Post ImageI was fortunate enough to take some students with me to Quebec on an exchange this past week. It was difficult as I was away from my e-tools and the community that has been keeping me strong throughout my journey. Although, I must say that I had great supplementary lessons in eating, food habits, and relationships with food from the company I was keeping to make up for the community I was missing. 


I was luckily able to spend my week bulleted with a teacher from our twin school. She prepared wonderful meals for us the whole time we were there. During one meal we started discussing how English cultures seem to have a much different relationship with food compared to other parts of the world, in this case Quebec. I know that I'm making a very general comment here, which might not be true everywhere, but from my experience Anglophones seems to use food as a necessity instead of an enjoyment. Sit down to eat, 10-15 minutes later you're done. Get up, walk away and accomplish something else from the list that needs to be done. Maybe that's why we never seem really satisfied. We don't take the time to appreciate our food long enough to gain satisfaction from it. 


But ohhh no.... not la vie Quebecoise. We had multiple courses where we talked, debated, enjoyed the food, and each others company. Meals would last at least an hour and the longest one of the week lasting 3 hours. This is where I learned the secret to this non-Anglophone life. During our love/ hate food discussion, one of our party said, 



"Michelle, il y a un différence entre se nourrir et manger". 


WOW! 


Eye opener. Not only do they have a different point of view but they also have different words to describe the same thing. In English, we sit down and we eat. End of discussion. Here I can either "se nourrir" or "manger"? No wonder our cultures have different views about the subject!


He then told me that when you "se nourrir", you're eating for the basic necessity of food. Nutrition and calories needed to keep your body functioning. When you "manger" you are eating for the experience of the food while getting the bodily requirements. Thus they are able to eat their cheeses, drink their wines, and have all the wonderfully delicious, yet highly fattening foods, without guilt because they have savored every taste. Which in tern means that they aren't constantly searching for food satisfaction, over indulging or emotional eating. 


So for my 4th carp, I'm going to learn how to incorporate La Vie Quebecoise into my every day life, savor my food, and gain satisfaction from it. I'm no longer going to be an Anglophone that inhales their food without tasting any flavors and forgetting 10 minutes later that I had even eaten. Making me long to search for something else to satisfy the hunger. 


With that I only have one word left to say: 




Merci!




What's your carp?