french shock

i plunged myself into french - bonjour!

leaving pei at 7am, i drove under clouds and rain for 8 hours straight through new brunswick and into quebec.  it was basically up and over maine - about 500 miles.   

i didn't prepare myself for the prominent french language in quebec.  i don't know french.  the last time i tried using it was during a week in france seven-or-so years ago.   since new brunswick is both english and french, all the traffic signs show both languages.  that at least gave me a little prep.  

at a quebec gas station i payed inside and had that i-have-no-idea-what-to-say culture shock feeling.  managing to pay for the right amount of gas and also find the 'toilette,' i promptly accessed my fantastic rick steve's french, italian & german phrase book.  probably my most favorite book ever. i needed to freshen up...   well, Learn some of the basics of french.   

then at walmart i got greeted with a bonjour!  it was like someone snuck up behind me and stuffed a sock in my mouth.   i think i responded with an unsure 'hi', and moved on.   ok, still needed to get down the basic greetings.  i picked up some water and raisin bran cereal - reversing the box to confirm the english side.  at the checkout i found out it would be helpful to know how to say credit card.   the next morning i was better prepared.  i tried to figure out how to say "hot water" so i could order it at the mcdonalds.  i ordered in french, then english.  when i heard the cashier speak english very clearly, i didn't leave without confirming that my nasally "oh shoh" was understandable, just incase i needed to use it where people didn't know any english.  small progress was better than non.

i continued on toward quebec city in the morning fog.