Things

We're starting to get settled now with regular activities and so I've got a little more time to think about things.  Some things here are so similar and some so strikingly different (the weather).  Some are just plain wacky - like the bags of milk!

Service au volant/drive thru

I bet you've seen drive thru ATMs in American movies.  I'd always thought they were a classic example of laziness but I was so wrong!!  When you need cash to pay for Zumba at preschool and it's minus 20 degrees outside and you've got three kids in the back this is fantastic.

Note the ice stuck to the window...

L'eau/Water

Growing up in a place where water is so precious you don't waste it so we were shocked to receive a letter from the local water authority asking us to turn on a tap in the basement and not turn it off until further notice!!?!  Apparently it's to stop the water pipes from freezing in the extreme weather.  We've had this tap running for over 10 days now and it feels so wrong!  Whenever the kids go into the laundry they ask why we are wasting water.  I guess a lack of water isn't a problem in a place where the electricity is supplied by Hydro Quebec...


Sec/dry

You may think that everything would be wet and soggy in a place covered in snow but inside it's the opposite.  The central heating, wind and extreme temperatures play havoc with your skin.  My face and hands are so dry they've turned scaly.  I'm planning a trip to Sephora this weekend to see if I can find a miracle cream!  (Excited about going to Sephora - alone!!)

The heating has also dried all the curl/wave out of my and Little Miss D's hair.  Gone, vanished...  I wonder if it'll return in the summer when it's a bit humid?

Les magasins/shopping

Unregulated shopping hours are fantastic!  Around here most shops are open until 9pm and some supermarkets are open until 10pm!  Plus everything is open on Sundays and banks are even open on Saturdays and 'til 8pm some nights.  This is all great for our family as I can quickly nip out after the kids have gone to bed to get supplies without the rigmarole of getting everyone dressed in outerwear.  Not sure if it's too good for Canadian family life though...

Bonjour/hi

Where we live English is by far the dominant language and many people don't actually speak French.  However there are still the Quebec rules on language and so wherever you go you'll be greeted with "Bonjour/hi" and then you choose which language you'll use.  It's funny to watch other people swap between English and French in the same conversation, even sentence without blinking.  Even mothers speaking to their children with mix French and English in the same sentence.  For someone who studied languages for so long this is interesting stuff.  Because of where we live I don't get to use French a lot and I've only been downtown once so I'm not sure how it works down there.  Fanta Pants is surrounded by French speakers at work and while he needs to pick some French for himself it hasn't been a massive problem so far.  The Quebecois accent is a whole other story...

When it's on paper, everything is written twice - once in each language.  It's handy for Fanta Pants to help increase his vocabulary!  All documents - government pamphlets, council rubbish notices etc are all written twice.

xx