McGill University
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Semester two commences
Harry at McGill in Montréal Christmas came and went and it has been a week shy of a month since term restarted. No one was without a little anxiety for the impending workload however as with the end of any holiday there is also an ounce of excitement lurking within since, after all, we do all enjoy studying a little bit. Otherwise we would not be here.
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Christmas break
Harry at McGill in Montréal To recall correctly the last blog was pretty bleak as it covered the academic side of exchange. So as a bit of an indulgence this installment will be dedicated to fun things that happened over the fabled ‘holiday period’ after finals. It was a long time coming.
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Academic expectations
Harry at McGill in Montréal Academic expectation at McGill. This is the blog that I’ve been putting off the longest and that has been for two reasons. The first is that it would probably be the least engaging to write whilst the second was because I had to find a way to write it so as not to put future prospective exchanges at McGill off. Though I realise in confessing that it somewhat undoes my efforts. There are distinct differences to the academic system they have over here relative to the one the UK has and invariably these differences will be viewed as good or bad differently for every…
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First few weeks
Harry at McGill in Montréal Salut from Montréal! It has been a hectic two months so there will be some task to condense everything into one page of text (with hind sight this didn’t happen). For my regular readers (ha) I’ll update you on the situation as it was presented in the previous blog post. Found a charming flat in the trendy district of the Plateau living with three other exchanges all of whom are from France. Excellent opportunity to learn some French. The only problem that has presented itself thus far was the berating comments received when England shamefully left the rugby world cup so early… The saturation…
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Departure (with hindsight)
Harry at McGill in Montréal Not thinking too far ahead is a useful trait to have to prevent anxiety and worrying too much, but not great when one of the blog topics suggested by the global guidance ambassador scheme was ‘thoughts and feelings in anticipation of leaving’. In consequence the construction of this ‘pre-departure’ blog was hopelessly put off for fear of lack of content so late that it is now being written in Montréal… Though I feel the power hindsight will contextualise some things and make this more informative. I guess I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought or felt anything. As occupied as I was…
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Second Semester
By John Charlton ( McGill University, Canada) A new semester is well underway, and I begin part two of my study abroad period. Physics students usually take a year rather than a semester abroad as matching courses is key to continue studies in fourth year. I felt that last semester my courses matched very well to those back home, and even those topics I had already learnt were shown in a different way. The new semester courses seem to follow on well and I look forward to the topics. The winter here stays at a comfortable -20°, and snow piles on every day. Commuting is no problem as roads and…
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McGill 101
By John Charlton (McGill University, Montreal, Canada) Montreal, to me it is a city with something always going on. Walking the streets one can come across underground art galleries at 11pm, the infamous Tam-Tams weekly festival. There is a fantastic blog about Montreal which informs of events both quirky and mainstream, ranging from foam and body paint parties to cat cafes to pubs centered on board games to socialize. By engaging and immersing with people the opportunity for other possibilities arises, leading on from one another in a progressive story of satisfaction and adventure in a new city. My adventure started with frosh week, another freshers week. It was a…
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Adventures in Canada
By Rachel So (McGill University, Montréal, Canada). The semester in McGill ends very early compared to Manchester. My last exam was on the 29th April. I spent May and June travelling around North America. Having spent four months in Montreal, it was great to explore different parts of Canada. Canada is a very diverse country and each city I visited was very different. Here are some of the places I visited. Toronto Niagara Falls Quebec
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Studying at McGill
By Rachel So (McGill University, Montréal, Canada). I have now finished my semester abroad at McGill. The four months have been both a joy and a challenge. Academically, it has been tough. There are a number of differences between Manchester and McGill: Firstly, there is more regular assessment throughout the semester at McGill. In Manchester, the majority of your mark is based on the final exam. But in McGill, there are may midterms, essays, presentations and quizzes that need to be completed throughout the semester. This means that you have to stay on top of your work. If you slack off, you’ll find that you are very far behind! Secondly,…
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Arrivals/Settling In.
By Rachel Goodier (McGill University, Montréal, Canada). Unfortunately whenever people call or write they expect me to have some massively interesting anecdotes or experiences to share, and I currently find myself dealing with exam work for Manchester, settling into a workload I’d never even fathomed, and working out how to get to the shops without getting frostbite or falling on my ass. So far, it’s going well. I’m keeping pace (albeit at the sacrifice of much of a personal life) and have managed to fall in with the worlds awesome-est flatmates. McGill is BEAUTIFUL. It’s like I finally got into Hogwarts and someone forgot to send me my wand. That…
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One Month Down
By Rachel So (McGill University, Montréal, Canada). I’ve been in Montreal for a month now but it seems like time has just flown by! I feel like I’m slowly settling down now and am feeling more comfortable in my new home. It was difficult transitioning into a new environment at first because everything is so different, but once classes started, I managed to settle myself into a routine. In my last post, I mentioned that I didn’t think the cold was too bad. I was definitely mistaken! The temperature drops to -24 degrees sometimes, and if you include wind chill, it actually feels like -30 degrees! This kind of cold…
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New Year, New Adventure
By Rachel So (McGill University, Montréal, Canada). The run up to studying abroad has been both exciting and stressful. There are plenty of things to organise and sort out before leaving. For me, getting rid of my room in Manchester has been extremely difficult. I needed to find someone who would be willing to rent out my room from January onwards but I was not able to find anyone for a long time. But after endless advertising on different websites, I found someone. Another challenge that I’ve faced is registering for classes at McGill. Their registering system is very different to the one in Manchester and it took some time…
