Most days I wake up around 9 or 10, since I don’t have class until 2 PM Monday – Wednesday. I make coffee and have breakfast at my apartment and then head to campus. I’ll work on my assignments until 12 and then Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays there’s a $5 vegan lunch. I’ll usually go with a friend and eat until 1 when I help run the Fossil Free booth. For the past week we have been advertising for a rally we will be hosting next week. I get to see my friends from the club during this time and interact with other students interested in Fossil Free. I then head to my 2 PM Earth Science class. On Tuesdays, I’ll study with my friend from class and then we have another Environmental Science class or on Thursdays I will go to a gym class or head back to the library to continue to study. Around 5 or 6 my friends and I will go out to eat or I’ll make dinner at my apartment. On Mondays I have the Fossil Free meetings, which usually go until 7. My friends and I recently found that the place around the corner serves free dumplings for the month of May so we frequent that for dinner. We also study in the Carlaw Park (my residence hall) study room most nights.
There are a myriad of events to go to each week, including an Empower Women’s seminar that I went to last night. The beauty of study abroad is that it really feels like living here in that I have gotten into a routine. It doesn’t feel temporary or like a vacation. It’s really important to keep up with university events because they offer really great opportunities that are free or close to free for students. It can get overwhelming with all the Facebook events and flyers but keeping them in order and making sure to go when you have free time has opened up some cool experiences and a great way to meet people.
