The Final Post About My Year On Exchange

It’s all over now. My year on exchange in Canada has reached its conclusion and I am now back in England. This is (probably) my final post about my year on exchange.

Going to Canada for a full academic year was initially fairly daunting but I am really glad that I did it. There were some really good moments both semesters and overall it was a fantastic experience. The experience I had living and learning in Canada was definitely different from what I am used to in the UK. I did have to confront unfamiliar situations but to be honest I never got really homesick and never experienced culture shock. If anyone reading my blog is considering doing a year abroad I would wholeheartedly recommend that you do one.

Whilst I liked the university where I studied in Ontario, I am looking forward to returning to university back in England this September. I think the place that I miss the most is Toronto. I just had a wonderful time every single time that I went to Toronto. In my mind I am going to go back to Toronto at some point.

So what’s next for me? Well I have a long summer break ahead of me. I already have some plans to keep myself busy, I’m sure I will end up writing multiple blog posts about what I do over this summer holiday.

A Little More Canada Before I Leave

I’ve finished my academic year. But even though I am done studying abroad I’m not heading back to England just yet.

My parents flew out on Friday – the end of the semester – and we are having a family holiday before I leave this country for good. We started with me showing my parents around the town in Ontario where I have been staying. It was a really nice way to say goodbye to the place where I have been living since last September.

Also whilst we were in Southern Ontario we went down to see Niagara Falls. There was evidence of the long winter and repeated freezing spells in the large chunks of ice that had formed around the base of the falls. However Niagara Falls was just as stunning as I remember. If you are ever in the area you really need to see them.

The second leg of our journey took us away from Ontario to the Pacific Coast. We landed in Vancouver, British Colombia.

There’s no denying that Vancouver is a stunning looking city. The entire city is located on a waterfront, and when you look to the North there’s mountains. I don’t think I have ever been anywhere else like this. But whilst the city does look amazing, I honestly I don’t actually think Vancouver is that great. It is a great photo taking city, but in terms of things to do I just wish that there was something more.

However, in Stanley Park I saw four raccoons! Raccoons are my absolute favourite animals. But in my entire time at the university I only saw one briefly. Yesterday I saw four and one of them came really close to me! One of my best experiences in Canada.

Thinking About Returning To England

Several of my recent blog posts have talked about how my Year Abroad is approaching its end. But what about once I’m back?

I have a really long summer break this year. I break up from University significantly earlier than I do in England. I then don’t return to Uni until towards the end of September. It’s going to be a long one. I do have some plans to keep myself busy and stop getting bored. I have a few projects in mind that I want to work on other summer. I also want to make a start on researching for my dissertation. There will likely be numerous blog posts over the summer about what I am getting up to.

When I am back in England I am definitely looking forward to the weather. (Never thought I’d type that!) But at this point anything over 5 degrees feels warm to me! Seriously, the Canadian winter just drags on and on and on. It was fun at first but after a while it just becomes tiring.

It’s going to be nice to get to spend some quality time with my parents again. Obviously I miss them when I am away. This semester has been the longest I have ever gone without seeing them, even though we regularly speak on FaceTime that’s not really the same as actually seeing them. I am pretty independent so I can cope on my own, and I always know that my Mum and Dad are happy that I’m off having fun, doing well, and living my best life. An important part of the university experience is about living on your own and having space to grow, I know that I have grown as a person from being independent. However at the same time I am close with my parents, I’d say we have a healthy, happy and positive relationship. I think that’s how it should be with your parents when you’re a student.

I have definitely enjoyed studying in Canada, it’s been interesting taking different courses and learning in new ways. But I have also missed my uni back in England and I have missed my uni city. I am looking forward to going back there in September.

There’s other little things that I’m looking forward to when I go back, such as good quality instant coffee. Canada just doesn’t do good quality instant coffee.

I would say that rather than focusing on the sad parts of leaving Canada I am choosing to see the positive side and think about what I am looking forward to once I am back in England.

Thinking Back to Wanting to Study Abroad

As I have mentioned before, my year abroad is rapidly approaching its end. It’s sort of funny how something I’ve been thinking about since 2014 is going to be completely over and done within a month.

I was thinking about studying abroad pretty much as soon as I started to seriously look through university prospectuses. I just knew that I wanted to take the chance to go out and study in another country. When else in life do you really get the opportunity to experience another country in the way you can as student studying abroad? In fact part of what sealed the deal for my uni and the degree that I am studying was that I could have a full year abroad instead of the more typical single semester.

Throughout last year I wrote quiet often on my blog about the process of getting ready to go on my Year Abroad. From submitting an application to getting a Study Visa, it was a long process. However it was not a continuous process, sometimes months went by with nothing happening and then I had about twenty different things to sign and submit all at once. The process of getting ready to go out made it feel like it would be a long time until my Year Abroad happened, then before I knew it I was sat in my bedroom with my parents figuring out how to cram everything I needed into a suitcase and a hand luggage bag!

I am really glad that I could have a full year. If I had only had a single semester then I would say the first semester is the better one to go abroad. There’s one major benefit to going out for the first semester and that is everyone else is new, as everyone is sort of in the same boat it’s a lot easier to make friends. I’m also glad that I didn’t chose to do a split year at two different universities as the stress that would have involved would probably have been too much for me.

There have been some trials and tribulations along the way, but ultimately I don’t think I would have done it differently. This year has probably not been what I was anticipating back in 2014 (for instance at one point I was convinced I would be in sunny California not snowy Canada!), however I have enjoyed my study abroad experience.

My Year Abroad is Racing to Its Conclusion

Somehow it’s already the last week of classes, as of Thursday afternoon at 4PM I will have finished classes for third year.

Right now I’m sort of shocked that it can already be at an end. It’s only really within the last week or so that it has actually hit me just how close to the end of the academic year I am. I think part of the reason why I’m disorientated is that in Canada there’s no spring break. Back in England we usually have four week spring break around whenever Easter occurs. This year there’s no spring break which just seems really odd to me. In fact there was only one day off for Easter which was Good Friday, and the way my timetable has worked out this semester meant that Friday is already my free day.

Usually I’m more aware of when the end of the semester is approaching as I am usually working on coursework (or more accurately for me editing and revising coursework) right up to the final few days of the semester. As I mentioned in my last blog post, despite a horrendous amount of deadlines throughout March I was able to stay on top of my coursework load thanks to some forward thinking planning.

Classes conclude at the end of this week, then from Monday onwards Finals Season begins. But once I have done my last exam – which is a take home exam – I am finished for the academic year. I’m somewhere between nervous and confident for finals, I know I still need to do a good amount of revision before the exams start.

Of course as we approach the end of another semester and another academic year I can’t help thinking over what has happened and what I have done this semester. Without a shadow of a doubt the highlight of Second Semester has been Toronto ComiCon.

In the coming weeks there will probably be numerous posts reflecting on how my year abroad is coming to an end, dealing with finals and reflecting on what some of the highlights of the year have been. However I just wanted to do a quick post about how my year abroad is racing to its conclusion.

About to Turn 21

I can’t quite believe that it’s nearly my birthday again. How has it come around again so quickly?

Of course the biggest thing to happen to me since I turned 20 is going on my Year Abroad to Canada. It has been an incredible experience, I have loved things like going to Toronto and Thanksgiving. Though it turns out that snow gets really boring after a while. I think probably the biggest challenge I have had to face from my Year Abroad was getting everything I needed to enter the country ready in time. Also the actual experience of flying out to Canada on my own was a bit unnerving. However having managed to do that I think it’s given me even more confidence in my resilience.

Around a year ago I wrote a blog post called ‘I am nearly 20!’ Looking back at me saying what I was going to do on my birthday made me smile, I wrote that we were going to be watching Frozen at Disney Soc but what I didn’t know then was that my friends were going to surprise me and bring out a birthday cake for me. Also looking back at that post I definitely realise that I made some really strong friendships last year and I’m looking forward to seeing those people again when I’m back in England later this year (if you’re reading this you know who you are!).

It’s hard not to think about going on exchange when I think about being 20 as it has definitely been the most significant thing that has happened to me over the past year. However I think another important thing that has happened to me is that my dedication to learning has increased. Very early on with being a student I realised that I genuinely love learning but I think that has just increased even more within the last year. I am still unsure of what I want to do with my future but I feel like I want to continue being a scholar for as long as I possibly can.

I don’t really know what being 21 is going to bring for me. However whatever challenges lie ahead I am ready to face with resilience and optimism.

Life Update – Mid-Terms and Snow

I know I have been a little bit too relaxed with posting regularly on my blog so far this year. To share how things are going at the moment and where I am right now in my life, I thought I would just do a quick Life Update post.

·         As of Monday I am now in the midst of Mid-Terms. This semester I have three mid-terms and I have already done the one that I was most worried about so it’s not too bad.

·         It has been snowing again. I talked more about Canadian winter in January here. To be honest at this point I am just getting a bit bored of winter, the constant cold is just getting tiring.

·         I am a vegetarian at the moment, I talked more about that in this post.

·         Academically things are going well, the classes I am taking this semester are all interesting. I have also been working on my proposal for my dissertation which should be really interesting.

·         To be honest, things have generally been a bit quieter this semester. I am still enjoying being in Canada to Study Abroad but it seems like there is not as much is happening as there was back in September and October.

Nearly a Week Back in Canada

I arrived back in Canada on Friday last week and I thought it was about time to write a quick post about what has happened since then.

First off, the weather. It is definitely winter right now in Canada. Travelling from Toronto airport when I arrived was not fun, it was seriously cold! I think it got to around - 20 °C. This sort of weather would probably have brought the country to a standstill back in England but here in Canada everyone just keeps going about their business. On Monday there was some pretty deep snow and I even had to walk to class as it was snowing, I was listening to the Frozen soundtrack whilst walking to class. Fortunately since then it has warmed up a little, today it was even + 2 °C. I’m pretty sure that next winter when I’m back in England I am going to be completely insufferable about the weather (so apologies in advance to whoever I’m living with).

There’s not a Fresher’s week/O-Week at the start of this semester so it has been just straight back into classes. To be honest even after three years of being a student I’m still not entirely sure if I like that or not! However I am glad that I had the weekend to adjust to the time zone, get over the jet lag and have chance to settle back in before getting back into classes.

I have now been through at least one class of all the classes that I’m taking this semester and I’m happy with what I’ve chosen. From that point of view this is definitely going to be a very interesting semester. I only have one night class instead of two this time round, even though I don’t find night classes too bad it’s preferable to just have one.

So I’m back in Canada and so far everything has been going good for me.

Back to Uni in Canada

Tomorrow I fly out back to Canada for the second semester of my year studying abroad.

It really does not feel like it was that long ago I was flying back for Winter break, but then again doesn’t the holiday period always seem to fly by?

I had a really good time during first semester: I did lots of exciting and interesting things, I met some great people and made some good friends, and I had a great time getting to now a new country. I have some ideas about what I might get up to during this next semester. I am sure I will visit Toronto again and I want to have a holiday somewhere during reading week in February.

I was anxious when I flew out to begin the whole study abroad process but this time I’m not really that anxious. I know that I can be independent enough to travel to another country on my own and navigate another culture. So I am returning to Canada with a greater confidence than I went there initially with.

I really enjoyed my first semester and I am looking forward to my second one.

2017 on my Blog

Well right back at the start of 2017 it was one of my New Year Resolutions to try and blog more. I think I managed that pretty well this year. As we say goodbye to 2017 and hello to 2018 I thought it would be interesting to look back at this year on my blog.

I have chosen my favourite post from each month of the year to look back on. These might not have been the most popular post for that month, they might not be relating to the most significant thing that happened to me in that month, but they are what I consider the best of the month.

January

Wait, that actually happens in real life?

The post written the day after I bumped into a couple of friends in a coffee shop has some interesting musings on friendship as a student in the 21th Century.

February

Doll Collecting, I know it’s a bit weird.

I like collecting dolls. One year after I bought my first doll I wrote this post that is honest, geeky, personal and about collecting. I think this post just about sums up everything that I try to make my blog about.

March

Disney Live-Action Remakes – My Thoughts

An interesting post were I consider what I think of the Disney Live-Action Remakes so far and then suggest what I’d like to see. It’s also interesting as I wrote this post before Beauty and the Beast came out.

April

Doctor Who – Thin Ice Review

If you were following my blog between April and July you probably saw my Doctor Who reviews so I thought I should include one on this list. I think this review of Thin Ice was one of the best ones I wrote.

May

Lois Lane YA Novels – Review

The only book review I have written on this blog! I started reading the YA series of Lois Lane novels and very quickly got hooked on them, in this review I think I did a good job at writing about the trilogy.

June

Back from Uni

After finishing second year I wrote a brief post about being back from uni for summer break. In this post I was looking forward to what was going to happen so it’s interesting to read now that has happened.

July

Bargirl’s Batcave – A Doll Room Craft

Another doll post but a crafty one this time. In this post I shared how I made a Batcave for my Batgirl DC Superhero Girls doll. This project was more labour intensive than I’d anticipated but I was really pleased with the end result.

August

The Sarah Jane Adventures Appreciation

This post is a thoughtful and insightful review of a series that I sort of grew up with. The Sarah Jane Adventures meant a lot to me when I was younger and I would like to think that this post gave it the respect it deserves.

September

The Pep Rally and Other New Experiences in Canada

After my first full week in Canada I wrote a post summarising what I had been doing, including the Pep Rally. This post perfectly sums up that feeling of absolutely everything being new and exciting as I started my study abroad adventure.

October

Thanksgiving Weekend

This year I had my first ever Thanksgiving and I had a great time with my friends. I really enjoyed it and I shared that experience on my blog.

November

Image © BBC

New Doctor New Look

A very balanced and fair consideration of Jodie Whitaker as the first female Doctor and what that could mean for the future of the show.

December

Toronto in the run up to Christmas

I have really enjoyed going into Toronto whilst I have been living and studying in Canada. The trip at the start of December was another good one and I think the blog post about it was the best.

So that was my favourite blog post of the month for each month in 2017. I am really proud of what I have done with the blog this year and I hope that I can continue to update it as regularly as I have done with similarly interesting content in the New Year.

2017 has been a pretty great year, I have done lots of really interesting and fun stuff. I’m looking forward to discovering what fresh new adventures 2018 has in store for me.

Thank you for reading my blog and Happy New Year!

Being Back

Well I’ve now been back in England for a couple of days. As soon as I knew I had a relatively long Christmas break I knew that I would be spending it at home.

I left my residence around 10:30 AM (Canadian Eastern Time) on Saturday (16th Dec) and I wasn’t back in my home until around 2:30 PM (GMT) on Sunday (17th Dec). It was certainly a very long day! Though somewhat surprisingly I managed to not feel too jet lagged. The lack of jet lag surprised me as it lasted for days when I arrived in Canada but returning to England it just didn’t happen.

I have really enjoyed my first semester in Canada. I made some really good friends out there who I have enjoyed spending time with. I had some really good new experiences. Amongst the highlights are the Pep Rally, Niagara Falls, Toronto and Thanksgiving. All of these were unlike anything I have experienced in England and I made some great memories.

To my surprise I didn’t really experience any culture shock or home sickness. Literally all the pre-departure information I received said that at some point you will experience culture shock or home sickness but for me that just was not the case. Maybe it was because I was having a good time that even though I missed certain things about being home it never became overwhelming. Or maybe I’m just more resilient than I realised.

I really enjoyed my first semester out in Canada. I am so glad that I opted to do a full year as that means I have another semester to look forward to. But for now I am going to enjoy Christmas break. 

Finally Finals

Well once more its exam season, and this time I really mean it! Its finals!

I’m actually dealing with the stress pretty well but I just wanted to write a quick blog post to summarise how things have been going for me recently.

I’m keeping on top of my revision but also trying to be creative and intelligent with the ways that I am revising. My focus is on doing revision in amounts that are little and often so as to avoid overwhelming myself with information.

I have three exams, a final project and a take home exam all of which are due within a fortnight (two weeks). It’s new for me to have such an intense amount of work, back in the UK we usually have to write a final essay for a class and deal with what I call Coursework Season but there’s rarely a final exam as well.

In residence it’s actually been strangely enjoyable. Sure everyone is stressed out and working hard but we are still making time to spend with each other. In the past week I’ve watched Planet Earth II and Mulan with my friends on an evening, and on an afternoon I’ve been having coffee and cake with friends. It’s strange to say that exam season is fun but it kind of has been. I’ve mentioned before just how incredibly lucky I have been with the group of people that I am living with, it’s a great group and we get a long really well.

So that’s what’s going on at the moment. Even though everything is centred around exams I am still having a good time here in Canada whilst on my Study Abroad experience.

Little Differences

The 5^th of November, back in the U.K it is Bonfire Night. But here in Canada it’s just the Sunday that the clocks go back.

Generally I have been pretty lucky in that I have not experienced home sickness or culture shock. In the run up to going to study abroad I heard so many things about how ‘you will get home sick’ but honestly I haven’t and this far into my exchange I think that it’s unlikely it ever will hit me. However that doesn’t mean there aren’t some little differences which when I come across make me miss home.

·         As I mentioned at the start of this post, Bonfire Night. I want to go see a firework display tonight but there isn’t one.

·         Halloween, yes I had an awesome Halloween but at the same time I did miss going to the Halloween event that I have been to every year at my UK uni.

·         Tea. I haven’t had a single cup of proper English Breakfast tea since I’ve been here because the ones imported from Britain are too pricey and I don’t like the look of any of the other brands.

·         Instant coffee, you can’t buy decent instant coffee over here. As I need my coffee every morning I had to buy a coffee maker.

·         Halloumi, it’s not available in Walmart.

·         Having a full reading week, we don’t have one in the fall semester but it’s nice to have a break.

·         Money, I’m fine with saying dollars instead of pounds and using notes but the coins keep confusing me. This is awkward if you’re at a till when there’s a queue behind you and you’re faffing around trying to figure out what’s a 10 cent and what’s a 5 cent.

This isn’t a list of all the differences between being a student in the UK and Canada or everything that I miss but it’s just a few things that have stood out to me.

Surviving Coursework Season – In Canada!

Back in May I wrote a post called “Student Life - Surviving Coursework Season”, as I have just finished my first coursework season during my time studying abroad I thought I’d write a blog post about surviving coursework season in Canada.

First off, more accurately than it being coursework season this is mid-term season. Generally mid-terms are sit down exams. However I have been fortunate enough to only have had one out of the five classes I am taking set a mid-term exam. I prefer writing coursework essays to taking an exam as I do quite well with the whole process of researching, formulating an argument, writing and then editing.

As I just mentioned I am taking five classes this semester, back in the UK I only take three classes a semester. This does mean that I have more coursework to do over here but generally they have not been as long. All the essays I’ve had to write over here have been under 2000 words whereas back in the UK my essays have usually between 2000 – 2500 words long.

I am naturally quite an organised person and this is a very helpful trait to have when dealing with writing coursework. I keep an eye on when deadlines are on their way. I will always begin writing an essay with enough time to have a couple of days before the deadline to repeatedly go over it and edit it. The downside of being organised like this is that I then tend to become stressed out if I deviate from my plan, even if it’s just running a day behind schedule.

One real struggle has been that classes are still running completely as normal whilst all these coursework/mid-term deadlines have been occurring. This means that there’s still been the regular amounts of reading to do alongside writing essays. Usually in the UK a lighter load of reading is set for weeks when there’s coursework due.

However overall I have managed to adapt to the differences and once again have survived coursework season!

Thanksgiving Weekend

I celebrated my first ever Thanksgiving!

Here in Canada we just had a long weekend (7^th – 10^th of October) to celebrate Thanksgiving. In Canada Thanksgiving takes place in early October instead of in November like it does over in America. The reason why is apparently because Thanksgiving is more about celebrating the Harvest over here in Canada. Going into the long weekend I didn’t really know what to expect because I have never experienced Thanksgiving before. But it turned out that I had a really great time and I really enjoyed myself.

Most people on my floor in my accommodation either went home for the long weekend or went off exploring places. As I’ve mentioned before usually my accommodation is very sociable so it was weird to find it so quiet, though it was kind of a refreshing change! I spent nearly the entire weekend with a couple of friends who live on the same floor as me and were staying for the long weekend. The three of us had a really good time together.

On Saturday we didn’t do too much, though I did go to a local farmers market which was really nice. I spent a lot of Saturday chatting, hanging out and just generally enjoying spending time with my friends.

On Sunday evening we had been invited to go to one of our other friends (she’s also one of my suitemates) home to join her family for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a really good meal with lots of good food. We just had a really nice evening. Beforehand I know we’d been worried that it might be a little awkward but there wasn’t really any awkwardness. Once more the stereotype about Canadians being friendly welcoming people was proven to be true!

On Monday a lot of places were closed - as it was a public holiday - but we wanted to get out and do something. We found a local farm with a Corn Maze and a Pumpkin Patch was open and so we went there for a little outing. We managed to get lost in the Corn Maze but that’s part of the fun! It was a good harvest themed attraction which was nice to visit over Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday we had pancakes, we hung out some more and we went for a walk. There was also a second Thanksgiving dinner on a smaller scale than the big meal but on by the university. In the evening more or less everyone who had gone home returned, even though we’d all seen each other on Friday it was still good to have a reunion with all the friends I’ve made on this floor!

So that was my first ever Thanksgiving, as you can probably guess, I really enjoyed myself. I kind of want to bring celebrating Thanksgiving with me next year when I am back in the UK.

Niagara Falls and Other New Experiences in Canada

Can it really be over a month already since I arrived in Canada for my Study Abroad adventure? Apparently it is and so following on from ‘The Pep Rally and Other New Experiences in Canada’ I’m going to be sharing some of my more recent new experiences.

At the weekend (the one just gone) I went to Niagara Falls which was incredible. Going to Niagara Falls is one of those things that you just have to do whilst you’re in Ontario and I’m glad I did. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I went but it was just stunning. Seriously, Niagara Falls is amazing. I saw it from the Canadian side of the border which is apparently the better side to view it from (and not just because the Canadian side is in the better country!) Me and the group of friends I went with went on a boat trip where you go right up to the Falls (and get wet) and then we walked along the top to look down at the Falls. It was a great day out.

I’m trying new foods! Specifically Poutine. I had never heard of Poutine until I got here but apparently it’s a Canadian speciality dish. For my readers who don’t know what Poutine is basically it’s fries with cheese on top and gravy. At first I wasn’t sure about it but once I gave it a try I found that I actually liked it. I particularly liked the one I had with pulled pork on top.

Another recent new experience was going to Toronto. I talked about that in more detail in my post ‘I Went To Toronto!’ but it’s worth repeating because it was amazing.

Living in accommodation has been a positive experience. I’m actually making friends which is something I have struggled with in the past. I talked about this more in my post ‘Differences in Accommodation’.

A way from fun days out and new cultural experience I have also been having new experiences in class. I have night classes now which it turns out are not so bad. Work is more intensive other here, I usually have several smaller tasks each week as opposed to one big one at the end of the semester. This definitely has its advantages as it means there’s not the pressure to do one big essay which is worth 100% of the grade.

Also there’s midterm exams. I had my first one on Tuesday. It was kind of weird for me to be taking an exam again given I didn’t have any exams during Second Year. It turned out that it was nowhere near as awful as I’d been anticipating and I’m cautiously optimistic that it went well for me.

Coming up is a very new experience for me, my first ever Thanksgiving! In Canada Thanksgiving takes place in October, apparently this is because October is the time of the Harvest. This year Thanksgiving falls on Monday the 9^th. I’m lucky enough to have been invited to go round to a friend’s house to spend Thanksgiving with her and her family. I’m looking forward to experiencing first-hand what Thanksgiving is all about.

Overall I am definitely having a wonderful time out here in Canada. I actually think it’s better than I had allowed myself to anticipate it would be and I’m certainly trying my best to make the most of all the new experiences that come with being in a new country.

One Year of My Blog!

Well today it is exactly one year since I wrote ‘Finally Starting A Blog’ and begun Doing It On My Terms.

I’m honestly slightly surprised that I’ve managed to make a full year of blog posts. Certainly if you look at the amount I posted in November and December of 2016 it does look somewhat doubtful if I was going to continue. However one of my New Year Resolutions for 2017 was to work more on my blog and develop it.

One thing that helped me to keep going was when I began the My Haul posts, I love collecting stuff and those posts have given me both the opportunity to share that love of collecting and the chance to show off my latest purchases. I enjoy writing reviews, the Doctor Who reviews where good to write each week and I’m also proud of my Wonder Woman Review.

Probably the post that I have linked to the most is ‘Why Tiana is the Best Disney Princess’ which I seem to have linked to every single time I’ve mentioned anything about Tiana.

Coming to Canada to Study Abroad has also given my blog a new lease of life, I have really enjoyed sharing my thoughts and opinions as I start to learn about this great country. Since I arrived in Canada my views have risen and I know my blog is being read by many people throughout the floor I live on.

I thought for the one year anniversary I would share what the five most popular posts on this blog have been (at the time of writing) and give you my opinion on them in retrospect.

5 – So That’s What Having Friends Is Like!

Honestly it has always slightly surprised me that this has always been one of the most popular posts I have ever written. It was only the second post on the blog and looking back at it I know I could have done better. However I think the honesty I wrote with was good and that sort of honesty is something I’ve always attempted to maintain.

4 – The Start Of Studying Abroad!

This was written pretty quickly because I’d had a goal in mind to write something in the first few days after I arrived in Canada. But I think it does a good job of concisely summing up what I was feeling in those first few days.

3 – Piecing Together The City

Before I began writing this post I worried that it might come across as being a bit too abstract however I think it did a good job of translating how I felt about getting to know a new city in a new country.

2 – Differences in Accommodation

I’m pretty proud of this post, and I am still happy in my accommodation over here. It’s quite appropriate that this post is in the same list as So That’s What Having Friends Is Like because the experience I’m having right now living in accommodation is what I wanted back in first year and what I was reflecting on in that post.

1 – Turns Out Night Classes Are Not So Bad

This is my most viewed post since I began the blog! If I was to guess why this post has been so popular I would say that it’s because the friends I’ve made in Canada are interested to see if they agree with my opinion on night classes and my friends back in the UK are probably curious about what night classes are like because we don’t really have them in the UK.

So, here’s to another year of this blog! I would be interested to know what my reader’s favourite blog posts have been. I hope you will all keep reading as I share my life, hobbies, and interests and just keep doing it on my terms. 

Differences in Accommodation

I’ve talked before about new things in Canada. I even briefly talked about residence in my post on ‘The Pep Rally and Other New Experiences in Canada’ but this time I want to talk in a bit more detail about my experience so far with student accommodation in Canada.

I’m unsure if most of this stuff is specifically Canadian or if it’s just stuff I missed out on back in the UK. My first year accommodation was a very small group and it was university accommodation but it was off campus. There was just four of us for the first semester and five for the second semester. This was great when we were getting along with each other however if we had arguments and when we fell out it quickly became difficult and awkward. In second year I lived in a house with two other students, I did try to get along with them but sometimes people just don’t get along with each other.

And that brings us to this year. If you know me you probably know that I was hoping it would be third time lucky with my accommodation.  Well I think it has been third time lucky.

I live with a group of eight (including me) that’s more people than I’ve ever lived with before but so far I think it is working out well. There’s a fun dynamic starting to develop between us. Even simple stuff like this morning I sat at the table with one of my suitemates whilst having breakfast and we chatted whilst we ate. It feels like we actually interact more than the people I’ve lived with previously. And it’s just good to spend time with my flatmates instead of it feeling like a chore.

Just generally living in student accommodation over here is a lot more of a sociable experience than it ever was for me in England. As I mentioned previously it’s fairly common to just wander into other people’s suites and hang out with each other. I can’t quite decide if that’s because of where I lived, because it’s just the Canadian way or because I have become more confident and now actively seek out opportunities for socialisation.

It’s not just socialising, even the things within the accommodation itself are different…

·         There’s a laundrette to do your washing in. I’ve just lived in places that either have washing machines or we could rent a washing machine for.

·         There’s a store on the ground floor. We have our own little corner shop! It’s kind of expensive but it’s useful to have if you just want to pop out and get something.

·         There’s themed residences. I live in International House which is a mix of international students and Canadian students.

·         Our residence attendant actually interacts with us! In first year I think I saw our residence attendant about twice throughout the whole year, over here we have weekly floor meetings.

·         Weekly floor meetings. That’s another new one, maybe not the most exciting thing but it’s nice to get to see everyone.

So in conclusion, the residence experience in Canada so far is different but I’m enjoying it.

Turns Out Night Classes Are Not So Bad

Studying Abroad in Canada has changed slightly in the past week because I’ve started my classes now. I mentioned this briefly in my last post but now classes have really started so I thought I’d write a brief post about it.

I have no 9 AMs this semester! Even though some classes even begin at 8:30 AM over here. I am probably the only student in the world who doesn’t mind getting up for a 9 AM, in fact it’s unusual for me to wake up after 7:00 AM!  But that’s part of the problem with 9 AMs for me because generally I tend to find that with independent studying I am more productive after lunch time.

On the other end of the day over here in Canada I now have classes that begin at 7 PM and run until 9:50 PM! When I initially saw those times I was shocked however both of my 7 PM classes are on subjects which I really wanted to take which might end up influencing my dissertation, so I gritted my teeth and chose them anyway. Now that I’ve actually had my two evening classes I’ve found that it’s nowhere near as bad as I initially thought that they might be. Probably the only downside is that at the moment it’s still light when I go in but it is dark and beginning to get cold when I leave the class room.

One thing that I know that my family and friends back in the UK are probably wondering is what are classes like in Canada? Are they easier or harder than they are back in the UK? Well I’ve mainly had introductory classes so far but I will say that rather than being easier or harder Canadian classes are different. For example there’s more assignments throughout the semester however they’re generally not as long as assignments in the UK and having multiple ones contributing to the overall grade throughout the semester means that the pressure is taken off the final exam.

So overall even though classes have begun I am still really enjoying being in Canada and studying abroad. And it turns out that night classes are not so bad.

The Pep Rally and Other New Experiences in Canada

I’m writing this on Friday afternoon as my first full week in Canada draws to a close, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on some of the new experiences I’ve already had since I’ve been here.

First up, the Pep Rally! As you probably guessed from the title I went to (and participated in) a Pep Rally this week. For my non-North American readers a Pep Rally is this a big event that happens towards the start of a semester, groups go out onto the football pitch perform a routine that is set to a medley of songs and cheer for their group and the other groups. At my uni we were divided based on our residences, I’m in East Residence. One of our cheers was ‘WE HAVE KITCHENS’ because our flats have kitchens but not all of them do. Part of our routine was set to We’re All In This Together from High School Musical which was a fun song choice, of course I am happy that I live in one of the residences that got a song from a Disney movie! Another part of the Pep Rally was that we had to wear t-shirts in the colour of our residence as well as getting face paint put on. Most of us also wore bandanas, again in our residences colour. The Pep Rally was awesome, it was a lot of fun to participate in. I just can’t imagine anything like that ever happening back in the UK, there’s something uniquely North American about the Pep Rally and how everyone puts aside their cynicism and gets involved. There’s just so much enthusiasm and spirit for the university and our residence. I honestly don’t think I ever seen or done anything like it ever before.

I’ve been complimented on my accent multiple times! I have an East Yorkshire accent, normally in England I am never complimented on it. I’d even go as far as to say that I don’t really like my accent that much. However here in Canada I have received quite a lot of compliments on my accent. I’d even say that having an accent from Northern England gets more compliments than other regional accents from England.

Another new experience happened in my residence. I don’t know if this is something that is uniquely Canadian or if it’s just something that I never got to experience when I lived in university accommodation because where I lived in first year was a bit different. But it’s common over here that when you’re in on an evening to leave the door to your suite open so that people can just pop in and have a chat. I really like this and it’s a good chilled out way to spend an evening.

Then, on Thursday, classes began. After over a week of fun, international arrival stuff and orientation events it suddenly felt strange to be reminded that I’ve come out to Canada to do work. Going to class is obviously something I do back in the UK, if you know me then you’ve no doubt heard me boasting about my near perfect attendance and how one of the only times I’ve missed a seminar was to meet Mary Berry. So the act of going to a seminar is nothing new to me. However the way that they’re taught here feels different. It’s true that classes are larger over here. Also (and I think it does partially depend on the module) a seminar over here is more like a cross between a lecture and a seminar. The professor will talk and lead the class like in a lecture style however it will then pause to have smaller discussions as individual groups within the class.

I am definitely settling in well and I have really enjoyed my time over here so far. I hope that the new and interesting experiences are going to keep coming throughout the academic year. Also, if you’re wondering, yes it is true that Canadians are friendly people!