Greetings from Victoria, British Columbia! Wow! I can't believe I'm finally here 😆
It's now about 8:30pm PDT of "Quarientation" Day 1. For some context, I've just finished several rounds of virtual "speed friending" which was incredibly...interesting to say the least lol. It was really cool meeting people from so many different places (Norway 🇳🇴, Afghanistan 🇦🇫, the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴, Russia 🇷🇺, France 🇫🇷, Ireland 🇮🇪, Hong Kong 🇭🇰, the UK 🇬🇧, US 🇺🇸, and Denmark 🇩🇰 just to name a FEW!)
Thank you to everyone for the well wishes and safe travels! I'm currently at the Grand Pacific Hotel where the first wave of Pearson students will be staying in self-isolation for the next 2 weeks.
The journey here from start to finish was well under 10 hours and I even managed to catch a couple zzzzs 😴 on the flight! The airport is a really different place with mandatory masks and covid regulations but I'm glad people are staying safe. Our little trio of Ontarians caught up with a much larger squad of other Pearsonites from Montreal and New Brunswick who had connecting flights in Toronto, so it was also a treat to see some friendly faces in person before cooping up in our rooms for two weeks.
I was originally worried about boredom but the Pearson Quarantine schedule makes that virtually impossible 😂. There's always something to do and someone to talk to (especially by screaming to your neighbours from your balcony). Thank goodness the school has rented out the whole tower so we won't be bothering other guests!
The food so far has been good- better than expected. My room is on the smaller side and doesn't have a ocean-side view like some of the others but as they say, first-world problems ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'm so grateful to be here and cross my fingers that my co-years will make it soon!
Some food pictures because I know you're curious 😆 Hover and hit the slide arrow for more.
The most memorable aspect of the day was by far the dramatic balcony shouting. Kim (dean of students) had us throw open our balcony doors and yell "hello and welcome" in our mother tongue as loud as we could. That's almost 100 students screaming at the top of their lungs. The looks on the faces of passerbys was priceless 😂
We also had some introductory speeches, live polls, breakfast/lunch/dinner dates, advisor check-ins, wellness, and fitness. Not bad for a day! Actually, for an introvert like myself, I'm exhausted! Though that might be partially due to jetlag.
All in all, everyone I met so far has been incredibly friendly and I look forward to seeing everyone soon :)
I guess that's all for tonight's update. This is the first block of independent time I've had all day so I think I'll get to putting on some hockey 🏒, creating the thumbnail for this post, and relaxing for a bit.
See you in the next update!
Ps. UWC applications (click the hyperlink) are now open in most countries! Further questions? Don't hesitate to reach out - I'd love to hear from you!
PPs. Thank you to all the lovely people who have reached out so far! It's incredibly gratifying (and equally as exciting!) to know that this mess of a blog has been helpful to some. I wish you all the best of luck with your applications : )
Until next time,
