Bonsoir, readers. It’s been a little while since the last post, but I’m back with some updates!
School has started up here and I’m already into the new semester. Chinese class has been my favorite so far: lots of active participation and an enthusiastic professor. The other classes… well, I wouldn’t say that they’re bad, but they’re not exactly what I was expecting. Unlike RIC, all class sizes here are large (I don’t have any massive lecture hall courses, but there are close to 30 students in each class). Teaching is also very different here… professors tend not to have notes and a lot of learning is done through reading outside of the classroom. The classes here only meet once per week (with the exception of my intensive Chinese course) for 3 hours. I personally prefer the methods used at RIC, but I’m adapting to it here, albeit quite slowly. The language barrier isn’t terrribly big in the classroom because the professors use the academic language that I’m comfortable with. That being said, at least in my Québécois studies courses, I’m at a disadvantage compared to the other students because they all have a solid base in philosophy and Canadian history. I’m going to stay optimistic though!
Apart from school, I’ve gotten to see more of the city, especially the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood and some of Downtown. Côte-des-Neiges is a must go for diverse cuisines at good prices: Québécois, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Turkish restaurants are all within walking distance of the metro station. I haven’t had the chance to go yet, but there is also an open-air market selling a variety of goods.
A friend of mine from here took me to the Downtown area two weeks back and I have a few pictures to share from the evening. The port on the Saint Lawrence is especially beautiful at night.
More updates to come soon! À la prochaine !
Anthony à Montréal 