Monday, October 22, 2007

No, I am not from Quebec...

The mystery of our nationality often leads to an intriguing conversation. We are frequently asked where we are from, because we are clearly not French. Most people are smart enough to recognize that we are not from the United States or the UK. On several occasions, Gilles has been asked if he is from Argentina. But no one has ever guessed that we are Canadian. I suppose that just goes to show how small Canada is on a global scale (I obviously don’t mean land mass here). But as soon as we say we are Canadian, it all makes sense to the inquirer. “Yes, of course you are Canadian!” Then, we are inevitably asked “from Quebec?”. This question is usually asked with a hopeful tone. Why, I am not sure, because I think they expect the answer to be yes. Certainly not because our French is that good, but I actually don’t think they really know of any other place in Canada. Toronto maybe, but the mention of Calgary, Alberta, New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia is always followed by a glassy-eyed look.

While I am on the topic of Quebec, I’ll mention a few other interesting observations we have made. The French in Canada have fought unfailingly, and perhaps unmercilessly at times, to protect their language. Being from a bilingual province, I am accustomed to seeing stop signs depicting both: stop and arret. Here, the sign says STOP only. When you get a ticket for the highway or for parking, it’s known as a ticket, not billet. And email is called email or mail, not the Quebec-invented word of couriel. Yes, very interesting…

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