“Oh Canada!”
The Opportunity
Looking at my university website I came across the opportunity to study abroad at one of my University’s partner colleges overseas. It was an exciting prospect being in a new country on an exchange program. I was deciding between Colorado in the United States or in Thunder Bay in Canada. At the time the Australian dollar had taken a battering and was very low, only valued at just over 50c US. I was going to have to survive on Austudy payments and whatever work I can pick up there, so the choice became obvious, it would be Canada. I put in an application for the program. I was successful! Yay for me!
So Now What?
Now for the planning. I had never been overseas before, so I had a bit of research ahead of me, firstly I did not have a passport.
SO MANY QUESTIONS!
What else do I need? Insurance, Yes. What do I take? What is the weather like? How do I pack for 6 months overseas, which evidently would turn into a whole year? Flights? I want to travel before hand, where can I leave my things, while I travel? Medication? I have a chronic illness, how do I travel carrying medication that requires refrigeration?
Finding good luck
I was lucky to find out that a relative of mine had friends in Vancouver. These people who I had never met before were willing to pick me up from the airport and have me stay with them before my trip around the Rocky Mountains. I was also able to leave my things there while I traveled.
My doctor provided me with a six month supply of medication to take with me, the only trouble was, how am I going to keep it refrigerated. I was able to organised with the airline to have my medication refrigerated on the way. I purchased a mini ice box to take the medication I would require while I took my mini trip. It was all starting to come together.
Weather
Growing up in Melbourne, you think the Melbourne winter could sometimes be brutal with that icy southerly wind. I found out that the weather in Thunder Bay, which is in Northern Ontario on Lake Superior, the winter can get below 40. Wait, what? BELOW 40! How the hell do you dress for that! That prompted a shopping trip to stock up on thermals.
Rocky mountain tour
I arrived in Vancouver in August, it was the end of Summer coming into Autumn, so the weather was mild. I found a budget tour through Moose travel.
It was a group of about 20 people and funnily enough most people were from Australia. I had never seen such majestic mountains before and the country was like a picturesque postcard from Lake Louise to Banff. I was mesmerised by the colour of the glacial waters, as at Lake Louise. I had never seen anything like it. The tour lasted two weeks and then I was back in Vancouver, ready to make my way over to Thunder Bay, to study at Lakehead University.
University Life
Living on campus seems to be the norm in Canada. I opted for a shared four bedroom townhouse rather than a dorm room. There were four bedrooms upstairs with living, dining and kitchen downstairs. I lived with two Canadian girls and another girl from Germany. At the University I was to meet a wide range of international students as the University provided a great network and activities for all the international students.
I arrived about a week before classes were to start, I was first to arrive at the townhouse and not many other students were around the campus. The weather was starting to get cold, but it was no preparation of what was to come. On campus there were clothing shops, convenience stores and of course doughnut shops, it was like a little village. There were several buildings all connected by underground tunnels, to avoid having to go out in the cold.
Snow
It was exciting when the snow first started to fall, little did I know that it would hang around for over 6 months. My Canadian housemates could not believe that I had never lived in snow. I learned how to dress for the cold by laying, I would wear around 5 or 6 layers to go outside depending on how cold it was.
“How cold is it outside? It’s snot freezing cold!”
The scale was defined by if your nostrils froze together or not. Snot freezing cold meant 6 layer were required. As it seemed to be always sunny, sunglasses were a must to stop the glare from the white snow, it also prevented icicles on the eyelashes. The main problems I found with snot freezing cold, was when you walked back inside to the warmth, it would melt. Note: always carry a tissue.
No Car!
No one in our household had a car and not many students did. My housemate offered her bike that I could use to get around. It was experience riding in the snow. It was about a fifteen minute bike ride to the grocery store. I would take my backpack and fill it to as much as I could carry.
The Kegger
Being the only “Ozzie” I was invited to many keg parties. Students living off campus would hold parties and charge $5 at the door and have their 3 level houses jammed pack with people. I felt like I was living in an 80’s American college movie. It was a lot of fun. It seemed every one knew who I was, and wanted to chat, which was kind of confronting for the introvert that I am.
As the snow started to melt, the university year was coming to an end. Never did I think that zero degrees would be warm weather. The first day out of minus degrees saw many people walking around in shorts and t-shirt. It was the first day I didn’t need my big windbreaker jacket and jumper. But it’s only zero! well that’s 40 degrees warmer that it had been.
Eastward I Go!
I bought myself a train pass where I could make unlimited stops for three weeks to go as far as Halifax in Nova Scotia.
On my way to Halifax, I stopped at Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, which is part of French Canada. I found it a bit difficult only knowing Bonjour. French was the main language spoken by most people living in Montreal. I also made a stop at Prince Edward Island and visited the Anne of Green Gables Cottage.
Back to reality
It was hard to come back. I enjoyed my time in Canada and could have stayed there even longer. It worked out better than I ever imagined. I experienced my first and mostly likely only ever white Christmas, which I spent with one of my Canadian house mate in her home and believe it or not her parents owned a Christmas Tree farm. It was a beautiful memory I will never forget.
When I got back home, I was so keen to get back to Canada I even started filling out forms for residency, then life got in the way and it never eventuated. I made a great friend in one of my Canadian housemates, who came to visit when she was doing exchange in Sydney and we still keep in contact. Maybe one day I will take the kids there.