Saturday, February 26, 2011

Carnaval


Every year, without a doubt, our French livres would have something on Carnaval. There would be pictures of the ice hotel and of ice sculptures, and who could forget, singing a song about Bonhomme (although I can't seem to remember the words or how it goes anymore). Well, this year, I got to live out what I once only saw in pictures (and I guess ''read'' about) in a textbook while sitting in a classroom on a rainy day in Vancouver. Joze came while Winter Carnival was going on, and so we went for an afternoon to see what all the fuss was about. We saw all the different activities that were going on, but there were lineups for everything so we didn't end up doing anything but walk around. We didn't even get to see Bonhomme. But, nonetheless, it was good to experience Winter Carnival at least once.


I also had the opportunity to share in French at my church on Feb. 6. It was nerve-wracking, but by God's grace, I was able to do it. I also had good support from some friends in Québec who came to hear me speak.

As this February has come and gone, I often think back to last year and what I was doing. I remember sitting in my chair, selling Olympic tickets and often encountering French speaking people whom I couldn't understand. I tried so hard to follow what they were saying but ended up having to ask
my Supervisor to come over and do all the talking. I'd wished that I could understand and have a conversation with them. I wonder now, if I could probably follow what they were saying and respond back. (I also wished that I could've spoken French back then because bilinguals were paid more :))

Well, time is quickly passing by here. I am halfway through my second semester and reading break is coming up in a couple of weeks. But before that can happen, I have to get through my midterms first. So off to more studying I go. À la prochaine!


Monday, January 24, 2011

New Beginnings

Happy New Year, Everyone!

So, I realize I'm really bad at updating my blog and a lot has happened since I last updated.

Here are just a few things that have happened since November:

1. Finished my first semester at Laval.

2. Went home for Christmas for 3 weeks.

3. Got engaged.

4. Came back to Québec and started my second semester of French.

5. Snow came and has not gone away. The temperature continues to drop (today with wind chills, it was at -41).

It was definitely great to be home with family and friends during the Christmas break! Our family has not celebrated Christmas together since 2002, so this past Christmas was especially memorable. It was a busy time, but it was great to just catch up with everyone and to eat all the Asian food I could. During the break, I also had the opportunity to share at two different churches about heading off to Guinea and about the WAVE program.

I will also have a chance to share at the church I attend here in Québec. If you want to hear me speak in French, you are more than welcome to fly on over and listen. It will be on February 6.

Joze and I got engaged on Christmas day. What does this mean? Right now, it looks like I won't be heading off to Guinea this year. We will stay in Canada for at least another year and we are looking to go to Guinea together the following year. We are still trying to figure things out, so if you could be in prayer with us about this, we would really appreciate it.


And now....to brave the cold some more.....