it's better to say too much

I’m taking the time to do a much needed shout out to one of my bestest and greatest friends “evar”. My friend Naomi from back in Brampton is celebrating her 18^th birthday today. I have not yet felt super homesick, but when I think about the fact that I won’t be around to celebrate another year of her life with the Quad (me, Naomi, Aisha and Steph, whaddup darlings?!), makes me feel so far away. Holding on to connections from home is so incredibly important. It keeps you in tune with all the happenings back home, even when you can’t physically be there. This is my advice to those so very far away from home: make the effort! Whether it’s a random text, an email or skyping daily. Do what you can, when you can to hold onto the relationships and friendships that have helped shape who you are. So, what I really want to do is dedicate this blog to comedienne of the Quad, the sunshine on many-a-rainy day that is so common to Vancouver and someone I couldn’t imagine life without. So here’s to you Naomi. I can’t wait to celebrate your extremely belated birthday at Christmas. Love you and all the Quad.

The Quad looking glamourous at prom.

I should be attempting to do my Arts One readings and but I’m failing miserably.

Hello friends! My inability to actually understand anything that I’m reading and the nice doom and gloom feeling outside is not a good combination. I can’t concentrate, but I also don’t wanna go outside to go concentrate in the IBLC Harry Potter room (which I’ve heard is pretty darn cool). I’ve been at UBC for a week officially, and it’s starting to feel like home. I’m not quite feeling the back-to-actual-work vibe, but I think I’ll get around to it eventually.

Despite the unfamiliarity of so much rain (I kinda knew what I was getting into though), I don’t even feel that far away from Ontario. I don’t know if it just hasn’t hit me yet, or if the crazyness of my first week has numbed my feelings. Either way, I’m really liking it here. I was worried back in my first post that the excitement I felt pre-UBC would dwindle or that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Quite the opposite, in fact. I couldn’t feel like I belonged anymore than I do right now: sitting in my room, about to make some tea and attempt to make sense of dear old Immanuel Kant.

UBC is the place for me (I totally didn’t mean to awkwardly rhyme like Professor Stephen Toope and AMS Prez Bijan Ahmadian’s Imagine day speech). There is no other sentence that sums up my feelings like that one. Everything from move-in day at Vanier, rez activities, the school/faculty pride and spirit at Imagine day, going to horribly awkward frat parties (note to self: never again) or just having supa cool hallway-candy parties with the awesome girls on my floor. I’m just hoping that the feelings I have right now will either stay the same or evolve into even better ones.

Well, lovelies, it seems the Conjectural Beginning of Human History is calling my name. Later!

Sorry this is a little late!

Please note: This is a little more oriented to buying books for Arts One, although it can be applied to anyone.

Saving money during my years at university and trying to reduce the amount of debt that will burden me post-grad, I have looked extensively into ways to save and ways to earn. My university education is being financed by some OSAP, student line of credit, bursaries, a scholarship, hopefully a Work Study placement, my savings and my parental unit. My initial goal going into grade twelve was to graduate university with no debt, but I’ve knocked that goal down a few realistic notches and it now sits at: as little debt as possible.

One of the major purchases that I can actually do something about reducing (as tuition, mandatory student fees, housing and my meal plan, is TEXTBOOKS. The one thing that I didn’t really know what to expect. I’m taking Psychology 100, Women’s Studies 101 (term 1), French 123 (term 2) and the Arts One, Group A program for my first year. The pro and con to Arts One is that there  are quite a few books that I need. In an attempt to help other first years, and potential ones, and to also see for myself where the heck all my money went, I’m going to detail my textbook spending spree here. My journey begins…

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Sorry guys! I’ve been working on this post for a while but I had a weird bout of writer’s block. It’s all gone and I’m much better now. Anyway, I thought I’d just talk about my experience in rez so far for all those wondering what living in rez is like. Well, let me tell you the obvious: living in rez is definitely not like living at home. The bathroom isn’t nice and cozy with a spacious bathtub/shower. The rooms aren’t too big and the carpet could use some remodelling…but I wouldn’t trade it for anything right now.

Don’t get me wrong, I will totally miss my big bed and my squishy carpet, but my house in Ontario doesn’t come with about 19 awesome floormates. The pros outweight the cons, for sure. It’s been a crazy ride so far. What seems like weeks has actually only been three days. Time is on this weird schedule right now, it’s moving at a funky pace. The days kind of run together, and there isn’t much of a routine, but I’m having the time of my life. Of course, there is the inevitably sadness: teary goodbyes from mama and papa Valentine and time-zone dependent BBM convos with my best friends back home.

However, amongst all the semi-homesickness, the past two days have been stellar. So far I’ve: made a picture-heart (figure 1), re-arranged my furniture into an L-shape like my room at home, been down to Wreck Beach, twice (stay tuned for deets. Figure 2), been on countless trips downtown with my family, trying to enjoy their very limited presence and met the coolest people (shout out to second floor Okanagan!).

Figure 1

Wreck Beach

Now my Wreck Beach adventure was pretty hilarious. Walking down the stairs isn’t too bad, and once you get down the view is amazing! And of course Wreck is littered with people taking advantage of the clothing-optional aspect. It’s definitely a new experience and there isn’t really anything like it. The view is definitely worth the killer trek back up all those stairs. I’m not the most in shape person in the world, and my thighs were burning. And of course I decided to go back that night with some of the kids in my house. Twice in one day was almost enough to kill me. My calves are still feeling the burn. I figure though, that if I walk those stairs everyday, I’ll be so fit that no one will recognize me in December. I should definitely make that my goal.

Well, I should get some sleep. The infamous Imagine day awaits in just 7 hours and I need every moment of precious rest. I have a feeling tomorrow will be yet another adventure.

I got to Vancouver around 12:15pm PST on Wednesday and can I just say this place is beautiful! Just driving toward our hotel was an experience in itself. The mountains and the high rise buildings are such a juxtaposition of nature and modern life. The weather here is absolutely beautiful, compared to the 40°C in Toronto. My family and I took a walk down Cambie St, then along W 6th Ave. It’s so different from Toronto. The buildings are different and the people seem a bit more friendly. I think I’m going to like it here. When I first arrived it definitely felt more like a vacation than the place that will become home over the next four years. Here are just a few photos of the view from our hotel room:

View of City Hall from my hotel.

Yesterday we headed down to UBC for a campus tour and so I could meet up with a few people to buy some of my books (my epic book buying post will come soon!). The campus is everything I thought it would be: sprawling, beautiful and a place to call home. To be honest, I don’t know if the real “I’m at home, this is where I belong” feeling has hit me yet. I think it’ll be a lot different once I move in and get settled. The campus is huge though! I always wanted to go to a big university, but holy moly, how long is it going to take to find my way around? I can’t wait!

For all the prospective UBCers out there who can’t/haven’t visited the campus before, here are a few pictures of this swonderful, and smarvelous place (Funny Face  reference ftw).

Nitobe Memorial Gardens

Koerner Library

View from the Rose Garden

Rose Garden

Nitobe Memorial Gardens