Christopher Jones is a First Year student from Montreal, Canada. He has been living in Canada for most of his life, up until he went to boarding school in Vermont to pursue his alpine skiing career. Here at St. Lawrence, Chris is alpine skiing for our Division I team and is actively involved in the community. We decided to interview Chris to help us and the community understand what it’s like to be a Canadian student here at St. Lawrence!
Q: As a Canadian how did you hear about SLU?
A: Growing up I have always heard about St. Lawrence, mostly due to the incredible alumni network. In Montreal, many alumni have either resided in my hometown or are originally from Montreal. Also, the fact that Montreal is only about three to four hours from St. Lawrence was a benefit.
Q: How does it feel to be living in the United States now?
A: For me personally, it feels very similar to Canada. This is mostly due to the fact that I lived in the United States all throughout high school, which has helped me adjust and adapt to American culture much more easily.
Q: What cultural differences vary between the United States/SLU and Canada?
A: For the most part, the Canadian and American cultures are very similar. One of the biggest differences that I have noticed is that there is a lot more French in Canada. Going along with the amount of French in Canada, another difference is that each time I tell a student that I’m from Canada they always ask, “do you speak French?” and when I respond “yes,” the follow-up is always “say something in French!”
Q: What’s your favorite food in Canada? Is it better than Dana?
A: My favorite food is definitely meat pie and poutine! So far I haven’t eaten either of those things at Dana, but I’m assuming that it will never be as good as the real deal back home.
(Photos: Huffington Post, Chris Jones)