Hey out there. It's been a while since I left Switzerland for Canada. I decided to write it all in English, in order to keep my mind off thinking "German". I hope to get the most out of my stay this way. ( http://www.google.ch/language_tools?hl=de ist ein super Übersetzungstool, einfach URL bei "Webseite übersetzen" eintippen.)
Back on track: After my odyssey via London and Calgary I arrived at around 9.30ish pm in Vancouver where I got on the Skytrain to Carlys place where I spent a short but re-energizing night. Thanks again for the hospitality! The next morning I got to the Airport early to catch my flight up to Kamloops. Before we could board the airplane (by the way really small, with seats like in an autobus), we were told that they were not sure about whether they could land in Kamloops or not, as visibility might fall below 2 miles (or something..). As it was raining in Vancouver I could not even catch a glimpse of the city while we took off. However, after some extra turns in order to wait until the snow shower had passed by Kamloops we finally landed. I took the Bus-Taxi up to UCH where I checked into my room and headed out to check out the area (and to get a new plug-in adapter, because stupid me packed the wrong ones..) and head over to university later on, where I joined other international students. Within a short period of time I got to know many people from all around the world, Australians, Europeans, Canadians, South Americans, Asians, Africans, and so on. Apparently I did not meet any Swiss.
My room is situated in a 4 room quad. We've got 2 bathrooms and a shared kitchen. My "Quad mates" are all cool and fun (what else?! they are students..), two are Canadian, one is Vietnamese.
After the orientation days and the first weekend was over the semester started and I had to start attending courses. Marketing is okay so far, I've got an experienced teacher who teaches in a very easy way. In general we can call most professors and officials by their first name, which gives it an even more relaxed, but nevertheless respectful atmosphere. Monday only consists of one and a half hours of marketing. However, Tuesday starts off with some macroeconomics, which will get pretty challenging but interesting (with Mankew..as always..). As we just went through the ten principles that already were covered in microeconomics, I can't say much about it yet. After that I have a course called "Business Ethics & Society". And this is going to be a heavy challenge. The professor, who probably is one of the smartest guys I ever have seen, speaks quite fast and the thoughts he leads us through are really hard to follow. As of now I try to take it as something I can grow on to. The afternoon starts with some Financial Management. Pretty boring, Time Value of money and stuff like that. Funny teacher who really tries to get your attention though. The last course on Tuesday is professional Selling, what basically gives a deeper insight into the selling process, which is part of marketing too. Teacher is the same as in Marketing. Wednesday is like Monday, and Thursday like Tuesday. Friday is off.
What else did I do?! Not too much so far, went to a couple of hockey games of the local Team (Videos see below), went out a couple of times, met nice people all the time and so on.. The only thing that's bugging me right now are the exams back home, as I don't really get to learn for them as much as I probably should. My timetable sounds a bit Léger, but considering that for each course you need at least 2 hours of preparation (reading chapters, doing other homework, taking quizzes which give marks..) or more, it's not that easy anymore. Last Saturday I stayed at the university until 10 pm, Sunday I was there the whole afternoon. And nowadays socialising is not to be underrated as well ;).
That's it for now, hope everything's alright wherever in the world you folks are. Keep me up to date.
See ya in a bit!
