Hey guys thanks for checking out my blog!!! I am writing about the absolutely brilliant time I had studying at the University of Western Ontario for the second semester of second year of my geography degree here at the University of Southampton. I arrived in Canada on the second of January and the first couple of weeks were the hardest of the whole semester as I still had exams to revise for and sit that were for Southampton. Despite this inconvenience it was still a manageable time and the rest of the semester was worth the hassle of these two weeks. I was staying in a first year hall of residence much like English ones however my halls, the mighty Saugeen, was much bigger with over 1000 students. I was on a floor with around 35 people. Everyone was really great on my floor and they definitely lived up to the stereotype that Canadians are really friendly. I had a great time living in halls and I felt like I was a fresher all over again. It was really sociable all throughout the semester. Pretty much all the halls at Western were catered. The options for food were really good the dining hall opened very early in the morning- I don’t know the exact time I was never up for breakfast!! And stayed opened till 11 at night. The halls also put on many events that took place in the hall of residence such a bubble soccer, a petting zoo and reptile therapy. These events were really cool and something you don’t really get in English halls. It was also in a beautiful setting just two minutes’ walk from the residence was a beautiful creek (not a river I must say). I would often go and chill here with friends once the weather got warmer and even went swimming once!! Living in a first year hall of residence was definitely a really good way to spend my semester it gave me the chance to meet loads of Canadian students and really experience what it was like to be a typical Canadian student going to university for the first time. I had a smashing time and made some truly great friends. Both international and Canadian- some even of nationalities unknown!!!!
Now to the thing I actually went to Canada for- the studying!!! Studying in Canada is quite different to England. Students don’t just study one subject so each of my classes were full of different people all studying a variety of things. The class sizes were also much smaller with school sized groups and no big lecture theatres ever being used. Assessment were done much more regularly with midterms and end of term tests, coursework, weekly quizzes and even attendance counting towards your grade. This put less pressure of the end of term exams but meant you had to study all semester and always had tests or coursework to prepare for. Despite this the level of work was much easier than university work in England with the content being less complex and the marking being much more lenient. This was really good and allowed me to finish the term with a good grade. This was something I was worried about as I went into the semester wanting to enjoy everything Canada offered without dropping grades. This easier workload allowed me to enjoy university and Canada while still doing well academically.
I got to experience so many cool things unique to Canada during my time there. I tried the famous Canadian dish poutine. Chips with gravy and cheese curds. It’s not that good, but they seem to love it. I also tried maple syrup many times and even went to a maple syrup farm and learnt how it is made. I saw loads of sport while I was there, every bar or restaurant you go into sport is always on. I went to an ice hockey match for the local team the London Knights and saw a university game. Both of these were really fun. I also went to a Blue Jays game while in Toronto. These are the only major league baseball team in Canada and they were great fun to watch.
During my semester abroad I visited Toronto numerous times, went to Niagara Falls and spent reading week, a week off in February, in Montreal and Quebec City. I went to Montreal and Quebec City with a group of other internationals who were also on exchanges. Despite the weather reaching -30 with a wind chill of -40!!!! Both places were beautiful. We went tobogganing in Quebec, walked round the old town, went to an ice hotel and visited the beautiful Montmorency Falls, the tallest falls in Canada and ate loads of French-Canadian food- mainly crepes!!!! Quebec was brilliant with the ice hotel being my favourite part and the worst part being the frost bite I nearly caught when the wind got up extra hard and reached a wind-chill of nearly -45!! Montreal was another beautiful city with a really nice old town and the amazing park Mont Royal that after hiking up it gave brilliant views of the city. The park had loads going on with people cross-country skiing through it. Both Montreal and Quebec City are in the French speaking part of Canada but there was never a language barrier especially in Montreal where everyone spoke English. Niagara Falls was my favourite place I visited throughout my whole semester abroad. The falls really lived up to their reputation. I visited them with the royally approved Anna, a fellow Southampton geographer at the end of the semester. We got up close to the falls my going on the maid of the mist boat and explored the town of Niagara. Canada have really milked the falls and the town has a Blackpool feel to it with arcades, mini-golf and waxwork museums all over the place. We even went on a Ferris wheel!!
All in all my semester spent a Western University was absolutely fantastic, I got to meet so many amazing people, lived in and experience a whole new country for four months and just have a fantastic time. I would recommend exchange to absolutely anyone and everyone as it is such a great was to experience something and just have the most amazing unforgettable 4 months!!
