From Canada back to England

McMaster University Exchange Class of 2011-2012

And so the end has arrived to what has been an unforgettable experience. Throughout the last 10 months i have spent in Canada i have experienced a lot! Those of you who have read my blog entries have gained little insight into what happens on a study abroad year. I can tell you that this blog does not even touch upon the amount of enjoyment, fun and laughter the past 10 months have brought to not only me but also to the friends i have made. 

Whilst i was preparing to study abroad at my home university i attended a lot of meetings that highlighted how great a study abroad opportunity is. "You will have a brilliant and unforgettable time", "Make this most of every moment you are there" and the cliche repeated by every student that has been on exchange "It was the best year of my life". As much as we all hate cliches, this one proved to be true. People will continue to ask "how was Canada?" and i will continue to reply with "Words can't describe how good it was", because that is the truth.

After saying bye to the remaining exchange friends in Vancouver, who continued to travel, it dawned on me that this was actually the end. Sitting at the airport and saying bye for now to one last friend before we boarded our flights made me realise it was over. Not gonna lie it was pretty depressing and writing this right now makes brings me down already. Whilst at my home university, we were shown a scale that corresponded to a exchange student's feelings. Starting from low to high with a sudden dip in the middle and then a accelerating line upwards followed by a slowly descending line towards the end. A bit simple i know, but it describes it very well! The reason for why the line headed down was because of reflection. Reflecting upon my time was so surreal. But as they say 'all good things must come to an end'. As discussed with many friends, if it lasted forever it would never have been as good. It is because we treated everyday as if it were our last,  that is what made it so good. (some may think this a bit cringeworthy, but to be fair you need experience it for yourself). I'm just waiting for the Post-exchange student depression, otherwise known as Post-erasmus depression, to kick in. This depression is legit, search it for yourselves in google! A student managed to create a dissertation dedicated to the depression that follows from a year of studying abroad. There are also articles and videos online about this! I think I'm in PESD right now.

The reason for why this whole experience was so amazing was because of the friends i made whilst on exchange. When do you ever get an opportunity to be surrounded by people from all over the world, who are all wishing to experience similar things to yourself. I can't even explain how much fun we had, even by just being in each others company. I am grateful to have met such great and interesting people and hope to remain friends for many years to come. Its sad and strange to think that when i walk around uni at home i won't be bumping into exchange people and arranging a quick trip to Timmy's in order talk/organise the next trip as well as party plans for the weekend. But this gives us all a valid reason to visit each other and for reunions to take place! But yeah, being in canada and making friends with some amazing people definitely made my whole experience. It's weird to think the next time we see each other will be in different countries.

And lastly a big thanks to you for reading my blog. There were times when i couldn't be bothered to update it but knowing that people were clicking on and reading gave me the motivation to keep this thing running. Also my addiction to watching the visit counter increase daily was also a good motivator haha. I hope this blog encourages those of you who are looking to study abroad to do so because it truly was "THE BEST YEAR".

Vancouver, BC

White top mountains, sun, sea and sand

If ever you are planning a trip from Calgary to vancouver, i recommend you booking a flight. A 15 hour coach journey is something you don't want to endure, especially when there is the likely hood of a traffic jam on the Trans Canada highway! For some reason this 15 hour journey seemed to take forever. Although i happily sat through the 15hour coach journey from Toronto to New York, for some reason this time is was painful.

Bridge to Granville Island

Maybe my excitement was the reason for my agitation. Before i even arrived in Canada countless amounts of people had repeated the words "make sure you go to Vancouver". And so the time had come for me to see what the fuss was about. Walking out of the train station in vancouver was something great! Welcomed by 30C degree weather was a bonus! Luckily the sun decided to bless Vancouver with it's lethal rays for the entire time we were there!...not complaining! I thought maybe this would be my chance to jump into the sea...it's not a lake but its good enough for me. Unfortunately the Pacific's water was cold enough to make your legs go numb in a couple of minutes. The swimming shorts went back into the backpack once again. 

A visit to vancouver is not complete without a wonder around Stanley Park, located in the north west of Vancouver. Whether you choose to explore the park on foot, roller blades or bikes you will definitely it! We chose to bike it around the park! Located in the Park was Vancouver Aquarium! We ventured in towards what was called Beaver lake. Didn't see any Beavers. We eventually pulled up at third beach to enjoy the weather and to mess around in the sand and the sea! It was nice to chill in the sun instead of worrying about how to save exposed skin from the harsh weather. Although i can't really complain as we've had plenty of sunshine and heat!

Kayaking

The following day we made our way to Granville island where we enjoyed the Market's sweet and savoury foods! Once we settled our stomachs we made our way to rent Kayaks! Im gutted i didn't take any pictures while kayaking, but it meant taking a brand new camera into the wavy waters. It was great getting into the water and paddling along the coastline of Vancouver and trying to dodge any boats that were making their way into the harbour. It was a great way to look out onto the city, i definitely recommend it. The rest of the time was spent relaxing on the sand and enjoying the last moments of exchange, but also dreading the thought of it ending.

A great part of Vancouver's history is towards the north of city, the Capilano suspension bridge. After paying a quick entry we were greeted by a 20 minute history tour which revealed the scottish heritage. We made our way across the bridge, some with enthusiasm and others with fright. I do not recommend trying to scare your friends by jumping up and down on the bridge...haha B wasn't that bad! There isn't just the suspension bridge but also quick talks on the wild life and walkways in the trees. Definitely worth a visit. And so my final thoughts on Vancouver. I would definitely agree with everyone that Vancouver is a city you must visit! The view of snow top mountains in the background whilst sitting on the beach in the sun is definitely rare and beautiful. The weather definitely added to the fun! Vancouver is known to be a rainy city so I'm guessing we were really lucky! But I definitely agree that Vancouver is really nice and different from any other city I've been to in Canada. The people are friendly, the city is clean and safe! So yes! You have to visit Vancouver, preferably when the weather is hot!

View from the bridge

Alberta and the Canadian Rockies

Knee deep in Snow....slight twist

After a 5 hour flight from Hamilton "international" airport we arrived in a dark and drenched Calgary. First impressions of Calgary....not so busy! The first couple of days we managed to experience what seemed to be a monsoon, snow storm as well as a heat wave. Thanks to Rick we managed to complete a 3-5 hour hike, whilst in camouflage gear, up onto the top of Ravens End where we were greeted by a the clouds. The following day Rick drove us through both Banff and Jasper national park. The whole journey included breath-taking views and a lot a wild life, such as Moose, Grizzly Bear, white tip Dear and black Bears.

Grizzly Bear eating roots

The next leg of the journey involved a rented car and 5 exchange students. We spent a total of 7 days driving through both national parks stopping anywhere that had great views...so everywhere. Luckily we had great weather throughout our road trip and so we took the opportunity to do as many hikes as we could. The ink pot hike was great because once we arrived at the top there were clear blue mini lakes surrounded my snow covered tress and mountains. The Banff stop was not complete without a dive into Banff's 39 degree hot springs.

Ink Pot Hike, Banff National Park

After another Hike over looking Banff itself and trip to the top of the mountains in a gondola, we made our way to Jasper. Before arriving into Jasper, we stopped off at a Ice glacier as well as Athabasca falls. Once we arrived in Jasper, a small town in the middle of Jasper national Park, we rented mountain bikes. Mountain biking in and around Jasper was amazing. Although i didn't jump into a Lake, the whole experience was surreal. We also made a trip to a new friend who happened to run a cattle ranch. Whilst there we enjoyed angus beef burgers, some shooting and a tour of a real Canadian ranch. So much more happened, but if i wrote about everything in detail we would be here for a while! You'll have to definitely make a trip to the Canadian Rockies to fully appreciate how beautiful it is. 

Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies

Catch Up

I'll be posting a few blog entries to bring you up to date with what has happened and what is happening! Check back soon! (posting the first one some time today)

Heres a pic to get you in the mood!

Exam Period

Hamilton Harbour

So the stress has begun to try and end the year on a good average in order to put me in the best position possible for the third year. With my exams varying between being worth 30%-45% it proves to be much lower than the final exams back home in the UK, where the minimum percentage is usually 50%. So trying to figure out how much revision is needed is pretty hard. Although there is a lot less content to revise, this is compensated with the numerous amounts of assignments throughout the term.

Hamilton Harbour

It doesn’t help that the sun decides to raise temperatures to 26 CE and so threatening any attempt that I make at revision. There is the “lets study outside”, but that usually ends with people lounging around, eating and drinking the coldest beverages the scarce fridge has to offer.  One of these days was inevitable and so we decided to go for a bike ride along the harbour of Hamilton. It was quite nice considering certain areas of Hamilton are pretty run down, due to the remains of the steel industry that swooped over the city during the 20^th century. The bike trail was rammed with families, runners, long boarders and roller bladders. Everyone was clearly making the most out of the weather. It was a pretty cool ride up until we come across a child throwing stones at a few ducks whilst his mother followed behind trying to take photos of him doing it. Albeit entertaining.

So the day ended with strawberry and bananas smoothies in the garden along with a pile of unopened books. Although, it is fair to say that we deserved a day off as we recently finished all our classes.  

Mairi's Smoothies

'Spring' Break Continued

Few of Quebec's oldest buildings

After a long but comfortable train ride from Ottawa we arrived in ice cold Quebec City. Since coming to Canada in September we have been warned about temperatures plummeting to -20 CE, instead we were greeted by a mild winter with the odd few days of heat. This all ended in Quebec City as temperatures ranged from a maximum of  -7 CE and a minimum -25 CE.


Before we arranged any outdoor activities, we spent some time walking around the city as well as taking a long bus journey to the Montmorency waterfall. This is where we finally experienced the knee deep snow that every Canadian friend had mentioned. It was so deep that the Aussies struggled to cope with. The all too regular "I'm cold" phrase was mentioned more times than cheese (read on). Walking around the field we stumbled across snowboarders at a park, took the chance to slide down frozen steps as well as giving the Australians a chance to make their first snow man. It basically looked like a scene from Narnia. Eventually we ended up in this village cafe where the poutine portions were too much to handle... eh Richard? He shovelled the cheese curds down like a Frenchman who has been away from France for too long. Anyway we made our way back and gorged ourselves on Swiss fondue, some more than others...Richard. The fondue itself was a bit too cheesy for my liking so I quit earlier than the others. It was ok though- Richard took one for the team and took care of the leftovers whilst discussing the prospect of a trip to Philadelphia. Ok that's enough cheese jokes.

Brie-lliant Time (Sorry last joke)

More than knee deep

Struggle

The next day we made our way to Valcartier Ice Park. I think it is fair to say that we were probably one of the oldest groups there but seriously a 80 year-old gran with two hip replacements would have had as much fun as we did. Valcartier Ice Park consists of huge steep snow covered slopes that you could either go down on your own or whilst holding onto a friends rubber dingy straps. Located amongst scenic snow-capped mountains, it was the perfect winter break activity. Sliding down was truly epic  and worth the sweaty climbs back up to the top. It was even more epic when we discovered the drag lifts, which sarah eventually mastered. The best slopes had to be the steepest, on the 8-man log rafts and the spinning rafts.

Say 'Cheese'

  

Part of the Valcartier deal was that you also gain access to the 2km outdoor ice skating trail. Even though we were made to look like complete fools on the ice by our friend Drew (Canadian pro ice-skater), it was fun to just mess around. Once we had enough of that we made our way back onto the slopes! Time management was essential. Maybe the only similarity with the 10 year olds at the park was our packed lunches.

Ended up in a pile

Surreal-Pimpin'

The following day was the day that I eventually had the chance to go dog sledding, something I had been looking forward to since applying to do an exchange year abroad. Once we geared up with more layers of wet dog smelling clothes, we braved our way out into the cold. After a quick/short talk on how to control the sleds we were on the sleds steering away in under 10 minutes in the great Canadian outdoors. Having paid little attention to the instructions that were given to Sarah and I, we quickly made away into the bushes off the clear path in front. Whilst on the sled within 2 hours it managed to snow heavily, harshly hail and beam with sunlight on a repeating loop. The route was really scenic, especially when we entered wooded areas. Eventually we fell off the sled, having saved my camera from the fall, we had to quickly get up and chase the dogs in order to stop them from running off. After playing with the pups it was sadly over and so was our trip to Quebec City. Overall it was a wicked spring break and I made the right decision to go Cold.

Canadian Winter break

P.s A big merci to our French tour guide Arthur, albeit overpriced :D

'Spring' Break?

Ottawa, Canada!

Since the beginning of exchange one question that everyone kept asking was "What shall we do for spring break?". At first we all agreed upon going somewhere hot as we dreaded the perils of the coming winter. Somewhere hot basically meant Mexico or Cuba. Eventually the majority decided that we should brave the cold and get the full Canadian experience! After all we are studying here so we should make the most of it. Plus Selin had just bought her Canada Goose jacket, so she desperately wanted to get her monies worth and Nic had come prepared with an array of winter boots hahaha!

Traditional Native Games

The day arrived where we would once again make the short trip to Toronto in order to catch our bus to Ottawa. This was probably one of the funniest bus trips I've been on. It involved late wake-ups (Mairi), sickness/hungeroverness (Mairi), wrong tickets (Myself and Alison), running around Toronto working up a sweat to print off the actual ticket (Me) and a pacing drug addict at the back of the bus (drug addict). After a lot of trouble, we made it to Ottawa. Considering Ottawa is the capital of Canada, it is quite small. One of the main attractions of Ottawa in the winter is the chance to ice-skate on the worlds longest naturally frozen river! Unfortunately we arrived a bit too late into the winter season to be be able to ice-skate but we did manage to experience the last day of the winterlude! This included native dances, spiritual songs, ice sculpture competitions, free green tea and various pieces of art and history! 

Getting native in a Teepee


After a few beaver tails (no pun intended-its actually a fried pastry dessert) we made our way around the historical parliament buildings of Ottawa and into a deli shop which Barack Obama had recently visited at ByWard market. The stay was brief but just long enough to see what Ottawa had to offer.

 
Chilling at Backpackers Inn

We had a chilled evening in the basement of the hostel after handling a shushing row with the another group upstairs. This was the evening Richard had "An interesting theory".

 

Beaver's all round!

The next stop was Quebec City!!!