If you don't live in a city where there is a large public transport system, or if you don't regularly have to take the bus system, then you are missing out on a lot of fun. I really mean it! (In a sarcastic way) In all honesty, once you have figured out the system, then it can become dull because it is repetitive and generally always the same. What's fun is trying to figure it all out!
I have never had to use the public transportation system when I was living back home in California. The only times I have ever used the public system has been when travelling to Europe or Canada. On those trips I was always with someone who knew the system so it became rather simple to figure out while temporarily there. But here, in Quebec City, I have to use the bus system every day. I live on the South shore of the Saint-Laurent River and everyone else, including the church and the city, is on the North shore. Because of how the bus system runs, it takes me 40-50 minutes to go somewhere that would take 10-15 minutes by car. Let's not forget to add 30 minutes for if I miss my first bus. Lovely!
Let me walk you through it.
I have been here for almost six weeks now, and have gotten used to the system so far. At least I thought so. For my regular bus route, to go to my tutor's house (or almost anywhere in Quebec), I need to take three different buses to reach my destination. I one bus, the 35R, out of my neighborhood to another stop on the river. From there I catch the L-2 bus that takes me across the river and into the city. I can take that bus to the University if I need to, but generally I get off in front of a mall. From the mall, Place Laurier, I take the Metrobus 800 or 801 to my tutor's house. And then I take those same buses back home. I have been able to manage this system pretty well. I did have a few adventures the first couple weeks when I missed a bus or took a bus that I was not familiar with, or got on the wrong bus. But I did have that solved, until recently. My schedule changed last week and now all my French lessons are in the morning instead of the afternoon. I thought it would be the same in the morning as it is in the afternoon, but apparently it is not the same.
This is the view from my first bus stop. Thus begins your somewhat stressful endeavor to go into town. Throughout most of the day, the bus only comes twice an hour, except during the busy hours of 6-9am and 3-7pm. So once you have walked to your regular bus stop, you wait for the bus. At first you believe you are on time and are confident that the bus will be here soon. After you have been sitting there for about five minutes you start to worry: I am too early? Was the bus early? Am I now late? how long should I wait here? Or is the bus running late? Usually after a few minutes of stressing out, you can finally see the bus turning toward you down the road. But sometimes the bus doesn't come. After standing in the same spot, in the cold, for ten minutes, you decide to act. Because the bus doesn't come for another half hour, you need to move or do something: Should I walk back to the house? Is there something you forgot at the house that you need? No. Then don't go back. Walk to the next bus stop. But do I walk to the next stop, or do I walk to the previous stop? If I walk forward on the route, the bus will take longer to come get me than if I go back. So you decide to go back one, maybe two stops. Once you get to a good spot then you start debating if you should keep going or not. You sit there for another five or ten minutes and then the debate happens again: Should I walk to the next stop? I can see it from here. But what if the bus comes when I am halfway through both stops? Will it stop for me? Most likely not. But I've been waiting a while and the bus still isn't here. But what if it wont stop for me when I am not at the bus stop? Sometimes the bus stop you walked to will have a bench and you just decide to stay put until the bus finally comes. When it does come, after what seems like eternity, you are so happy to see that bus coming over the horizon you could almost jump for joy. But you don't because that would be embarrassing.
Waiting for the first bus is generally the most traumatizing because it comes less frequently than the other buses do.
So on the first day that my lesson was scheduled to be in the morning, it started out well. I was able to catch my first bus and I was there on time! I made it to the station by the river around 8:30am. My lesson was at 9am. I thought I had time. I crossed the street to wait for the L-2 bus. But the L-2 doesn't show up, instead the ELP comes. Almost every person who was huddled in the booths, waiting for the bus, gets on that bus. Generally it can be a good idea to follow the crowd when they are all getting on the same bus. But because I didn't know that bus, I decided not to. But then I remember something:
Didn't Patrice say I could take this bus in the morning to the street my tutor lives on? Was that this bus or another bus? But how do I ask the driver in French? Or should I just go for it and hopefully I will get there? Don't trust what you don't know. But I am sure Patrice said it would take me. Should I take it? Too late. By now the bus is leaving because the light has turned from red to green. So you wait for the L-2 which shows up ten minutes later. By the time you make it across the river and onto the third bus, it is already 9am. The third bus takes 15-20 to get to the stop you need and then it takes you about 5-10 minutes to walk down the street to your tutor's apartment. So you arrive around 9:30am. By now your tutor has realized how liable you are with the bus system, so he says that the next lessons will be starting between 9 and 9:30am, depending on when you arrive. At least he was kind about that.
So the next day you are ready to catch the ELP because you looked it up and now know that it will take you to the street that your tutor lives on. So you get out the door to catch your first bus. But you are slightly delayed because it is pouring down rain and you don't have an umbrella. With umbrella in hand, now you walk through the neighborhood to catch your bus. You are there at 8:20, when it should be arriving, but soon realize that you missed it. Oh well, there is another one in 15 minutes. So you wait in the rain, at least it's not as cold as standing in the snow for 15 minutes. But suddenly a bus comes from the opposite direction you were expecting it to come. It is the 35E (E for express) that you have used before to come home across the river. It takes you a minute to figure out what the bus is doing here and that it is going to be going across the river where you want to be. But by the time you decide to cross the street to board it, it has already picked up it's passenger and is taking off. You know not to step in front of bus that is just taking off, so you let it go and wait for the 35R. And now by this time you have also missed the ELP bus. All the other bus exchanges go smoothly, but you still end up at the tutor's place by 9:30am.
But today was different. I caught my first bus exactly at 8:20am and was able to catch the ELP at 8:35am which got me to the tutor's door by 9am. I was very proud of myself. Third time's a charm right?! I sure hope so!
Jennifer
