interview with foreign student

This year, I had the opportunity to meet and become friends with a foreign student. His name is Dimitri and he comes from Guadeloupe. He lived in the canton Vieux-Habitants, and he had a lot to tell about his home country. 

We first talked about his adaptation in our country. Of course, he said he had a bit of difficulty with our climate, because in Guadeloupe the average temperature is between 19 to 31 degrees. As a matter of fact, he had to buy some clothes and appropriate equipments for our province.

I questioned him about his education as the second subject of the interview. He told me that he went to a primary school and a college like the French education system, but decided not to pursue his studies there because he was interested in moving in another country. The percentage of scholarship is actually acceptable but it is actually lower than here in North America. He had the ambition to come here for Cegep then university, and he is properly following the path to go there. 

I also wanted to know more about the hobbies and activities he liked to do in Guadeloupe. He said that football and basketball were pretty famous in town and that he also liked to do some skateboard with his friends. He had plenty of time while not at school because most of the time, parents in Guadeloupe let their children alone and free to do what they want because they don’t always have much time to allow them. It is an element of Dimitri’s personality: he is independent and resourceful, and he doesn’t really like to stay many hours somewhere without doing anything. It helped him become an energetic guy who likes to spend time in sports. 

He speaks French as his mother tongue, but also “créole guadeloupien” which he really likes to use when he sings; it brings musicality to an “acapella” song. It is pretty hard to understand, even when you get used to it, he brings out new expressions and words that I didn’t know. But as I said above, French is the official language in Guadeloupe, 99% of the citizens speaking it perfectly, as most of the natives there speak “creole” perfectly too. 

It seems that Dimitri doesn’t really “trust in god”, however he loves to use proverbs and saying from the Bible when he wants to correct someone in his thoughts. It is interesting to see that even if he doesn’t practice religion, he is a virtuous guy from who I learned a lot. His company is always pleasant and funny, and I think it comes from his origins, I mean his life path. Sometimes, it’s harder for some, and it shows through his attitude toward problems, relations with others, work, etc. 

Finally, I didn’t have much time to meet him and do an interview about him, but I know him since my first year here, so it wasn’t a problem to go and see him home last week on evening to discuss and get information for this post. I’m glad to present it to you; maybe it’ll attract any of you and get you to do a trip there to see how it’s like. It is actually one of my projects; after university I’d like to go there and visit him.

Speak quebecois, an art! :)

Hello everybody! Tonight, I'm glad to share with you my thoughts about the conference we attended last week! Mr. Mario Belanger, the speaker, came in the class to present his piece of work about the french expressions that we use here in Quebec when we talk with each others. I will begin by resuming his presentation, and then I'll just let you know what I liked about it! 

Mr. Belanger introduced himself at the beginning, explaining his studies, his work in UQAR and his experience in this beautiful language used by the "Quebecois"! He began by explaining the reasons why he was doing this: his love for French, his love for teaching, and the fact that he could help foreigner students to understand us when we speak French... He prepared a PowerPoint document to show us a lot of verbs, adverbs or nouns that we use in different ways or manners than our cousins in France. I learned that there are a lot of similar words that have two totally different meanings from Europe to Quebec. He also integrated in his presentation the differences of pronunciation that can be eared between a French guy and a Quebecois, like the stress at the end of the words or the way to say them. Finally, he found useful to inform his audience about the slang and swearwords, and still how we use them here in Quebec compared to other French speakers. 

I am totally satisfied of what I just eared and saw in this presentation because Mr. Belanger knows exactly what he’s talking about. He’s clear and interesting, and he loves what he does. He presented us the book he wrote about this topic, its name being “Petit guide du parler québécois” (2004, 2011) which is a complete and detailed work I’d like to read this summer! Mr. Belanger actually sells those books for only $15, so don’t miss your chance and go get one!

student strike

Hi everybody, welcome back to classes! I expect you enjoyed this time to rest and get ready for the last rush before graduating, because I did! As you all know, my post today is about the student strike we lived in the last few weeks. There are different issues and opinions about this subject; I will express what I personally feel about it!

The actual problem we live is that Jean Charest's government wants to increase tuition fees for university in the way that we should pay $325 more per term, for 5 years... This totalizes an additional $1625 to pay to go to university. It involves some problems for many students, because much of them can't afford paying that additional amount.

We got a problem here: many students who live on loans and scholarships won't be able to pay for their education! "We will adjust the amounts of loans and scholarships for the poorest students to be able to pay", they said... But they said that a long time ago and there are still inequalities. Some of them don't get enough help and it's not a new reality. The other students who don't get financial help should work more to earn at least a total salary of $10,000 (in average) per year to afford the tuition fees increasing.

I personally have some difficulties to manage to make ends meet... I know what it's like to eat cheap food or to wait until the next pay to buy something I really need... When you live this situation, you sometimes feel stressed and I totally dislike it, though I'm partly victim of it. I can easily imagine that other students like me feel the same and are ashamed of the lack of reaction from our government. The government is an institution that exists for the people, the people should not live for the government. I can't figure out why there is no changes in the way money is injected and used in our universities. There are CLEARLY abusive uses of that money, I mean OUR money! It is essential to pay expensives tuition fees to get great teachers, advanced research materials or labs, to developp expertise... but we shouldn'd pay for the vacations of the universities' directors! Many initiatives must be put in place to correct the problem, and I know it's not gonna be easy, but we got to fight for our rights!

I would like to add that going on a strike is effective, but only if you do it entirely without losing heart at the wrong moment. This is partly what happened here in Rimouski, and I find it deplorable... I also think that stopping all classes until we get a deal from the governement is a great idea, even if it means sacrifying our summer jobs or a couple additional months on the class benches...

I expect my post don't target anybody in the class (except for me!)   :)
Have a nice day dear companions!

Christmas vacations!

Hi everybody! What have you planned for your Christmas vacations? Personally, I planned many things that I wanted to share with you. First of all, I will go to Riviere-du-Loup and pass a week at my mom’s house. She will certainly bring me to do some shopping and to spoil me with gifts and delicious desserts. It will be pretty cool to see my family and enjoy their company as I will tell them about me and my time in Rimouski. They will certainly ask about my program, my apartment and what I do in my free times. I cannot wait to see my cousins again and, for some of them, their newborn babies. It’s always nice to see how fast the children grow up and what they have to show you (because they are proud to show their little tricks or abilities to everybody!). I will certainly go to do some snowboard too. I and my brothers will be reunited; it’s going to be fun to ride with them in Mont St-Mathieu and maybe Mont St-Anne in Quebec if we find the time to. I have some friends who use to ride too, so I will invite them to come with us. It’ll be great to go have a beer with them around a pizza in a restaurant or in a quiet bar to talk and get news from them. It’s been a long time I’ve seen much of them so I’m sure to get some interesting news. This makes me think about Marc-Antoine, who have a snowmobile and used to ride with me last winter. We had some great time visiting the Lac Pohenegamook and its outside activities and installations when we did snowmobile last January, and it is always fun to go to different places year after year. We plan to start from Riviere-du-Loup and come to Rimouski, then going back by St-Narcisse, Biencourt and Cabano. I don’t know exactly how much time we will spend in this trip, but I know it will be an investment because I love to ride my snowmobile, it is an outside activity and I will be with my best friend. Inviting one or two more of them could be nice too; the more we are, the funnier it is! It will be interesting to share this passion with those who never took place on a snowmobile. When I go on trips like those, I always propose to stop somewhere to have a great lunch and enjoy a break before going back home. These experiences will become great memories that I will be able to share with you this winter.That approximately what I will be doing in vacations; I hope you will enjoy yours and I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

snowboard season

Hi everybody! I write to you today because I feel like snow is coming soon... and it makes me think of snowboard! I am so happy when I see that winter season is setting up! I need to prepare my stuff, like my board, my boots and my clothes. First of all, I have to get my board waxed at the beginning of each winter. I go to Alternative or Sport Expert when I do it. I also ask them to check if the board is correctly sharpened. I don’t need to have it sharpened each year; one shot is enough for two or even three years. Then, I verify each screws and nuts on the bindings of the board. It is important to check them many times during the season because I don’t want to break them in the middle of the day, during a descent. It would be bad to get back home and buy the stuff to repair them instead of being in the mountains and having fun... I also check my boots to see if the sole is torn or if the bindings are worn out. I spray “protector” stuff on the boots for them to keep their colors even if they are in contact with snow and some possible dirt in the woods and to avoid water passing through the material of the boots. Then, I wash my coat every winter because it is so nice and colourful that I want it to be clean and attractive. When you fall in the mountains or when you sit to wait for some friends, your clothes are always getting dirt after the whole season. That’s why it is important to get it cleaned. My pants are getting cleaned too, but they are black so it doesn’t really appear like dirty. Finally, there’s the physical preparation I need to do; I need to stretch my legs and shoulders muscles to be in a great shape and perform. It is useful to train a lot during fall season to be ready to descend without getting tired or unable to continue for physical matters. Here in Rimouski, it’s not so important but when you go in a big mountain (descending during ten to fifteen minutes), it matters to be in great physical condition. Every season is a great fun for me because I’m always well prepared so I enjoy my rides properly and completely! Have a nice winter everybody!

Wake up

I am totally agreeing with people who go down the streets to fight for our rights because it is an undeniable fact: we are being eaten by those “corporations” and “governments” who were supposed to be there to help us in the first place. Corporations were supposed to provide us goods to live comfortably and governments were supposed to manage our taxes and put it into health care and education. What’s really happening? Corporations are swallowing us in their over-consumption mental program and governments are stealing our money to have parties and first-class seats in their trips “to conclude friendships and business relations”. They are taking LARGE advantages of their jobs and it went too far to me! Those people who dared “Occupy” the streets are alarmed of these problems and are trying to make us understand this sick society. Because she is sick! We shouldn’t be arguing about how much to pay for tuition fees, for health care or for whatever we need to live happily and comfortably. We’ve paid for such services since forever; why don’t we have a sufficient amount of money to set the problem? It is because some 5-10% of the people are living with 95% of the money and financial resources. We always fought for our rights, at least since The Universal Declaration for Human Right was written... Now that we entered the 21^st century, it seems like everything is changing, changing so fast that we are missing the bus… We’re so busy in our 40/week, traffic jam and ecological problems that we don’t pay attention to what these guys are doing, and of course they won’t warn us to do so. So would you please wake up from your bad dreams and get your responsibilities done, responsibilities like understanding the political and economical world we’re living in, responsibilities like preparing a nice and “liv-able” future for the next generations because right now we’re just going off the trail. We’re actually on highway to hell because we think for ourselves only. I think that occupying the streets to express our rights and wishes for a better world is a great way to start a great movement for human rights and for a better society.

Halloween just passed, Movember started, cold is slowly setting... and Christmas is coming soon! This means that Canadian Tire is preparing for a big consumption rush. A lot of people already came to buy there decorations, furnitures and gifts, but a lot of them, obviously, will wait until the last few days to come and get there stuff. It means that once again my department will be full of happy, hurried, tired, excited or bored people. It means everyone's gonna pull me here or there to get what they want because they all wanna be served RIGHT NOW! I write these few lines to express what I suggest you to do for your Christmas time to be perfect. Come and see us for your gifts and products right now (don't wait until the end of the month just come right now) and you'll be sure to get what you want, or to order it and to be the first to get it from the warehouses. I strongly suggest that you come now because you'll have enough space in the store to think (on Christmas time, it is so FULL OF PEOPLE that you don't know where to start your shopping and you waste time). I can also tell you that by this time of the year, you'll wait maybe 15 minutes and the cashdeck instead of 30 minutes (or more) by Christmas time... And God knows you need time! Time to install decorations, to wrap gifts, to make some great food for your family and to shovel snow from your property! But what is the most important through all that is: HAVE FUN! Don't get stressed by this multi-tasks time, you'll forget what Christmas time means! Finally, offer your family a warm and colorful living room for you all to celebrate the next Christ's birthday!