First day in Québec

In my home-stay breakfast is served around 7am everyday. For the first day I ate some crepes with Nutella, some fruit, and some water. Every morning I have to keep an eye on the time because the bus which takes us to university only comes every hour. I'm really glad the other 3 girls and I left together because I wouldn't know which bus to take or where to go once I arrived at the school.

Laval campus- Pavillon Louis-Jacques-Casault

The campus is really pretty with many trees and I liked this medieval castle-like building above. We went to Charles-de Koninck which is the building that most of the foreign exchange program happenings occur to take an oral placement test, get our schedules, and choose optional courses. It's easy to get help if you're confused or lost because there are people called "animateurs/animatrices" who wear red Laval shirts and are basically the guides for all of the foreign students. They really are animated too. There are over 500 people attending the Laval program this summer, either as "Explore" students (the Canadian government pays for students in other provinces to attend the summer program) or students not from Canada, like me.

Le fleuve Saint-Laurent (St. Lawrence River)

The director of the program was funny in the mandatory session. She encouraged us to grasp the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in this francophone environment and really improve your French. She told us we would be receiving bracelets which are color-coded depending on your level of French which we are required to wear. The elementary or intermediate levels are encouraged to speak French as much as possible (Franglais is allowed) but if the animateurs or professors catch someone in the advanced or superior level speaking English there will be "consequences" (this was stated very ominously).

Orientation was overwhelming because there was so much to do in one day but it was really cool because I met so many friendly people who were there to learn French. Most of them were Canadian but I also met some people from Japan, Russia, and other countries. Later that day on the way home my host-mom took me to see the river which is only a five minute drive from her house, as shown above.