Week number 3

Where does the time go? I have already been here three weeks but it seems that I just arrived. So I have finished my home university exams and now I should try to catch up everyone from my studies here. The good thing is that I don’t have any classes on Fridays so I have a long weekend time to study, which also means that I have more free time to do something else than study.

I need to mention that the buss strike is over now after so many months. So next week I can actually go to see places.

I am also going to start Cardio Kick Boxing fitness classes today. It is so good that the gym and fitness classes are free for students. That is a one reason to come here! Gym is a good place to meet other exchange student as well as it looks like we all go there almost every day.

I think I should mention something about the social life that the exchange students have here. We have become a close group as we all are on the “same boat". So no wonder that we like to spend time together. This means that most (ok, all) weekends we meet up and do something together, like trying to experience the local night life…

Have you ever heard about Tim Hortons? That is something I am going to miss when I am leaving this country. It tells a lot that I even took a picture of it. Coffee is so delicious and the Timbits! You know what I mean if you have tasted them.

The last thing I am going to mention this time is my advice for everyone who is going to do an exchange in Memorial University Newfoundland: if you are interested at all in marketing take the B6240 Channel & Internet Marketing course. You won’t regret it.      

Week number 2

This is my second week here. A lot has happened. I have been really busy revising for my home university exams which is a bit unfortunately as I haven’t had a lot of free time here. And all the classes (yeah lectures/seminars are called classes here) and preparations and reading for them as well. So too many things to do but hopefully after my last exam on Monday I can finally start my university life at Memorial University. I need to mention that I have already done a one exam here.

Amazing fact here is that the gym is free for all students. So it is not difficult to guess where I spend my evenings.  

I can now say that I have experienced my first Canadian winter storm here. Everything happened so suddenly. One day sun was out and it was so lovely day (picture on the left) and the following morning when I woke up snow had covered everything (not difficult to guess which picture I mean). It was windy and snowing a lot and the first thing came to my mind was that this is like being back in Finland :) But I like snow so I won’t complain.

Buses are still on strike (yeah, still after two months) and that’s why I haven’t been on the downtown yet. I guess that is my luck as I need to revise so I won’t have excuse to leave the campus area. I am not sure if I have mentioned it but I am living on campus. The flat is really nice and all my flat mates, or should I say b’ys, are so lovely and friendly.

The University is also huge. It takes like 20 minutes to walk from other side of the university to another side. Luckily there are tunnels and short cuts so it only takes like 10 min for me to go to the classes. The classes are also so more interactive here. One of the courses I am doing, Channel and Internet Marketing, could be something that my home university could also think about. The course is all about marketing ourselves and using the fast growing social media as a positive tool to reach future opportunities. This is really good thinking about my placement year (the course I am taking in UK is a sandwich degree course including an extra year of work experience) as most of the employers Google the name of their candidates to find out more about them. So after this course I will have a good looking profile on the social media. What you will find when you Google your name?

I am really here!

I can´t believe that just a week ago I was enjoying the sunny weather in Thailand and now after two days of travelling I am actually in Canada. I arrived at St. John´s 5th of January 2011. These couple of days that I have been here has been a hassle as I have been running everywhere and trying to find my way around. Happily I don´t need to be lost alone as one another girl came here with me from the same university.

Everyone here are so friendly and I have met a lot of new people. I met all the other exchange student on our orientation day. We even went for a bus tour with this kind of yellow school bus that I have only seen on movies.

I also started some of my classes and so far they seen really interesting. The classes are a bit different that they are in my home university. Here the classes are smaller and there is more assignments to do for each course. This is not a bad thing as then one assignment is not weighted so much. I am sure I will get to use to it quite fast.