Why Studying Abroad in Canada Might be Right for You

Jalen and I spent spring break of 2018 in Canada on a short-term, faculty-led study abroad trip. It was a wonderful, memorable experience that we are excited to share with you. If you want to learn about our time and why we recommend going on a trip like ours if you are able, keep reading!

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About the Program

UMW in Québec is a week-long spring break study abroad trip offered by a French professor at our alma mater. The program is an opportunity for students of various levels of French to complete a general education requirement by spending a few days in Montréal and Québec City learning about French-Canadian language and culture.

Why Canada?

Canada isn’t usually the first choice for French majors looking to study abroad, but it’s a great place to visit for a number of reasons. To start, the Québec region of Canada has an interesting culture with a multitude of influences, including the rich history of the indigenous Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples, French and British colonialism, and even the intriguing Québécois separatist movement. Furthermore, getting to know the unique Québécois accent and dialect is an interesting way to challenge your French skills. Because of its entirely different sound, fascinating grammatical anomalies, and unique vocabulary, even advanced students of French stand to gain new linguistic capability from studying Québécois French. Finally, Canada is often more accessible to North American students than is France. Québec is an under-appreciated part of the francophone world that American students often discount entirely. Visiting Québec allows you to experience a different country’s culture for a fraction of the total cost and travel time associated with an intercontinental trip. For these reasons and more, Québec, Canada was the perfect destination for Jalen and me to spend spring break.

Packing

Our trip took place in the beginning of March, meaning that we had to pack for cold weather! We each fit our belongings in our standard-sized checked bags and still had room to bring souvenirs home. Here is the list of items we packed.

Our Trip

We spent four days in Montréal and three in Québec City, which allowed us to discover a host of restaurants, museums, and events in the Québec region. For the first half of the trip, we stayed at the Hôtel Faubourg in downtown Montréal. The hotel offered complimentary breakfast, the suites were equipped with kitchenettes, and the staff spoke both English and French. It was a wonderful place to stay – although, with such a packed schedule, we didn’t spend much time in the hotel!

Our first evening included dinner at the Restaurant Bonaparte and a few hours of free time to take part in an activity of our choice. Jalen insisted that we brave the cold to check out the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal and told me that it would be a beautiful place for night photography. While that was true, he had really brought me there to propose! We got engaged at the Place d’Armes and that was, of course, the highlight of our week.

The following day we discovered multiple exhibitions at the Biodôme de Montréal, drank delicious coffee from Café Myriade, saw the play L’Homme Éléphant at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, and ate crêpes at the Breizh Café. Jalen and I capped off the night by checking out the art, food, and drinks that Montréal’s annual Nuit Blanche had to offer. We particularly enjoyed being among the Québécois at Nuit Blanche and felt lucky to be able to experience such a well-known cultural event.

The next morning, our group toured the Musée d’art contemporain and saw Une brèche en toute chose, an exhibition honoring the life and work of musician Leonard Cohen. Afterwards, we walked to the Montreal Pool Room, where I tried some delicious spruce beer, before heading to Club Soda to see an improv comedy show that took all of our French language ability to understand! We finished off the day with a Visite des Fantômes, or guided ghost tour, where we learned the haunted history of Old Montréal and dinner at a French restaurant called Le Bourlingueur. Jalen and I capped off the evening by attending a drag show at Cabaret Mado and visiting the Galerie Blanc.

On our last day in Montréal, our group enjoyed a guided visit of the beautiful Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal and a fun cooking class with Ateliers et Saveurs. We climbed Mont Royal and got some amazing shots of Montréal’s skyline, making the fairly strenuous hike worth every step! We rewarded ourselves with DIY pizzas at Pannizza before going to Théâtre Sainte Catherine to see another improv comedy show. Luckily, the show was much easier to understand than the previous one we attended. Our professor also pointed Jalen and me out when the performers needed inspiration for a skit, and the whole audience clapped for us when they learned of our recent engagement.

The next morning, we took the train from Montréal to Québec City and enjoyed the picturesque Canadian landscape for a few hours before ultimately arriving via taxi at the Hôtel le Concorde, a beautiful hotel featuring a revolving restaurant. Our group ate dinner at Les 3 Brasseurs and Jalen convinced me to go ice skating at the Place d’Youville. Late in the evening, Jalen and I explored a bit on our own and found some good food and drinks near our hotel. Though much of the day was taken up by travel, speaking French with the taxi driver, somehow leaving the ice-skating rink unscathed, and staying out late at night with Jalen made for a fun, memorable day.

After a good night’s sleep, we attended a group tour of Old Québec City where we saw interesting architecture, learned about a monument for Samuel de Champlain, enjoyed a view of the Saint Lawrence River, and walked through the Basse-Ville de Québec. The guide left us at the hôtel du Parlement where we began another tour! We explored the inside of the large building, learned about the history and current affairs of the National Assembly of Québec, and got to eat at the in-house restaurant Le Parlementaire. Jalen and I did a bit of shopping on Rue Saint-Jean before meeting back up with the group to eat dinner at Le Hobbit. The last activity of the evening was watching the play Incendies at the Grand Théâtre de Québec.

The morning of the last day of our trip, Jalen and I visited the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and loved the art so much that we regretted not being able to stay longer! After wandering around the museum for a while, we made the 40-minute walk in the snowy weather to meet up with our group for lunch at La Maison Smith where we both thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches – a jambon beurre for Jalen and a grilled-cheese érable, pacanes, et figues for me. They also had vegan options and some really delicious pastries and coffee. Surprisingly, this little café ended up being one of our favorite places to eat of the whole trip! After lunch, we headed to the Musée de la civilisation where we saw the exhibition Cerveau à la folie. We had dinner at La Bûche and then walked to Méduse to see a series of Québécois short films in honor of International Women’s Day.

We taxied to the airport the following morning to catch our return flight to Virginia, but not before we snagged coffee from Tim Hortons! After a full day of traveling and few flight delays, we made it back safe and sound.

Benefits of Short-Term Study Abroad Trips

Everything is planned for you. Short-term study abroad opportunities remove the burden of arranging travel plans, making reservations, and coordinating activities from the student. Our professor took care of all the logistics well in advance so that we could get the most out of our time abroad and immerse ourselves in the language and culture as much as possible.

The pricing is reasonable. Studying abroad is often cost-prohibitive for college students, but this trip is practically priced and was within our budget as working college students. Additionally, sharing costs with our group allowed us to experience much more than we would have been able to afford on our own. Short-term trips make study abroad possible for those who don’t have the means to pay for a long-term program.

The trip doesn’t interfere with your studies. Because the trip was planned for our university’s spring break, we only had to coordinate missing one day of class. Long-term study abroad trips may involve students spending up to a full year off campus, which can complicate on-time graduation and make it difficult to fulfill degree requirements. If a long-term study abroad program makes getting your degree trickier and more costly, a short-term program may be for you.

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Both Jalen and I found this trip to be valuable and definitely recommend going if you can. In just one week, we discovered a corner of the francophone world, experienced an unfamiliar culture, put our French language skills to use, and made great memories. If you’re looking to study abroad in college or have questions about our experience, let us know!

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