Arrival

It's been two weeks since my arrival. I wish I could have posted an entry earlier, thus not letting the fresh memories get out of my mind, but the beginning hassle with its orientations and activities kept me busy for the time being. Anyhow, it's been great so far.

I'm going to start this blog just by presenting the notes that were made during the trip from Helsinki to Halifax. I will post another entry (hopefully soon) covering such topics as international student orientation (ISO) and new student orientation (NSO), life on campus, meeting people from all corners of the globe, courses etc. Until then, here we go.

Current location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Current time and date: 17:28, Aug 29th 2011

I arrived to Keflavik airport approximately one hour ago. I went to look for something eat and found myself a rather dry hamburger and basic french fries. Connecting flight to Halifax departs at 18:40, boarding starts at 18:10. I have to buy some more food to take with me to the plane.

A few minutes ago there was an announcement saying that the flight to Halifax is OVERBOOKED! The shipmen I met later enlightened me by telling that overbooking happens quite often because of repetitious "no-shows." The airport personnel were asking if it was ok for a few volunteers to travel to Halifax on the following day and get some extra bonuses. Well, at least I will not annonunce myself to this tempting deal because I have bookings for a hostel night today and for the PEI shuttle in the morning. I bet there are not too many volunteers for this arrangement.

Looking out through the airport windows, the ground is grey and it's completely flat, except for one thing: Iron Maiden's painted aeroplane was right next to our Halifax boarding gate.

Current location: Halifax Airport, Canada
Current time: 21:46, Aug 29th 2011

Actually and fortunately several volunteers were found to catch the flight on the following day. The bonuses made the deal.

Two Canadian shrimp-catching shipmen, the second mate (third in command) and a cook, came into my table for beers right after I had finished writing my first journal entry. They brought their ship to Iceland for maintenance since it was cheaper all the way down there than in Canada. They told me several things about Prince Edward Island, for instance that there are no hard rocks on the island, so they have to be imported from mainland. Producing and using concrete might be a bit more expensive here than inland.

Current location: Charlottetown, Nova Scotia
Current time and date: 9:19 pm, Aug 30th 2011

The flight went okay, I sat next to two sports team girls. The other asked for me to switch places with her mom. As I had nothing against this request, quite the opposite since my upcoming seat was next to the corridor in the 13th row and my current place was in the back of the plane where the noise is louder. So after the plane took off, I went to the new seat.

I tried to watch No String Attached, but I could not finish it because of its boredom. As an avid consumer of movies, I can not remember a time when I had to stop watching because there was simply nothing in there. Though I must admit that my headphones felt a bit uneasy on my ears. So I grabbed and read the first chapter from God Is Not Great - Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens, a book I got from my brother, who happens to have the most innovative selection of books in three different genres: atheism, atheism... and atheism.

There was a lot better movie during the flight from Helsinki to Keflavik: The Adjustment Bureau. The movie had made a very neutral impression with its trailer so my expectations were not high. But it didn't take long until the movie had already evoked a few interesting thoughts, this time about relationships. I might not be the most objective critic since I've become quite sensitive on the subject. Nevertheless, the one good question the movie pointed out was: can a couple form such a strong symbiosis that they suck out the life of each other and make no progress as individuals?

I stayed the night at Halifax Backpackers to which I was transported by an airport shuttle. Loaded with travel tiredness, I didn't socialize with anynone but went straight to bed. The PEI shuttle picked me up at 6.45 am, so I managed to get a decent 7-hour sleep.

In front of Halifax Backpackers at 6.40 am

I arrived into the campus around noon. The PEI shuttle I took was one hour late because of traffic caused by road reconstructions in both ends, Halifax and Charlottetown. International Programs Coordinator, Sherilyn Acorn, was waiting for me. She told me the most crucial necessities and brought me to my residence, Bernardine Hall, an apartment building mainly for first year and international students. Someone called Jerry gave me the keys to my room which I am sharing with a student from Japan, Seyia Kendo, who had arrived to Charlottetown earlier. After having entered my room, I was soon caught into the depths of desperation: I'm on the other side of the world, totally alone and with no friends around. I knew they were to come, but I had my right to moan for a while.

Seiya stopped by in the room soon after my arrival. We greeted, he had even brought me a Japanese card and a sushi keyring. How nice of him. I wish I had brought him something. :( He was going downtown Charlottetown with his (what, like eight of them) friends from Tokio University where he studies. Later in the evening when he came back and I was just about to go grab something to eat, we decided to go together, which was nice. We went to KFC and then to Tim Hortons, a combination that I hope is not about to become a habit.