Post-Secondary Ramblings

Living in Vancouver all my life, and having friends that were attending UBC before I was, I was fortunate to hear much about what went on and what happened as a UBC student. I was excited and had a mental list of things that I wanted to try out once I went to UBC. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, I wasn’t able to try all the things. To make sure that I participate next year, I’m going to jot them down.

1. Form a team for Day of the Long Boat. The athlete inside me was really looking forward to this, but I had too much going on in the beginning of the school year that I missed the deadline for registration. I’m sure it was a lot of fun and I’m definitely not going to miss out on it again next year.

2. Participate in Storm the Wall, possibly even as Ironwoman. The other major event is Storm the Wall, which is actually happening now. I was really disappointed because none of my friends wanted to participate with me, and the teams that I found all disbanded eventually, thus leaving me with no team. Walking by the walls every day at school made me really sad because I wanted to participate in this even more after I missed Long Boat. Next year, I’m going to make sure I’m part of this even, even if it means doing the whole thing myself as Ironwoman.

3. Bike to School (or maybe just home from school). I live about an hour bus ride away from campus, and it’s always been one of my goals to bike across the city to UBC during high school even. I was quite excited seeing the sunny days and thinking of the perfect time to accomplish this goal. Unfortunately, my bike is under repairs at the moment and thus this was never done. Biking to campus will have to be done some time next year because I’m sure it’ll be memorable for me. Even if it’s just biking back home from a long day at school.

4. Go out of my way to meet new people. I went into university with a bunch of my high school friends, and just friends overall from my life in Vancouver. Being in Science, there weren’t many chances for me to meet many people since I would sit with my friends during lecture and didn’t have many group projects. It wasn’t so bad for me since I was involved with UBC REC and a few clubs. I was still disappointed though, as I thought that going into a larger community would mean that I would have the opportunity to meet a lot of people.

5. Stream a Canucks game over a lecture hall projector. I’ve watched a Canucks game in the SUB. I’ve watched a Canucks game on my laptop. I’ve watched a Canucks game hooked up to a projector in a Buchanan classroom, but I haven’t done it in a lecture hall before. This might be a bit challenging as I’d have to find an empty lecture hall, but it shouldn’t be that big of a problem since there shouldn’t be classes at 7 anyway. I would imagine it to be pretty exciting and a neat experience. Hopefully there’ll be an NHL next year and I’ll be able to accomplish this too!

Admit it. You’ve hopped on the Canucks bandwagon due to how well we’ve been performing (or maybe you hopped off since we just lost 2 of the past 3 games we played). Problem is, the Canucks are playing while you’re still on campus. Panic! What to do?! Don’t worry. I’m in the same situation as my classes end pretty late this semester. I’ve discovered various ways to catch the game in my home away from home.

1. Watch the game in the SUB. I don’t know why UBC thinks that we need HD television, but I don’t mind. When there’s a game on and I’m still on campus, chances are, I’ll be found sitting in my usual spot in the SUB near the TVs. I’m pretty sure most of you know what area I’m talking about, but for those of you who don’t, the TVs are located in the area near Starbucks, on the side closest to the bus loop. The only downside is that there isn’t sound, but hey, I’m always down for HD sports!

2. Stream it on your laptop. An obvious choice for a lot of us would be to watch it on our laptops. However, if you want to stream it through the Canucks site, there’s a fee to pay. Thankfully there are various sites that provide streaming for free. I personally like http://atdhe.net/ but I’ve also heard that http://www.justin.tv/ has streams and possibly http://www.surfthechannel.com/. Downsides of this would be the not-so-great quality and delay. If you want a bonus, head into one of the classrooms/lecture halls and hook it up to a projector. Buchanan has a lot of empty classrooms, and the Victoria Learning Theater in IKB is amazing.

3. Pit Pub and Mahony & Sons. I don’t have this option as I’m still underage, but for those of you who are 19+, this would be a great option. I don’t have much to say about this as I’ve never been to either, but I think it would be safe to assume that it would have a great atmosphere.

4. Old school radio. Team 1040 provides live broadcast every game. Although I don’t think that many of us carry portable radios around anymore, this option still exists!

Go Canucks GO!

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Remembrance Day? Poppies, war, veterans, soldiers… Among all of the symbols, images, and things in general linked to Remembrance Day, “a day off from school” would be one of the things that, at least I, think of. Not that I’m a terrible person or anything, but a day off is always enjoyable. As you can see from the lack of updates recently, I have been super busy with many different aspects of my life. This much needed break is definitely something I have been looking forward to. Too bad it’s going to be spent on studying for my midterms next week eh?

Although it’s great to have breaks, it’s also important to remember the significance of the day off. Sometimes I feel that days such as Remembrance Day, Thanksgiving, etc. lose their meaning and people just think of them as a day where they don’t have to go to school/work. Fair enough, but it’s kind of disrespectful to the veterans, and I suppose the day itself. I don’t mean that you have to full out promote the holiday, but for Remembrance Day, at least you can wear a poppy? I was walking around campus and I realized that only about a quarter, maybe even less, wear a poppy. I find it quite saddening.

The other day I was reading an article about the possibility of redesigning the poppy so it appeals to the younger generation more. I like the idea, and it also fixes the problem of poking yourself with your poppy. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that does it annually. Leaving a legacy of peace is another idea that I really like. It builds on the fact that peace is not a one time thing, rather, it is ongoing.

For this Remembrance Day, I urge you to please remember to wear a poppy, and remember those who fought in the war so we don’t have to.

Lest we forget.

Are you one of those people with ridiculously long breaks in your schedule and don’t know what to do with them? No, I can’t help you fix your schedule but I can recommend killing one of those at the Museum for Anthropology!

Situated conveniently at the Northeast corner of UBC, the Museum of Anthropology is a nice place to delve deeper into North America’s Native culture in the large First Nations Gallery. Take out a $20 bill. Did you know that the sculpture of the raven on a clam shell is located in the museum? Bill Reid, the sculpter of Raven and the First Men, also has many other works that are located in the museum.

For those of you who would love to spend the day lost in the museum looking at every artifact, the museum’s Multiversity Gallery has pull out drawers filled with surprises to keep you occupied for hours. Maybe even days. They also have a European ceramics gallery so you can check that out too.

Best of all, it’s free for UBC students! That’s right, just show your UBC Card at the counter to redeem your free admission.

Happy museum-ing!