It's been fun but it hasn't been real fun, or has it?

I didn't post another entry as soon as I was hoping for. The early activities and courses riveted me along, so it was difficult to prioritize... The semester is already past the half-way mark, so it's finally time to sit down and reflect for a moment. A lot has happened so I will try my best catching the most of it. Time flies, as one Steven once clarified.

What I simply like the most here is diversity. UPEI is one of the most international universities per student in Canada. You can enter the dining hall any time of day and have a seat in a table next to people that are literally from all around the world; burkha-wearing Muslim twins from Egypt, a Sudanese refugee living in Kenya, fellows from Nigeria communicating in broken English, or a guy from Morocco living in France, not to mention a student from Connectitut having roots in Italy. In addition, such nations as Sweden, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Egypt, Japan, China incl. Hong Kong, Holland, France, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Taiwan, represented in our group of exchange students. I'm among the few exchange students that don't get to speak their native language, a fact of which I'm actually quite pleased about. For instance, the Spanish-speakers along with the Chinese and Japanese formed their circles quickly. I don't mind that, but for me, I'm totally swimming in the bottomless sea of non-Finnish speakers.

From ISO to NSO

The International Student Orientation (from August 30th to September 2nd) was a nice three-day set of activities from which the most interesting ones were probably a visit to the Cavendish beach and seeing a traditional Irish music performance. I was to find out that a half of the exchange students did not even participate into ISO because they were arriving later. I actually made the most closest friends from those coming after ISO.

NSO was a totally different thing, a little hard for a 25-year old to adjust. Youngsters aging from 17-19 breaking out from their homes for the first time, screaming and yelling in enthusiasm, attending non-alcoholic parties (drinking age limit is 19) and party like never before. I can do nothing but respect their ability to enjoy and be happy, it's just very different to what I've used to do, not just from the non-alcoholic point of view, but I guess you just tend to laugh at different thins when you are 25 as opposed to 18. For these reasons, not too many exchange students took part in the activities, some of them were fun though, for example the pool party - a chance to feel like a teenager playing funny games in the water.

COURSES & PRACTICALITIES

After a bit of a hassle I chose only three courses out of maximum five. Most of the computer science courses I would have wanted to pick were scheduled for Spring semester. So I ended up taking Professional Practice from Computer Science, Money and Financial Institutions from Economics and Global Issues which is a mandatory course for every UPEI student. People have considered me mad since I took it voluntarily, but as I was selecting courses back in Finland it felt like an interesting choice, for it is a unique course only arranged in this university, aimed to develop critical thinking and writing. According to other freshmen, the bad part of the course is the vast amount of writing it requires, two papers both over 2000 words. However, one of the aims of my exchange period was to improve my oral and writing skills in English even further, so it seemed like a reasonable course to attend. The first essay is already a piece of history, and the second is due in two weeks.

Living in residence on campus, at least to a Finnish exchange student, is slightly expensive. If you want to look for cheap accommodation, private market is the place to go. There is a trade-off for sure for the apartments outside campus, but I strongly recommend to consider them. Meal plans are simply awesome, for $15 a day you can as much as you can, anytime of the day from 7 am to 9 pm. Food selection varies from home-cooked food to burgers and pizza, so it is totally up to the student whether he or she wants to eat healthy or not.

TRIP TO MONCTON AND HALIFAX

The campus was going to be empty, since all Canadians went back home for thanksgiving (Oct 10th) to eat turkey. That was a good opportunity for us to leave the island for the weekend - an act some of the people living in PEI have never done. Leaving the island is also an act that costs 40 dollars. Arriving is free. Getting in and out of the island happens through Confederation Bridge, a massive 13km long pile of concrete established in 1997. It took four years to build and cost 1.3 billion Canadian dollars.

We arrived in Moncton, New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province of Canada. It was a Friday evening, and we settled in to our hostel after having toured the city with Nash Zangio who brought us there. The evening continued with lunch at a pretty lively restaurant in which the Spanish community, Aaron, Isaias and Ignacio, joined us. When the small and pricy portions of food were enjoyed with red wine, a process supported by a Jazz band playing on the background, the only option to remain was to enter the main nightclub of Moncton, Cosmos.

Moncton, New Brunswick

Halifax was such a nice, beautiful city. Half-seriously we joked about having second thoughts of the university we had chosen to do our exchange semester in. Halifax is on the seaside, providing a lengthy waterfront to walk on in the harbor. The city overall is very pedestrian-friendly, there are not much cars in downtown because of its building density and street narrowness. Overall, an atmospheric and vibrant city definitely worth visiting.

Citadel Hill, Halifax, Nova Scotia

LIFE ON CAMPUS

My daily routines have consisted of studying, eating, socializing and sports. The campus is pretty small and compact, everything is close, a reason for which I have visited downtown rather rarely. Dining hall is just next to the residence and the longest distance to class is probably four minutes away, so complaints about practicalities can not be made.

The sports facility offers many different activities free of charge. The last time I did sports this much was probably ten years ago when I played soccer in a team. Since I am not often heavily drowned with homework, I have made myself involved in such sports occupations as squash, racket ball, table tennis, soccer, gym, volleyball and badminton. There is something going on every day.

On weekends we have been watching hockey matches, sitting the evenings, studying, going out to downtown etc. And during the previous weekend we celebrated Halloween, a thing I had never done before. There was a big party at the campus bar, The Wave. I had to buy my ticket second-hand, since they were all sold out in a day. I decided to dress up as a rock star, which was done in an economical and globalizing way: the leather jacket and gloves were from Tom (US), the eye-makeup from Anna (US), the nail polish from the Netherlands and the hair gel from Youssef (Morocco). Here is how I ended up looking that day:

Cleopatriatic Anna from Missouri, US and me

The end of year is starting to rise in the horizon. For those who did not know, I'm heading to New York for Christmas and New Year's. Friends from Finland will fly over to meet me there. Times square, museum of natural history, NHL - beware!

Knowing how poorly inside matters transcend on paper, I will do it anyhow by commenting on a phrase so often heard from Tom Clark (not Kent): "It's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun." Well, I vigorously claim the opposite: it has been real fun.