Incoming 6th graders are amazed when they hear that when they are in 8th grade they have the opportunity to travel to the Canadian city of Quebec. On Feb 28 the current 8th grade French students began their journey to Quebec. Here is where they went, what they ate and what you need if you get the opportunity to go on the trip.

If you think New Jersey was cold you definitely have never been to Quebec. The packing list tells you to bring snow gear (jackets, snow pants, gloves) These items are necessary for Quebec. Since Quebec is so cold it is almost impossible to survive without warm clothing. If you are a person who gets cold easily you should bring extra socks and sweatshirts to put under your snow gear. Some of the lunches you will need to pay for yourself along with souvenirs.

The packing list tells you to bring 30-40 dollars. This is NOT enough money. At the time of writing the exchange rate is $1 USD to $1.37 CAD this means that if you pay for a 1 dollar item in Canada with a US dollar you will be overpaying by 37 cents. Though that isn’t a lot of money, 37 cents adds up very quickly. Try to convert money, use apple pay, or use a credit card. The average sweatshirt is around $70 and lunches are around 15-20 dollars. Bring the appropriate amount of money based on what you want to buy or eat.  The hotel that everyone stays in has a really nice pool. If the chaperones let people go to the pool you should bring a bathing suit if you plan on going. 

The bus ride to Quebec is really long. It is essential to have some form of entertainment. Books, music, movies/tv shows, are all great things to bring for the bus, just remember to bring earbuds/headphones. You will be on the bus for 10 hours straight, pillows and blankets are recommended to sleep/ relax on the bus. When you are out doing activities bring a change of clothes because you will get wet and you don’t want to be sitting in wet clothing all day.

The French people are known for their food, so what did the students eat in Quebec? On the first day the bus is supposed to leave at 7:15 in the morning, but since there was a snow day the bus was delayed until 2:30 in the afternoon. This means that the students did not get to eat their first meal of the trip, but future students should eat a very nice meal at the hotel.

For the first meal there were different choices. You could make your selection on a google form. For breakfast each morning every student gets a giant platter of food. This consists of toast, pancakes or crepes or waffles with fruit, eggs, potato cubes, fruit, sausage, bacon, ham, and your choice of coffee, orange juice, or apple juice. When the students get to meet their pen pals they will be served a lunch of hotdogs or pizza.

The pizza is not like normal american pizza it has dough with spicy sausage cheese and green peppers. It was not that popular, so most of the students would recommend eating the hotdogs. For dinner that night you will get to visit the sugar shack! A sugar shack is a place where maple syrup is made. They will serve you many courses of different food that you can choose to put maple syrup on. Then you will get to eat maple syrup taffy you make from putting hot maple syrup on snow.

The next day you get the same breakfast, then for lunch you will go to a food court in a mall. There you will spend your own money to buy your lunch. For buying things in Quebec it is recommended that you use a credit card, apple pay, or convert american cash into canadian dollars. You will end up overpaying on many things if you use American dollars. After that fast food lunch you will have a viking dinner. At this restaurant you will have chicken wings and potato wedges. The last day you will get the hotel breakfast and for lunch a boxed lunch. Most students did not eat the boxed lunch and got McDonalds when they stopped.

Arguably the best part of the trip, where did they go? The first day of the trip was primarily traveling. On the way the bus stopped at a McDonalds to get gas then a mall for food and various other items. The next day was Jam packed! In the morning they went shopping in Quebec. Before the shopping places opened they got a tour of the town square in Quebec. Then they had about an hour to go through all the shops and buy whatever souvenirs they wanted.

Next they got to meet their penpals. For a few months they had been communicating with students from Quebec who were learning english. They went to a bowling alley with them. They bowled and had lunch there with them. Then it was off to snow tubing and visiting the ice hotel! The ice hotel was incredible. There were different themed rooms sculpted completely from ice. Some examples are The Care Bear room, The Music Room, The Dancer Room, and The Insect room.

After that everyone went tubing. The tubing was also incredible! There were different levels of tubing runs. They were labeled like ski trails. Green was the easiest and most mild and double black it the most extreme and scary. The double black was only open for a little while, but it was phenomenal. After that they went to dinner at the Sugar Shack where they were able to play the spoons and have fun.

The next day they woke up bright and early to go on a walking tour and see the Frontiac. After that they went dog sledding and played in the snow. The dog sledding was really cool. The dogs took two people per sled and took them down a trail in the woods. At the dog sledding place you got to meet some of the tiny husky puppies who were really cute. After that it was off to the airplane museum, which in fact has no airplanes. The airplane museum is a museum in honor of the French/British war in Canada. The students were able to get involved in learning how to load a fake gun. How to make fake bullets, and a demonstration of what happened to people if they got shot. The kids actually enjoyed the museum. From the museum they walked down the streets of Quebec to a giant elevator. When you went on the elevator you were able to see all the beauty of Quebec. When that was finished they went back on the bus for dinner.

All in all the trip was amazing. Everyone had a great time and learned a lot. The trip was a great opportunity to see a new country and practice french. It was also great for the students to be responsible for