Roland, MCiT undergraduate student, spent his semester abroad at the Université du Québec in Montréal last fall. Looking back, he tells about his great time in Canada:
“Montréal – the second largest city of Canada and at the same time the second largest French speaking city in the world. I have never seen such a collision of two different cultures anywhere else. The French charm is meeting the north American kindness. Not only the architecture and style, but also the mentality of the French Canadians is unique. Internationality is lived like in no other city. In every part of the city you are greeted in a different language, but French is clearly dominating.
The university is situated in the middle of the city and is a part of downtown of Montréal. The provided student house of the university is right around the corner. So, I had the possibility to do my exchange semester in the midst of a north American metropole, staying at a very cheap accommodation. There are no mountains, but the eponymous hill called Mont-Royal is towering above in between the high-rises. This obvious landmark alias "Nordkette of Montreal" has been my playground for leisure activities.
After hot and muggy 30 degrees in September, in October the first snow was falling. In November I used to change my t-shirt with my thickest quilted jacket I had with me. Minus 20 degrees were no rare occurrence and so I noticed the advantages of the tunnelling of the city and learned to assess this uniqueness of Montréal.
The daily study routine consisted of much teamwork and projects, which made it easy to get in touch with other students. However, there was still enough leisure time to meet colleagues. During the exchange semester, we drove together around whole Canada for hiking, doing a road trip in cities like Boston, Toronto, New York or Ottawa. We spent time in Montréal to visit a museum or having a substantial French brunch.”
A valuable experience for life - MCiT students have the opportunity to spend a semester at one of the many partner universities around the world.
Authors: Marlene Männer, Maria Reiterer, Andrea Thurner
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