Day: July 30, 2014

My Canadian Bucket List

/ Laura Bingham

1. Visit the Lake Louise area

An image of the Lake Louise area.

2. See the Calgary Flames

3. Go to a music festival (even blues)

4. Go to The Hop In Brew because I enjoy playing pool and a nice drink!

5. Visit Banff and Jasper

6. See a bear (but be far enough away so I don’t get eaten)

7. Go to Glacier National Park, one of the most beautiful mountain passes or so I’ve been told!

8. Go skiing or snowboarding down a bunny slope!

9. Hopefully work towards my degree and not get distracted by everything.

10. Meet some friends for life!

I hope that you enjoyed this special ‘one month to go’ installment of my experience as an outbound exchange student, it will luckily for you be the last post you’ll get before my journey really begins. Thanks for reading!

A Month Today – Outward Bound

/ Laura Bingham

Not Long Now! Time flies when you’re having fun… (or working hard in my case)

Since my last post not a lot has changed if I’m being honest! I didn’t want all of my blogowers (blog + followers) to get bored so this post is all about some facts and figures about my new home in Cowboy Country, also more commonly known as Calgary and what I’m really looking forward to doing whilst I’m on my year abroad!

But first, an introduction to my monster suitcase!

Image of a large blue suitcase

Can I just tell you how hard it is to be a girl sometimes… Well in fact girls have the short straw all of the time! I’m not going to state the obvious in why it’s such in a pain being a girl but with our feminine allure comes a multitude of problems, the main thing for me is PACKING LIGHT!!!

Packing light is completely unheard of in the female world! We need hairdryers, straighteners, hair products, special toiletries (too many to list), nice underwear, not to forget clothes, and I mean plenty and plenty of clothes! In just under a months time I’m faced with the impossible task of filling a suitcase to last me 9 months, but it can only weigh 24kg! ARGH #panic_stations

Okay, so scrap the hairdryer and umm maybe the straighteners but I love clothes and make-up and oh well, I shouldn’t be going on about this, studying abroad for a year is an absolutely fantastic opportunity so  packing ‘light’ is a minor issue, if even an issue at all. I’ll get super Mum on the job! Plus I’ve been super organised and made a list of what to and what not to pack. You can also buy things while you’re over there of course; bedding, pots and pans etc. I’ve heard that the University and Calgary even has items from previous study abroad students that you can help yourself too. SORTED!

Why Calgary is amazing and I haven’t even been yet!

/ Laura Bingham

My New Home

So as promised, after going off track again (the things that go on in my brain, I’m a rambler I tell you), I’m going to introduce you to my new home…

Formally Introducing the… THE UNIVERSITY Of CALGARY!

Image of the University of Calgary arches

TAHDAH!!!

Now I’ve been doing an awful lot of reading about my new home, my Stepdad has given me a ‘Discover Canada’ book which states that it’ll pick out the best bits of Canada. Hmmm… So I started reading the orange section in the book, the highlights of ‘Banff & the Canadian Rockies’. It was so full of praise for the area, describing it as home to Canada’s most dramatic panoramas and the landscape that hiking was invented for. So I moved on from Banff, to Jasper, to the area of Lake Louise, hitting Edmonton and then I got on to Calgary…

I quote the book:

‘Livable but sometimes characterless, prosperous but economically precarious, super-modern but not always pretty.’

Oh and then…

‘Calgary isn’t a place that any unbiased out-of-towner is likely to fall in love with.’

SHOCKER!

I slammed the book shut and thought to myself that I wasn’t having it! So I’ve devised a Calgary specific bucket list and 5 facts on why Calgary is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (this is before I’ve even been)!

Why Calgary is Amazing!

No 1. It’s cowboy country! What isn’t to like?! Men wandering around in cowboy hats, checkered shirts and yelling yee-haw, I’m sold! But seriously, Calgary is home to the world-famous Calgary Stampede, held in the second week of July (so I’ve missed it). The stampede features live music and supports a rowdy party atmosphere and don’t forget the rodeo!

Image of the calgary stampede rodeo

No 2. Calgary’s music scene! Calgary boasts an impressive music scene from genres of rock, indie, country, punk to alternative! As a massive indie fan, I’m excited to explore and immerse myself into Calgary’s music culture. I’m especially looking forward to visiting the Broken City where gigs are usually held of a Thursday and Friday night. Calgary also holds countless music festivals such as the Calgary Jazz Festival and the Calgary International Reggae Festival, yeahh man!

No 3.  It isn’t pretty (according to the book)!? Well I’ve never been so I wouldn’t know but Calgary is also known as the gateway to the Canadian Rockies. It is the most likely access for both Banff and Jasper (what the tourists would call the pretty places), so even though I’m in a modern city, hey, I won’t be eaten by a brown bear and I can easily enough do some travelling during my stay. Check out my bucket list for more details! I’m sure Calgary will have buckets of its own unique charm anyway.

A cityscape image of Calgary with snow covered rockies in the distance

No 4. Introducing the Calgary Flames, a professional hockey team! Founded in 1972 the Calgary Flames have claimed 5 division championships (this is all from Wikipedia by the way)! I’m actually incredibly excited to see my first ever ice hockey game! Plus the players are huge, I know that there shoulder pads contribute a little bit but phoaw, I’m going to have to learn how to figure skate to get their attention!

No 5. Last but not least Calgary is already amazing to me prior to my visit because it’s going to be my home for over 8 months. I’m so excited and confident that I’ll absolutely love it due to already experiencing Canadian culture that there won’t be a problem for me and I’ll fall in love with the city! With the rockies on my doorstep, what isn’t to love!? I’ve also been told by a friend that during her study abroad last year she visited Lake Louise whilst it was frozen over and they hold an ice sculpture fair on the lake, how awesome is that!?