tough, and it was here where I learned to survive the cold winter, isolation and becoming independent. “Fake it til I make it.”
Lessons from Quebec
I was recently asked by Odyssey, which is the Canadian work exchange program I did last year to write an article about my experience for the newsletter. So this is what I whipped up: Last year in September 2012, I embarked on a crazy adventure to live and work in Alma, Quebec. This is a [...]
Goodbye Alma!
This is it - I've finally made it to the final week in Alma. I'm saying my farewell to this city and this province, once and for all. These last 20 days has been quite a different experience compared to my last 9 months living here and I've changed my lifestyle completely - for better [...]
Behind the Scenes: The Survival
As I'm near the end with only a week left from today, it's hard to wrap my head that I've finally survived the nine months here. Everything about this city and my experience has all changed rapidly and time after time, I had to relearn and re-adapt. Things have changed so much and it has [...]
The Final Stretch: Three Weeks Countdown
Last Saturday, my roommates whom I had known and lived with for the last 9 months, moved out. They left Alma and went to their next adventure. The thing about exchanges is that everyone is from a different place, and as interesting as it is when you meet them, it is so difficult when you separate. [...]
