Katherine studied Physics and spent a year at Wilfrid Laurier University
For my year abroad, I spent 8 months studying in the small town of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Living abroad was something I'd pretty much always wanted to do, and as such was more of an end goal than a means to one, but if I had an aim for my time abroad it would probably have been 'to do things that I wouldn't have done otherwise'. I mean, this is pretty obvious, hopefully - after all, what's the point of going somewhere else if you're going to try to pretend it’s where you came from? - but it's also about attitude, not just things that were only physically possible in Canada. Would I go on a solo trip before my year abroad? I'd think about it, and want to do it, but I doubt it ever would have even reached the planning stage. Was I going to in Canada? Heck yeah!
So what great moments did I get out of it? I would have to say that, if I am incredibly strict about picking only one favourite, it would have to be the trip two friends and I took to Banff and Jasper National Parks. For those that don’t know, these are national parks in the west of Canada known for mountains, snow, lakes and bears. It is, and I don’t say this lightly, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. In particular, there’s a route called the Icefields Parkway that connects the two parks, which is really a bit of a tourist road. But every ten minutes, there would be a rough view point and my friends and I would pull off and stare, or take photos, or go for a 10-minute walk down a snowy path and then stare and take photos. Needless to say, I wouldn’t have taken that trip without my year abroad.
There are a lot of other things I would love to talk about. My trip to Quebec City, (the aforementioned solo trip), for example, as well as how much I love Toronto, and all the other trips my friends and I went on. Then there are the everyday things that, to me, are the difference between visiting a place and living there, like going to the supermarket in -25°C weather, and watching the hockey, and celebrating Oktoberfest (very big in Waterloo, and opened by Justin Trudeau). But at the end of the day, I suppose the key question is: did I do things that I wouldn’t have in the UK? And in answer, I think I’d have to say yes.
