I don’t know how to say “from Quebec” in Quebecois.  Hell, I can’t even say “Bonjour” right.

So, I’ve been trying to pay attention to people as I walk past them around here, and it almost looks like they try their best not to make eye contact with strangers, mostly looking at the ground or straight ahead.  I asked an English-speaking Quebecois woman yesterday if it was considered polite to greet people on the street, and she gave me a look of amused bewilderment.  I don’t know if that’s just because we’re in the city, or if that’s how Quebecois are… I guess if I were in NYC or LA it would be the same.  Still, I’ve been trying to greet folks who look at me… I’m trying to be a good example of an American tourist.

Ahh, the cultural norm.  Apparently there’s a ministry of culture here in Quebec–like the one in France–that makes sure that things stay French around here.  I went out to dinner with my friends and one of Lorenzo’s co-workers (she used to work on Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot, and Warhammer) and I guess she is a Quebec native.  She was enlightening us to the quirks of Quebec culture, having worked in both America and Quebec.  Apparently, there’s a rule in Quebec that says if a company doesn’t have a certain percentage of English-speaking employees, no English software can be installed to the computers… it has to be all French.  Also, some Quebecois take offense when they’re spoken to in English.  Don’t think this as weird, though… I work in an environment where people get “mad” when you send them emails that don’t apply to them, and people still feel a need to classify me as a race, when I am but a simple American.

Anyway, additional things I’ve noticed… Quebecois are quiet.  Quebec City is quiet.  I was in downtown (“Centre-ville”) yesterday afternoon, walking down the sidewalk, and realized I wasn’t hearing a ton of cars, honking, or people chattering on their phones or to each other.  I actually passed a group of people and it seemed like they were having regular conversation, but they were quite low-volume.  I know when I BS with my friends I’m pretty loud.  Maybe it’s just me.  Also, the people here aren’t as fat as in America.  I hate to say it, but alot of the girls here are quite decent.  At times it seems like I’m near a Yoga school or something the way all these fit girls are walking around, but it’s pretty much like that everywhere around here.  Lorenzo suggested a couple times that the Quebecois in general don’t eat as much per meal, and joked that they shiver alot in the winter.  We figured this out yesterday though, the people here in the city walk alot.  There aren’t as many single-passenger vehicles zooming around the streets of the provincial capital.  I went for a walk not too long after I parked my mechanical companion Flying Horse, and I agree… these folks are doing something right.  I wouldn’t mind doing a little foreign exchange up here sometime, just to see a different way of life.  Being here makes me think of the book I read not too long ago, Whole Earth Discipline, by Stewart Brand. At one point, Brand talks about how the slums in India are notable because of the way they’ve evolved… they’re quite “walkable”, i.e. to go about your daily life you don’t need to have a car or some kind of mode of travel other than your own two feet.  The stores and jobs are all distributed such that people don’t need to go very far from their homes to get to them.  I’ve also seen a walkability rating on some real estate websites, which measure how much you don’t have to use your car to get around–can you walk to the store?  Can you walk to an entertainment venue nearby?  Are there parks to visit within walking distance?  I applaud this.  I think everybody–not just Americans–can use more left, right, left in their lives.  If America wants better looking people, then let’s weave fitness into our daily routine.  I’m not talking about “setting aside” a few minutes each day to get daily physical activity, but more like let’s figure out how to get the offices near the residential neighborhoods.  We reduce vehicle commuter traffic, increase foot traffic, make tighter-knit communities (because instead of honking at each other and submitting to our road rage we can greet each other as we walk past each other on the street), and some other things I can’t think of at the moment.  I want to do this for Dayton at the very least… no better time to start restructuring and shaking things up than now, when we’re considered the 5th emptiest city in America.  And I just thought of this… what if instead of work-at-home, we could distribute work to satellite offices?  People could telecommute from an office that’s very close to their home!  I’m a motherfucking genius.  You’re welcome.

Humility aside, I think there’s alot of things people can learn when they travel.  Each time I take these trips, I try to figure out what the edge of my comfort zone is and creep right up to that edge–I’m not one of these people who place themselves in extreme discomfort just to learn a new thing… you won’t catch this guy wading in the jungle rivers of South America anytime soon.  When I’m at the edge of my comfort zone, and I take the time to reacquaint myself, I find that the next time I look around my comfort zone has expanded, and I’m able to go explore more things.

Today… Quebec City.  As soon as my laundry is done, that is.  Let’s go, Quebecois Dryer, I really don’t have all day!

-TJ