Oh Ottawa!
Hello everyone! These past few weeks have been crazy, gearing up for the big move... then the move itself. I've arrived safely in Ottawa and have taken my first few classes at Carleton University.
Pictures of my apartment will follow at some point. It even has a colour scheme! It was inadvertently chosen by buying everything on sale or second hand; everything is green, cream or black. I've also recently acquired (on an expedition to the famous Byward Market, near Parliament Hill) a few plants, most of which are herbs. I've got lavender and two different kinds of mint... one of which is marketed as "chocolate mint". I don't know how, but when you rub the leaves and smell it, it does indeed smell faintly of chocolate!
My apartment building is just North of Dow's Lake, which itself is just North of campus, which, in practice, means that with the bike I managed to acquire second hand for super cheap on Kijiji, I get to bike along the lake and the Rideau canal to get to classes. I'm already feeling more fit, and I've only been doing this for a week!
I've only really just started "real" classes this week. Campus tours and introductory lectures don't count as much! I've met with my supervisor to discuss my thesis, attended the class I'm going to be TAing (a second year survey of American history) with an awesome set of professors and another great TA, and, of course, attended plenty of meetings, meet & greets and lectures involving free food. Tonight, free pizza! (The way to the heart of a poor starving student is, as always, through the stomach.)
I also attended a fascinating lecture yesterday by a historican named Alan Taylor on the subject of the War of 1812. (No free food, sadly, but I was so enthralled I didn't even notice!) He took a really interesting, fresh viewpoint on the conflict (which is being commemorated to death in Ottawa this year); he spoke of it as a civil war, which makes complete sense, as the majority of those fighting (with the exception of native allies like Tecumseh and the French-speaking Canadiens) - namely, the British, Americans, and Americans-now-living-in-Upper-Canada-called-the-Late-Loyalists-but-you-can't-call-them-Canadians-yet - had a common language and culture. I'd never thought about it that way, but now that it's been pointed out I wonder why I hadn't seen it before! Taylor was a great lecturer and was very poised even while answering questions. I really want to pick up his book, now.
Anyway, now I get to brag about the awesomeness of my program because tomorrow I get to go on a field trip! We're going to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which is not, in fact, in Ottawa, but in the province of Quebec... which is just across a bridge over the river in the city of Gatineau (formerly Hull). We're supposed to meet there instead of commuting together from campus, so the cool thing is that I can say that I'm going to bike to another province tomorrow. It's about 30 minutes by bus with transfers and waiting time... or 35 minutes by bicycle. Easy choice for me! :D
Pictures of my apartment will follow at some point. It even has a colour scheme! It was inadvertently chosen by buying everything on sale or second hand; everything is green, cream or black. I've also recently acquired (on an expedition to the famous Byward Market, near Parliament Hill) a few plants, most of which are herbs. I've got lavender and two different kinds of mint... one of which is marketed as "chocolate mint". I don't know how, but when you rub the leaves and smell it, it does indeed smell faintly of chocolate!
My apartment building is just North of Dow's Lake, which itself is just North of campus, which, in practice, means that with the bike I managed to acquire second hand for super cheap on Kijiji, I get to bike along the lake and the Rideau canal to get to classes. I'm already feeling more fit, and I've only been doing this for a week!
I've only really just started "real" classes this week. Campus tours and introductory lectures don't count as much! I've met with my supervisor to discuss my thesis, attended the class I'm going to be TAing (a second year survey of American history) with an awesome set of professors and another great TA, and, of course, attended plenty of meetings, meet & greets and lectures involving free food. Tonight, free pizza! (The way to the heart of a poor starving student is, as always, through the stomach.)
I also attended a fascinating lecture yesterday by a historican named Alan Taylor on the subject of the War of 1812. (No free food, sadly, but I was so enthralled I didn't even notice!) He took a really interesting, fresh viewpoint on the conflict (which is being commemorated to death in Ottawa this year); he spoke of it as a civil war, which makes complete sense, as the majority of those fighting (with the exception of native allies like Tecumseh and the French-speaking Canadiens) - namely, the British, Americans, and Americans-now-living-in-Upper-Canada-called-the-Late-Loyalists-but-you-can't-call-them-Canadians-yet - had a common language and culture. I'd never thought about it that way, but now that it's been pointed out I wonder why I hadn't seen it before! Taylor was a great lecturer and was very poised even while answering questions. I really want to pick up his book, now.
Anyway, now I get to brag about the awesomeness of my program because tomorrow I get to go on a field trip! We're going to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which is not, in fact, in Ottawa, but in the province of Quebec... which is just across a bridge over the river in the city of Gatineau (formerly Hull). We're supposed to meet there instead of commuting together from campus, so the cool thing is that I can say that I'm going to bike to another province tomorrow. It's about 30 minutes by bus with transfers and waiting time... or 35 minutes by bicycle. Easy choice for me! :D