O-Week, Niagara Falls and Hail Stones

If I had to sum up Canada in one word, my immediate thought would be ‘huge’. Huge cars, huge roads, huge distances between literally everything, huge portions… you get the idea. It was a bit daunting at first, what with being from a horrendously small town, but after a few days, it all became a bit more normal.

The first week we were here was called “Pre-Orientation Week”, which essentially consists of activities intended to allow the international students, both exchange and permanent, adjust and settle in without the other students around campus. And trust me, you need it! The campus seemed so quiet and tranquil, right up until everyone else arrived, when it promptly turned into the somewhat organized chaos of an inner-city campus. (Think of the interchange at 8:30 on a Monday morning, and then times it by about three!) We were kept constantly busy, which helped a lot with the homesickness, and it gave us all a chance to make friends, We all got close pretty quickly; I’ve only been here just over three weeks and it already feels like I’ve known some of them forever! Even though Pre-O is over, we still do activities as a group pretty much every weekend – we went to Niagara Falls one weekend, Grand Bend on another, and to a theme park, and this Friday we’re going to an Ice Hockey game.

Pre-O was quickly followed by Orientation Week, which is an experience I will never be able to fully describe. It’s mainly just a cacophony of noise and cheers and caffeine fueled excitement. I was lucky to have a house as my residence, so I missed out on being woken up obnoxiously early by sophs armed with pots and pans! We went to an American football game which was fun (even though I actually had zero idea what was going on), and the Opening and Closing ceremonies. I’m still not entirely sure what the Huron chant actually consisted of (something about beavers and being hot to go?), but the atmosphere was incredible. I’ve never experienced anything like it!

The others have already spoken about the tornado warning, so I won’t go into too much detail. I’ll just say this; I don’t want to go through it again! The weather changed so suddenly, and while I love thunderstorms as much as the next person, ones that last five hours are just the wrong side of excessive. And trust me when I tell you that hail the size of 25-cent pieces hurts.

We’ve started class now, and it’s nice to get some kind of a routine back, even if that routine contains three 8:30AM starts! My courses are interesting, if demanding, and I find myself spending almost all my time out of class reading and studying for the next lecture. It’s good fun though, and I’ve never been one to balk at a challenge!