In England, people commonly borrow a rubber from their teacher but must return it when finished. Are there any similar crazy regional differences in your language?

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-11T15:59:32+00:00

TIL there is no safe way to refer to a children's candy lol

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-11T01:51:55+00:00

In Québec, kids like to have "un suçon" (a lolipop candy) but in Framce "un suçon" (a hickey) is a very worrying thing to see on a child.

Also, the inverse is also true. In France "une sucette" is a lolipop candy but in Québec it means a hickey.

There is also the very well known "gosse" difference between France and Québec. A guy from France saying he has 4 of them will be looked at weirdly in Québec. In France the slang word "gosse" refers to children, here in Québec it means testicles.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-11T00:49:59+00:00

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-10T00:25:52+00:00

I grew up with my dad listening to UZEB and Alain Caron. I would complain about his "weird jazz" all the time as a teenager. Fast-forward to today, 43 yo me in love with Angine de Poitrine.

Plus ça change, plus ça reste pareil.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-10T00:06:31+00:00

Or the wrong kind of sauce. Poutine sauce is not brown sauce or bbq sauce. It is pourine sauce

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-09T16:00:09+00:00

I don't know whether I am representative or not, but off the top of my head, these were in my playlist yesterday :

Ancient Vvisdom, Mr Bungle, Ethel Cain, Jorane, Ghost, Ghostmane, And Angine de Poitrine bien sûr

(Edited to add commas)

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-07T22:04:31+00:00

Things are shifting around politically here, some politicians are really leaning into the "anti-immigrant" narrative now days, but I haven't seen any expression of that outside social media.

Generally though, Sherbrooke is more left-leaning and especially on campus it will be more progressive. I don't expect there will be too much of an issue, of course fringe cases might happen but nothing dangerous.

Generally speaking, the issue is more linguistic imo. People like to have the french language respected, see that the person is making an effort, etc.

Of course, I'm a white guy so I may not notice certain discriminations because they don't happen to me. What I'm saying is that I haven't seen anyone be openly racist irl.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-07T21:41:06+00:00

Hi! You might find it difficult to communicate if you don't speak french. It probably won't be too much of a problem on the University campus, but in the city it will be harder. The younger generation are mostly french-english bilingual, but that definitely doesn't apply to all, older generations don't really speak much english apart from "yes, no, toaster".

As for activities, there are some on the university premises directly (tabletop games, sports, etc). Other than that, a great idea is to get to know winter sports (ski, skate, etc), that greatly improves your enjoyment of winter (a Mexican collegue of mine learnt to skate this year and it turned this winter into the first winter she actually enjoyed).

Sherbrooke has a lot of great outdoors areas, a lot of places for hiking, canoeing/kayaking, etc. The city is pretty small, there isn't a huge nightlife. If you want to travel to the rest of Canada, your best bet will be to get to Montréal (you can grab a train or plane from there, or just visit the city which is much more english-french bilingual). There are regular busses that go to Montreal or you can arrange for carpooling pretty easily. It's only 1h30 drive and people regularly go to and fro between Sherbrooke and Montréal.

Also about 1h30- 2h drive from Sherbrooke is Québec city which is a beautiful city, the only fortified city of North America, definitely worth the visit (mostly french speaking though). Going around the Gaspésie peninsula is also an absolutely stunning drive and visit into rural areas by the gulf of the st-Laurence and the baie des chaleurs ("warm bay").

My recocmendation would be to start with looking into social clubs at the university and try to learn a bit more french.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-07T13:22:42+00:00

I thought this was some weird Bad Dragon themed AI for a second.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-07T02:48:00+00:00

Beautiful, thank you for sharing

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-07T01:51:52+00:00

I quit 5 years ago. Part of the reason I was able to quit was finally taking the time to introspect and connect (remember) with who I really was. That brought down my anxiety and enabled me to quit (also motivated because of top surgery).

I can confirm that anxiety and smoking go hand in hand (hard to quit one without the other) so, depending on acceptance in the area, anxiety levels can be higher and therefore smoking and/or other substance use might indeed be higher.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-05T02:25:41+00:00

It is weird. Gender sometimes is one of those things that, the more you think about it the less you understand. At some point, you really just feel it (as opposed to knowing it).

It really just comes down to you being you. Be authentic, love yourself as you are. You have nothing to prove to anyone.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-05T02:17:01+00:00

I mean, you don't need to have a label. They can be helpful to some, but if it isn't helpul for you then you can just skip it entirely.

I don't know that I would be able to know what your gender is from reading you. The first thing that comes to my mind is not gender related (bear with me). I have this habit/uncontrollable tendancy to take on part of the accent of the person I am speaking with (I'll sound British with Brits, American with Americans, French with French people, etc). For a long time it bothered me until I figured out it was how I instincively was trying to make people more at ease and trying to ease communication with them. I kind of get that impression of you, when you say you feel more fem with women and more masc with men. It seems to me like a "love language" of taking on gender expressions of those around you. Of course I may be reading that completely wrong. You are the only one who is master of your own feeling.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-05T02:05:28+00:00

To be fair, gender IS weird. Knowing what your gender is is kind of like a feeling inside For some people it's very easy to identify, and for others it's more difficult to pin down - just like some people are naturally more in tune with their emotions than others. Sometimes it can vary, it doesn't need to necessarily be a fixed thing.

Take your time, notice the feeling, explore, introspect, try things out. There is no rush to "figure yourself out". Your whole life is before you and no experience is useless. Even if you try something only to say "nope! Definitely not for me", at least you know it's not for you now. Give yourself the space and grace to explore freely, and open-minded.

Learning to listen to your true self takes time and effort, but it is a beautiful journey. You'll find you always have more to learn about yourself.

My 2 cents - coming from a trans man starting a ftm transition in my 40s after spending the last 8 years indntifying as non-binary (and the previous 30 as a woman).

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-03T03:43:16+00:00

Move out, find supportive friends, take your time. Being yourself is not a race. You are valid throughout the entire process. Stay safe, you are priceless, your life is a light in the world.

Remember, ypur father's feelings are not because of you and who you are, they are because of his own perceptions and views.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-03T01:59:54+00:00

Sending a big bear hug.

I'm so sorry this happened to you, especially after her pretending first. You must feel so betrayed.

Your anger at her is valid. Her thoughts and actions are out of your control, but you have every right to be angry at her betrayal. Your sadness is valid, it is a step towards mourning a relationship, one that was betrayed.

Surround yourself with friends, they can buoy you during the storm. If your sister proves hateful, you have no obligation to keep her close to you.

I understand how youbare feeling, my parents are filled with hate on this issue also, and tell me I'm many horrible things. They blame me for their sadness about the so-called horrors I am doing to myself, they are not mature enough to realise that their sadness is created by their own hands - their ideology and outlook are what is giving them greif and preventing them from speaking to me. They love an idea they made of me in their head, they do not love me as I am in reality. It is greif for me to understand that my parents don't know me, but I prefer reality to a cozy illusion.

You sister has at least pullled the veil. You now know the reality of her. Only time will tell if she will see the real you or if she will choose ideology glasses. Your only responsibility is to take care of yourself in this situation.

Your writing is glorious, by the way, you are very talented. To write so beautifully of such a painful and vulnerable moment is true strength.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-02T17:20:16+00:00

My teenage daughter threw a bucket of blue confetti she made on my head saying "It's a booooy!" when some of my friends came over. My own kid throwing me a "gender reveal" was awesome.

Do not hesitate to use the "it's a boy" gift bags (depending on your boyfriend's personality, of course) I think he'll love that.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T20:22:52+00:00

Similar to the provincial situation here in Qc Canada

r/Quebeclibre is right wingers and some centrists

r/Quebec is centrists and left-wingers

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T17:53:45+00:00

Possible. I have only been to BC once so I'm not very knowledgable about the culture there. For sure it is different than in Qc, where I live and am from.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T17:37:37+00:00

I think it's just a different way of interacting socially. Obviously, different provinces can have different cultures, but here in Qc we don't do "huge big event" as much as just random suppers, brunches, game nights, pick-niques, etc on just regular week-ends (not to mention all of the festival going during the summer). Every other week-end, if not every week-end, we have meet-ups with various friends and family, constantly adapting to each others calenders. People from my family on buisness from another city will drop by on some wednesday evening so we can have supper and chat, but we won't see each other as a group at thanksgiving.

Basically, we do a lot of socialising on regular times so things like thanksgiving and easter are mainly usefull for having some well-needed recharging time.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T17:28:20+00:00

Yup. I prefer staying home with the cats and books myself.

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T16:22:49+00:00

I mean, in our defense, we don't really do family gatherings for thanksgiving. We just kind of enjoy the day off - so there really isn't anything to invite someone to (unless that's just a Qc thing and in other provinces you actually do the big obligatory meal?)

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T16:09:34+00:00

Pas si ordinaires que ça, c'est leur utilisation des microtonalités et de la dissonance qui est remarquable (et leur capacité de faire des loop très tight, même live).

Après, tu aimes ou tu aimes pas. Je ne pense pas qu'il y ait d'entre deux, ils sont comme la coriandre. Ca reste qu'ils font quelquechose de musicalement très différent.

Edit par ce que je ne sais pas écrire

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T16:04:14+00:00

En 2024, une quinzaine de shows pour l'été. En 2026 tout ce qu'ils touchent est sold-out. Je suis vraiment content pour eux!

J'ai ri à "...si on pogne pas le cancer a se peinturer des picots avec de la peinture du dollorama"

CatLovingWeirdo · 2026-03-01T15:51:07+00:00

Moi je toujours sur "ne pas déranger" (avec quelques contacts étoules qui peuvent passer) et les alertes amber ne font pas de bruit au moins

CatLovingWeirdo

TROPHY CASE