First Month in Canada

All right, I just watched the finale of Breaking Bad, i'm on the back of a bender so feeling a bit out of itand I'm currently watching the fourth quarter of my Patriots play Anton's Falcons so please bear with me on this one. (Bare?Bear? I'm too tired to google if I used that correctly).

First month in Canada
Canada is full of the nicest and most easy going people I've met.The first week of university here is the same at any university: a week of "Student Orientation" where there are no actual classes and nothing you do resembles anything the tertiary institution wants to be associated with.

 In Canada O-week is called Frosh week. Their is one main street where most of the good bars are (Jim Bob Rays, the Frog, Ceeps and Jacks) which all have different events and functions during normal weeks yet alone Frosh week.  Every bar has a pretty big line but over here knowing people gets you into clubs immediately and I'm fortunate enough to live with an ex Western Football player who has such privileges. There is one bar here that has a classic queueing system: Ceeps puts people in a cage and it's basically Hunger-Games/survival of the fittest to see who gets to the front [see photo below].

Photo from inside Ceeps looking at the que

The University itself

Western University is the pride of London. Their logo is the mustangs and their football team is looking like the best in Canada this year. The buildings are Victorian and covered in Ivy but like Dunedin you end up not actually studying in the most iconic structures but in standard classrooms.

 Classes involve more participation and you have 3 hour blocks in a row so missing a lecture is like missing 3 back at Otago but for the most part it's all relatively similar and familiar.
Being Canada there's an ice rink attached the the gym facilities and Tim Hortons, a fast food outlet, is every where: we're talking about 10 stores on campus alone.

 It's close to midnight here and frankly the next blog on Homecoming weekend is going to be much juicier (I was going to put it at the end of this blog but it deserves its own section).

Events summarised in pictures with captions

The infamous Jim Bob Rays ["JBR's"]

Mustangs v Ottawa. Classic American style with the band on the left and the cheerleaders on the right
*One flag bearer in the band was comically poor at her craft and clearly there for course credits
**I rarely read picture captions so I don't know why you're reading double asterisked point

A familiar face showed up at the end of Frosh week-  he has a knack for appearing during big weekends

Beer pong table at a Frat house party.
*the "frat dudes" I came to expect from film stereotypes didnt live up to their douchebaggery expectations...

....but the frat party events sure did

These Loonie ducks are serious cats- I've been warned to stay away from them because they literally bite fingers off

That reminds me to remind you: Canada has different wildlife to NZ. Walking home from town I've almost been sprayed by skunks on multiple occassions

Poor quality image. These buggers go through rubbish so pop up on the sidewalks

Had to put up a picture of Poutine:
this was pizza flavoured and despite how it looks here it tastes delicous
[Tomato sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella and red onion on potato chips]

'The Works' burger joint. The freshest burgers since Fergburger. They have every type of burger
*incl peanut butter and banana flavour

It's just about midnight here and the Falcons are threatening OT so i'm going to wrap it up here.Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the photos.

Still to come:

Homecoming weekend which just passed: think Hyde Street on crack but without the riots

Trips i'm planning

Niagara Falls

Detroit to watch the Lions play

Buffalo to watch the Sabres play

Chicago to catch D'rose in action

If you have any suggestions or wisdom to offer please post it below.

Oh sweet the Patriots pulled it out. Chur