Deleware, Deleware, Del-A-Ware echoes through the residence. There is no doubt that Canadians have school spirit. O-Week, known in the UK as “Freshers”, is packed with rallies, dances, chants and my personal favourite a 7AM wake up call. As the Spice Girls rang around my corridor and my soph (Fresher Rep) banged down my door at 7AM I thought to myself; only in Canada.
Naturally, being British public chanting and peppy school spirit does not come naturally but as thousands of students gather dressed in Purple you cannot help but embrace the Canadian way. From dancing on stage in front of hundreds of people to cheering on the football team without knowing a single rule; I can confirm in Western words “I’ve got spirit, yes I do, I’ve got spirit. how about you?”
Helping me to embrace the Canadian way I have a lovely network of international friends. I have swam with a man from France, danced with a man from Palestine and eaten Shawarma with a man from Dubai. However I cannot forget the amazing English people I have met, collectively we have laughed our way through O-Week – raving, singing and drinking tea.
However, most thrilling of all, while I write this post my room is intermittently lit with the flashes of intense lightening 
and filled with the aggressive shrills of thunder. Yet this is not just any storm, this is the back end of a tornado. Marking the end of the Canadian summer the heavens opened and a tornado warning for the area was released; the alarm I was told I would never hear sounded. However after waiting out the worst of it I am left with a spectacular storm as light fills the sky as if performing an acrobatic dance and thunder that I’m afraid I can’t describe as nicely.
This isn’t exactly the best description of Canada. School spirit and Western University is not necessarily the “Canadian way.” Actually Western is one of the most Americanized schools in Southern Ontario. Not all schools are like that, especially when approaching the major cities like Toronto. As for the storm and it being the result of a tornado, that is a very rare case. If that ever happens, it’s usually the tail of something. Rarely does Southern Ontario witness any extreme weather.