B(w)oston, Massachusetts

Burger Joint's Wall of Fame

After New York it only seemed right that a trip to Boston should follow. Once we checked into the hostel it was time to search for some food! A common theme that you might be noticing. We eventually settled for a burger bar two minutes away from The Berkley College of Music. The bar itself was pretty cool as the walls were covered with all things American as well photos of customers who completed the challenge of eating 6 or more hot dogs. If those hot dogs were chicken or beef, im sure i would have demolished at least 8, modest i know!



Boston had an unusual feel to it in that it was not like any other American city i had been too. In fact there seemed to be a lot more history and the city itself was a really calm. We started the day with a tour around the famous Red sox baseball stadium. We then attempted to follow the freedom trail around Boston but had quickly got distracted by Quincy Market! The Freedom trail is basically a self guided tour around the historical sights of the city! However that quickly ended when we came across a Market that catered for all palates. They had a variety of foods with Clam Chowder being the most popular. We spent around 4 hours in this market just chilling and getting up now and again to buy the next course to our meal! Eventually we decided that we should continue with the freedom trail! We ended up walking past the first public school in America as well as the graveyards of those who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Harvard University

The following day we made our way to Harvard University and walked around a part of the campus. The university's buildings were really nice and the campus itself was appealing. Next stop was Salem which is famous for the Witch trials. The area was dead, the streets were empty and the only shops open were those selling witch related products. You could buy yourself some love potion as well as the book of shadows and many other random things. Salem itself had a weird feel to it, especially after a young girl or boy (couldn't tell) asked if i wanted to hear a rap. It was funny at first but then he/she wouldn't leave haha eventually he/she had fallen for the "I'm going to miss my train" reason. We finished off with a lunch in this cool cafe and happened to bump into a friend's cousin. It's also worth mentioning that we had a successful trip to the Cheesecake factory too. All in all, Boston was really nice and relaxing! Although the coach journey back to Canada was not pleasant as we first had to go back to NY in order to get our coach to Toronto! But all was good as we re-visited the all day breakfast restaurant in Madison square gardens before we left! A good 2 hours spent in NY.

Salem

Midterms: Good or Bad?

Studying for Theology midterm

I will be cutting in between each post to give you a quick update on uni/school life.

Reading week arrived and marked the half way point to the end of the second semester as well as the arrival of midterm exams. As one exchanger noted, "Why are they not called mid semesters?", considering they do not use the word 'Term'. They can be a bit of an annoyance when you are also overcome with essays, debates and presentations at the same time. Experiencing midterm exams last semester enabled me to be more organised and prepared for them this time round. Although, it does seem odd that many students get tested 5 or 6 weeks into their semester as what could you have possibly learnt in such a short amount of time? However, I have come to realise that the extra revision allows you to be more prepared for the finals and you learn a lot more than you think.

The value of midterms can vary from 10%-40% so it's always a struggle trying to figure out how much revision you need to do for a test/what you'll be MSAFing - basically a form that exempts you from handing in an assignment below 30% without a doc note but with only one a semester, you have to be selective! Im happy to say that i did not use one last term and i hopefully will not be using one this term either. On the plus side - if you fail to hand in an assignment and use your MSAF they simply add the percentage onto your final exam or give you a new deadline. This is something that wouldn't happen back in the Uk unless you have a very serious reason, such as a medical reason. Many students here in Canada  have used it due to having 3 assignments due in on the same day, so in a way it can be seen as a good thing or a maybe a sign that a person should be more organised. One other strange thing is that midterms can stretch from the beginning of February to the middle of March. This can be annoying as people would probably prefer not to worry about revising for a small midterm percentage two weeks before their final. Overall, I'd say that yes midterms can be annoying but they do allow you to bag marks towards your final grade!