Dear reader,
I finally arrived to Guelph on the 26th, and was thrown right into a neatly scheduled breath taking, feet exhausting, sweaty, hilarious, bonding, and welcoming three days. I cannot express with my current vocabulary how much I enjoyed this three day event with START International and its amazingly talented team. Here you have a snippet of the shenanigans I was so blessed to be a part of:
Caesar Windsor
However, before we move on to Guelph I would like to talk a little bit about this casino my uncle so kindly invited me to. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t play, but we did get a delicious taste of the amazing Market Buffet located in the heart of the fancy place. They had everything from international food to salads of all kinds, and an enormous ring buffet filled with sweets. My favourite dish was the Pasta Your Way section, where you had the choice of various meats, fish, and bird. Afterwards you get to choose the pasta type you prefer, along with a souse. Delicious.
U of G – START International Day 1
I woke up at 6 AM sharp to get dressed, eat a healthy breakfast (just this once), and head towards the University Centre. On my way I was greeted by several brave squirrels, brave because they dared come close rather than run away, and a few students. An overall good morning.
Upon arrival to the UC I found the registration table, registered, signed up for the trip to Walmart, and chose East Side Mario’s as my preferred restaurant to eat at in the evening. Had I ever been to the restaurant? No. However, Italian rarely disappoints.
The trip to Walmart was through your typical American, yellow school bus. The shopping itself was quick and smooth.
Upon return we all, international students alike, went back to our residence to get rid of the burdens of dorm room essentials, took a bath (well I did), and went back to the bus stop area by the UC. There we took a regular bus, our group led by a START International worker, to the Italian restaurant. On our way we all chatted, got to know one another, and had a laugh at how silly the idea of “milk in bags” sounded.
The restaurant itself was very noisy and stereotypically Italian decorated. The food was amazing and so was the service. They we tipped well for that.
We went back to our separate dorm rooms by foot, and had a long talk about TV shows, books, the weather, culture and expensive dairy products on our way there.
The START International team also had a games night arranged. Fun, loud, and ridiculous would be the appropriate terms to use for this event.
U of G – START International Day 2
I started the day with a well-planned breakfast (leftover pizza from the day I arrived), and went by foot to the UC. The place was crowded by happy-tired students, who stood in three long lines. One queue led to the registration table (you would get a tag with your name and country flag on it), a second to the bowling registration table, and a third that led to the breakfast buffet. The said buffet consisted of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate for drinks. Scones, muffins, cinnamon buns, jelly filled puff pastry, and fruit for food. What a way to start a morning, eh?
After “breakfast” we went down to the basement, named Peter Clark Hall. On our name tags we also had a number indicating the table we were to sit at for the rest of the day. Skipping through the funny and very informative presentations given by university staff members and the 12th Councillor herself, Leanne Piper, we were invited to lunch; three tables at the time. Wraps, dessert, and drinks were supplied to everyone in big numbers. After we got our food we went back to the table assigned to us, and started socializing some more.
I met people from all around the world that day. You name the country and/or continent and I can assure you that I’ve met at least one person from there. Amazing. Not only did I meet people through the exhausting Campus Chase, but also through simple incidents such as having a person open the door for you, inside the elevator, at the stores, and even at the bathrooms! People are so incredible nice it’s almost suspicious. Maybe I’m just paranoid.
We ended the day with a noisy dinner, again, and went back home from fear of having a skunk spray us. Yes, I actually saw a skunk. On-campus. I’m loving Canada already.
U of G – START International Day 3
Once again, registration and breakfast at the UC. We had several people come up on stage and present or explain rules, buildings, the weather and what to wear, and we were also advised to visit the services fairs which not only gave away neat freebies, but also encouraged us to join their movements. Interesting.
After the supplied lunch, we took a quick city tour in Downtown Guelph, before ending the day (well for me mainly) at Diana Downtown, an Indian restaurant.
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This will be the last post related to the Pre-Autumn Semester Shenanigans. I’m, finally, going to start my long awaited semester at the University of Guelph on the 4th of September. Please stay tuned for “the real deal”, as they say nowadays, since much more is yet to come.
Sincerely,
Lady Diala
For Illustrated Shenanigans Please Click Here.
Apart from having prepared a long list of essential and semi-essential items to purchase for my dorm room and stay in Guelph, I also had an empty list entitled “Canadians”. However, this one was a mental one and not written on paper. I knew absolutely nothing of this country and its culture before traveling there; nothing aside from Tim Hortons, the people’s over friendly/apologetic nature, Canadian goose (the brand, too), moose, and the rumoured “eh”.
