my adventures at ubc – come get a little lost with me

stress eating, nap taking, and rude awakenings.

*glances at post time*

you might be wondering what the heck is becky doing up at this late hour-not that she, being a full-fledged university student for all of three months now, was the type to be able to go to bed at 9pm-but 3am is quite late considering she’s been losing sleep over assignments and projects this past week.

well, let me tell ya: if you’re going to be living in a dorm building complex, you better be prepared for thrEE AM FIRE ALARMS.

i guess it’s a trade-off in being able to coexist and share spaces with thousands of other sort-of-adult teenagers from all over the world. i mean, i love meeting people in elevators and greeting people in the commonsblock and puzzling over the laundry system together in the basement. it’s practically free-friend-scoring (cough roommates) when you’re quite shy like me.

however, i definitely wasn’t prepared for the fire alarms. considering we already had quite a few this term, you’d think i’d be a little smarter about these unpredictable rude awakenings.

list of things to prepare for in case of unexpected and unwelcome emergency evacuations:

key card. always place by door to avoid walk of shame to front desk.
wallet, money, identity information, etc in a safe, easy-to-grab spot
wARM SWEATERS
seriously, have more than one at hand bc the wind here is monstrous
socks by the door
extra pair of sweatpants or just warm pants within reach from the bed
yes, clothing is just as important as your wallet
PHONE + CHARGER
glasses. don’t forget this one.

it’s definitely way past my bedtime, despite it being a friday night-no, haha, wait, it’s saturday now, hahahaha /fades into hysterical laughter

please, kids. don’t take fire alarms as jokes, or pranks, because
a) it’s not funny
b) firefighters could have gone to places with actual fires to save actual people instead of sleepy, freezing college students huddled outside a dorm
c) climbing up fourteen flights of stairs when you’re half asleep is. not. fun.
d) people are tryING TO SLEEP

alright, my angry rant is over, and my eyes are just about to close. hopefully i can survive these last few weeks until exams. i see how despite being in a completely new environment, with completely new people around me, and completely new habits and way of thinking, one thing will never change.

how much i love, love, love sleep.

accurate depiction of college students during november.

g’night everybody, and practice safe microwave usage!

november: sweater weather and so. much. rain.

halloween at ubc was… an experience. some things you should probably know:

professors DO still give out candy! hallelujah!
don’t eat all the candy in the middle of the night when you have an exam the next day.
buy your tickets to the parties early
no, seriously, people will try to sell you last minute tickets for triple the price. not cool.
if you’re not a party person, hit up some of the club events, like dances, movie showings, game tournaments, or the escape rooms!
don’t carve your pumpkin too early or it will rOT. AND FALL. AND GO SPLAT. (we are all still mourning our pumpkin, steve-bob-joe, who fell to its tragic death on one thursday morning, sending pumpkin gunk all over the floor. you will be missed. #ripdormpumpkin2k15)
dress up!! don’t be lazy! be creative!
please keep in mind that it is cold in vancouver this time of year
make sure you have a designated driver??
saying ‘no’ is perfectly fine!
know your limit in drinking. at the very least, make sure you have a friend who can take care of you during.
fireworks start going off in the middle of the night like, a week before the 31st
you’ll pass out with the sound of firecrackers going off alllll night

since parties weren’t my favourite things (i’m all for socializing and giggling with friends, but preferably somewhere quieter, less crowded, less sweaty, less smelly, less expensive…), my friends and i decided to go to the l’escape reality event held by UBCLE and UBCRC. it definitely lived up to its expectations! good puzzles and scary effects, at one point we were even blindfolded and tied up 😮 and even though we didn’t manage to escape in the end, we still had looots of fun! 10/10 would recommend.

say goodbye to the spoopy season, and say hello to wet leaf piles, boots, puddles, warm sweaters, toques, hot cocoa, and the reason why we call this city “raincouver.”

i should really invest in a raincoat, actually.

things i am not looking forward to:

wet socks. wet clothes. wet hair. wet books. wet bags. wet everything.
cooooold
getting sick?? please remember to drink lots of water and wear lots of layers!
exams. deadlines. grades.
so much greyness

things i AM looking forward to:

curling up with a mug of hot tea and marathoning studio ghibli films (who’s with me, y’all?)
an excuse to wear sweaters ALL. THE. TIME.
getting all these assignments over with, finally
have i mentioned hot drinks?

my advice for everyone this november is to bundle up in layers! wake up earlier if you have to, even though i know the bed is warm and inviting and soft and waaarm… on second thought, don’t think about the bed. just get up. trust me, it’s better than running for the bus or running through mud to your class because of those extra five minutes spent hovering between dream and wakefulness. (if you doze off in class, make sure to sit behind someone bigger than you??)

ultimate advice for surviving in raincouver: do not. under any circumstances. foRGET YOUR UMBRELLA.

this is me. without an umbrella. heartbreaking, i know.

don’t trust the weather forecast. don’t trust the view outside your window. don’t trust the sun peeking from behind the clouds. don’t trust anything or anyone. trust only your umbrella. trust me, as someone that has already made this fatal mistake twice already, and had been drenched from head to toe as a consequence (and i call myself a vancouver native?? i have shamed my umbrella and spare umbrellas).

that’s all for this slow and late update on becky’s adventures at ubc. i hope you all stay healthy and awake for your exams! have a good one, and tune in next time to see if becky survives this perpetual grey vancouver seems to live in half the year.

’til next time~

on a sunny monday morning… things are not what they seem…

this morning i had a weird, awkward, and just the tiniest bit hilarious start to my day. it’s an experience that i’d like to never ever repeat again, for my heart is still pounding just at the thought of it, but i’m sure it’s an experience many of us will probably encounter during our time in university. let’s start from the beginning.

9:30 am, woke up after hitting the snooze button twice
squinted out the window, debating whether or not to trust the sunshine
my heart said yes but my vancouver-raised instincts said no
nearly burnt my toast while rushing to get ready for class
10:25 am, freaking out, thinking i’m going to be late
10:28 am, speed walking and fingers crossed
10:32 am, slip into lecture hall, accepting of the fact that i will just have to suffer in a seat in the back, or one at the very very front
10:35 am, why is there a different prof? why does everyone have their laptops out-
10:37 am, silent horror as i realize this is not Ling100
my class started at 11:00 am, oops
10:40 am, it’s too late, i’m trapped in this class that is way too advanced for me
awkwardly doodles in my notebook while hoping no one would notice i am an infiltrator

after that, i safely made it through my actual lecture with barely a few dozing-off moments and a few dozen yawns. that was definitely way too much excitement in the morning for becky. (let’s just say my brain doesn’t function very well in the am.)

snooze-tiana — accurate gif of me in the mornings

on another note, club days was fun!

it was overwhelming with the amount of people there, and the aggressive promotion of certain clubs with their flyers and cheering (thank you, dance clubs and hksa), but the vibe is definitely something i wouldn’t forget. it was so nice to see all these clubs come out, all these different interests co-existing in one place. there’s the bigger clubs and associations, the cultural clubs, the hobby clubs, the academic clubs… there’s just too many to choose from and not enough time!

obviously, the free things and food is definitely a huge plus in pulling in some unsuspecting freshman into your club. i do wish the icebreakers were more spread out, because it was super hard choosing between which ones to attend. oh well. there’s always next time~

working concession during games is probably something i’ll never get used to. the crowds come in waves and i am just standing there trying to work the ipad while juggling coins and bills. whoever said that all asians are good at math, i am here to prove you wrong. i just can’t do mental math on the spot, apparently.

it was interesting to see which type of beer people preferred though. and of course, being able to talk to a diverse group of football fans- there were college kids, parents, alumni, international people… it’s definitely a cool experience working the food stand!

also: i finally bought a ubc sweater! that’s right, you can’t say i don’t got school spirit now ୧(˃◡ु˂)୨ #iamubc

https://instagram.com/p/8B13BcAldE/?taken-by=beckofcards

on another note, happy moon festival!

i hope you all had a safe weekend, got to eat some mooncake, or at least gaze in awe at the super blood moon last night. (seriously, space phenomenons are the coolest thing ever. ain’t our universe amazing??)

’til next time! (o´ω`o)ﾉ

one week down, so many more to go

wow, it’s only been a week since i moved in and started life here at ubc but it sure feels a lot longer than that. here’s a run-down of what i’ve been up to since unpacking my boxes:

imagine day:

waking up at wayyy to early in the morning just to trek down with other sleepy first years to meet my imagine day leader was not exactly on my list of favourite things to do. but it’s all worth it!

i didn’t get lost
there was free food…
SO MUCH WALKING that was just a preview of what the next four years of classes will probably look like, i’m assuming (i can sure feel it in my legs)
the pep rally was great and loud despite the fact that i was shivering and yawning a little (oops)
we all know who ENGINEERING is
the clubs set up on the main mall! so many to choose from, and so little time, sigh.

all in all, it was definitely a day i couldn’t have imagined on my own.

classes:

i set my alarm for 7:30 am on wednesday, only to remember that my first class began at 11:00 am. i’d advise you NOT to do this if you are not a morning person. as it was, i had time to make myself breakfast (eat your breakfast, people! the most important meal of the day, especially for stressed out students like us!) and surf the net and pore over the campus map for the nth time.

get yourself an iclicker as soon as you can, but only turn to the bookstore as a last resort
arrive early to class, especially if it’s a large class, so you don’t have to squint from the last row
WATCH OUT for bikers/skateboarders/cellphone-users/people that feel the need to block the middle of the walkway
seriously, move off the road if you want to catch up with your friends, traffic is bad enough
ask someone if you’re lost! ubc is actually a pretty friendly place, and this is coming from one of the shyest person you’ll ever meet!
wait until the first class before going to buy your textbooks, just so you don’t get the wrong one
hunt your textbooks down online or try the facebook groups first, because if you buy it from the bookstore you’ll cry at the receipt
don’t forget to eat lunch. i’m serious, your stomach will attempt to sing you (and the whole class) the song of its people and it’s. not fun

i am excited for all the people i’m meeting and all the friends possibilities, but also for the new material i’ll be able to take in. i’m still not very pumped up about the homework, though.

homecoming:

unfortunately, i had a shift during the game, and thus couldn’t go. however, i definitely felt the school spirit and hype as hungry people approached the food truck i was stuck in. i heard we won? GO THUNDERBIRDS!!

i’ve never seen so much blue in my life
the weather was great! for once!
it was incredibly hot and greasy in the foodtruck
lots of students in one place means lots of hungry people
i’ll never ever look at teriyaki the same way again

it’s amazing how everyone came together to celebrate the first game of the season. that’s the stuff movies and books are about, guys!

sunday:

i thought this was my day of relaxation. turns out, i had another shift at the stadium! which i didn’t mind, except i began at 10 am.

fortunately there’s a lot of buses to take. unfortunately, there’s a lot of buses to take
i got lost
going up and down the stairs while carrying tubs of coke and beer sure tires you out
the wind was blowing so hard i was nearly blind with my hair all over the place
i walked the long walk back from the stadium only to find walter gage gathered outside in the cold. #gageoutage2k15
i just wanted to eat lunch, man
spent ten minutes mourning my homework due on monday
we’re allowed back in! hoorah, out of this chilly wind!
the power is still out, the elevators not working
i live on the fourteenth floor. #ripmylegs

it sure has been a wild ride for me this sunday. now i know to always bring emergency energy bars everywhere i go.

but i suppose that means i’m settling in just fine, aren’t i? i’ve met some amazing people, seen some amazing things on campus, instagramed some be-yoo-ti-ful sunsets, and even managed to cook something without setting the oven on fire. and if i chose to watch Legally Blonde and its sequel instead of doing my homework as a reward for making it up all those flights of stairs, well, that’s a student for ya. whatever else #ubclife can throw at me, i know i can handle it. or, at least, fake it ’til you make it, yeah?

next week, here i come!