Ohh Canada How Cold Can You Be!!

Wow I must say that adjusting from the warmth embrace of island life to the icy cold of Canada was not very easy, especially during the second week of school when the temperature dropped into the negatives. I have never in my life experienced that much cold, it was not delightful at all and having 8 am classes 3 times a week and having to walk from my house to the closest building on campus which is about a 3 to 4 minute walk was just awful. None the less I was thrilled to be here and experience what life aboard was really about. Settling in was not hard at all, my housemates were very helpful in helping me get sorted with school and the St.Catharine's area. The people in the international relations office were also very helpful in assisting me to get settled and to be a bit more comfortable at Brock. In no time I took a photo for my id, got the id, had meal plan and a bus pass. Exploring the university for the first time was exciting, from the computer labs, to the different classrooms, the gym and the cafeterias. I began to think to myself, will I ever be able to find my way around this campus? I thought about this not too long before....my big slip up. One night I was in the computer lab doing some homework before heading home. So I finished up and decided to begin my journey, but before I left the building I got a cup of hot chocolate from Tim Hortons (A coffee and muffins and cookies shop that Canadians love! I must admit they are pretty good and very affordable.) I attempted to take a sip but seeing that I could hardly hold the cup good because it was so hot I realized that taking a sip would not be wise. I then continued on my way, I was almost positive that I was headed in the right direction, however I was wrong. The snow began to fall and I thought I was getting closer when in actuality I was moving further and further away. I arrived at what I thought was my residence to find that I was at Vallee residence when I was suppose to be at Village, take note that they are on complete opposite sides of the campus. I was distraught and my hot chocolate was like cold chocolate milk thanks to the snow falling into my cup. I could not believe what I had done I was so upset and cold that I went into the closest building to sit down and take a break and try to warm up some before I made my second and thankfully final journey.

Settling In

I'm starting to get the hang of things now with the help of Berylyn and my housemates. My housemates are pretty nice girls their rooms are upstairs and mine is the only one downstairs so every now and then they would pop in and see how everything is going, or share apart of their day or a joke. It feels good to have my very own space and still feel apart of the whole house. It was kinda of hard finding my way around campus at first seeing that is so big. It is not like C.O.B at all so long walks are a must here, a good way to get fit but sometimes when it is really cold outside and the wind starts to blow with a bit of vengeance then the long walks are not so good. One night I was on my way home, well that is what I thought, I walked outside with so much confidence that I was going in the right direction. The snow started to fall and but it did not bother me too much because I figured I would be home shortly. This was NOT the case at all. I found myself on the whole other side of the campus with the snow spanking me in the face, it was awful I had never in my life experienced anything like this, the only thought in my mind was to get inside. My medium cup of french vanilla from "Timmies" (Tim Horton's) that was once to hot for me to hold for long periods of time after buying it just before my journey home, rather the journey I thought would lead me to home, was like iced coffee once I got back into the closest campus building. This was an experience that was not in any way delightful, but it was definitely memorable.

Getting There

On the morning of January 5th bright and early I woke up with excitement, enthusiasm and a little bit of fear. I had finally come to the realization that I was on my way to a foreign place where I would have to live and totally cope on my own. The time that morning seemed to go a lot faster than normal and in no time I was ready with suitcases at the front door. My mother and grandmother dropped me off to the airport giving their last bit of advice of which I had heard repeatedly over the Christmas time, “be careful”, “stay focus”, “make us proud”, “do well”. As I entered the Nassau International Airport my stomach was filled with butterflies and the lines were long and moving ridiculously slow. Finally I got to the front of the line, got checked in and of course was charged $50 for one of my suitcases being overweight, but I would rather be safe than sorry. To my surprise along came Mr. Russell came to wish me luck and to give me some kind words of advice. For a moment I got a little excited thinking oh maybe I don’t have to travel all the way by myself, but then I came back to reality.
I arrived in Miami International Airport along with a friend from home whom also was catching a connecting flight, got a quick bite to eat after getting lost in Miami’s rather large and newly renovated airport and was off to gate E to wait for my flight to Toronto. I was a little bit worried when I got to the gate because back in Nassau at the airport Mr. Russell told me that Berylyn had a little problem with her flight but it was fixed, however I was in the airport for a quite some time and had seen no sight of her. All that was going through my mind was how am I going to do this all alone and finally right after that thought I spotted her from a distance how coincidental was that? This flight was delayed as well I guess that just was not my day, but all is well because I made it safely. The plane ride was 3 hours, but I slept for most of it so it did not feel long to me at all. Finally the plane landed and we got into the airport filled with mixed emotions. The baggage claim was our next stop, I found my bags rather quickly one right after the other, this was rare, travelling on Bahamas Air this was never the case. Berylyn on the other hand was in a panic because I had collected my entire luggage but one of hers, the biggest of them all seemed to be hiding. However after a few minutes of panic I pointed out the bag and we were on our merry way to the Canadian Immigration where we found out that we should have brought our acceptance letters to Brock University so knew that we were not trying to smuggle our ways into Canada. We did have some documentation showing that we were in correspondence with the university and by God’s good grace we were allowed to continue on our journey. Finally we got to the lower level of Toronto’s airport were we booked our tickets to St. Catharines. The bus ride was almost two hours long and by the time we arrived at Brock University it was about midnight. Thank God for Stella, a Brock student whom we got to know on the bus on our way to school, she was a great help at helping us get our keys and showing us where we were staying. Oh did I mention how cold it was walking around with two big suitcases in the middle of the night around a rather large campus, it was horrible but worth it.

Getting use to blogging

Hello everyone!!
I hope everyone had a great Holiday and ready to get back to hard work!! I'm just trying to get use to creating blogs so forgive me if this isn't the best lol. I had a wonderful Holiday and now I'm scared, happy, and super excited to go to Canada and experience something new to tell other Bahamians and College of the Bahamas students about it. Big thanks goes out to Mr. Russell and the College of the Bahamas and all other parties responsible for making this opportunity available to myself and other travelling to Canada and other parts of the world!