Je me souviens

This is the official motto of Quebec.  It roughly translates to "I remember". A 1934 publication by the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors paraphrased as conveying the meaning “We do not forget, and will never forget, our ancient lineage, traditions and memories of all the past."

I have to admit, my own heritage is a bit of a mystery to me. I have been told stories of my ancestors, but haven't heard about anything I'm willing to hold on to and fight for. I've learned a bit more about Quebec history since moving here, and I'm still not quite behind the whole secession thing. The movement gained momentum in the 1970s, but was voted down by the Québécois (pronounced Keh bec-wah) in 1980.  It's still a prevalent movement here, however in the most recent federal election most of the province went with the "orange crush" of the New Democratic Party, not the Bloc Québécois party.

I'm not going to go into the politics or the history here...I simply don't know enough for even a remedial version. However, as a visitor, the "become like us, or leave us" impression of Quebec greatly clashes with the "live and let live" tolerance of the rest of Canada. I can't hold this against any of the people (with a few exceptions) we have met here, even the francophones. Personally, we've been welcomed by many people. But I don't think the feeling of living in Quebec and speaking only English is the same as moving to a foreign country and not speaking the language. However, (until now) I've never lived anywhere that can't be identified by holding up your hand and pointing to a location on it.

When I signed up to be assistant coach of L's soccer team, I assumed that some of the kids would speak or at least understand a little english. Not so much. My role as assistant coach is pretty limited. I put down and pick up cones, distribute balls, and point a lot. Apparently teaching kids to speak English would cause Quebec to implode or something. 


We're still attempting to learn french. We're still sending our petit garçon to french immersion next school year. But I don't feel so bad anymore about shrugging and responding with my ignorant american, "sorry?" Traffic frustration last week caused Nick to simply respond to someone with a blatant, "WHAT!?" Maddie decided to just speak spanish while she's here.