Final week of travelling and my return to Calgary

Now after travelling you kind of need a break, so we decided to extend our stop over in Miami for a couple of days. Literally went from hostel to beach to hostel so not much to tell really! We managed to wash our clothes, and honestly clean clothes are the best thing ever when travelling. The hostel had amazing orange juice for breakfast and both of us got burnt (although Steph much more so). The most amusing Miami related story is definitely how on the plane to Miami Steph's iPod flew out of the seat pocket on takeoff and (once the seatbelt sign had gone off) Steph proceeded to crawl up and down the floor of the plane looking under people's seats. The flight attendants were slightly bemused at the crazy British girl's antics to say the least. Luckily the iPod was found.

From Miami we went to Vancouver, and I have to say that Vancouver is one of those cities which I definitely need to go back to when I have more time and money. However, it was still a great stop, albeit brief. When we arrived we met up with Philly and her friend Amber and went for wings. I hadn't quite realised just how much I missed wings, and it's definitely something I'm gonna really miss when I'm back in the UK. The next day we went to Stanley Park and cycled round there. We were joined by Beanie, another British Year Abroad-er we met in the hostel. Stanley Park is gorgeous, truly truly stunning, I can see why people say that Vancouver is a beautiful city. Afterwards we went for Poutine, and much as it was nice, I don't think it's a patch on British chips, cheese and gravy! That afternoon me and Steph went to Lynn Canyon park and enjoyed the suspension bridge and the gorgeous scenery.

The next day it was time for us to drive on the wrong side of the road. We went to Enterprise and managed to get a really good deal on the car, plus an upgrade to a compact SUV, WIN! It was an amazing drive, the views through the Rockies are amazing, and so different seeing it all green rather than just full of snow. We stopped overnight at Lake Shuswap, staying in a hostel where you sleep in an old railway carriage. The hostel was lovely, mainly thanks to Blair (the owner) being really kind and the gorgeous dog and two cats that there were. Could have spent all day cuddling them! While we stayed there we went to Treetop Flyers in Chase nearby and got to go zooming over waterfalls which was very exciting! A lot of trip really has involved waterfalls but nothing wrong with that! That evening chilled out with Blair, and the rest of the hostel staff and watched Julie and Julia which was a great film! The next day we finished our drive to Calgary which was equally stunning as the first bit of the drive.

It was so nice to be back in Calgary, the first day we spent some time with Steph's family, went shopping at Chinook and went to the cinema to see Iron Man 3 with Erin. Was so happy to finally see the movie! Then the next day after going to see a prof, managed to meet up with Matthew, then the IVCF Christian group, then finally work people. It was lush to see everyone again, really missed them all and of course will stay in touch with everyone as they are amazing people. Then after some frantic packing moved from Sandy and Marie's house to Kate's house. Although we planned to go to the zoo, the weather and long lunch put paid to that! So instead just chilled out at Kate's and had a games night! The next day I was doing practical things like closing bank account, saying goodbye to Steph's family and then saying goodbye to Steph at the airport before chilling with a movie and an inordinate amount of snacks.

Today is my final day and I'm just relaxing and making sure I've got everything packed. I'm really excited to be going home and seeing everyone again, but I'm also really sad to be leaving Calgary. Luckily it's not going to be leaving forever, just for a while, I will be back (ominous as that sounds), and I am already looking forward to seeing all the great people I've met this year again!

So there it is, the end of this blog, the final post! I guess I should end with words of wisdom and there's nothing that I can say to really sum up such an amazing year, therefore I'll just have to end with telling people that, cheesy as it sounds, they wil never regret going on their year abroad because it is the best year of your life.

The end of the adventure...but not really an end at all!

First an update on things I've done since last chatting! Did all my finals, got thoroughly stressed but made it through. Had dinner with Kate and Chris and Steph at Double Zero which truly did do amazing pizzas. Even though will be spending a lot of the time I'm back in Calgary with them, still felt sad that next year our wine evenings will have to be via skype. Went out to Wreck City (a few houses which are being demolished and artists decorated in crazy fashion) with Hannah which was lovely, even though I definitely looked like a country singer. Had meal out at Original Joes for Claire's birthday. Was so nice to have the majority of us there for a final time. Plus our server was such a sweetie. Then I've had my final night at work with a quiet drink afterwards. I'm really going to miss work, it's been such an enjoyable part of my year abroad (not something you'd normally expect from a job). So that's it, now I'm just packing and cleaning the flat before leaving for travelling. If you can't deal with reading soppy, sentimental mush I suggest strongly that you stop reading now as that will be majority of rest of post.

Obviously over the past few days I've been looking back on the year and how different it has been from my expectations. I honestly didn't expect to fall so in love with Calgary, much as I complain about all it's shortcomings, it's such a great city with such an amazing spirit. Yes, its weather is messed up (it was +20 a few days ago and now it's snowing again), but it gives you something to moan about.

 A lot of people have asked me what I'll miss about Canada the most, and while I may answer wing nights, or hockey really there is no one particular thing that I'll miss the most because everything has just been so great. Before coming out here me and Steph had chatted about things we wanted to do. These varied hugely with things such as "go to Walmart" featuring next to "go horseback riding in the Rockies". I can safely say that we achieved all of that but were dreaming too small because the best thing that I've done is found another home here and a group of people who will welcome back whenever I come back out here.

I can't stress enough just how much I love all the people who I've met out here, you are all people who I've been blessed to meet and I'm so grateful with the welcoming way you've greeted me and made me feel at home even though I'm so many miles away from the UK. Whether I know you from class, or rez, work or IVCF (Christian group), you've all had such a positive impact on my life and I'm glad that I got the chance to meet you. You are all welcome to come visit me whenever and I only hope I can show you the same hospitality that you've shown me!

Year Abroads are kind of weird, because you go from reading about a place to realising that everything you've read doesn't cover what you experience, because you're not just a tourist, you're a resident and you find that perfect bar which you love to visit, you know which bus goes where at what time, you can direct people to different places and best of all you become part of the group of people who live there, understanding their slang and their culture. I'm proud to say that as well as being British, there is now a part of me that is Canadian, and that will never change.

So now looking forward, tomorrow I jet off to New York where I will spend 5 days before travelling to Chile for 7 days, Argentina for 8 days, Miami for 3 days, Vancouver for 3 days then road trip back to Calgary. I'll be in Calgary from 26th to 31st and I'm hoping to catch up with as many people as possible before leaving. But when I do come to say goodbye to people it won't really be goodbye, it won't really be goodbye as I know that I'll definitely be returning at some point, after all I've still got so much more to discover about Canada!

From snow to spring to snow...

I think for once I'm actually going to be writing a blog post where I don't have ridiculous amounts to tell you, in fact you might be able to read this all in one easy sitting! Shocking I know!

So first things first, boring things - it's getting to the end of the semester, term officially ends on the 16th of April, so the amount of assignments and stuff has been building up and I've been doing a lot of work. I finally finished all my midterms on 28th of March (how that is MIDterm I've no idea, but ah well) and now I'm left with 5 assignments, 1 term paper and 3 finals to go. Crazy how in my final few weeks here I'm still doing more than I would be in a whole term back in Glasgow! Although for anyone ever considering a year abroad do NOT let the work put you off. Somehow working doesn't seem anywhere near as bad when you're abroad because you're abroad and you've always got fun things planned too!

Now onto the more exciting things! After my last update, the sun decided to come and warm Calgary...we reached 17 degrees and it was generally lovely! Spent a lot of time lounging about in the sun. On the Wednesday Jeff took me to Moxie's for the awesome brownie (I would recommend it to anyone!) and then we just chilled at mine for a bit. Thursday brought my final midterm (I will NOT miss having midterms when I'm back at Glasgow, yes it takes pressure off for final exam and does help you study, but even so, lots of extra stress!) The Friday was my first taste of dance shows at work...well dance mums are kinda crazy and it's definitely hectic, luckily I'm only working 3 shifts of it so I won't kill anyone or have a mental break down (in theory!)

For Easter Sunday I went to Steph's family's for dinner. It was so lovely to see all her family and meet her parents who were visiting. The food was also good, home cooked meals are lush, and I've been eating leftovers all week! Perfection!

On Wednesday went to Value Village with Jeff and got some gorgeous new heels, Steve Madden, original price tag $125, bargain price of $20! Win at life! Then we got some fantastic dinner, pulled pork is really one of my favourite things to eat! Afterwards we saw Rocky Horror Show at Mount Royal, it was nice to be able to see Mount Royal uni (although Calgary Uni is definitely nicer) and the show was hilarious. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Friday went shopping at Market Mall with Claire and bought a few dresses, as you know summer is well on the way and a girl can never have too many dresses. Then Jeff came over and we just chilled out with a movie. Saturday was going to be a productive day but the trip to change our NHL tickets took a lot longer than expected. At least now, me and Claire have better seats than before and her knee will be comfortable during the match. Then sat and ate a lot of popcorn and watched Iron Man, perfect evening!

Unfortunately it's been snowing all weekend so the short patch of sunshine was perhaps a false alarm and spring may not have really started.  But with travelling coming up soon I can at least look forward to some sunshine then! I think that's all the updates for now, the rest of the time has just been assignments, assignments and more assignments unfortunately! 

March: Finally the month I got to see the workings of a Canadian hospital

Did I honestly last update you in February? Well that just shows how crazy busy March has been! The first thing which really happened in March was Chris' birthday, so me, Steph and Hannah all headed downtown to the Rhino for a few drinks and a dance. It was a great night, not least because the barman gave me my orange juice for free (no alcohol for lent!)

On the 7th of March, William Lane Craig came to talk at Calgary uni about "Is the Physical World All There Is?" Not only was it a great speech but it was so encouraging seeing so many people turn out and people seeming open to hearing about God and how the existence of God is fully logical.

The Friday of that week had a games night with loads of the people from work. Was so lovely, and discovered an interesting version of Articulate which has a fun little machine with buttons and stuff! Very over exciting and fun. Also once more, Randall turned out to be evil in Werewolves and Villagers! She has been tainted for life, but we still all love her anyway!

That weekend we went skiing. It was an early start but started to get excited as saw the mountains. Had some gorgeous runs and even got Claire and Phil down a black without any broken bones. However unfortunately our luck on no injuries was not to last as Claire had a "high speed fall" (medical terminology!) and ended up going first to the doctors at the bottom of the slope, before being left with me and Steph and instructions to get her to hospital. Now you may think this would be a relatively easy task, however while the gondola ride down to the carpark was fine (if a little bit squished), lifting her from her wheelchair into the taxi without bending or hitting her damaged leg was a wee bit harder. Once at the hospital we waited around for a long time and amused ourselves and unfortunately were once again tempting fate by saying that we didn't think it was broken and was probably just a sprained knee or something. Turns out she'd fractured her tibia at the top and needed surgery. Oops! At least we got a ride back with Claire's friend Dev's parents rather than a $200 taxi to Calgary - it's the small things in life!

Spent the next few days in a blur of hospital visits and studying. Luckily the hospital is super close to campus and we could get a bus so that was easy. Claire had her surgery on the Monday and got out later that week. We had a curry and watched Bring it On to celebrate. It was beautiful. She has 24 staples in her leg, plus multiple pins and plates, very exciting and she now gets to be one of the people who sets off airport security machines, what a perk eh!

That Friday had a coffee with Jeff, was supposed to do some studying but epically failed at that. Showed him the TFDL (library) and he concluded it was much better than Mount Royal (another uni in Calgary)'s library. WIN. Then pushed Claire in her fancy wheelchair to see a prof who didn't seem to quite believe that she had injured herself until Claire was actually in front of her. It was a bit of an adventure, but we worked out the step free access route, and there is a little elevator which we're pretty sure only Claire uses, therefore it's exclusively hers.

The weekend was pretty much fully work and studying, however did go out with a few work people after work on Friday which was really nice, plus managers bought me dinner on Wed, Fri and Saturday: my job is infinitely more awesome than yours! Went to see 'Oz the Great and Powerful' on Tuesday, which was okay, but definitely not a film I'd go to see again. On Thursday I cooked for Jeff which was really lovely, not least because it gave me an excuse to cook chocolate and raspberry brownies (I'm not sure I really need an excuse, but it's good to have one anyway!) Then Friday bought around the IVCF (Christian group)'s Games Night...but not just any Games Night...Japanese Games Show Night. Now if you haven't seen any Japanese Game Show, they are crazy and insane and ridiculous but also hilarious, and the night definitely followed suit. After some amazingly well spiced chicken the games began: blindfolded musical chairs, who can lick most ritz cheese crackers off a window in 30 seconds and silent library... All had moments where you worried about the health and safety risks but were definitely great fun, and not least because my team won. Then we had a quick game of Dutch Blitz, me and Victoria nearly beat Taylor and Lucas (which is very impressive) before I headed home for some much needed sleep.

I think that's you all up to date now, feel free to prod me if I don't update soon enough please!!

Chris' birthday celebrations

I love the nutters I work with

Claire and Steph, both excited to see the Canadian medical system in action...

Post work night out

Getting ready for blindfolded musical chairs

This is just Victoria's normal look!

Snow on the ground but spring in the air.

So once again it's got to the stage where I feel I have enough exciting things to tell you about to merit an update of my blog. This stage also coincides with the ever increasing need to do work and start revising for my midterms.

On Friday 8th it was Scott's birthday so partied it up in Cascade. Got to wear my new Black Milks out for the first time (who doesn't want the map of Rohan and Gondor on their legs?!) Didn't go out after, instead went to Claire's to have chips with lashings of ketchup.

The Sunday held a lot of exciting things. Not only was it Chinese New Year but also had Benjamin Francis Leftwich that evening. For Chinese New Year the sun was shining so we headed downtown to see the celebrations and then get some food. Unfortunately the restaurant which Cooper informed us had the best dim sum ever was (somewhat predictably) packed. After visiting a few more restaurants (I have no shortage of knowledge of where good Chinese restaurants are now) we finally ended up at a little restaurant without too much of a wait. Much of the entertainment came from Lucy's attempts to use chopsticks (she is now a pro) but also we got visited by a Chinese lion who ate some lettuce then spat it back out (some of it landed on Hannah) which apparently gives the restaurant good luck for the coming year.

That evening was the Benjamin Francis Leftwich concert. It was at the Palomino which is a lovely small venue in the basement of a bar which apparently does great food (shall have to return at some point!) We arrived and got a drink just before the first support act came on, Kris Ellstad. He had some great self-deprecating humour and is definitely someone I'd listen to again. Wasn't a fan of the second support so much, mainly because he wasn't that great a singer in my opinion, but also he kept his eyes shut the whole way through songs...too absorbed, not enough interaction! Finally Benjamin Francis Leftwich came on! He was amazing live, was really great and intimate, sang a lot of his songs in front of the microphone and for an encore came and sat down in the crowd to sing Atlas Hands, it was beautiful! Afterwards got to meet him and he signed our tickets and had a chat and photo with us, what a genuinely nice guy, and good chat!

On Wednesday 13th me and Jeff went to go see The Seagull by Antony Chekov. While I've been working multiple shifts of the play I was really keen to go and see it. Although definitely not a play for everyone, we both really enjoyed it and it came in useful when a few days later a patron had to leave at half time and I was required to explain the plot of the second half to her (for anyone who's ever seen it, I'm sure they'll agree it's a bit of a challenge!)

Friday 15th marked the start of reading week for me, while many people choose to go off travelling or something, as I've got such major travel plans in May I couldn't really afford to do much so I've used it as a useful week for catching up no all the textbook reading I need to do. Speaking of travel, last Tuesday I had to go and have multiple injections for my future travels. Not fun but at least I shouldn't contract any nasties when I go abroad now! Luckily my week hasn't all been work work work as I managed to get away on Friday to go skiing. Me and Jeff drove to Sunshine and got there at perfect time in order to park, get ski passes then be on the first lift up. The snow was absolutely fantastic, deepest powder I've ever skied in for sure. It was really nice to explore some more of Sunshine as previously I'd only done greens with Steph. We met up with Steph, Claire and Hannah for a well earnt lunch before taking Claire away to do her first black diamond in Canada - super proud moment! Steph even manage to do a blue before the end of the day so all definitely improving. The one downside of doing blacks for 90% of the day is that it's much more of a workout, and my legs are still aching now, but it was a truly fantastic day.

And that's us pretty much up to date I think :) We've had a lot of sunshine and some gorgeous days which have led to a lot of the snow melting, however I feel it's going to be a long time before proper heat. Been busy planning travels in May so that's all exciting. And as ever I've been doing a lot of work! Will update some time soon!

Look how beautiful those leggings are!

Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Me and Hannah with the man himself!

Gorgeous roof of Chinese Centre of Culture

Lucy; chopstick pro!

Staying in? Not a chance!

Okay, so yes, I have a lot of work to do, but like a true trooper I have been doing my work and finding time to do fun stuff too! Who would have thought that you could do both?! As it's been such a busy week you're going to get a day by day account of my life, I'm sure you'll enjoy it highly!

Sunday - Woke up early on Sunday morning to go and take photos in the snow with Hannah, Fay and Julia. It was absolutely stunning, even if rather cold! But well worth the effort of waking up early! Then Jess drove me to church which was also great. Did some work before curling up with Steph and Claire to watch Miracle on 34th Street, beautiful day!

Monday - Now we all remember that on the plane over here me and Steph sat next to a lovely person called Kate? Well the 8 hour flight with us obviously didn't scare her too much and so we've been out lots since getting here (think they've all been mentioned in previous blogs!) The exciting thing is that even though Kate is a vegetarian, she works for Alberta Beef. For those people who don't know, Alberta is like the beef province, and Calgary is like the beef capital of Canada. And I love beef. So when Kate invited me and Steph to go along to a free buffet dinner of course we said yes (after some brief questions as to whether she really wanted her work colleagues to meet us!) We got dressed up business-casual and got a cab to the Sheraton Cavalier hotel. Once there and with a glass of free wine in our hands we met a lot of Kate's colleagues who were all lovely, and also met quite a few cowboys (very exciting!) The food was absolutely amazing, the beef was cooked in the style of four different countries - there was a carvery for Canada, fajitas for Mexico, some amazing thing for Korea and then beef pie for England. Although the fact the gravy was separate to the pie made it a little less British, like all the rest of the food it was amazing! Already feeling rather stuffed after all of that food there was then the joy of an ice cream sundae station for dessert! AMAZING! All in all it was a lovely night and I still felt full the next day which is always good!

Tuesday - Me and Claire went to see Silver Linings Playbook on Tuesday, honestly I recommend you all go and see it, I would happily see it again and again. Firstly Bradley Cooper is just amazing, and even though he is in a binbag for the majority of the film he still looks fantastic, and then Jennifer Lawrence is just perfect in this role. I could not recommend this highly enough. Then as it was Fay's last night here this semester we all went over to hers and made Christmas decorations (with varying levels of success it has t be admitted!) but now all our rooms look at least semi-festive which is lovely!

Wednesday - This week seemed to be the week for putting in extra effort to my appearance as to celebrate Fliss' 21st birthday we headed to River Cafe, a posh restaurant on Prince Edward Island (a small island in the Bow River which runs through Calgary). While the walk there from the C-train was absolutely freezing there were lots of gorgeous Christmas lights outside which made up for it. The food was amazing; after the slight disaster when five of us had ordered duck and they only had two ducks left, we all managed to get some delicious food. I had a steak and it even came with yorkshire puddings! How homely! For dessert I shared an apple upside down cake with Tilda which filled me up nicely. After deciding it was too cold to get the C-train home we piled into a taxi instead, much warmer!

Thursday - As this was Fliss' actual birthday, after bible study I went home and got ready to head out to the Den. We got to skip the queue which was good (even though for once the queue wasn't too long) . As we danced the night away (getting very amused with Tilda's ghetto moves and open mouthed faces) we kept checking the time until at midnight we could finally say happy birthday to Lucy! I headed home not long after that, knowing I had a lot of work to do and unfortunately after I left it seemed a thief went on a bit of a spree and 11 people got their phones and/or wallets stolen. Even Anna's cheapy flip phone went to the thief, much to the security's amusement. Losses aside everyone had a great night though!

Friday - So now for big Luce's birthday celebrations! While original plans had been to have a few drinks on 17th a few sore heads put paid to that idea so we headed up the Calgary Tower. The views were amazing and watching Steph and Lucy freak out over the height was equally beautiful. After multiple photos including a 'family' photo we headed down to the outdoor ice rink we'd noticed. None of us had skates but it was beautifully lit up and felt kind of film like. Gorgeous! Then we got the c-train home before curling up and watching Love Actually.

Saturday - Did you honestly think that I would have burnt out after 5 days of doing things? No, not me! On Saturday Lucy, Fliss, Tilda, Julia and me went to watch the Calgary Hitmen vs the Edmonton Oil Kings. Now firstly can I just state that while Edmonton is technically the capital of Alberta, everyone knows that Calgary should be as it's a much better city. So yes, there is quite a bit of rivalry. We were all given a box of macaroni and cheese to shake for 'Shake up the Stadium' and then to donate afterwards for the Food Bank Drive which is really nice (kudos to the Co-op for providing 10,000 boxes!) I have a wee bit of a crush on Spencer Humphries (one of the Hitmen) so of course was cheering him on loudly! Unfortunately by the end of the first period we were 2-0 down. The second period stayed the same. Things were looking pretty dire, especially when with 10 minutes to go the Oil Kings scored another goal! People were leaving the stadium, never a good sign! With 4 minutes to go, we scored...then pretty much 30 seconds later we scored again! For a brief glorious minute I actually thought we could do it! Unfortunately the Oil Kings then scored once more, but it certainly was an intense end to the game and I was very much on the edge of my seat!

Sunday - Not much to report today, been doing a lot of revision! However we did all exchange our Secret Santa gifts! A $5 we discovered was a lot harder to shop for than we thought it would be but I got some gorgeous Urban Outfitters socks from Lucy, wrapped in a magazine page which had Ryan Gosling on - beautiful! Then been revising most of the rest of today, but taking a break to write this blog post, aren't you guys happy I did? So that's that, my hectic but amazing week!

Snuggled up to watch Miracle on 34th Street

All smart for Alberta Beef

Christmas Decorations

Posh at River Cafe

Good times at the Den

Moose at the top of Calgary Tower

Calgary at night

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Now I promise you I still have access to a calendar and am well aware that it is not even the middle of October yet but I've certainly been feeling rather festive recently. What is the reason for all this festive feeling I hear you asking? Well it's pretty simple. Canadians have this thing where they don't want to seem American, however they also like food. So they wanted Thanksgiving but didn't want to seem American, so as opposed to it being the third Thursday in November it's the second Monday in October. (They say it's that date because that's when the harvest is done up here, but really it's the American hating thing.) For those who have been living under a rock and don't know what Thanksgiving is, it's basically an excuse to visit your family and eat large quantities of food. I could tell this was a celebration I was going to get along well with!

Steph's lovely relatives had invited us over for Thanksgiving so I got to experience the full on Canadian version and I have to say it's amazing. Turkey and all the trimmings, plus bread rolls (apparently a tradition). I have to say as a student free food is always good, but free, home cooked food is even more amazing! Then came the moment of truth. Everyone talks about pumpkin pie, coffee shops start doing pumpkin spiced lattes, Dairy Queen does a pumpkin pie blizzard, Canadians are shocked and appalled that not only do we not celebrate Thanksgiving, but in fact we put pumpkin in soups rather than in pies... so it was with a little bit of in-trepidation that I bit into my first even pumpkin pie - would I like it? Would I have to leave Canada if I didn't like it? Why does everyone say it tastes sweet? However all my fears were put to rest. Pumpkin pie is amazing, so tasty! Slightly odd texture but just tastes sweet and cinnamon-y (I love the fact that cinnamon is so prevalent over here, so good!) Aside from the food it was also so lovely just sitting and chatting and feeling like part of the family. We were given multiple vouchers for money off things which they thought as students we might need, we were recommended places to go etc. and just once again Canadian hospitality shone through. Plus who can forget the hilarious moment when Finnegan the dog was discovered to have eaten through the cardboard box and eaten part of the apple pie!

But it's not just Thanksgiving which is making me feel all festive. We've had snow...twice! The first time didn't settle but the second time did! In fact it was kind of equivalent to the amount of snowfall we normally get in the south of England! I might have got ever so slightly over-excited about it! But it really is exciting to wake up and see snow! (Although my Canadian friends inform me that the amount we had does NOT count as snow...)

Aside from all the fun times the workload has really rocketed; lots of assignments and also done three midterms so far which is just crazy! All seem to have gone well but hard to tell before getting results! Still loving my time over here and trying to really make the most of it! Went to church for first time last Sunday and it was amazing, great service and really felt like St Silas (my church in Glasgow) so that was lush. Bible study group still going well, in fact we're all going for dinner on Monday which'll be great and tomorrow I'm off horseback riding in the foothills! EXCITING!

view of snow from my window

One month in...

In under 24 hours I will have successfully made it through a month in Canada! It's odd to think that those who are just here for a term have already done 4 weeks out of 13...not a thought I'd want to be facing...there's so much more I want to do! But as I sit here writing this really I'm just procrastinating from the assignments that seem to be constantly looming over me at the minute! It really is true what people tell you, your year abroad is not a doss year and actually if you come to Canada your workload will greatly increase! However that's not to say I haven't done lots of things this week...the work ethic over here really does seem to be to work hard so that you can play hard so that's what we've been doing...when in Calgary and all that jazz!

On Tuesday we had our first flatmate meal, the student essential of pasta with tomato sauce! Very good however and nice to all sit down together for a meal. On Wednesday me and some of the British girls had pancakes...being Canadian and all that we tried Maple Syrup but as we'd bought the cheap version it really didn't taste great and I switched back to lemon and sugar pretty swiftly! 

Now, last blog I totally left you on a cliffhanger as to why I had bought cowboy boots...well apart from their insane comfort and awesome fashion points we went to Ranchmans a proper cowboy bar on Thursday night! Got a party bus down there, realised we actually quite enjoyed the country music, attempted to copy people and do some line dancing (unlike at ceilidh's there's no caller) and rode a mechanical bull! All in all a great night! Then walked to the C-train stop to catch last train home, which worryingly was running 15 minutes late and made us all rather nervous that we've missed it! But saved us taxi fare so that's good.

On Friday it was the ski club toga party so we got our togas on and partied it up! There were interesting ranges of togas including some really nice spotty bed sheets which I would not risk taking into the Den because they would never come out the same again!

Saturday saw us head downtown for a meal out on 17th Ave. Found a lovely pub called the Ship and Anchor which served amazing burgers at cheap prices. It was nice sitting outside and soaking up some more sunshine! 17th Ave is just amazing, so many good places to eat so will definitely be heading back there! Then walked to the Saddledome in order to see our first hockey (I'm talking ice hockey) game. Now normally the Calgary Flames are the team who play in the Saddledome but the NHL is on lockout at the minute so no NHL games unless they sort stuff out. Instead we saw the Calgary Hitmen play the Red Deer Rebels as part of the WHL (Western Hockey League). Unlike the American Football where I had no idea what was going on I actually understood it and properly enjoyed it! Even though we lost 3-2 on overtime it was a great game with fantastic atmosphere and a lot less stopping and starting than the football! Shall definitely be going back to watch other games as it was great fun!

Had first bible study this week and it was a really nice cosy wee group, then IVCF (the Christian group) also cooked us free dinner tonight which was greatly appreciated! Also have said "eh"in conversation for the first time so really feel like I'm pretty fully settled in now! Very glad I decided to come on a year abroad, and super happy I ended up in Calgary! Anyway, that's enough procrastination for me, I should get back to my assignments now! Probably update you in a week's time again!

Pancake and maple syrup

Everyone wants to be a cowgirl really!

TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!

Ice spray at the hockey game

Intense hockey players!

First impressions!

So first impressions...Canada is big, like BIG! And Calgary is super big and spread out too, not like Glasgow where I could walk everywhere I needed to go! The horizon here just looks really far away and the sky seems really big. But that's just one of many differences. Some of these differences are good (Tim Hortons, the fact it's a campus uni and I can walk to lectures in around 10 minutes, walk in wardrobe in halls etc.) some are not so good (even when there's a red light traffic can turn right...clearly a bad idea for road safety, supermarket food is expensive) and some are just random (you flick light switches up to turn them on rather than down).

One difference I'm quickly adapting to is the language, while I'm still saying lift not elevator and will never call trousers pants, I'm at least pretty aware of which words I need to avoid saying due to different meaning and confusion with Canadians.

So all in all a pretty good first 48 hours, got a lot of stuff done, but warning for anyone considering a year abroad, jetlag is horrific, only really today (3rd day here) have I been feeling okay and if I was doing it again I'd have arrived a couple of days before move in and stayed in a hotel, rested, got over jetlag so I could really make the most of this week.

Shall keep you updated and hopefully put some pictures up at some point soon!

Final few days...

With me jetting off on Monday I'm doing final minute preparations! This includes printing off lots of photos to take with me (so when I get sad and miss my family and friends I can still have them with me), getting t-shirts printed (well any excuse for more t-shirts), printing out my insurance, study visa, flight details etc. and the dreaded packing.

Now I'm not a great packer at the best of times so trying to limit myself weight wise is going to be a huge struggle, but I've got some luggage scales to try and keep me under! Hard to tell just what to pack, I know Calgary is still pretty sunny and nice in September but it's the only sunshine we'll really have and then just months of snow, so need some warm stuff but not too much! One of my main things is to try and leave some room in my bag, because I'm sure I'll be bringing more stuff home then I'm taking so having that space set aside already will probably be helpful!

Anyway I should stop procrastinating from packing and get on with it! Wish me luck!

Less than three weeks to go...

So with two and a half weeks to go until I'm boarding the plane I've started thinking about practical things. I've sorted out insurance (I would suggest searching around but I ended up going to Endsleigh for mine as it is geared for people who take year abroads due to it's student nature). Then my next challenge was finding a suitcase that would be big enough to fit the kitchen sink in (not literally) but lightweight enough to not ruin the 20kg limit too much! After a wee bit of searching I settled on this bag because it is so light and large! I will still probably have trouble packing, especially as I want to take my ski boots and everything...but that's a challenge for another day.

Still feeling pretty happy about going abroad, especially as one of my closest friends is coming out for New Years with me so that'll be amazing! My next task is to make a list of everything I want to achieve while I'm out there so I don't get out there and get too absorbed in other stuff and forget all my previous goals.

Don't think there's anything else to update on apart from just general excitement about year abroad, it's really starting to feel real now!

Preparing for Calgary...

Okay so a lot has happened since last posted.

1. I got my results meaning I passed the year and can go abroad.
2. I booked my flights (a return cost me just over £700, no stops)
3. My visa/study permit came through.
4. My mentor got in touch with me
5. I managed to sign up for courses...mainly...

So a few things to expand on that brief list. Firstly flights get more expensive the closer you get to travelling (pretty basic I know) but that means BOOK EARLY! Especially if like me you want to come home for Christmas because those flights get super expensive. Search around, use a flight checker to see where you can get them cheapest. While there are some with extra stops for cheaper when it's 3 stops for only £20 less think to yourself if it really is worth the hassle! Also think about arrival times: I'm getting in at half 3 in the afternoon because then it gives me time to move into my halls and go shopping for pots/pans and all the other stuff I'm going to need. There is no point arriving at 11 at night if you're then going to be struggling to get stuff.

Second, the study permit came through in just 20 days which I think is pretty impressive. It's just an email which you then print off and take with you. I'm going to take all my supporting documents with me too as apparently it gets you through quicker.

Third, I decided to sign up for the mentoring programme as what have you got to lose? Even if I don't get on with her it'll be nice knowing there's someone I can contact with any questions/queries I may have.

Finally courses. The head of linguistics contacted me asking to talk through my course choices with me. Now of course the issue is when you've chosen your courses to apply you're often looking at last year's schedule. This was the case for me. A couple of courses had been dropped and a few give majors priorities. However after a few emails (all responded to very promptly) the linguistics department agreed on my course choices. I then signed up online for them all (it's quick and easy, and you're emailed all the information on how to do it). Only problem with signing up online is while I've agreed with the department I can do it, the computer sees that I don't have pre-requisites because I haven't taken any of my degree there etc. However I've been assured that this will all get sorted out.

So all in all a successful few weeks! Next job is insurance and then I think I'm ready to go!

Application process...

Now obviously this will vary uni by uni so I can only talk about my experience at Glasgow uni although I'm sure there will be similarities.

I decided to apply for a year abroad quite suddenly to be honest, I had thought about one before coming to uni but it never re-crossed my mind until my lecturer suddenly mentioned that she was the person who we would need to contact if we were planning one. After an evening where I didn't do any work and instead just searched all the pages I had decided I wanted to do it. Then came the tricky process of applying.

In order to apply I had to fill in a form with references from two lecturers, a personal statement, my choice of universities (minimum 3, maximum 5) and the courses I would take if I went there (we have to do a full course load over there and it must be approved by our subject so there will be no clash in our final year). It took me a very long time and a whole lot of emails between myself and multiple different people in my subject in order to get everything finalised. In comparison, the personal statement was easy especially as we were given the scheme of how they would mark it and what they were looking for.

One of the funnest parts of the applications was looking at all the universities we were paired with and deciding if I'd want to go there (this also involved watching a lot of lipdubs and random videos on youtube about them)! I had already decided I wanted to go to an English speaking country, not really for any particular reason but I guess I didn't want to learn another language. I also didn't want to go to a southern hemisphere university as I don't like the term times there, plus as I have already travelled round a lot of Australia I would feel like I wasn't maximising my year as I'd be going to places I'd been before. So this pretty much left me with USA and Canada. While I did look at American universities none of them had very good linguistics courses and in fact it was pretty impossible to find a full course load for linguistics. Also, while this may not matter and I would have been fine, the drinking age being 21 in the States could put people some people off.

In the end I applied for UBC (looked like a fantastic uni), Toronto (had amazing courses) and Calgary (perfect combination of courses/uni and being close to the mountains). After handing in my application there was the nervous wait to hear about whether we had got in and if so where. Unfortunately the offers were given out slightly staggered, so while some people got them at 9am on Thursday, I didn't get mine till 4pmish on the Friday, and others had to wait the weekend. Horrific does not cover the tension that was felt! When I got the email and saw I was going to Calgary I just sat in shock till my flatmate burst into my room asking if I'd heard yet! And then was the lengthy process of texting/calling everyone who needed to be informed and updating facebook. (Over 50 likes later I started to get a bit paranoid that perhaps people were liking it because it meant I would be out of the country, but hopefully at least the majority will be sad to see me go!)

So that is the application process up until the offer, I'll cover the next things that are necessary in my next blog. Hope this helps and please do feel free to ask if there's any points you want clarified.

Introduction

Mark Twain once said that “twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” This attitude is probably one of the reasons I decided to take a year abroad. Yes it was stressful applying, and yes I'm nervous about leaving the UK...but I know in twenty years I will definitely look back on this with pride, because I had the guts to leave my comfort zone and see what life outside it is like.


This blog is going to cover my preparation leading up to going to Calgary, my time at Calgary and my travels while I'm out there (I certainly plan to visit a lot of Canada and some of the States while I'm out there...because I may as well!) and also just general information about the exchange. If you want to find out a bit more about me click on the "about me" tab at the top of this page. The tabs for "University of Glasgow" and "University of Calgary" give a bit of information about each uni and links showing where to look if you want more information about the exchanges.


My first proper blog will probably go up in next few weeks after pre-departure meeting and it'll cover all the application process so far.