On a summer day more than 20 years ago and after a 7 hour flight, I landed in a suburb of Montreal, Canada. What am I doing in Canada ? Was it planned ? How did it all start ?

After getting my baccalaureate (high school) diploma, I moved to Rabat to start my engineering education at a public school. The engineering degree curriculum is 6 years (State Engineer: Ingénieur d’Etat).

While in my 5th year in engineering school, one day a professor mentioned the availability of a scholarship through an exchange program. It’s a “Francophonie” scholarship between multiple schools in French-speaking countries. The program’s goal was to enable students to spend one year of their studying program in a different French-speaking country and get it credited back to their original studying program. The professor indicated that if anyone is interested, they should get in touch with the department’s head to learn more about the opportunity.

Application

I was intrigued by this, so after the class was over, I went to meet with the department’s head and asked him about the scholarship. He handed me a booklet with the details and the application form.

In the application form, one target country had to be selected. The choice was between France, Lebanon, Senegal, and Canada. One of the application’s requirements was to write an essay making the case why the candidate would like to participate in the program and what benefits they think they would get from it. In short, it was an essay to convince the jury to choose one candidacy instead of someone else.

After thinking about this for a few days, I decided to apply. I chose Canada. It was the country I knew the least about, and it was in North America, very far and intriguing.

I wrote my essay about the program and how it can help students learn about the cultures of other countries. I knew it was a long shot, but what did I have to lose ?. If anything, my application would not be retained, and I’d move on with my studies.

Surprise

My school year went on and in no time I completely forgot about the application. On a random day, I got a letter from the “Francophonie” organization. I was expecting that my application would not be accepted. To my surprise, I got a positive answer: I was granted the scholarship for a one year exchange at Sherbrooke University in Quebec, Canada !

I couldn’t believe it. So excited that next day I went to see the department head. I wanted to learn more about Canada and studying there. I knew that he did his Ph.D. in Canada, so I thought he was the right person to ask. He began by tempering my enthusiasm, “First you need to be admitted to the university, then we can talk more”. I replied that I was retained and showed him the response letter. I remember vividly how his manner changed and how he started to warm up to the idea of sharing more details with me.

Visa and studying permit

I decided to act on this opportunity and participate in the program. I’ll be studying one year in Canada and come back to my school to present my thesis to receive my engineering degree. Now that I have my scholarship and Sherbrooke University’s acceptance, I need to secure a Visa as well as my studying permit required by Quebec province. 

A few days later, I went to the Canadian embassy in Rabat. They gave me the list of required documents for the visa application. I need, also, to do a health visit with one of their accredited doctors in Rabat. I followed the directions and a month after all these I received my visa, and a few months later I received my Quebec studying permit.

First Impressions

Canada trip was my first flying experience and wow, it was long:  a 7 hour flight. The plane landed at Montreal’s Mirabel airport. It was August and the weather was like spring in Morocco. The customs officer was courteous:  “Bienvenue Au Canada”. I noticed something was different with the way he said it. I had a hard time understanding the subsequent conversation. It was a different French language than the one I was used to in Morocco. A sure thing is, I was not expecting this at all. I thought to myself, they speak French in Quebec, so all is good. After all, French is French. No, this was a different French !

First month at Sherbrooke University

Eventually I got to Sherbrooke after a 3 hour trip from Montreal. I went to the university administration and I registered to rent a room in the university residence. The room has a bed, a small office, bathroom sink and a large window. Other rooms were adjacent to each other with shared showers and toilets. There was also a shared kitchen for cooking, with a TV and a large table with chairs.

My first night I slept ok, but not great. I was still jet-lagged. The next morning, I walked outside the residence and I noticed someone else was walking as well. It was an empty place: the students did not arrive yet, as we are still in early August. I was delighted to recognize the t-shirt worn by that person. He’s got to be Moroccan. I have the same shirt that I bought in Rabat, Morocco. I got closer to him and indeed he was from Morocco. We started talking and getting to know a little about each other. It was the start of a friendship that lasted many years to come.

While living in the campus residency, one of the first things I noticed was that students take a shower every morning after they wake up. What is the deal with that ? Maybe it’s a Canadian thing ? Back in Morocco, I go to the traditional bath (“Hammam”) once a week, and it was good enough. What is going on here ?

Interacting with Canadians/Quebecers

Whenever conversing with Quebecers/Canadians in French, I got the impression that they spoke French with a very different accent, but some words were also in English. Most of the people that I got to interact with, in my first year,  were friendly. Some kept it to themselves, but the vast majority were very open-minded. I was brought up with some fixed ideas, and many of them were taken as facts. In Canada, I learned that there are different angles and people have different thoughts that you want and need to accept and welcome. My adventure started HERE.

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