We learned in class that Bonjour-Hi is just a way of Montrealers to greet people to give them the opportunity to choose the language they want to speak and how Frencophones do not want Hi to be part of the greeting anymore. As Americans we are not used to hearing such thing other than “Hey,” “hi,” and even “What’s up?” when we say hello to someone. That is why as soon as we landed in Montréal, I was shocked because the first thing I heard was “Bonjour-hi” when I had to hand in my passport to pass customs.
After being in the city for 5 days I have noticed that most of Montrealers use this expression all day long. When someone has greeted me with only “bonjour” and I have said “bonjour” back, they immediately start speaking French and because my eyes open wide trying to process the words the person speaking to me realizes immediately that I obviously don’t know how to speak French whatsoever. Thanks to this way of greeting people, I have truly come to really like the city and not feel like a total foreigner and tourist like I felt the first day. It has given me many opportunities to meet people and learn about the culture and the life of the Canadians, especially Montrealers. Therefore, really hope the Hi in the expression is kept alive because it opens up the door to many experiences to tourists and people like us studying abroad.
Special thanks to our social tour guide,
Jenilee, for teaching all of us about Montréal and for a really unforgettable week!
You’ll always be the “I” in our OHIO.