I’m extroverted, yet shy. It’s a combination destined for misery, but somehow I ended up surrounded by ten new friends at a Canadian bar on my very own birthday. And that was only my first day here. 

When our professor first suggested we go to a bo�te � chanson, the aforementioned drinking hole, my classmates and I were skeptical. A “song box?” She explained that it was tr�s Qu�b�cois, and that all the locals go to buy drinks and sing along to popular songs. It sounded cheesy, but I didn’t want to spend the night in my dorm room alone, especially on my birthday. So I tagged along.

What sounded like a drag was actually a cozy, cavernous bar filled with French Canadian 20-somethings. I’ve always been envious of glamorous city-dwelling, bar-hopping 27-year-olds (who isn’t?), and here I was celebrating my birthday among them.

What made this a “song box,” though, and not a bar, was the man who entertained us in the middle of the room. He sang and played classic songs on his guitar with enthusiasm; it was impossible to ignore the thumping of his happy, familiar tunes. The audience sang and bounced along the entire time. It was lovely. And did I mention that the entertainer told the audience it was my birthday and dedicated “Brown Eyed Girl” to me? Lovely.

Location: 680A Grande Allée Est, Quebec, QC, Canada