Salut, de Saskatoon! - Semaine I

Ahoy from Saskatoon! What am I doing here?
I am participating in a 5-week intensive French immersion program, with the goal of improving my French oral and comprehension skills. The program offers bursaries to study French in most provinces in Canada, doubling as a chance to explore a different part of our country. I know it sounds silly to be studying French in Saskatoon, especially having lived in a bilingual city my entire life.  But! I'm actually really grateful to be here. It has given me the opportunity to visit an area I wouldn't have thought to otherwise. Since being here, Saskatoon has really grown on me with its small-town charms, indefinite horizons and friendly people. #prairielove.

I've been here for a week now, and am ready to embark on Week #2.

Things I am really diggin'

1. Living in our Ukranian residence
Sharing the "Boys' Lounge" with my 3 roommates makes for good laughs and many stories. Elles sont formidables! So is our homely couch and home-cooked meals.

 
 2. Workshops - la danse latine & la photographie
Who doesn't love shaking around in heels? :p With photography, I hope to leave more equipped to take better photos in Peru, next month! This week, our focus is portraits (my favourite!).

3. Coop - Les Sask-ATCHOO!
We've been placed in groups with students from different levels to compete in various activities. Everyone in the group is really encouraging and creative, so those other groups need to watch out! ksrslytho.

4. Saskatoon
IS BEAUTIFUL. Come visit! There are 7 bridges crossing its river. In our (limited) free time, it's always nice to stroll along the river or towards downtown to discover the restaurants, boutiques and pubs.

Merci beaucoup à Ana-Maria pour ces photos!

5. University of Saskatchewan
The campus is absolutely gorgeous and HUGE. There are cows on campus for research, a field of statues, an observatory for star-gazing, an indoor Geology museum, and all its buildings have the unifying traditional stone architecture. In the famous "airplane room", under the opportune air current conditions, students fly their planes into the ceiling, made of mock asbestos. During war times, parents would check for their child's name inside the fallen airplanes to see if their child had fallen in war. By fluke, there are also two chairs across the auditorium that "secretely" magnify their sounds to only each other, like you're underwater.

Merci beaucoup à Cindy! :)

The med building. Merci encore Ana-Maria!

6. THE PEOPLE.  
We see each other tout le temps, so it's a good thing we get along. Already, I feel like I've known many people here for a long time. I received many unexpected celebratory
(med school!) hugs the day I found out and classmates genuinely worry about each other when you cough or sniffle. It's truly warm&squishy feelings all the time :)

 Things I am getting used to:

1. French 24/7. 
 We speak French in class, while we eat, off-campus (mostly :p) and in our rooms. It can become brain-numbing, but it's also wonderfully awkward and really fun to find different ways of communicating, like hand gestures and doodling, and watching those around you improve, as you improve.

2. Walking everywhere. 
Our residence is within a 10 min walk from campus and 30 min walk from downtown. It's not worth using public transportation, so we walk everywhere!! Although I really do enjoy walking, I've really come to realize how much I enjoy vehicles too :p But I find walking literally grounds you, in that you became more aware of the small things in your surroundings.

3. Class 6 hrs/day
That's twice more than an average week in University. I don't know how I got through those 12 years of school, but it's definitely a challenge for me to stay focused. Luckily, most of our lessons include interactive activities.

une vire-langue francaise

 4. Gym - (like living in French) this is a foreign concept to me.
Everyone here is so active! When we're not in class, many are running or at the gym. I'm not sure I can keep up with the weight-lifting and ab work, but I am making an effort to rock the climbing wall and attend yoga and zumba classes during the week. That's a start?

Things I am excited for:
- our Banff camping trip next weekend
- potential smaller road trips to Prince Albert and Regina w/ Dan&Ana
- not yet having booked a plane ticket back = open possibilities for travel!

That`s all for now. A bientôt!!