Too much information

It was a very hectic day yesterday, which accounts for my not having updated. In a quick reply to radiogurl, yes I do live in Quebec, and both languages are taught in schools, but to varying degrees. I learned my French in Ontario (back in the Jurassic, seeing as how I graduated from Grade 13 in 1974) and it was taught by anglophones who had studied in France. We used French publications as textbooks. So, when I moved to Quebec in 1987, it was a shock to be confronted with the strongly accented French they speak here. After almost 20 years, I still have trouble understanding everything that is said to me. The mattress delivery guy on Thursday, for example, was almost totally incomprehensible, and I�m sure he spoke no English as well. Luckily his partner was completely fluent in both official languages.

(I just realized this reply is not as quick as I�d intended.) In Quebec, Bill 101 states that the only children eligible to study in English in public school (K to 11) are those whose parents can prove that they did the majority of their own schooling in English in Canada. Otherwise, everyone else goes to French school, natives, immigrants, regardless of what their mother tongue or their actual wishes may be. There are loopholes: non-anglophones can shell out the mega-bucks and send their kids to private English schools, but that is really expensive. The first opportunity most francophones have to study in English is at the CEGEP level, which is an acronym for the college that happens after high-school graduation: two years for university preparation, three years to learn a trade. The beauty of this programme is that it shaves a year off university for the former, and it is still considered public school, so the only cost to the student is his non-academic fees, books and living costs, if necessary.

Otherwise, in the public school system, French is introduced in the English schools in grade 1, but not in the French schools until grade 4. In the rest of Canada, I think French is introduced in grade 2 or 3 or thereabouts. I really can�t remember. I�m sure Wikipedia has a comprehensive entry on all this.

Anyway, to get back on track after that �brief� answer, I stayed up late drinking beer with my husband, daughter and guest on Thursday, slept very badly, being woken by hot flashes and unable to get back to sleep for a couple of hours, slept in, coffeed and conversed with my guest, then got him to the music department for 12:30 where he gave a mini-lecture to the kids who were a captive audience, having come for the weekly studio class. He then gave a much longer talk in the classroom following that, and at 4 p.m. I was able to get him away and to the Captain�s for pho. Hubby, in the meantime, had gone back home to rest and practise for his concert that evening.

Upon returning home, our guest took a nap, I heated up some leftover salmon pie, fed my own menfolk, Buddy Boy took off to his old highschool where he was receiving four honours on their annual awards night (I felt terrible that we were unable to attend) with his friend/our neighbour, whose dad just happens to be the music teacher there, Hubby left early to get set up in the concert hall, and the guest and I followed at our leisure.

The concert was a smash success. The harpsichordist is a psychiatrist who brought many of his medical colleagues as audience. I don�t know if any of his patients were in attendance. But it was over quite late and there was no time to pursue other entertainments, so we adjourned homewards and drank more beer and ate cheese and pistachio nuts before finally retiring. Our guest had to be out of here by 7:30 this morning, so we arose very early (I had another hot flash filled night; they&rquo;re definitely starting to bug me), and I went back to bed immediately after his departure.

The forecast for today is: laundry.

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