Bonjour!
Alright, so I’m close to finishing my third month in France and throughout my time here and I thought I’d tell everyone about two of the most common questions I am asked when people find out I’m from Canada.
Question #1: So this question comes directly after someone asks either where I’m from or what’s my nationality and they have realized that I can’t speak French fluently and I have an accent. There has been many variations of it but it’s generally along these terms…
“Oh Canada? Um… so you don’t live in Quebec? Is that the only place they speak French?”
I usually response with something like “Nope, I don’t live near Quebec and it’s the only province that is entirely French.” From here I get some questions like “what’s a province?” or “is Quebec it’s own country?” I then use an air map of Canada to explain where Saskatchewan is, I point out Quebec in the air and British Columbia in the air and then I explain, Saskatchewan is in the middle. Only one person, a boy from Colombia, said he knew where Saskatchewan was. I was impressed.
Question #2: “Oh so it’s cold where you live?”
I find this question funny because 99% of the people who ask me this question have not experienced cold weather. For example, people in France bundle up when it’s 10 above 0, and I’m walking around in a t-shirt. It’s especially funny for me to talk with the Australian girl who’s in my class about weather. One time it was a little chilly she came up to me and was like “What do you think the temperature is right now? Is it below zero?” It was probably about 15 degrees so I told her that. She could not believe it, she thought for sure it had to be close to zero. Poor girl would not survive in Saskatchewan. I usually tell people that it gets to minus 30, sometimes minus 40 in the Winter. One time a guy from Chile (Pablo) said, “Oh so if it’s minus 30 you must not leave your house then?” I then explained to him that we do have to leave our houses and keep living if it’s cold and I also mentioned things like plugging in your car to make sure it starts and covering your face so you don’t get frost bite. Pablo gave me a horrified expression and said…”you must be crazy!”
With Nothing Toulouse,
Amy