I knew that traveling to Lyon would change me, change my life and my personality because I would be traveling alone along with other UBC students. The idea of traveling alone without my parents meant that it would make me more responsible, independent and decisive. Even though I knew this, I didn’t expect my classmates and my professor to affect my view of life this much. My trip in Lyon has created a ripple effect in my life. Everything I do now reminds me of my classmates (not a joke at all).
Elora. How I miss her so much. Every day when I walk to my class in Montreal for the Explore Program, I reminisce the walks we had every morning. She was always there for me when I needed her. Not only do I miss our walks, I miss the visits to librairies! Every time I see a librairie, I automatically think of Elora. I would go in to visit and look at all the children books because it reminds me of Elora.
Rina. She has definitely made me a dog admirer, not a lover but an admirer. I have now started to admire the types of dogs that I see. I’ve always had a fear for dogs, BIG dogs. I only like small dogs. I’ve had too many horrible experiences with big dogs so I only like small dogs. Now, whenever I see a dog on the street, I always feel have this feeling to grab my cell and take a photo of the dog and send it to Rina.
Devon. Every time I go to the grocery and see the word “filet”, I think of our dinner at Archange where we thought it was a filet of a fish called carnette, instead of slice of duck.
Krysta. Chocolates and desserts. Since it’s extremely hot in Montreal, I’ve been craving a lot of ice cream, desserts and chocolates. Every time I get some sort of dessert, I think of Krysta, who has 3 stomachs, one for food, one for chocolates and one for desserts.
Joanna. I’ve known Joanna for a long time. Everytime when I’m lost, I think of Joanna who was calm and quiet. It makes me feel optimistic and calms me down.
Jasmine. Since I’m traveling alone in Montreal, I miss having my travel buddy with me. Now, when I take photos for other people, I take like 6-8 photos with different angles and backgrounds. I guess Jasmine’s pickyness for perfection in her photos have really affected me since I would have to take 6-8 photos of her in order for her to find one to her liking.
Pegah. When I see an interesting window, I think of Pegah’s blog post about windows. I wish I am able to take pictures of all the interesting windows in Montreal just for Pegah.
Ashley. When I arrived to the program, all I could think of was what Ashley told me , ” You’re going to have A LOT of fun there!” Where ever I am and whatever I do, I think of Ashley because she told me a lot about the program. Without her advices and recommendations, I wouldn’t feel confident traveling alone in Montreal. Thank you Ashley.
Ghazel.Now, everytime someone tells me that they want to go to the washroom, I think of what happened at the farewell dinner where I “announced” to the people surrounding me that I want to go to the washroom. Good times. Since then, I have now been more cautious telling people that I want to go to the washroom.
Jason. In front the dorm, there are bikes. It reminds me of Jason’s love for cycling. I definitely need to bike around in Montreal! Hope it isn’t complicated in renting them.
Eric. Oh Eric, the thinker. When I was walking by a Kebab place near Montreal campus, without a doubt, the first person I thought of was Eric (his crazy love for Kebabs). As well, when I see ice cream, I think of our bet and me getting free ice cream for being his messenger which I’ll be getting once I’m back in Vancouver! I look forward to my ice cream!!
My host family. They are obviously not the best host family to have, especially if it’s your first host family experience. I guess having this host family made me learn to be more adaptive and when to stand up for yourself. Now that I’m living in dorms for the Explore program, I miss having a breakfast where I can run in and out of the kitchen to multi-task. As well, I like the fact that my apartment was literally in the central area of Lyon, which means I didn’t have to walk too much to be back home. However, now living in residences, I would constantly have to walk back home or metro it. I miss the proximity of where I live to other area in Lyon.
Prof, Joel. It’s hard to describe in words how the professor have affected me. I guess I can start with the first course I took with professor Joel. Taking his class (FREN 371) made me realize I am terrible with names and associating names with theories. I didn’t do well in his class to be honest. It made me realize I am terrible at writing papers and essays which pushed my confidence in French to the bottom. However, taking the summer course, I feel a lot more comfortable in creative writing. I’m able to show my creativity and my experiences, even though I knew I am terrible with grammar. In his summer course, I’ve shared things that I would normally NEVER share with others, such as my duckling song (which only my elementary friends knew about), my insecurity with my childish voice/being bullied, my memories and relationships with others and my childhood. I didn’t expect this course to have made me tell so much about myself to others. Now being in Montreal, I think of my professor since he’s from Montreal/Quebecois. I guess when I try the places “you ought to eat at in Montreal”, I will think of my favourite professor! Even though I don’t think I’ll be taking any of his classes in the near future, I know for sure that his “stories in motion course” have greatly impacted my life.He has definitely encouraged me to speak and learn more about Quebec.
Thank you for you all for taking part of my experience.