"Living abroad, a trully chalenge for a foreigner"

[Celso Arrais]

Hi Everyone,
I'm going to Canada to study english and french for six months. I'll live there with a canadian family and I'll be there alone. I intend to enjoy this to tell you about my first impressions and to change experiences with you. The discussion goal is mainly to understand the fellings in a such situation and the best manner to treat with it.

What do you think about, would you like to talk about, please feel free to post a topic .
I invite you to accompany my canada stay for six months from next march 08

See you guys,

[Celso Arrais]

Hello friends,

I'm here yet, waiting your comments. The snown already finished and the spring is comming! My live experiencie is doing well but I didn't start the english lesson at school but I'm living in the english neighborhood, I'm studying french for a while and the progress is great. Montreal is a very very interisting city.
Below you can see two distinct moments os Montreal: The first it's the winter and the second the spring!

Those is my classmates doing a external class at city hall. Every week we have a class like that and it's very very good to practice our vocabulaire, grammar and conversation!

I'm living close to the festivals place (Place des arts) an english neigborhood very beautiful and calm with so much culturel activities culturels and commerces!
There are many english schools to study here, and the prices it's very good. The live cost is low, comparing with Brazil, but there are the diference betwen dollar and Reais (1,61898 today)! The meals it's very similar, there are everything here including Rice and Beans, Feijoada, acarajé, torresmo and Guaraná Antartica.

With you want to know more (in portuguese, sorry) visit my blog in:
www.celso-magnolia.blogspot.com, the link is in my listenning page

I'll wait for your questions and comments! It'll be a pleasure to talk with you about, a big hug for all!! and Au revoir mes amies!!

Celso Arrais

[Carla Arena]

Dear Celso,

Sorry for being quiet! But, I've been following your time abroad closely and as I know Dennis has been interacting with you, I knew you were in good hands. In fact, since our get-together in Brazil, I've been quite busy. Another Listening Plus group has started with 40 students. It's always great to be teaching and interacting with students. You know that I love it!

Wow, your photos show that you seem to be adapted and your classmates seem to be all nice people. So, your French at this point should be great, right? I'm sure you're much more fluent with the input you get all the time. And your English? Have you noticed improvements? Is it still cold?

You're lucky to get all that Brazilian food. Here, I have to go to Miami to get even a can of Guaraná, but I cook rice and beans! Is your family going to visit you? How are your boys doing in Brasilia with your wife? I've very curious to know more about your life as a foreigner in Canada.

Have a wonderful weekend.

[Celso Arrais]

Hi Carla,

Sorry for the delay, but I didn't receive a e-mail for alert me of this message and I wasn't accessing the page because I broke my finger playing "Ballon chausser" there is two weeks, but now it's good I went to the hospital and I made a x-ray and I received the instruction from the doctor to treat it!
Realy Montréal is a multiculturel city and there are all kinds of meals here, I never had problems with it here and I can buy everything I want because the commerce has a great variety of goods!
My wife will come to montréal in august 08 but my childrens can't come to here and I missing they so much but I'm sure that immersion it's excellent for me and I'd been waiting for it for years!
First the stay was a challenge, I was afraid but I faced it and started to look for everything in the city and finaly, after two months and a pair of shoes I can say that I Known Montréal like my hometown! and I went to Ottawa, the canada´s capital and I loved it, the city is more beautiful that Montréal. It's clean, modern and the people is very very polite! Montréal is a great city too! The festival start at 26 june with the Brazilian's Minister Gilberto Gil, but at July James Taylor and others great singers are going too! I lived close to the festival area, isn't it sad?
My french is improving everyday because I've been studying hard and now I don't have so much dificulty to comunicate with natives people, of course, sometimes I need to say the classical phrase: "Could you please speak more slow" that in french is "Vous pourriez parlez plus lentement si'l vous plâit", I have a typical life canadien here and I enjoy everething that the city can offer, I'm going to watch the grand prix of canada! watch the festivals, to go to cinema, bar, restaurant and mainly at the parks! It's great for my language skills but mainly for my personel experience, as Dennis told me I think I'll be other celso after it I
I think that my english is the same for a while I noticed some little improvements about understanding but I'm immersed in french really and I start my english immersion at june 12 , so , after it I'll talk english all the time everyday for three months!
I'm adding the pictures of Montréal and Ottawa springs, thank you for your message go on writting it's so good to receive news of my friends!

See you!!

Photos de Ottawa

Photos de Montréal

[Carla Arena]

Dear Celso,

I loved your photos and your account of your stay in Montréal! I'm sure you can speak great French by now and is getting ready for the English immersion.

What a fantastic cultural experience! I'm glad your wife will be able to join you. Is she going to take a course, too, or just spend some time with you? I bet your boys are also feeling your absence, but I'm sure they understand how important this is to you.

So, what are your plans for the Jazz Festival?

What's the best part of Montréal, the one that you really love?

Keep writing. We're here all ears!

Spring is beautiful, isn't it? Is it hot now or still chilly? In Key West, we're around 80 F right now.

[Celso Arrais]

Carla,

Your answer is so fast. My wife is coming to montréal for take a english course and obviously to spend time with me too!!! The boys are good and they are comfortable with the distance because I keep in touch everyday by skype, phone and e-mail. I hope to take advantage of all festivals jazz shows. I really love the Montréal's multiculturalisme and the bilinguisme (I could say polinguismo maybe) It's very interesting to see the world on a street!

The spring here is like the reborning of everything. What was died under snow born with a little and shy sun! it's fantastic and I'm a witness of it now. It's cold here yet, (among 08 to 24 C), and the wind insist to bring the cold but it's normal here and the city is prepared for it! Each sunbeam is commemorated for all people who go to the "terrasses" to drink a bear or "Sangris" (beverage made of wine).

I need to stop now because my finger isn't good, see you

Celso Arrais

The starting spring! To reborn of everything!

[Dennis Oliver]

Dear Celso,

I enjoyed seeing the first two photos. I think one has to live in a place that has real winter (with ice and snow) to be able to appreciate how wonderful spring is. Very soon it will be very beautiful there, with tulips and other spring flowers blooming and much warmer weather. I miss "real spring" here in Phoenix. The temperatures are already warm here during the afternoon. The high-temperature forecast for the next five days is from 83 to 95ºF (28–35ºC)!

The idea of taking field trips around the city with your class is a good one, and I'm sure you take full advantage of the opportunities!

I'm really glad you've been able to find some familiar food there. I didn't know what acarajé, torresmo, and Guaraná Antartica were, but I found information about them in Wikipedia. I still don't know exactly what torresmos are. Are they snacks or small portions of food (like Spanish tapas)?

I congratulate you for immersing yourself so thoroughly in the local culture and languages. You're an excellent model for anyone who goes abroad to study!

All my very best wishes to you—and a big hug!

Dennis

[Celso Arrais]

Look at the answer for Carla's comments it's the same for you , I'm with my finger brooke and I have dificulty to type for this reason I can't write so much but I would like to clear that torresmo is a pork skin frit, look the picture below:

A big hug Dennis and thank you for your comment!