Hello! My name is Clare and I’ll be studying in Québec City this summer. As far as I know, I’m the only PSU student in this program, because it’s part of University of Iowa’s study abroad that Penn State students also have access to. I’ll be a senior in the fall and I’m studying French here at Penn State.

I’m very excited about my upcoming Education Abroad experience, mostly because I will get to communicate in French all day every day. I’m a little nervous about sounding “too textbook” at first with my Québecoise peers, but hopefully I’ll pick up the slang quick enough and learn about Québecoise culture all at once.

I chose to do a home stay over staying in the dorms, because I want to be completely immersed in French for as much of the time I’m there as possible. Since the program is only 6 weeks, I won’t have as much time to improve my french as some of my other peers in my major who spend a whole semester abroad, so I really want to take advantage of all the opportunities I have to do so.

The other thing I’m really excited about is being able to compare just the feel of Québec to that of Paris. I spent my spring break there and practically had to be dragged to the airport to come home, and I’m really interested to see how much of the “old world” vibe Québec has, and also to see how it’s different.

Université Laval has been around since 1663. I can’t wait to get the chance to explore the campus as well as Québec City, including of course le Vieux Québec (old Québec). I’m hoping that the family I stay with will be close enough to the campus that I can walk, or maybe bike. Another cool thing about the location of Québec City is that I’ll be really close to Montréal, the other main area in Canada that has maintained the French language and vestiges of the culture, so I’d like to plan a trip to Montréal for a weekend to see the sights there as well.

Stay tuned for more of my adventures!

à bientôt!

Location: Phoenix, MD