British Student .ca

More photos should be coming but I’m tidying my room and keep losing my computer. I just found a piece of paper which my friend Amy folded into 4 and titled each quarter “Canada Pro’s, Canada cons, Durham pros, Durham cons” (yes you should tease her for use of an apostrophe, she knows better than me). The paper got made and passed around during a lecture (maybe between lectures in the same room) so it very much isn’t just my work. How many of them were true, or how many did I achieve?

Canada Pro’s

• Beach, Trees, Lakes (individual items and someone grouped them as environment) – Yes seen all three, even walked across a frozen lake in Alberta. I guess at that time we didn’t know the local beach was a clothing optional beach.
• Generic university fun – oh yeah, let’s say no more.
• Dream to canoe in Canada – erm, nobody to go with and I can’t find anywhere to rent open top canoes(my favourite) within a day’s reach.
• Sneak into america – no border crossing, but my phone company thought I was there when I went down to a beach in Victoria.
• Might get lucky with Janet Lavery – a Canadian prof back home. Neither happened, thankfully.
• Make new friends who can go stay with in future, fun hols! – I’ve got the friends and I hope they invite me when I have a job and money (year after next?).
• Will be a year ahead of the canadians so can give them answers fo money. – No Khasan, I will not do your 2min first year CompSci quiz.
• snow! – not really, but a lot left lying around in Alberta.

Canada cons

• Money out – oh yes
• No Amy or Jo or Dave or Emily or Martin or James – sorry James I originally thought you were the only one to add your own name. I miss you all loads, I miss the whole class too even Matthieu and his secret pokemon obsession.
• bear might eat greg – hasn’t happened (yet? touch wood.) although I’ve been scared of raccoons and coyotes, sometimes falling asleep in places they frequent.
• Nobody to live with in final Durham year – It’s going to be like first year again (for the third time!).
• No Pim – no TA(lab helper) could come close to the awesomeness of PIM
• Annoying accents – only when they try to imitate mine.
• Everyone may look like Ike from South Park – nah, only Roy
• need to teach my mum skype – wow, she learnt!
• Don’t reunite with friends currently on Erasmus – (year in Europe) I’m hoping they hang on with a Masters year or something.
• Might be sick of uni by time – yes, but let’s move on…
• you return to durham – oh, that was part of the last item.

Only a few Durham pros/cons and they’re pretty much just opposites. Durham pros included Mummy Amy (+ 2nd mummy Jo) (+3rd mummy Em) (+ 4th mummy Tino). It should be noted Tino is a guy.

I wanted to additionally say I can draw far better Canadian maple leafs than the doodle, but I just tested and it’s only a bit better than the one I did about 16 months ago.

It’s been a tough week. My computer decided to become unusable, my bicycle got a puncture (I now have that fixed), and my websites went down for a bit. Although extremely unhelpful, it’s probably a good detox not having a computer, and I always think it’s important to spend time away from it. I’ve been extremely bored in the evenings, so I created a list of things to do without a computer.

• Watch TV
• Go cycling and map surveying
• Go to Brooks Bar, and chat to someone I know
• Cook biscuits, cakes, or marmite cheese pastries
• Sleep
• Tidy my room
• Make a den in the lounge
• Go chat to a housemate and distract them from work
• Bully Dave, or start a Nerf gun war with his guns and the other housemates
• Listen to music

Watching TV is just another computer screen and so still bad for me, plus it’s only 60% commercials here. It’s either too dark or too wet to go cycling most of the time that I have free. Brooks Bar is one of the cafe/bars of my college in Durham, where I’m sure to always see someone I know. There are only two bars here, they aren’t really day-time places and I won’t see anyone I know. I don’t really have access to an oven, just a microwave and sink.

I’ve been sleeping far too much recently, it saves waking up and remembering all the things I don’t like right now. I went to bed at 10pm one night, crazy. My room is spotless tidy, cleaned, and dusted. It’s pretty much ready for me to leave and go home, not that I’m counting the weeks or anything. It’s a little more strange making a den in the lounge when you share it with 30 people than with 6, and it’s dirty. I did make a castle wall out of some phone books that were delivered to every single room (what a waste!).

I sometimes wonder round the floor for someone to talk to but they all seem to hide or are actually working. I feel bad about distracting people who have something worth working for. Dave was one of my housemates that lived next door, I miss him being in the room next to me.

The only music source I have is my computer. Until last night when I was driven to get out my PDA, which is old enough that it’s only useful as an mp3 player, and charge the battery again. I have a few CDs on there, and it was nice to finally have vibrations from electricity flowing into my head.

On Friday I got the e-mail stating I was taking a year out while paying for tuition. I spent the weekend vaguely depressed (the food here continues to do that to me) and sent a response on Sunday evening in time for it to reach Durham by the morning. A few hours later I wake up and I have a new e-mail that starts my day of well this time.

“Firstly apologies for my short email earlier which has clearly caused upset and uncertainty. It was certainly not my intention to do this and I don’t want you to think you are abandoned in Canada.” blah blah blah “I reassure you that a degree programme called Computer Science (International Studies) is in the process of being created retrospectively and as such you will be awarded this degree on completion of your final year. Please don’t be de-motivated any further by what has happened and be assured the University is taking steps to investigate further what has gone wrong.”

So it seems that the previous message “Therefore no new programmes will created i.e. International studies.” is no longer the case. I am doing a degree right now, and I am in Canada, which will soon gain independence from Europe. I don’t know that this means anything for future Computer Science students, but even so I’ll be able to field any questions general students might have about studying abroad or UBC/Canada (fire away in the comments if you want).

The department staff back home are now interested in talking about stuff when I get back. I guess I better type up those blog posts I’ve mentally been writing for a while, so I have some notes to refer to when I see them. In other news it seems to be a week and a half where every class is giving out assignments and exams, I could get a respectable grade if I avoid collapsing under the overload.

To help me get out of bed I often check my e-mail, if I happen to have anything interesting from the UK it puts me in a good mood. Today I got an e-mail from Durham University. That’s where I’m actually a student, on the G401 course “Computer Science (European Studies)” which they kept assuring me would be changed to International Studies. The e-mail I got this morning did not put me in a good mood.

“Apologies for the lateness in replying to your email but we have been discussing the problems you have encountered at length.” Blah, blah, blah, not letting any other CompScis go abroad. “Therefore it is necessary for me to request a concession from the Faculty to put you back on the G400 [standard Computer Science] programme and essentially you have taken a year out.”

Because I failed one class here (last semester) my university does not care about the rest. They have removed all motivation for me to go to the classes, I might aswell get on a plane and go home toomorrow just waiting for my final year to start in October. But what about this year’s tuition fees (as it happens I paid Durham the last installment yesterday)? I’ve paid them for this year, plus I’ve put in a lot of money for flights, accomodation, books, residence life. That money could have been saved on my ‘year out’, in fact I could have made approximately three times the amount I spent if I had got a job for a year.

Durham, you are not just geographically challenged, you are extremely good at demotivating those that study. You failed to give me support this year and had nobody who understands the Canadian system to help me with class choices, now you don’t want to make use of what I’ve learnt.

For those many good friends I’ve made here, and my group work partners, do not worry I am not leaving tomorrow. Hopefully me and Durham University School of Engineering (which I am part of as a CompSci!) will work out what I’ve paid for.

Update: I’ve been found (I’m still paying) 3rd Feb.

The International Office at Durham University decided it’s okay to give my contact details out without my permission. I think this is very wrong even though, when asked first, I am happy to discuss my year abroad with other students. In the last month a few e-mails went between me and a second year Computer Science student considering doing a year in North America, it seems to be worthwhile me collating and summarizing the e-mails here.

How you are finding it? How easy has it been to settle in?
I’m loving it, it’s been great here. I settled in really well. UBC put on some big events for international students so you’ll get to meet other exchangers in Computer Science. Depending which campus residence you live in, there a lots of events to get to know people around you.

How are the computer science modules?
UBC has a much larger selection of courses than Durham, which you can see online at the SSC Course Website, on the left click Winter, Vancouver, Courses. You do 4-6 courses in Winter Term 1 (Sept-Dec) and have final exams before Christmas. Then you completely forget those and do different courses Winter Term 2 (Jan-Apr). Ignore the Summer Term, that gets used for retakes and speeding up your degree. Assuming you’re currently a second year, you should look at 3rd year courses (codes in the 300s) and 4th years (400s) which I think will be just as easy. As I’m not good at maths I avoided all the Theory of Computation courses. It’s a good chance to mainly take classes on the topics that might relate to your final year project.

Did you find that putting together your application for the International Office was not an easy process?
I believe this is the first year that Durham International Office have had years abroad as far as Canada, especially Computer Science as I’m currently enrolled for the degree “Computer Science (European Studies)” while it gets officially changed. So the process is still being defined. With the application, it seems, they want to know that you won’t let the university down and fail while you are abroad. The personal statement is a good place to point out that you’ll work hard and explain if your first year marks don’t look good.

Also, a general “would you recommend it”?
Yes.

In his last e-mail the student was being told he couldn’t apply “because there is no provision to send people from the CS department outside of the EU“. That could be worrying to me, sometimes it seems the university don’t actually know where I am. This week I got an e-mail from my department tutor to arrange the usual check-up meeting. It had slipped by that he had written the reference for my application and I replied with a description of my bedroom view to make him homesick for Vancouver.

I was feeling a bit low after my classes today. Group Software Engineering work is not going to well as I my minimalist timetable of 14.5 hours seems to conflict with all my other group members, and the Eclipse/Jazz/Java project was throwing up trouble after trouble for me. I went for a 30min cycle across campus and back to cool down and was feeling a bit better.

Sending postcards got a bit boring after the first 3 as I don’t like to send out the same design too many times and I don’t like most of the selection in the student shop. So I ordered some postcards of my own photos and I’m waiting for those before continuing writing to friends back home. Meanwhile nobody has sent me a postcard or letter back. My parents sent me a postcard from their holiday on the coast in Cornwall, where I would like to be.

So after my cool down cycle I went to check my mailbox. The delivery of postcards wasn’t there, but I spotted a single postcard through the peep hole. Maybe it’s from my friend Beckie, who I think mentioned she was in the progress of writing/sending me a letter. No, it’s from my housemates last year (plus 1, minus 2, to fill a different house this year). I’m so happy to have received this I was talking about it to everyone and about Durham University. Amy, Dave (the great pretender), Jon, and James definetly deserve a blog post about how amazing they are, this is that post.

I should probably write to my other two ex-housemates (who are now living with two of my housemates from the year before), but I don’t think they read this blog so I should be safe until I get the postcard delivery and some more stamps.

I’ve made the decission to be a believing christian since 2003. At the end of last year God seemed to give me a fair few messages that I should go to Canada (although I take credit for discovering the opportunity and suggesting the adventure). Those messages were in various forms and included: coming away from prayer with a potential advisor in mind who later turned out to be far more suitable than I ever knew; involved staff I didn’t want to deal with suddenly being away from meetings; church prayer announcments from people that didn’t know me, detailing exactly my current application situation. So it should be important to find a church to go to in Canada where I can be spirtitually supported when I get distracted from the God that helped me get here, have other people (and musicians) to worship with, and be parrt of a community that isn’t just fellow students.

In 2004 finding a church near home was scary on my own, but simple. I ruled out the 6 churches within half a mile of me due to silly reasons, and asked my cool class mate, Matt, where he went. That took me too a church a 10min bus ride away and Matt wasn’t there on my first week. I was about 17 so happy to meet adults, but the youth leader subtly(not very well) made some guys sit with the ne kid. When I moved to Durham for university it was even easier: go to one of the well known churches each week with your new christian corridoor mates or the many christians you meet, after 3-4 weeks you’ll naturally fit into a church (or go for the longest lie in).

Moving to Canada in 2009 is harder. I’ve never understood denominations well, but here it’s changed. Evangelical, “happy clappy”, charasmatic, is very different without reserved British people. Searching Google for “churches in Vancouver” brings up a small random selection of the Greater Vancouver area. On my first Sunday I went to Costal Church in Downton Vancouver. It was lively but large, and an hour away by foot-bus-subway doesn’t place it where I’m living.

Asking other christians where they go was harder. There are many christian student groups here but I’m getting bored of the same old introductions and actual christians are much more diluted in more than double the number of students Durham has. I did some more searching on Google, and combined with promotion of some local churches by UCM (University Christian Ministries) I made a list of churches to visit that were closer to downtown. They’re described in the photos below.

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