Wrap Up

It’s almost been a week since I returned from Quebec and it feels as though I never left Virginia. I went straight back to work (nothing says Christmas spirit like working in retail!) and my room was exactly like I left it. It feels like my life here was simply on pause while I was away.

Quebec feels like a dream. If I hadn’t documented everything so thoroughly I would think I had been dreaming. 

A friend told me I would suffer from post-abroad blues and yep, it’s happening. I miss my life abroad already. It’s hard to feel content back in a small town where absolutely nothing has changed in the last four months. (Except there’s a new Dunkin’ Donuts.) Though I am very happy to be back at home with all my animals and my space. And I’ve got my friends to help me acclimate.  

As I’ve been thinking about my trip, I’ve settled on a few things that I learned about myself. Things that may have been a part of me before, but were never given a chance to develop.

Living alone in a foreign city, and speaking a different language, has given me more confidence in my abilities and capabilities. I was able to navigate Quebec City and carve out a life for myself. I found my first apartment and made friends from all over the world. 

I’ve learned that speaking up for myself is necessary. If I can do it in a foreign language I can certainly do it in English. 

I discovered that whatever I do in life will involve traveling and adventuring. I’ve never been happier than when I was exploring and discovering new sights, sounds and tastes. 

My abroad experience has left nothing lacking and exceeded my expectations. I’m ready and anxious to see the rest of the world now. 

Nearing the finish line

Packing. It's happening. Finally. pic.twitter.com/Z3x5Ype1vD
— Della Grace Hethcox (@dellahethcox) December 15, 2014

Sorry for the silence these past few days! I've been busy enjoying these last few moments in Quebec City.

Even though my trip is coming to an end, this blog still has a little life left in it. I'll have the final posts up this week.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me on this blog this semester! I've really enjoyed documenting this adventure not only for myself, but for you, my friends and family. I hope I've given you a taste of what life is like in Quebec City.

See you on the other side (of the border)!

The Best of the Best

I know I've said this so much, but hot damn. I cannot believe my time in Quebec is coming to an end. This semester has been everything I dreamed of and more. That's a future post, for sure!

In order to make sure I revisit all my favorite spots here before leaving on Monday, I thought this post could serve as a personal checklist.

I also hope that my semester abroad has piqued your curiosity about Quebec and Canada. Please keep this post in mind if you plan on visiting Quebec City! (Or just ask me to be your tour guide. I'd be delighted.)

A photo posted by Della Hethcox (@dellahethcox) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:29pm PDT

1. Best Poutine: Le Bureau de Poste

There are not enough ways to describe how much I love poutine. What's not to love about gravy, cheese and fries? Com'n son. I've tried a lot of poutine since arriving in Quebec, but none compares to the poutine at this restaurant. It's not soggy or too salty, and sprinkled with just the right amount of black pepper.

2. Best Latté: Le Brûlerie De Café

This café is the most hipster of all the hipster cafés, but if you love lattes, you have to go. At $2.95 a latte, you can't afford to not go. The lattes are velvety, creamy and still taste like espresso. They also have a wide selection of loose leaf teas if coffee isn't your thing.

3. Cheapest Coffee: Le Champagne Chocolatier

This adorable shop is conveniently located next door to my school, making it the perfect mid-morning snack place. For less than $2 you can order a 16 oz. coffee and it is always fresh!

4. Best Muffin/Croissant

This award also goes to Le Champagne Chocolatier. They serve a daily promotion for a freshly baked muffin and medium coffee for only $3. It is the best promotion in Quebec, I think. The girls who work here are also the sweetest!

They also get the award for the best, flakiest, butteriest croissant. Also a bargain at $2!

5. Favorite Quartier

My favorite quartier is Le Petit Champlain. It's a little tourist-y, but in between the tacky souvenir shops are local business selling hand made items. If you visit in December you can see this quartier in all its Christmas glory!

6. Best Souvenir Shop

My favorite souvenir shop is located in Le Petit Champlain, called Le Flamande Sculpteur. This shop is filled with hand carved figurines, large and small. I have found many Christmas presents here! And also Cinnamon, the latest addition to my herd.

7. Best Study Spot: Les Brûleries

Conveniently located in several quartiers, these quiet coffee shops offer the best studying environment. Head to the second floor for some peace and quite! Pro tip: the 'Sandwich Matin' is pretty fantastic, especially if you woke up late and didn't have time to eat at home.

8. Best Crêpes: Café Breton

Don't even think about trying another crêperie. This petite restaurant is my favorite in all of Quebec. Relatively economical, they serve dessert and savory crêpes for >$12. I recommend the raspberry crêpe with chocolate. The boozy coffee is also pretty fantastic.






























9. Cheapest Meal: Le Bureau de Poste

Yep, they also won the award for Best Poutine. But what I didn't mention is that each menu item is five dollars, making this place the most popular restaurant in St. Roch. And deservedly so! They serve a wide selection of items (easily classified as "comfort food"), though the burgers remain my favorite.

A photo posted by Della Hethcox (@dellahethcox) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:10am PDT

10. Best Mall: Place Laurier

Don't judge me! This is important, because if the weather is disgusting and you are bored, the mall is your new best friend. Especially this mall. It's three giant malls with hundreds of shops and easily accessible by bus. You can spend so much time there and sometimes, so much money. I like to buy Starbucks and just window shop, though I did buy my "souvenir" boots there.

Marché Du Vieux Port

On y va! 

The second Christmas market I've visited is this farmers market transformed into a Christmas wonderland. It's incredible. I just want to pretend like it's my stage and belt out every Christmas song I know. 

This market has more foodstuffs than the German market, but there are a few stands for organic beauty products and handmade jewelry and ornaments. 

I'm going back this weekend with a classmate to pick up some last minute gifts. 

Marché Allemand

Christmas markets are hands down my favorite part of Quebec. They are bustling with people and filled with amazing food. This German market in particular! The air smelled like spiced wine and the soft buttered pretzels are the perfect cold day snack. 

The only downside to these markets are that they are almost too busy, it's really hard to take photos! I don't like to be in the way of people who are shopping, so I only took these above photos over the course of two visits. Yikes. And I suspect the markets will only get busier as Christmas gets nearer. 

I don't think I bought anything here besides food. Ha! 

Born that man no more may die

Happy second Sunday in Advent! Today's song is Hark the Herald Angels Sing, a favorite since I was a little girl. 

My Friday

10:45, I wake up all on my own. No alarms, nothing. It was beautiful and exactly what I needed after an unusually tough week. 

11:00, breakfast time! After checking my email and all, I succombed to watching Kdramas. The heart wants what the heart wants, mmkay?

 

— Della Grace Hethcox (@dellahethcox) December 5, 2014

1:15ish, walking to the bus stop. I had thought to myself "Wow, this isn't very cold today!" Turns out it was 8 degrees. I've been in Canada too long. 

1:45, arrive at my first destination: Krispy Kreme. I've been dreaming of a donut from here since forever. There is absolutely nothing like a hot Krispy Kreme donut. I don't understand the Tim Hortons obsession up here, there's no comparison between the two. Krispy Kreme all the way! 

1:50, donuts and coffee have been procured! I'm insanely pleased with myself, as evidenced by this pic on fb. 

2:00ish, after my snack I walk over to the giant mall and try on some sweaters. I ended up buying one at H&M, but not the one above! I also found some Christmas presents. 

3:00ish, I walked around the mall for a few hours just looking and thinking. It seems that my thinking and recharging spaces are the malls here in Quebec. In Virginia, that place is Target. But the Targets here are so terrible, so malls it is! 

4:00, take the bus and walk home. 

5:00, get home and unpack. 

5:15, cleaning up my room, which basically consists of hanging up all the clothes from my week.

5:30, time for Kpop while I prep dinner. 

5:45, dinner time! I made Feed the Multitudes- it's quick and nutritious and warm. All important things! 

6:00, nail painting time! I didn't do anything Friday evening. After painting my nails I watched Kdramas until I feel asleep around 1 a.m.

Friday was a very good day! 

Hallelujah

Tonight is Handel's Messiah! I took this outfit photo in homage to my ancient fashion blog, since tonight I actually have an occasion to look nice.

I'm so excited for this evening! Bye y'all, it's time for my to catch my bus and usher in Christmas with a choir.

Palais Du Gare, November 2014

I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so today is a picture day. That's the Palais du Gare near Vieux Port, Quebec City. I thought it looked so pretty with a light dusting of snow. Of course, I woke up this morning to at least five inches of snow and it's been snowing all day. C'est la vie, n'est pas? 

I'm going to freeze to death.

I woke up this morning and it was zero degrees. Since I've had the same headache for the four days, I decided it was the day to skip my 9 o'clock class. It took all my willpower to leave the house and make the trek to school.

I'm currently wearing sweatpants with fleece lined leggings underneath. I went grocery shopping and I looked like this:

And I was thinking this: 

(And also this. Fyi, profanity warning.) 

Only in Quebec City

The other night I was feeling particularly brain dead, so I went to sleep around 10 p.m. A nice respectable bedtime for a weeknight.

I dozed peacefully until midnight.

At which point I was disturbed from my slumber by the dulcet lyrics of a Celine Dion song.

"...Sous le vent/ Et si tu crois que c'est fini, jamais..."

I recognized the lyrics so I awakened fully so I could figure out what the heck was going on.

I checked my phone, and nope, I hadn't set a weird alarm or anything.

And then I realized that it wasn't Celine Dion singing.

It was neighbors above me, all very young. All very drunk.

They insisted on singing the same Celine song for TWO HOURS.

I was completely annoyed, but found the whole situation to be vastly entertaining.

I muttered some Quebecois swearwords and let them sing me back to sleep.

This will probably be one of my favorite memories of Quebec- Celine Dion is their pride and joy. Their crown jewel, if you will. If you don't like her, please don't say so. You will get schooled. (Fortunately for me, I enjoy her French songs! Her English songs...meh.)

There's also an old man I see on Rue St.Joseph who always rides a motor scooter while blasting Celine. It's one of the funniest sights you'll see!

Oh Quebec. Never change.

*Here's the video for the aforementioned song, the man in the video is also Quebecois! And check out Celine's hair. #priceless*

Born to set the people free

Advent started today and I'm thrilled, Christmas has officially begun! The advent season is probably my favorite time of the year in the church, I think it's the most joyous and hopeful time as well. I thought it would be nice to make a note on this blog for each Sunday in Advent, especially since I'm abroad and not attending my normal church. 

And of course, I can't leave out a Christmas song! But I couldn't decide which version of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus to include, so you get two versions. 

I'm also using this plan for daily advent devotionals, if you'd like to join me.  

wonders of wonders, miracles of miracles

Guys guys guys guys GUYS.

It's finally happened. 

I get French. 

This week has been full of lightbulb moments for me. Moments where everything clicked and suddenly I wasn't thinking in English anymore. Beautiful, beautiful moments full of months of hard work. 

This week has just been so gosh darn wonderful. I was on the phone with MB (my childhood bff) and she asked me if I'd accomplished what I wanted this semester. 

The answer is a big fat yes. 

People told me this moment would happen but I honestly didn't believe them. It's hard to think of the future when you can't even form a basic sentence. 

I'm gonna go to sleep with a big grin tonight.