I decided to
interview Johan Rivallain which comes from France. It's now been three years
since he lives in Mont-Joli.
It is sports trainer at Club de natation les Espadons de Mont-Joli and
it is the responsible of aquatic of
the city.
Upon arriving, he did
not understand the conversations; it was as if we spoke English. He could not understand our expressions quebecoise. Moreover, the words we
use are not the same for a same
object. For example, for the Quebec people
«liqueur» means «boisson gazeuse» for
the French people or «barrer» for Quebec
people means «verrouiller ou fermer à clef» for the French people. It took him
about 2 months to get used to the language of Quebec.
There is also a
difference in education. First, the French began
kindergarten at age 3 until age 6. In Quebec,
we are going to kindergarten at age 5 for one year. Then, the French
go to elementary school for four years instead of five
years as us. Then,
the high school lasts four years instead of five.
In high school, the French people begin with the sixth, fifth, fourth
and finally the
third years so there are reversed. School is free in France as us
in Quebec from kindergarten to high school. After that they go to «lycée»
and we are going to college, it's equivalence to
the two countries. We finish both with the university. At college and university, in France, they work
per year while we operate with session.
There is no major difference in terms of religion. In
France, the majority of the
population is Catholic as in Quebec. By
cons, the French
students do not have religion
classes in school because
religion is not controlled by
the state.
For food, in France, «poutine»
and French onions
don’t exist. Therefore, they are happy to come to Quebec to
taste these specialties. Johan
has noticed that the
price of cheese and dairy products is more expensive than in France. By cons, seafood
and meat is cheaper
than in his country. In France, it is forbidden to
"boost" the food that at Quebec we have
the right to do.
The French and
Quebec people are substantially similar
to the work and
family. The salary is almost the
same, the job also. By cons, in Quebec, at your job, you hold more responsibilities than in France. For the family, the French people are
a little less close to their families than Quebec people. The Quebec people speak
several times a week to their families and the French
people much less.
In terms of holidays, in France, there are holidays for the armistice that
is to say on November 11 and May 8 that we don’t have in Quebec. The Halloween is
not celebrated in France. By cons, he celebrates Christmas and Easter as us. At
Christmas, instead of «tourtière», «cipaille» and turkey as in Quebec, the French
eat mainly seafood. However, the «bûche de Noel» is as traditional in France
and Quebec. In France, at Easter holidays, it's
the bells that bring the chocolate, not bunnies. In addition, the tooth fairy does not exist in France, it is replaced by the
little mouse but they do the same
work. He leaves money or a gift under the
pillow instead of the tooth.
In conclusion, France and Quebec
have many differences but are very similar.
Johan says he like
Quebec and is not near to exit it.
He has become accustomed to the Quebec language and now speaks like Quebecois
but with a French
accent or course.
Then, he
is very pleased that snow is also present in Quebec and the
mountains are near towns because in France he
had to drive
2 hours to go skiing from his city.
total : 635 words
