Halloween is Over

Well it’s the start of November today which means that it is the beginning of Christmas season and the end of Halloween 2017. But before we completely say goodbye to Halloween I wanted to share a few thoughts about my Halloween in Canada.

In the weeks running up to Halloween there was quite a lot of anticipation amongst most people I know. Especially after Thanksgiving there seemed to be a lot of excitement building for Halloween. To be honest in the end more things seemed to be happening over the weekend instead of on Halloween itself, in the UK at uni we tend to do Halloween stuff both on the weekend and on the night itself.

For me Halloween really began on Saturday with my trip to Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland which was undoubtedly the highlight of my Halloween this year. I had a really good time.

Tuesday, Halloween Day went more or less as a normal day for me. This year for Halloween I was Clark Kent/Superman, I was actually going around all day in my costume just with the shirt buttoned up for most of the day. I guess the glasses really do mean that Superman can hide in plain sight.

It was more or less a normal day until I went to my night lecture, then suddenly about 5-10 minutes into the lecture the lights suddenly went out and there was a powercut. I’m 90% sure that the powercut must have been caused by ghosts. Either that or it was karma for scheduling classes on Halloween night. We got let out of the lecture and I walked across a darkened campus to my residence. Everyone was just gathering together and hanging out in the dark. Usually we’re a very social group in my accommodation however something about the dark made us all even more sociable than usually, maybe it was because without power we were all forced away from our screens. This was not how I expected my Halloween night to go but honestly it was actually a lot of fun. There’s something inherently spooky about being in the dark without power but then when you’re enjoying spending time with friend it’s even better.

So maybe I did not have the Halloween I had been anticipating but I have had a good one this year.

Second Year is Very Nearly Over

My Second Year of university has nearly come to an end. For my Third Year I’m going to be studying abroad in Canada.

This year has flown by, I know that is something of a cliché but it really is true. University years just go by so quickly. It doesn’t feel like it’s been 9 months since I was writing about starting this blog and writing about how I have friends now. Although at the same time when I think back to things I was doing in the first few weeks of first semester that all feels really long ago now! I’ve managed to do a lot of stuff this year. It’s strange how it can be both feel as if it has passed in an instant and like I’ve been here for ages.

I definitely have more friends than I did in first year and I have managed to do more socialising this year. Comparing first year and second year it really is obvious that I have gotten better at making and keeping friends. I’ve also got better at actually doing stuff with my friends, it’s difficult sometimes to get everyone’s schedules to sync up but it can definitely be worth the effort. I’m still a bit awkward with making friends and keeping in touch but I think I’m getting much better. Though I still can’t figure out if I’m an outgoing introvert or a social awkward extrovert!

I think this year my sense of independence has also really developed. It started to develop during first year but it’s even stronger now. Now if I want to do something then I will just do it, even if I have to do it alone. I don’t have a problem with doing stuff on my own. At the end of the day it’s more important to do something that you want to do than not doing because of someone else.

It always disappoints me how things just sort of fade out into the long break at the end of the academic year. I suppose because everyone finishes at different times and then everyone heads home at different times it’s hard to have a complete finish to the academic year or the individual semesters. However that doesn’t stop the way it so often gradually ends and fades away being disappointing.

This really is the end of an era for me as when summer beak comes to its conclusion I won’t be heading back to my usual university, I will be heading to Canada! Obviously I am very excited about my year abroad. For the most part I think I’m more excited than nervous which I guess is a good thing. I’m going to write a few posts over the summer about what I’m looking forward to and how I’m feeling about studying abroad so I won’t go too in depth with that here. However it is weird knowing that in Autumn 2018 when I return to university in England things will be massively different - most of the cohort that I started university with will have graduated!

Second year has generally been a positive experience for me. There’s been some parts that have been bad, hard or difficult but on the whole I think it’s been a good year for me.