Sunday 29th January 2017 - A sad day in Quebec City.

Hey guys,

It’s with great sadness I write this blog today. I was debating whether to discuss the awful event that occurred in Quebec City on Sunday. Then, out of respect for six people who lost their lives, I cannot ignore this matter. Also, I am sure as a reader of this blog you are thinking “how do you feel about living in Quebec City now?” As my loyal reader, I wanted to be honest and let you know, as an immigrant, my feelings and reaction to this.

That Sunday! (29^th January 2017)  Gary and I had a lazy day after being busy the day before. The Sunday was filled with complete laziness. We stayed in our lounging clothes and the most we probably did was practiced French and Gary Skyped his family. As the evening approached we decide to catch-up on some British T.V programmes. We both were in the Sunday mood of dreading getting up early and back to our routine on Monday. On the sofa, we were cuddled up watching the latest episode of Taboo. The sight of Tom Hardy was a good distraction from how I was feeling. It had been a few hours since I’d been on my phone so I decided to browse through Facebook. As usual I was flicking through memes and laughing at the odd video of someone doing something stupid. Through Facebook I follow the news pages, e.g. ITV and BBC news, to see what the latest in my hometown is. Whilst flicking through my newsfeed, the ITV page had posted ‘BREAKING NEWS: Reports of shots being fired in…’ I thought how awful. It is upsetting to admit this headline was no surprise. So I read on. ‘…Canadian Mosque… Quebec City.’ What!? I was in complete shock. Of all the places on Earth this would be the last place this would happen; so I thought. Immediately I told Gary. He frantically sat-up on the sofa and his first words ‘NO F*****G WAY!’ In dismay I passed him my phone to show him the article on the ITV news website. We both desperately searched other websites to get answers. Why the hell would this happen here! Even when we got settled into bed, knowing we needed to get to sleep, we felt unsettled and were still filtering through the websites. For some reason this affected us more than other terrorists events. Gary had made a comment which sent shivers down my spine and made me feel even more physically sick.  This was the week I had started my French Course, There was a variety of people in my class which included male Muslims. Usually I wouldn’t think the worst but on this occasion I did. There isn’t a huge Muslim community here and the chances of them being affected in some way were high.

We did eventually get to sleep and before we knew it my alarm was going off at 6:30am. Straight-away I checked the news and my College’s Facebook page. I thought I’d check if the College was closed out of respect for the Muslim students. It wasn’t and I got ready. Walking into the class was strange. I don’t quite know what I was expected but it felt like every other day. Our tutor asked us “Comment ca va?” – How are you? The majority of the class answered “Ca va bien.” – Things are going well. However one of the Muslim men answered “Ca va mal.” – Things are going wrong. Later on, in broken English, I expressed my condolences to him and his community. It was upsetting to see the sadness in his eyes.

When I got home, I searched for more information on what had occurred; this included browsing Facebook. An event written in French kept popping up on my newsfeed. I decided to view it and translated the words to English. It was a vigil in the Saint-Foy area, near to the Mosque where the horrific event occurred. I felt compelled to go and show my respect to the people who had been killed, their families and the Muslim community. A few messages were exchanged between Gary and I, it was decided I would pick him up from work and we’d go straight there.  

We parked the car a 10 minute walk away. As soon as we got out of the car we joined a crowd of people walking towards the vigil. There were thousands of people there; the majority were, assumingly, non-Muslim White Canadians.  It was a powerful sight and the atmosphere was a mixture between peace, love, unity and sorrow. We did try to get near to the stage to hear the likes of the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and Mayor of Quebec City, Regis Labeaume, gives speeches. It was impossible in the huge crowd to get close enough to even hear what was being said. I did take candles to lie in the snow in the memorial. Unfortunately, the candles wouldn’t stay lit in the minus temperatures and gusts of wind. Later on, I did light a candle at home. Alternatively, we did stand by the barrier near to the Mosque. It did bring a lump to both of our throats when I said “it’s 7:30pm, I can’t even imagine what happened here 24 hours ago.” Gary and I hugged each other. Side by side, we took a moment to remember the six victims. Then we walked along the street of News reporter vans and headed home.

The victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting. Clockwise from top left: Azzeddine Soufiane, 57; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Ibrahima Barry, 39; Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; and Boubaker Thabti, 44.

(HANDOUTS, MOUSSA SANGARE/THE CANADIAN PRESS, FACEBOOK)

I want to finish off by saying thank-you for taking some time out of your day to read this post.  Maybe you can light a candle to shine some light on these six lives and their families. Let’s not forget the 19 people who were injured and the other people who witnessed the vicious attack. For me, I have been humbled by the reaction of Quebecois and Canadian people. It has also been a lesson that hate exists everywhere on this Earth – which I thought would be less of an issue in Canada. It is unnerving to think there maybe repercussions of this hate crime but I will rise above it. I have decided to be an advocate for love and peace. This is something we all can believe in and act upon! 

5. Bienvenue a la ville de Quebec – Welcome to Quebec City – Part 2

Bienvenue a la ville de Quebec – Welcome to Quebec City – Part 2

At the time, the bed was the best thing ever in the world. Back in England, our mattress was old and dipped in the middle. Gary and I would often gravitate towards the middle which would result in bare sweaty thigh touching. This bed was so big that when I stretched my arm out I couldn’t even touch Gary…this was bliss! The room was pitch-black so I didn’t have a clue what time it was. I was tossing and turning for a few minutes but I was waking up. With one eye open I reached for my phone. I felt like I’d slept for a solid twelve hours but to my surprise it was only 6:30am.  It was 11:30am in England, so of course I felt like I’d had a good sleep. Not wanting to waste our time here Gary and I woke-up and started getting ready. The warm shower was refreshing and took away all the grubbiness of yesterday. My make-up was applied and my hair was dried. Apart from using Gary’s roll-on deodorant and smelling slightly manly, I felt like the normal Francine Gibbs again.

We decided to open the curtains and reveal our view. How can I describe this? Well, you know the Diet Coke-Cola adverts where women drool over a good looking guy doing manual work. As a hot blooded heterosexual woman, in front of me was a large construction site full of men. This was the Canadian equivalent times a hundred. In England there is a saying that if you bend down and you show your bum then you have a ‘builder’s bum’. The stereotypical image of a British builder (Construction worker) is a big beer belly hanging oven jeans and when bending down the ‘builder’s bum’ would be exposed. The Canadian Builders had nice perky bums and there was only the odd beer belly in site. Sorry Britain, this definitely was another point for Canada. Oh…and before I forget, the view of the City was nice too.

We both were hungry now and luckily as part of our stay, breakfast was included. The restaurant was modern and the breakfasts looked amazing! There was the option of waffles with fresh cream and strawberries, French toast with caramelised apples and many more. I decided to go all out with the full breakfast with the Canadian twist. There was no greasy bacon or a fried egg instead there was streaky maple bacon and baked beans with maple syrup. Gary had the waffles, strawberries and crème fraiche, which were yummy too. We were definitely in Canada and this was a great way to settle us in. 

Not long after breakfast, we grabbed our coats and took a short walk to Gary’s future employer’s office. It was only around the corner. When arriving in the reception area it was chaotic. There were people carrying strange looking statues and boxes to the elevator. The whole office was moving to a new location today. Nervously we both waited in the reception area with all the madness around us.  A tall man entered the reception and welcomed use with a handshake and a ‘bonjour’. This was the guy that Gary previously explained would be over seeing his team and plays an important part in the creation of the game. We weren’t sure if I’d be able to go into the office as creating games is top secret stuff. Gary asked if I could. After a few exchanges of French words with the receptionist we both were presented with confidential forms. This was the real deal. If we were to share any information on this game the company could sue our asses. It is understandable though the Gaming Industry is bigger than films. If information was leaked before the release of a game it can cost a company a hell of lot of money; especially a worldwide company like this one. Let’s put it this way, I signed the form and I kept my mouth shut from that day on. You can understand now why I haven’t shared too much about Gary’s work. By an agreement between me and the company I can’t. Plus, I want his project to do well so I’m not going to spoil that.

Once settled at a desk, Gary was told what game he’ll be working on but you’ll have to wait and find out what it is. We both were blown away from the presentation of the project. I don’t even work in gaming but even I knew this was shit hot stuff. It looked professional and incredible. I saw the look on Gary’s face. Like a ton of bricks, it hit him that he would be working for one of the biggest companies in his industry on an incredible game. He was even hungrier for this job.

We went on to meet his future team and they kindly took use out for lunch. They took use to a posh burger restaurant which was a ten minute walk away. Yet again, we were surrounded by friendly people. They were welcoming and we were full of questions. Many of their answers were reassuring and offered us a lot of comfort. It was an unusual situation to be asking new people who they bank with, how much are their bills, is there bears, what are winters like, etc. As quickly as it had begun it was over. We said our goodbyes to the majority of the team. Outside of the restaurant, we were left standing with his future manager. He was apologising for his lack of English. Truth be told, we felt guilty for not speaking French and we could understand him perfectly. It is a different matter to whether he could understand us, especially my Brummie accent. There was a slight chill in the air so we didn’t want to be standing around too long. His manager kindly offered to take use for a walk to old Quebec City. We had watched many YouTube videos on the history and the tourist attractions in the City. Old Quebec City is often described as the most European city in North America.  These European influences go back to the 1400s and 1500s when the English and French explorers arrived in North America and claimed new regions for their own countries. Over time they continued to push further inland into the 1700s and repeatedly clashed – this was with the aboriginal communities as well as each other. In 1756, a fully-fledged war had broken out between France and England. This is where Quebec City plays a big part in this history. There is a well-known area here called the Plains of Abraham. On the 13^th September 1979, this is where the French and English troops met. This was the day both the French and British commanding officers, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and James Wolfe, were killed in the battle. The British did win the battle and ultimately the war. The once named “New France” colony became British. The British let the French-Canadians remain in their settlements and carry on with daily life. This is a significant decision historically as it was the early steps to the French language and culture being imbedded in Canada. Up until 1947, Canadians were considered British subjects which changed after the Canadian Citizenship Act. There are still British influences and traditions here, however the monarch’s role has become largely symbolic. Queen Elizabeth’s ll’s portrait is found on notes and coins and there is a bank holiday in May, Victoria Day, in honor of England’s Queen Victoria. There is so much more I could write about the history but I think that would be a very long post. In brief, I hope it helps to understand the British- my home country’s - influence in Canada.

Now, here we were on our way to Old Quebec City with our own local tour guide. His Manager was fantastic and shared loads of information with us. We were bombarding him with plenty of questions though. Looking back we must have looked pathetic with all the “oohs” and “aahs” we were saying. Every shop or building we would pass, we would point and say “wow, look at that”. We were the typical tourists!

One of the most famous buildings in Quebec City is the Château Frontenac Hotel. This is a famous hotel which is often photographed by many tourists. It made an appearance in every YouTube video we had watched. Yet again, the realisation of this was kicking in. I can’t deny it was a stunning building but after all the hype and build-up I was expecting something more magical. To me, what was more impressive was standing on the huge platform by the hotel and overlooking the enormous Saint-Lawrence River. It was the biggest river I had ever seen. It is so wide that a ferry transports cars and residents to the city of Levis on the opposite side. Stood there with my rosy cheeks and chill in air I was filled with warmth deep inside. It reminded me of standing on a British pier by the seaside except this was beautifully different. This was natural beauty at its best.

We continued walking along the large platform still overlooking the river. Then we walked up ‘a lot’ of steep steps up to the Plains of Abraham. I was getting warm in the not so healthy kind of way. His manager was taking it in his stride whilst I was trying to disguise my panting. Note to self – I need to get fitter once I move here. Once at the top, thankfully, we sat inside a band stand overlooking the river. The sun was shining and there were rays of light shining on our faces. Usually, I would welcome the warmth on my face but I was boiling hot.  This is where his Manager said “Au Revoir”. The next time Gary would see him is at work in a few months’ time. Once I got my breathing back to normal we went for a walk around the grounds of the Plains of Abraham, we couldn’t help but fantasise about how often we would visit here with a picnic in the Summer. The jetlag was starting to take affect now though. Bear in mind it may have been six in the afternoon in Canada but our British body clocks thought it was eleven o’clock. We decided to get a few snacks from the shop and headed back to the hotel. Back at the hotel we were quickly ready for bed and again fell asleep at nine o’clock.

To be continued….