01/31/15

Day in the Life

I may have lost the snowball fight.

One of the things this blog is desperately missing (along with content in general) is an idea of what my life over here actually looks like. While there isn’t really a typical day here, there are days that capture what life is like over here. So without further ado, here’s what I did Thursday (January 29th).

8:45 – Wake up time! I opened the curtains and it was snowing! One of the things I’d been looking forward to the most in Durham was seeing the city in the snow, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed. Even the view of a parking lot and Maximum Security prison from my window was transformed thanks to the snow. Time for a shower before breakfast.

9:15 – I head off to breakfast with the same people I usually go to breakfast with. We sort of have a standing agreement to go to breakfast together so it works out nicely. To get to Hatfield’s dining hall, we need to cross an ‘award-winning’ bridge with a beautiful Cathedral view. Because of the snow, the trip is a little treacherous – the bridge is particularly icy, but that doesn’t stop us. I got into a bit of a snowball fight with my Canadian exchange student friend, despite there really not being enough snow for that.

9:20 (ish) – Breakfast! I can never be bothered to go early enough for hot food, but I have toast with jam, cereal, and half a grapefruit. Breakfast is always the same here at Hatfield, but it’s pretty decent so I don’t mind.

11:00 – I had a bit of a break but now it’s time for my only class of the day. It’s a seminar on Election and British Politics. This week we were discussing Campaigns and the Media, which I found particularly interesting since I spent the first term reading 1000s of articles on the last federal campaign in Canada.

1:00 – Class is over so it’s time to head back to Hatfield for lunch. I head straight to the dining hall where I find my friend Will. For lunch I have pizza with beans and a salad. Very standard.

2:00 – Time to hit the books. It’s off the the library to do a few readings. I had a paper due today, but I handed it in yesterday (Wednesday) so I can catch up on some neglected readings.

6:00 – Dinner! I get together with my group of about 10 friends who I usually eat with. Dinner for me is ‘Minute Steak’, mashed potato, and salad (love my salad). Again, very standard. At Hatfield there’s always 3-4 options for protein, 4-5 side options (including at least two types of potato), and a salad bar. For dessert is a lemon sponge cake and custard. It’s new so I figure it’s worth trying.

8:00 – We decided we’re heading to the bar for a few drinks and a quiet night in. Thursdays are usually a quiet night at Hatfield and this was no exception. We spent a couple hours at the Hatfield Bar before deciding to head back to our residence.

10:30 – We get back to our residence and a few of us decide to head to bed. Me and two other guys head to one of our rooms since we don’t feel like calling it a night. We end up spending about 4 hours just chatting since we lose track of time.

~2:30 – I head to sleep. I fall asleep almost instantly. It’d been a good day

Well, I think this gives a pretty good idea of what life is like in Durham. Lot’s of good times with friends and maybe some school work if there’s time left over! See you all next time!

12/7/14

When In Rome, Stop for a Chat!

Group photo with a Cathedral backdrop!

Before travelling or going on exchange, most people will talk about all of the things they want to see, all of the places they want to go, all of the things they want to do. Most people will tell you a city is gorgeous, the museums are beautiful, or the churches are historic. One thing that is often forgotten amid the vast array of things that can be captured by a quick picture are the people that live in that city. The people you meet are the ones so often overlooked in favour of the sights you see. So I think it’s fitting to use this post to talk about the people that are making my exchange so great.

Let me tell you about a girl I’ve met who lives just four blocks away from me in Canada and has dozens of mutual friends with me. Or maybe you’d rather hear about the guy who knew, before even coming to University, that he wants to join the army when he leaves. Maybe the military isn’t your thing, maybe you’d rather hear about the girl who came from California and brought her own granola (in mason jars, even). Or maybe you’d like to hear about a guy with actual lived experiences who was in a successful indie band for 6 years while living in Germany. There’s a porter who has worked here for 30 years and before that worked in the military. I have a professor who has tested some of the only split-brained people still alive and another who has played an active role in European Union debates.

One of my favourite things to say is that I’ve never met a boring person. It isn’t some grandiose claim about how I socialize with only the elites or some profound statement about the human condition. It’s just a fact. Every person has a unique story, unique perspectives, and unique ideas. Nothing is more exciting and unpredictable than getting to know someone new. I think it’s something a lot of people forget and that’s a real shame. People spend hours studying buildings, art, and artifacts while forgetting to take the time to enjoy the company of the people around them.

For me, enjoying the people around me has been an important part of my exchange so far. Learning from others, talking to others, experiencing others. It’s part of what makes this experience so magical. When I visit other cities, I relish the little interactions with people who have lived there their entire lives. Asking a bartender or waiter what they would recommend, talking to the person selling me my museum ticket and asking them a little bit about themselves – it all adds to the experience.

For the first week I was in Durham I actively made an effort to talk to new people. I told myself that I shouldn’t be afraid to ask a stranger why they were dressed in all green (as it turns out, they were dressed as a toy soldier). Then, quickly, I didn’t need to make such an active effort. It had become habit. Maybe it’s something about being in the North of England or maybe it’s because I’m on exchange but I’ve found it easy to embrace the idea that a stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet and I couldn’t be having a better time because of it.

A few little stories really show what I mean. In fresher’s week (the first week of term), I was at one of the events that were organized for us and I walked up to a guy (who I did not know in the slightest) and declared that he was my new best friend. Later that night I chundered over the edge of a boat as he stood next to me. Of course, I don’t remember any of this but he recently assured me it all happened while we ate lunch together. You see, he really did become one of my close friends. Were I staying in Durham for another year, he would probably have become my housemate.

Another night, later in term, as I was leaving my College to go to a local bar I realized I didn’t want to bring my coat with me so hurriedly returned to my room to drop it off. By the time I left again, I had lost track of my friends but assumed I would find them when I got to the bar. Upon arriving however, I couldn’t find them anywhere – they had vanished. A girl dressed in a weird outfit asked me if I was ok, as I clearly looked confused at the time. I told her my friends had ditched me, upon which she invited me to join her sports team on their ‘Mean Girls’ themed social. It was the women’s lacrosse team, none of who I really knew. I figured why not – if my friends were going to ditch me, I’d hang out with my new cool friends. We spent probably an hour at that bar, in which time I probably met 10-15 of the team members and had a blast!

Finally, one day I realized I had been tagged in a Facebook photo with a girl I had never met – we had mutual friends who I guess were taking a picture of one of us when the other decided they wanted to be in it too. I didn’t think much of it until about a month later when I met the girl at our College bar after a Thanksgiving themed formal dinner. We hit it off before realizing we had been tagged in that photo together, a fact that gave us a good laugh.

The moral of these stories are really that you never know when you’re going to meet your new best friend. Maybe it’s the girl you introduced yourself to just because she was Canadian and who turns out to live mere blocks from you in Canada. Maybe it’s the guy who you heard was also called Mackenzie and so felt obligated to meet. Maybe it’s the British guy who spends every Christmas in Whistler and you plan on skiing with while back home. Meeting new people is an adventure – don’t let the fact that you don’t know their name hold you back. Introduce yourself! A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet and I’ve never met a boring person.

09/20/14

Embracing Uncertainty

The Durham University School of Government and International Affairs

Nobody ever wants to admit they don’t know something. No one wants to have to say “You know what, I’m really not sure.” This is especially true when you’re facing a new experience. Look back to when you were going off to university for the first time. You probably tried to get as much information about what you were diving into as you could, asking family questions, looking online, anything you could do to know more. But there were probably things you didn’t know! The unknown is often one of the biggest stressors in life.

I could write a book on the things I’ve been uncertain about so far in the exchange process. For the longest time, I didn’t know about what courses I would be able to take. I didn’t know where I would be living. I didn’t know what kind of room I would have. I still don’t know what my room will look like. I don’t know what the food will be like. I don’t know what the classes will be like. I don’t know who I’ll be living with. For quite a while I didn’t know if I’d be living next to an independent Scotland. To quote and slightly paraphrase the West Wing, “the total tonnage of what I […] don’t [know] could stun a team of oxen in its tracks”.

I’ve tried learning more. I spoke with a professor who did his PhD in the UK to try and gage the educational system over there. I sent off plenty of e-mail trying to figure out what my accommodations would be like. I’ve scoured Durham’s website for information about what it’ll be like. But here’s a secret I’ve discovered: there’s a lot of information for first year students but not a ton for exchange students. I guess the fact that first year students outnumber exchange students by a huge margin is probably to blame, but it can be pretty annoying.

So what do I do in the face of all this uncertainty? The only thing I can do. I embrace it. Uncertainty doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If I wanted to know exactly what I was in for, I would stay at UBC for the next year. I know UBC. I know what classes are like, what campus is like. I know that there are five Starbucks on campus but only two will let you reload your Starbucks Card. There isn’t a lot of uncertainty at UBC. Exchange is about that uncertainty. It’s about doing something new and exciting. It’s about facing the unknown and saying “I can’t wait!”

If you’re about to go on exchange and you can say “I know exactly what I’m doing”, chances are you’re either lying to yourself or you’re just wrong. And that’s not a bad thing. Uncertainty is exciting. At its core, what makes an adventure so exciting is that you never know where it will end or where the journey will take you. Embrace what you don’t know. Life is an adventure; knowing everything before it happens would be boring.

09/17/14

9 Things I Wish I Knew Before Applying For Exchange

Durham Cathedral, as seen in Harry Potter

So you’re thinking about going on exchange. Maybe you’re a first year; you just started university and want to get the most from your experience. Maybe you’re going into your third year and think it’s too late. Maybe you don’t really want to go on exchange but are just curious about what the big deal is. Whatever it might be, these 9 things will definitely help you make a decision.

UBC wants you to go on exchange

UBC actually wants students to go on exchange. You might think this is obvious, you might think this isn’t, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind before applying. Let me give you some examples of how they support students going abroad. First of all there are about a half-a-dozen advisors who work full time in International House who are experts on exchange programs around the world. There’s an advisor for all the different programs that Go Global offers. Heck, there’s even an advisor for your safety abroad. UBC also offers financial support for student’s looking to go on exchange, from scholarships to awards. UBC wants you to go on exchange.

Going on exchange takes independence

Remember when you were in grade 12? When you were worrying about applying for universities and all the work associated with that? Well going on exchange is pretty similar, except not everyone will be doing it. Because of the independence afforded to university students, no one will be pushing you to meet deadlines. No one will remind you that there’s an advising session you need to attend (oops, sorry Arts – didn’t mean to miss that one!). You will be responsible for just about every part of the process, so take advantage of the support UBC offers.

Exchange is about more than just studying

This goes out to anyone who is thinking about going on exchange as a chance to broaden the scope of their education. Good for you! That’s a great reason to want to go on exchange. But exchange is so, so much more than that. Exchange is the opportunity to grow as a person, to explore the world, to have fun. Embrace opportunities as they come and don’t let your textbooks bog you down.

Exchange is about more than just having fun

If you’ve looked into going on exchange, you probably know that your grades will on exchange will transfer back as pass/fail. Woohoo! Time to slack off right? Not quite. While UBC will not use those grades to calculate your average, when you apply to institutions in the future they’ll ask to see those transcripts. Getting good grades while on exchange can show an employer that you’re adaptable and can thrive in more than one set of circumstances.

Going on exchange can be expensive

Exchange can be cheap. You could go to a partner institution in North America, maybe something down in Oregon. Living expenses will be low, flights there are cheap. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But for a lot of us, exchange expenses can quickly add up. Flights to Europe, living expenses in large European cities, travel, and entertainment are not cheap. Work on a budget before applying, you don’t want to end up realizing you won’t be able to afford it after paying UBC’s Go Global fee. Even worse, you don’t want to run out of money while on exchange.

Course selection matters

This is less for going on exchange and more for right now, while you’re trying to decide if you want to go. The courses you are taking right now will affect how easy life abroad will be. The best thing to do while on exchange is take electives. If you don’t have to worry about how your course credits will transfer back to UBC you can spend more time worrying about where you’ll go on your next weekend trip. I flagrantly ignored this one and will be taking entirely requisite courses and I can tell you I’d much rather not have to worry about credits not transferring and me needing to drop one of my majors just to graduate in 5 years instead of 6. If you aren’t sure what courses you should be taking this year, talk to your Faculty Advising. Trust me, they know what you should be doing.

It’s never too late

While generally it is recommended that you are in your third year for your exchange, it’s entirely possible to go away in your fourth (or even fifth or sixth) year. All it takes is a little bit of planning, realism, and commitment. UBC requires you study at UBC for the term before you graduate, but Go Global offers many half-year exchanges. If you are about to go into your last year, you can go away for Term 1 and be back in time for January. The moral of the story? Go for it. You’ve got the time.

Every part of the process is fun

So there’s a lot of things that go into getting ready for exchange. Application after application, deadline after deadline, information session after information session. It really is an extremely bureaucratic process. But bureaucracy can be fun when you’re excited about the outcome. Filling out a form is exciting when you know it’ll lead you to a new country. Writing an application essay is an adventure if you know it’s the first step. I haven’t left yet but it’s already been a blast.

You won’t regret it

I guess I can’t guarantee you won’t regret it, but I can come pretty close. Fifty years down the road, you are far more likely to regret not taking the opportunity to explore the world than you are to regret going on an adventure while you were young. Exchange is one of the few opportunities you will ever have to pick up, move to a new country for a year, then move home without completely derailing your life plan. In fact, it can (and often does) help you move forward towards your goals. Exchange is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Go for it. Dive in. You won’t regret it.

09/13/14

The Power of Fear

Hatfield College, Durham

I think one of the most common lessons children are taught is that they need to overcome fear, that they shouldn’t be afraid. “There’s no reason to be afraid of the dark,” a loving parent might tell their child. “I need you to be brave now,” says the parent before the child goes to the dentist. But what does that bravery really mean? To some bravery is about not being afraid – they see it as a synonym for fearlessness. But I disagree.

When asked if a man who is afraid can be brave, the great Eddard Stark once said “that is the only time a man can be brave.” Being brave is about overcoming fear, moving past the fear, or embracing it. One popular adage that always seems to make its way onto Lulu Lemon bags is ‘Do one thing a day that scares you’. Basically the idea is that by pushing through that fear, you can experience something new and exciting. I don’t remember when I first heard it (or if I first read it off the side of a Lulu Lemon bag for that matter), but it really stuck with me. For years I’ve been forcing myself to do things that scare me and never have I regretted it. Taking a strange class, talking to that person who looks interesting, anything that makes me feel uncomfortable or nervous.

I think it’s probably pretty clear where I’m going with this by now. I am afraid of going on exchange; the very thought of packing up and leaving the country terrifies me. And I couldn’t be less bothered by it. Being afraid is a natural part of doing something new. The bigger the new thing, the more the fear. Going on exchange is one of the biggest ‘new things’ I’ve ever done and naturally the fear matches that.

But is there more to fear than just being something to overcome? In The Dark Knight Rises, Batman ends up trapped in an underground prison. There is a way out, but it is a treacherous climb. After failing many times, another prisoner offers some advice. Batman cannot succeed at the climb because he does not fear death. The older prisoner says “How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible without the most powerful impulse of the spirit: the fear of death.” Fear becomes Batman’s motivator – instead of wasting strength trying to overcome it, he gains strength from it.

If you can get by the terrible pop culture reference, it’s actually a pretty powerful message. Fear isn’t just something to overcome, it’s something to embrace. Obviously I’m not Batman so I’m not trying to run faster than possible (and the fear I’m facing isn’t death), but there’s still something very relevant to the advice from that old prisoner. My fear of the unknown can be useful for me. Fear of missing out, fear of wasting my experience, fear of boredom – these things all motivate me to take advantage of every opportunity available to me. They motivate me to say yes to the friend who wants to go to the worst club in Europe, to go visit Prague, and to ask that person I have my eye on out.

Being fearless is overrated. Fear is a universal human emotion, present in every culture. It is part of what makes us human; it is part of our shared human experience. I’m not Batman. I don’t need to run faster than possible. All I need to do is embrace the opportunities that will surround me in Durham. I am proud to say I’m afraid to go on exchange. Fear doesn’t need to define me, how I deal with that fear will.

Yours in blogging,

Dude Does Durham.

09/9/14

Five Things To Do Before I Leave

Durham City Center

With only two weeks left before I leave, I thought it would be appropriate to list 5 things that I want to do before I leave Vancouver! Without further ado, here we go!

Visit With Friends

So I’m going on exchange and will be leaving my friends behind for a year! As excited as I am to go away, I know I’ll miss having my friends around so I want to visit with as many of them as I possibly can. These are people I have come to know and love over my years of living in Vancouver and seeing them before I leave means a lot to me. Whether it’s a swim at iconic Kits Beach Pool or just grabbing a coffee and catching up, seeing friends before you leave is an absolute must.

Be A Tourist In My Own City

While I’m going away and will be a tourist for the next nine months, I came to the realization this summer that there are tons of things to see and do (and eat) in this wonderful city of mine that I’ve never taken advantage of. Before I leave, I want to be a tourist in my own city. I want to visit the most beautiful sights, take in the culture of the city I was raised in, do the things I’ve just kept putting off. As a bonus, it’s all good training for this year when I’m abroad and I actually will be a tourist with only nine months to fit everything I want to do in.

Work, Work, Work

While I’m on exchange, I don’t plan on working as I want to take advantage of my time abroad to explore Durham, England, and Europe. Obviously though and exchange isn’t cheap and anything I can do to make it more affordable would be helpful, so before I leave I’ll be working as much as I can. I definitely would rather work in Vancouver before I leave then in Durham once I arrive.

Plan Everything

Building of the last point, going on exchange is complicated. There are a million things I need to do before I go and a million things I need to when I get there. From speaking with advising at UBC to getting an International Student Identification Card, it’s hard to keep track of the things I need to do. Making lists and forcing myself to follow through with the tasks on them has been incredibly helpful. Plus the feeling of checking an item off the list is great!

Have Fun!

Going on exchange is about fun! It’s about adventure, excitement, and growth! In the two weeks before I go I want to have as much fun as possible, even with all the other things I want to do before I go. I want to smile, laugh, joke around, and have an all around good time before I leave. I’ve taken up swimming at an outdoor pool with a view, I’m spending time with family, I’m seeing friends. Every day I try to do something exciting or something that makes me happy. Life is worth living and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Yours in blogging,

Dude Does Durham.

09/6/14

Geronimo!

Durham Cathedral and the River Wear

Welcome aboard HMS Durham, bound for the British city of the same name! This is my inaugural blog post so I’d love to take the time to introduce myself, say what this blog is for, and maybe talk a bit about myself and how I ended up writing this.

First things first my name is Mackenzie Lockhart and I’m a third year student at the University of British Columbia. I’m majoring in Psychology and Political Science and looking to graduate in 2016. I was born and raised in Vancouver and have lived here all my life. I have a twin brother, Angus, as well as an older brother and sister. I’m sure you’ll find out more about my family as this blog goes on! Come late September I’ll be packing my bags and heading out to the beautiful historic city of Durham in northern England to study at Durham University for 9 months (269 days to be exact).

So what’s the point of this blog? Well I guess there are a few. First, and for me most importantly, this blog will be a record of my adventures. Nine months abroad might seem like a long time but it will be over before I know it and I’ll need a way to remember it. Some people keep journals while on Exchange, but me? I’ll be keeping this blog. Hopefully knowing people are reading this will help keep me posting!

But I’m not just keeping this blog for myself! I’m also using it as a way to keep in touch with my friends and family I’ll be leaving behind. There are just too many people I love for me to tell each and every one of them about everything I do, even if I spent every night dutifully Skyping. Facebook is great but as a medium for sharing in depths thoughts and feelings as well as long stories, it becomes cluttered and less useful. It also doesn’t let people look back at my older posts very well! So this blog will have to do.

There’s one more reason I’m blogging and it’s not quite as obvious. I’m blogging because hopefully this blog can become a resource for future students looking to go to Durham University on an exchange, from UBC and from elsewhere. By recording and sharing my experience with the world at large I hope that next year or the year after or even ten years from now, someone stumbles across this blog and decides to follow in my footsteps.

So that’s why I’m writing this, but how did I get here? No, I’m not philosophizing. I mean how did I get from being just a UBC student looking to graduate to being a UBC student facing a year abroad and blogging about it! Now the whole story of my exchange up to this point is pretty long, so I’ll save that for another day. For now I’ll keep it brief. I can’t remember exactly what happened to make me first consider exchange, but I remember that it happened in about October of this year. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to go on exchange at the time, but nevertheless I spent hours looking over Go Global’s (UBC’s exchange coordinator) website. I looked at dozens of different universities all across Europe.

At first I wanted to go to France, I even started working on my application based on wanting to go to Science Po in Grenoble. Then I stumbled across this interesting university I had never heard of in England called ‘Durham University’. What really stood out to me was the college system the university had. Every student is placed in one of 15 colleges located around the city. These colleges serve as residences as well as communities for students. Each has a unique history, unique traditions, unique features, and is a unique experience for students. The promise of community captivated me. I was enthralled by the possibility of being a part of a foreign community and from then on Durham University was where I wanted to go.

After that, a lot of what was left was to be patient and wait. Wait after submitting one application so I could be accepted and submit the next. Months passed before finally, on June 18th, I was accepted to Durham University. Eight months after I had decided where I wanted to go, I could finally say with confidence that I would be spending the next year at Durham University.

That’s the absolute shortest summary I could do – you can be sure it was a more exciting 8 months than I make it out to be, but alas that is too much for this simple blog post. I’ll end this, my first blog post, with a challenge for you, the reader. Going on exchange, while being incredibly exciting, terrifies me. It terrifies me more than anything I’ve ever done and that’s what makes it so exciting for me. So reader, I challenge to do something that scares you. Do something you would not usually do, something way out of character. Expand your horizons. The world is beautiful and it’s yours to discover.

Yours in blogging,

Dude Does Durham.