The Weather in Canada in January

As January comes to an end I want to do a brief post about what the weather has been like this month, because it has been weird. I suspect probably quite a few of my family and friends back in England are curious about what the weather has been like whilst I have been here.

When I arrived back in Canada after Christmas break it was really cold, around -20°C. That was probably the coldest I have ever been in. It was really unpleasantly cold. Since then temperatures have fluctuated wildly. We’ve gone from +10°C to -15°C with just about everything in between.

Several times throughout the month it has got warm enough that nearly all the snow has melted and it was looking like spring. But then a couple of days later the temperature would decline and the snow would come again. For example, this weekend I thought that the snow was gone for good but then on Monday suddenly we had some quite heavy snowfall and everything is covered in snow again.

The novelty of snow has still not worn off for me, maybe it’s because of how much I love Frozen. On multiple occasions I have been walking to or from class whilst it was snowing and listening to Let It Go. Though to my great disappointment none of the snow we have had so far is the type of snow that sticks together. So whilst I wanna to build a snowman it’s not been the right type of snow to construct Olaf from.

So in conclusion, January in Canada was not what I was expecting in terms of weather, the temperature and the amounts of snow have been constantly changing.

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.

Christmas Eve

Well, once again it’s Christmas Eve and once again December has flown by! I thought I’d just do a brief post to share a few thoughts about it being Christmas Eve.

Advent always passes by so quickly, and I think it goes even faster as a student. It does not feel like it was 24 days ago that I was in Canada in my residence having a Christmas party with my friends who I live with. This advent has been a weird one for me. It started in Canada when I still had classes, then I was into finals, then flying back home and now I am back in England.

I love Christmas, even at 20 I still get very excited by it. There’s some traditions that me and my family always do at that time of year, such as how I’ve watched Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve every year since I was about 5!

So have a Merry Christmas (or whatever else you celebrate) and thank you for reading my blog!

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. 

Back to Uni after Christmas-Break

This is just a quick post to discuss how strange it feels to be going back to Uni after Christmas-Break and another attempt to force myself to blog more regularly. It’s certainly a memorable day to be the last day of the break given we had snow for once this morning…

But these last few days before going back always just feel strange. In some ways it feels like this break has flown by but at the same time it feels like it’s been absolutely ages since I was last at Uni. Christmas alone feels like a long time ago now, doesn’t it?

Writing this post I’m taking a break from packing my bags to go back. I have quite a lot of stuff going back with me but I absolutely need even more cooking utensils, a glue gun and a sewing kit at uni! I do have a tendency to over pack, which makes me slightly nervous about packing for my year abroad in Canada later this year.

But overall going back I feel ready to get back and embrace whatever challenges and surprises are waiting for me over the next few months.