By Modinat Tijani, Queen’s University, Canada

Of course, we all know what Canada’s weather is famous for being, and the stories are true. I can now say that I’ve experienced -30°C weather and survived. THE COLD IS NOT A JOKE. My nose hairs literally froze but I made it through.

And what do you do when there’s snow around? build a snowman!

The Canadian uni schedule is very different compared to the UK, as we started school early September, we finish school at the end of April (a very long summer!). It also means that exams are before the Christmas holidays, so the study period is shorter. I wasn’t too worried about exams because they weren’t worth that much compared to back home, but exams still do mean stress and worry.

I started feeling the most homesick in the holiday period, probably because of EXAMS, the weather, the shorter days, being without family and everything. Facetiming did help but it wasn’t a cure. I decided to go home (kind of last minute) for some time, to see family because it felt like forever since I had been home. I paid an extortionate amount because I needed to be home but I’m glad I did go home. It was great to be back home and it felt like a refresher getting me ready for the winter semester. The only issue I was that I’d be travelling by myself. The first trip to Kingston, I had people with me and this time I was having to do the journey by myself.

I spent some time at a friend’s house in Toronto before leaving where I explored the city a little more (long story short, I love toronto).

It was amazing to be back home, but also very strange because there were a few changes since I left.