Welcome to our first issue of the Language Exepress!

In 2017 Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary. This meant that, as exchange students living in Montréal, we were able to enjoy the multitude of festivals, free events, celebrations and activities on offer throughout the last 4 months. As a tribute to Canada’s birthday, and an adios to this amazing city, I have compiled a list of 15 things I discovered about my temporary home.

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1. Working out the public transport system is essential. Buying an OPUS card, which gives a student discount on monthly tickets for the bus/metro system was useful, but my BIXI bike key was invaluable. According to my end data, after 3 months, I made 137 trips, travelled a distance of 180km and saved 17.6L of gas. Also, although the public transport system in Montreal is often held in esteem, STM schedules are irrelevant and the bus will come just as soon as the driver has finished his coffee.
    

2. Poutine (see previous blog post for details) is the ultimate drunk food/ hungover recovery or any-time-of-day snack. Other imitations from different provinces cannot compare to a real Montréal Poutine. Popular restaurants include La Banquise, PoutineVille and Patati Patata.
    

3. Jean Talon market is the best place to buy cheap fruit and veg (specifically not supermarkets). Go around lunchtime and save yourself a meal by eating all the free tasters as you browse the rows of locally-sourced produce.
    

4. Forget #bleedgreen, Montrealers bleed rouge, bleu et blanc: the official colours of the Montreal Canadiens, the city’s professional ice hockey team. Tickets for matches sell out incredibly fast and a half-decent seat will set you back at least $80 CAD.
    

5. Ice skating is a way of life and most youngsters pick it up faster than learning to walk. At any one time on a public ice rink, expect to see a multitude of people, from small children racing backwards at breakneck speed, to elderly men leisurely tracing figure skating shapes in the ice.
    

6. Skiing in Canada is remarkably different to skiing in Europe. No lunchtime tanning sessions on the slopes with a beer in hand; my experience in Mont Tremblant taught me the value of foot warming packs and the reviving effect of a rum-filled hip flask.
    

7. Hitchhiking in Canada is actually a very easy and useful way of getting around. Always make sure you’re standing on the right side of the road with a smile and make sure you clarify where you’re going before you get in the car.
    

8. Anything over 5°C is warm and the fewer layers you wear, the more Canadian you are. For Montrealers, snow is not something to be revered or feared, rather it is an annoying fact of life that you can’t ignore and yet you don’t need to get overly excited about. Also, many Montrealers secretly hate the winter months but will leap to defend their city’s climate at the mere hint of any criticism from a foreigner.
    

9. Hats are called tuques. The 1 dollar and 2 dollar coins are called the Loonie and the Toonie. Don’t ask.
    

10. Despite my condescension towards the seemingly unnecessary large 4x4 cars that line the streets, with the turn of winter I concede that they are absolutely essential in order to travel anywhere between December and February.
     

11. Tipping is not just polite but an essential part of a waiter’s salary and it is therefore downright rude and offensive not to tip at least 15% (learnt through many experiences with disgruntled waiters).
     

12. Canadians reserve the right to chop down a Christmas tree from the forest for their personal use, although different provinces impose limits on where people can get the trees and who can acquire permits.
     

13. Contrary to popular belief, the new plastic-based Canadian bank notes do not smell like maple syrup.
     

14.  The seasons in Montreal can be defined as winter, still winter and construction. Construction season lasts all summer and well into Autumn, with an innumerable amount of rue barré, entrée barré and détour signs that litter the traffic-cone-lined streets well into December.
     

15. Franglais really is a language that deserves official recognition. Unlike naïve tourists, Montrealers don’t interchange between the two languages because they lack the French or English for a specific word, but because active bilingualism is an everyday reality. This bilingualism is epitomised by their customer greeting, “Bonjour, Hi!”.