The Contract

As soon as we arrived at the university this morning (having been picked up from our host families by our trusty - although usually late - minibus drivers), we (nearly 200 of us) were hearded into the auditorium where we were given a sheet of paper to sign. A vow of silence. At least thats what it felt like as I took a deep breath, accepted the pen that the girl next to me offered, and signed my life away. Okay, not quite, just my priviledge to speak the wonderful language of English. From now on, till the end of the program in five weeks time, I may only speak en Francais. If I get caught speaking English, I get a warning and have to go to some ladys office. If I get caught a second time speaking English, I get a second warning and have to meet with several important people. If I get a third warning, theyre sending me home. No joke.

Gone are the relaxed mealtime conversations. Gone are the interesting conversations with young people from all over Canada (like the guy I met yesterday who said his girlfriend is from Czech, which prompted me to ask how he met her, which led him to tell me that he had studied in Germany and, in the course of the conversation, it turned out that his girlfriend is moving to Wurzburg, where I lived for a time - how cool is that! But no, no more of that.) You see: Je parle tres peu du francais. For those of you like me, a translation: I speak very little french.

So ya, I didnt think Id make it through the day, but its amazing how facial expressions, gestures, pictionary skills, my english-french dictionary, and simple drama all contribute to communication. It also takes plenty of concentration, willingness to make a fool of yourself (such as lumbering like a bear on all fours across the classroom floor to help your class understand what an ours is - yes, that was me today), people who are patient with you (my professor is amazing!), and the decision to accept that I will not understand everything that is said or is going on. By lunchtime, I was absolutely exhausted. I decided to walk home this afternoon instead of getting on the minibus - that seemed to refresh me.

I really ought to go memorize some french vocab, but I need to tell you about two exciting things that happened to me today. First, I met a guy from Trinity! Yeah whatever, you might be thinking, you see guys at Trinity all the time... But when youre on the other side of Canada and everyone you meet is from a secular university far from your own (and most arent anywhere near BC), than its pretty exciting. Its Victor - some of you might know him. He went to Lithuania last year (not at the same time as me) so I recognized him because I once talked with him about it. Apparently, theres another Trinity girl here - who I recognize as a Trinity face - but I havent met her.

Second piece of exciting news: Im going to Nova Scotia and PEI! After my program is done here, my friend AmyLou (yup, the one who I was in the Chilcotin with) and I are going camping in the Maritimes for a week. I just booked a flight home from Charlottetown, instead of Quebec. Seeing the Maritimes has been one of my lifes dreams so Im pretty stoked. I will be fly back to Vancouver on June 22.