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".