Canada

This trip to Quebec was the first time in my life. I was super excited about this family trip. We were watching multiple YouTube videos about Quebec and searching for restaurants on Google maps many times, even looking at real estate too. There were so many flag marks that we were interested in on our Google maps before we went. Also, I like to imagine that I live there, when I go on a trip somewhere.

The first day in Quebec City, It was about -20?. I’ve never been in -20? ever. We were preparing all the stuff we could do in BC before we came to Quebec. But I started to feel pain in my toes after walking around for about 30-45 minutes. I saw my eyebrows and eyelashes were freezing for the first time. My family seemed OK actually, but I wasn’t. So we sometimes took some rest inside or in front of fireplaces outside. There were many fireplaces outside in Quebec City. It wasn’t hard to find somewhere to rest. I felt this was a rare and true Canadian experience for me because I was surrounded by lots of ice and snow, and being in front of a real fire outside. I was a little excited for the moment.

From the next day, the weather was getting warmer. After 4 days, It was about 5? which is almost the same temperature where I live in BC. People started to wear lighter clothes and hang out more. I felt much more comfortable with this temperature. I think so do the people in Quebec. That is why BC real estate prices are so high and Quebec real estate prices are not that much even though Montreal is the second biggest city in Canada. Also they speak French so that if you work somewhere, you need to speak French fluently. That is a big deal for me because I can’t speak French at all. I am even struggling speaking English everyday. There is no way to work in Quebec. But If I don’t need to work, the town is big and beautiful and you might get a bigger and prettier house, I would love to live in Montreal. By the way, I was impressed that almost everybody could speak English and French fluently. It might be a good idea to raise kids in a bilingual environment. I wish I could have been raised in this kind of environment.

There is one more thing I noticed about Quebec people during this trip. That is “Quebec people are Canadians who speak French”. This is a very obvious thing but I thought if you speak a different language, it might be a different personality. But they are acting like Canadians I know, which is very comfortable and feels safe for me. Sometimes someone tried to talk to me in French, and I almost answered them, however I didn’t know what they said. I was so naturally familiar with it.

The end of the day of this trip, the temperature was getting very cold again. It was about -15?. Now is a good time to leave, I felt.

On this trip, I could see the town and people who live there, and I could see myself living there (if I don’t need to work). That was great travel. And the trip makes me think of another future trip. I would love to see different towns in Canada in the future.