Week 1
Monday
My first day in Canada! After a night riddled with problems from jet lag, I woke up at 7 AM to go to school with my host sister and the other exchange student living with my host family.
I quickly realised that the first week at school was purely orientation. That means no classes for a week! On Monday the heads of the international students came in and talked to us, the thirty new students they’d be getting this semester. They told us all about what to do and not to do at school or at home. They also explained to us how the school works and showed us our health insurance. For some reason we received bandages and lip balm from the insurance company, which was kind of weird. They told us on what trips we could go to, what to do with our free time, and much more.
The school system here is quite different than the one at home. In Belgium, we have thirteen classes, and 32 classes in total per week. Here, they only have 16 classes in total, but they are much longer. You have 4 classes a day, and every day the same four. These classes you get to choose entirely on your own art the start of each semester. When you’ve chosen, that’s the classes you’ll be getting for the next 6 months. They also call their classes ‘blocks’, which last 1h30 each. The A and B blocks are before lunch, and the C and D after lunch.
For example, A block starts around 8.35. I have chosen Calculus (maths) as an A block. At 10 the class ends, and I make my way to Drama. After that B block is over (11.30), lunch starts. C block goes from 12.20 to 13.50 and we end school after D block at 15.05.
In the afternoon we got a little tour around New Westminster. We got to see the two malls in the city and also the youth center. That’s a place you can go to if you want to hang out with friends, or just watch TV, or maybe even work out a bit.
That evening I had some very spicy (but delicious!) food that my host sister and dad prepared. Good chefs in the house!
Tuesday
…Now that was a busy day. We had to come to school early and get onto one of those typical yellow buses. I’m happy I don’t have to go with one of those to school. As cliché as they are, not very comfortable to sit in.We got to see the Lions Gate bridge, the Gastown steam clock, the A-maze-ing Laughter statues, and an absolutely beautiful view point of the city of Vancouver, in just one day. I also noticed how much glass Vancouver is made out of. Our tour guide enlightened us; the city of Vancouver is close to mountains and nature. The building are made out of glass to reflect those features surrounding the city. When passing by China Town, we received a fair amount of history about that town. My favorite story was where “Gastown”, a part of downtown Vancouver, got it’s name from…
In that specific area, there was a man called Jack. He had a barrel of whisky, from which everyone wanted a drink. Jack told them to build him a bar in 24 hours so that he could make and sell whisky. The residents did actually do that! It was said that when someone talked a lot, you were gassy. Well, that barman could definitely talk, so her received the name Gassy Jack. Gastown was hence named after him.
That day on the bus, I had a small incident with my pen. I can now say that my white coat is irreparably blue… The upside of the day is that I was finally unpacked, all my little lights were mounted and all my clothes were stored far away from any other pens.
Wednesday
This day you might just be able to count as a boring day compared to the others, but it was nonetheless different and exciting in every way. Wednesday was the day where all the new exchange students got tested on their English and math skills. We got sat in front of a computer, and also had an oral exam. The tests were pretty easy, so I managed to get out by 12 o’clock.
The rest of the day was spent walking around from shop to shop, getting stuff done. I got my Canadian phone number, along with a library and bus card. My host dad helped me with these, which I am very grateful for because I wouldn’t have figured it all out on my own :). This is also the day where I noticed all these small differences Canada has compared to Belgium. For example, the noise that the lights make for pedestrians when they should cross, is a little bird or a cuckoo clock. When the car is locked by remote, it honks its horn shortly. Tater tots actually taste like potatoes, while I thought it was bread. Overall, special day!
Thursday
This is the first night I slept from 22 to 6 without interruption! I was so glad to finally get rid of the jet lag.
At school we started in a very weird way. We all sat down and then two police officers came in. Everybody got excited or scared when they saw he was wearing a gun; we never see that in Europe, especially not in a school.
The police officers gave us a lesson on the laws here in Canada, but also precautions. Stuff like lock your doors and windows before leaving, don’t walk right next to bushes at night, go into the nearest store if you feel like someone is following you and act normal, … Some stuff was very first-instinct, but they did point out a couple of important things that we should keep an eye on. The two police officers in question also have their own offices at the school, which means that if we ever have any problem related to assault, theft, or anything in that area, we know who to talk to.
In the afternoon, a couple of volunteer exchange students came to give us a tour of the school. We were divided into small groups, and then started the tour. They showed us every possible place in the school we might need to go to. They were pretty fun people, and every student we passed seemed to know them, which was quite funny.
That evening I went out with a couple of the Belgian and Mexican students and had a hot coco at Tim Hortons, we got to talk and had a good time in general.
Friday
That day, I only had 10 minutes of school :). I woke up at 9 with the host family’s cat cuddled next to me. Apparently she’s starting to like me! After quickly getting dressed, I met a couple of friends at iHop. It’s this pretty well-known place where they sell pancakes and omelettes and such. I didn’t have enough time to order breakfast, so I just took a milkshake and already had to leave.
The moment I got out, a rainstorm hit, and I was soaked within ten seconds of being outside. Luckily the school was only a 4-5 minute walk, but when I got inside I realised that I couldn’t even sit in a chair because of how heavy my jeans had gotten from the rain…
After wiping my glasses of droplets to be able to see where I was going, I made my way to my counselor’s office. She is the person who is in charge of my school schedule, but I can also go to her with any problem I have. Every student in the school gets appointed to a counselor. We figured out my school schedule, and then me and the other Belgian kids made out way to the Capilano Bridge Suspension Park.
That park was the prettiest thing I have ever seen. It was still Christmas season, so we got to see all the lights in the trees and such. Some of the photos we were able to take turned out magical.
Friday was also the day I discovered my host family had a piano! Or at least, actually used the piano. I was there for an hour, practicing and practicing, both old and new pieces. I had forgotten how fun it was to just sit in front of the piano and play.
Weekend
My weekend was very relaxed. I mostly spent my time watching Sherlock Holmes, and getting ready for school on Monday. Oh, and I wrote this blog. It made me remember how great this week was already, and how I can’t imagine what else these 5 months are awaiting for me.
Canada school exchange 