Hey guys,
this is just a short post to keep you updated!
The NHL game was nice, unfortunately the SENS lost 2:1. The stadium is kind of far away from the city, so we had to take the bus for 45 mins. The difference to for example European football is that north American just cheer whereas you sing in European stadium. This makes it sometimes difficult to create to good atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it.
Chicago was great, it is a beautiful city! We spend an awesome weekend in the Windy City. After 15 hours in the bus we were really happy when the bus dropped us at Navy Pier. We used Friday to discover the city and visit the Willis Tower (former Sears tower). An impressive building and especially the observation box (its just made out of glass) at over 200 meters height makes you feel scared haha! Furthermore, we visited Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs (Baseball), and Millenium Park on Saturday. Not to forget clubbing on Saturday night ;)
Actually, I am in a hurry right now since we have to go and pick up our rental car. We (3 friends and me) are about to leave for a roadtrip since we have one week off. Destinations are Boston, Cape Cod and Quebec City so far. We will see were we actually end up in the end :D
I keep you posted! Take care
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Hola chicos!
"Imagine you are sitting in the food court of the shopping mall, downtown. You just finished eating and now you start looking at the people around you. Right in front of your table sits a middle-aged Canadian mother with her sons. She might have Eurpean roots, as so many other Canadians do. Next to her you see three teenies with Latin background, one wearing a "Sens"-shirt. You turn around and hear 2 afro-american girls talking about their jobs. At the same time you see a couple of Asian senior citizens who are playing cards, a few of them holding a "Tim Hortons" cup."
If someone would ask me to describe Canada in one word, my answer would be "multi-cultural". I have never seen a place where so many different ethnic groups live together and I must say that I am really enjoying it. I am having the time of my life over here!
One month past since my last post and this gave me enough time to gain experiences that I can share with you.
After one week I moved out of my hostel which means that I am living in "residence" for three weeks now. Residence is a complex of three buildings hosting all the exchange and first-year students. I am in the 5th of 15 floors that have 20 rooms each, consisting of both single and double rooms. Each floor has own bathrooms but the kitchen is shared by two floors. The exchangies are spread out through the whole building.
UOttawa is big, bigger than Tilburg. If you have to walk over campus, it might take you a while. The buildings are connected through a tunnel system which gives students the possibility to stay inside during the heavy winter. Luckily, I didnt have to make use of it until now :p
My lectures started September 8th and this means that studying started again. Class sizes are about the same as in Tilburg but the length of a lecture is different. Each course lasts one and a half hour (even though we always finish 10 minutes earlier to make sure we get to the next class since there is no break in between courses) and has NO break. This makes lectures pretty long and after one hour you notice how you start thinking about tonight´s plans instead of focusing on "the legal system in Canada". Furthermore, attendance is required more often, some courses have no slides and we have much more assignments and papers to do than in Tilburg. But the most ridiculous thing is the price of text books: if I would buy all the materials for my 5 courses, it would cost me around 500€!!!
Sports is pretty big here in Canada, the university offers much more activities. You can use the fitness rooms for free, but if you want to sign up for courses or tournaments (and there are really a lot!) you need to pay.
The welcome days were really nice. I got to know lots of people (we are around 40 business exchange students) and our mentors organised many activities for us. One of them was a hiking trip through the Gatineau hills.
I must say that I am really lucky with the two mentors I got. They are as old as I am and we are always hanging out or planning further activities. Going out is lots of fun, especially since we are always on a guest list which means that we neither pay entrance fee nor have to wait in line (something that Canadian´s love to do, here are queues everywhere!!).
Two weeks ago I made my first trip with a couple of guys to Montreal, Quebec. We went by bus (it takes around two hours) and luckily I could stay over at Moritz´s place, one of my fellow students from Tilburg (I recommend you to read his blog if you want to know more about Montreal ;) ). I spent a great weekend over there, the city is really beautiful and there is lots to see.
The next adventure is already waiting for us; in 2 weeks we are going with most of the exchange students to Chicago!! I am curious what the "windy city" is going to be like.I will let you know when I am back :P
One last thing: next weekend I am going to watch my first NHL game, the season opener between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres. It´s going to be wild since everyone is waiting for the season to start!!
Four weeks down, 12 to go. Have a nice day and thank you for reading, Brau
If someone would ask me to describe Canada in one word, my answer would be "multi-cultural". I have never seen a place where so many different ethnic groups live together and I must say that I am really enjoying it. I am having the time of my life over here!
One month past since my last post and this gave me enough time to gain experiences that I can share with you.
After one week I moved out of my hostel which means that I am living in "residence" for three weeks now. Residence is a complex of three buildings hosting all the exchange and first-year students. I am in the 5th of 15 floors that have 20 rooms each, consisting of both single and double rooms. Each floor has own bathrooms but the kitchen is shared by two floors. The exchangies are spread out through the whole building.
UOttawa is big, bigger than Tilburg. If you have to walk over campus, it might take you a while. The buildings are connected through a tunnel system which gives students the possibility to stay inside during the heavy winter. Luckily, I didnt have to make use of it until now :p
My lectures started September 8th and this means that studying started again. Class sizes are about the same as in Tilburg but the length of a lecture is different. Each course lasts one and a half hour (even though we always finish 10 minutes earlier to make sure we get to the next class since there is no break in between courses) and has NO break. This makes lectures pretty long and after one hour you notice how you start thinking about tonight´s plans instead of focusing on "the legal system in Canada". Furthermore, attendance is required more often, some courses have no slides and we have much more assignments and papers to do than in Tilburg. But the most ridiculous thing is the price of text books: if I would buy all the materials for my 5 courses, it would cost me around 500€!!!
Sports is pretty big here in Canada, the university offers much more activities. You can use the fitness rooms for free, but if you want to sign up for courses or tournaments (and there are really a lot!) you need to pay.
The welcome days were really nice. I got to know lots of people (we are around 40 business exchange students) and our mentors organised many activities for us. One of them was a hiking trip through the Gatineau hills.
I must say that I am really lucky with the two mentors I got. They are as old as I am and we are always hanging out or planning further activities. Going out is lots of fun, especially since we are always on a guest list which means that we neither pay entrance fee nor have to wait in line (something that Canadian´s love to do, here are queues everywhere!!).
Two weeks ago I made my first trip with a couple of guys to Montreal, Quebec. We went by bus (it takes around two hours) and luckily I could stay over at Moritz´s place, one of my fellow students from Tilburg (I recommend you to read his blog if you want to know more about Montreal ;) ). I spent a great weekend over there, the city is really beautiful and there is lots to see.
The next adventure is already waiting for us; in 2 weeks we are going with most of the exchange students to Chicago!! I am curious what the "windy city" is going to be like.I will let you know when I am back :P
One last thing: next weekend I am going to watch my first NHL game, the season opener between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres. It´s going to be wild since everyone is waiting for the season to start!!
Four weeks down, 12 to go. Have a nice day and thank you for reading, Brau
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