By George Davies – The University of Calgary, Canada

Dropping to around -15.1 degrees Celsius during its harsh winter months, the weather in Calgary is a little different to that in Manchester. Although I don’t miss the soggy Mancunian weather a great deal, the gruesome stories I have been told about frost bite, as well as the violent arctic winds that sweep across campus, has me slightly worried.

At the time of publishing this blog post, the first of the November snow-fronts have touched down on campus at the University of Calgary. My heart goes out to the students across the world, who struggle to get to their 9 am seminars, and those that take one look out their window, see the rain/sleet/snow coming down and get back into bed. But here at the UoC, the fine architects and engineers that constructed this campus foresaw this likely battle between students and mother nature. And hence, they included a ‘refined’ and cosy tunnel system to help get around.

As the video and map below show, there lies no excuse for any student in accommodation to be absent from lectures, let alone be unable to make it into town. My only worry now is; how sensitive will I be upon my return to Manchester? Knowing I will have to cycle 30 minutes on most days, along a soggy Oxford/Wilmslow Road.