Foreign Correspondent - Canada

THE VIEW on the approach to the city from the airport that overwhelms the eyes without warning is surreal to say the least. The heavy head from a long haul flight with free and limitless supply of alcoholic beverages struggles to negotiate a cityscape that boasts the futuristic, not to mention massive, CN tower as well as the various financial skyscrapers which pinch at the skies above. It’s only when exhausted and negotiating the baggage that represents my material needs for the next three and half months that I realise shorts would have been more appropriate in this Mediterranean heat. Obviously my preconceptions of the freezing northern of Canada were slightly off the mark.

The next few days of ‘Froshers’ Week’ – the Canadian attempt at a British Freshers’ Week, were highly eventful, but made it blatantly obvious how far away from home I was. The adaptation to a very different sense of humour, very different ideas of how to have fun and how a student should typically be behaving, not to mention a feeling of resorting back to being treated like a young teenager with the bombardment of rules (which were usually arbitrary) has made for a very interesting and occasionally frustrating time. The adverse and sometimes laughable attitudes to alcohol, parties, student life, meeting new people and independence in general made me truly appreciate being surrounded by other exchange students from New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

Going out in Toronto is not a problem as long as you’re nineteen, or 21 for most clubs at the weekend, and you should get ready for a truly amazing night. The accent works wonders with bouncers who quickly usher you to the front of the queue in most cases. Toronto boasts all the norms of a major city and the strength of the pound against the Canadian dollar make for a relatively inexpensive time. The diversity of the people, the nightlife and the available activities within the immediate vicinity provides an ever changing and highly varied week. The elevated opportunities available for exchange students include truly ‘once-in-a-life-time’, ‘American Pie’ style fraternity keg parties, open air ice skating, ice hockey games and American football games; the list of things that have surpassed my expectations to an unbounded degree is endless.