A New Semester

After a VERY long break (1 month and 1 week!!!) and several personal travels in-between, we are back in school for our second semester of the TMBA! This semester brings us to my home court: WKU!!! And although I absolutely LOVED being in Canada, I must admit that I am happy to be in familiar settings with familiar people. School started last Monday, which ended up being a very busy week.



But the week before was even crazier with all the Canadian students and Mexican students arriving to the States. Each one seemed to have an adventurous story of their travels to the States, my favorite one being where one of the Canadian girls got stuck in the Toronto airport because the lady at UdeM told her that she needed the COPY of her Student Visa to go through customs (not the original). This caused her to be in a "holding room" for what seemed like hours with U.S. customs staring at her like she was a criminal. After a while, they finally let her go through, but by that time she had already missed her flight. In the meantime, I was already in Nashville ready to pick her up from the airport when I got a call from her (she was unable to use her phone in the "holding" room)! Since there are only two flights that go to Nashville from Toronto each day, she had to wait at the airport for 10 hours!!!

All the students seem to really love Bowling Green (and the States in general...they think Nashville looks like Vegas...NASHVegas!). They are living in really nice, off-campus apartments, but they are so close to campus that they are able to walk to class--a huge plus since (just like me in Canada) they have no cars here. But they have met a friend here that owns a limo...so that has been their preferred method of travel! The Mexicans even went to WalMart in the limo...I wish I had a picture to post from that!

This semester already seems a bit harder than the Canadian semester. We have research papers in almost all of our classes. The other students have already expressed concern about this because, as you know, English is not their first language. Time will tell what this semester has in store for us!

Trilingual Birthday

Bonne Fete-Happy Birthday-Feliz Cumpleanos

Today is my birthday--and I'm celebrating it here in Canada by studying for a final! Last night the whole TMBA group went to eat at The Keg--an awesome restaurant in downtown Moncton--to celebrate my birthday. It was so great for us to have a really nice meal all together. It will probably be our last meal all together before the spring semester. I was treated to wine, dinner, dessert, and a UdeM hoodie. But my favorite moment was the group singing me "Happy Birthday" in 3 languages! You can't get that from just a regular MBA program...

Have a wonderful day!!!

WOW! Can you believe this semester is almost over? My last class at the Universite de Moncton was yesterday. Now only two finals--Wednesday and Friday--and its over. This semester went by so fast and I've had so much fun here in Canada! I'm sad to be leaving it in 11 days...there's so many more things that I wish we could have had time to do up here--like the Bay of Fundy, Hopewell Rocks, snowboarding, etc. But I'm also very excited to see everyone at home!

I know that I have two "A's" so far (which I'm very proud of), and I'm very anxious to see how these next two finals go to determine my grade for those classes. Yesterday we had lunch with the Dean, Assistant Dean, and the head honcho of the MBA programs at UdeM. We had a very nice lunch at Graffiti's. It was great to get together and hear their feelings on how the semester went. The faculty up here has been so warm and welcoming. Their openness really helped foster a great learning environment and made it easy to go to them with questions or concerns. Big thanks to them for being so wonderful!!

Now, back to studying for my last two finals!

Adding to my list...

I have a few things I'd like to add to my list of "Things I Find Funny in Canada" from a previous post...

• I saw my first moose...dead on the side of the road!


• Runners will still run in 2 feet of snow (witnessed this today)...pure dedication!


• No salt on sidewalks...does everyone have spikes on their shoes or what?


• Bus system still runs even when the roads have not been plowed yet


• Snow plowers clear driveways, not just streets!


• People wear ice skates to work...ok, just kidding about that one, although it might not be a bad idea!

Where's the SnowBird Report?

The first snow in Moncton is much different than the first snow in Bowling Green. We had our first snow this week--about 6 inches! I'm pretty sure this was the same day that I saw every Facebook profile from Bowling Green saying it was snowing there too. So while the dusting MIGHT have stuck a little bit on the ground in BG, we got a heap of it! It felt very strange going to class with this much snow...in KY I would be anxiously watching the SnowBird report to see what all was cancelled! The university had not put salt or anything on the sidewalks so they were complete sheets of ice. Couple that with the hill I have to walk up to get to class--not a safe combination!

Last night we went to a Junior Hockey League game...guys 16-20 years old participate in this league right before they get drafted by the NHL. So it was a lot of fun...well, minus the part where someone's head got slashed open by a skate! When we were leaving the game, you could tell from the sky that another snow storm was waiting to unleash its fury! I woke up this morning to what looks like 2 feet of snow. I say "looks like" because I haven't actually been out in it...my inner KY self has kept me inside the safe quarters of my room just like I would if it had snowed 2 feet in KY; while I know that normal Canadian citizens are going about their normal lives--because this is normal to them! I've said it once, and I'll say it again: it looks like its going to be a cold winter!

While its so white and pristine outside, I know the ice is there...let's just say that beauty can sometimes be treacherous!

The Adventure to Mont Tremblant

Warning: This is a long story...

Fall Break provided a little bit more adventure than any of us expected. Ten hours of driving to get to Montreal was enough, but we had no idea that our journey had just begun!! We spent the first couple of days in downtown Montreal. Such a beautiful place teeming with people! And lots of great shopping! The wind was intense there, so the extreme chill in the air was almost painful. None of us were prepared for that much cold...and then it started snowing. No big deal, not too much snow...in the city. But as we started to drive towards the mountains to reach Mont Tremblant, the snow in the air got thicker and the ground got whiter. We were definitely not equipped for this unexpected encounter with snow--no snowshoes, no heavy coats, no shovels, no ice-scraper, and of course, our rental van wasn't equipped with winter tires! As we reached the top of the mountain where our cabin was, we realized the snow was pretty deep--about 18 inches (or more in some places)! It was very hard to find our cabin's driveway and as we pulled into the drive, through a large snowbank (at least 2.5 feet deep), our van got stuck! At midnight! With no other occupied cabins nearby! As we were using our MBA brains to plan how to get the van unstuck, Genevieve realized we were at the wrong cabin! So, us girls started walking in the deep snow to find the correct cabin. This was straight out of one of those "20/20" specials where you see the abandoned hikers lost in the snow and an avalanche comes down and buries them alive...I will admit, I was scared! My imagination was going wild. With the thick snow clouds covering the moon, there was nothing to guide us, only pure white all around...very easy to lose your sense of direction! We finally find the correct cabin, only to realize there was no power!! And the lighter we found (by using our cell phones for light) was out of fluid...so we couldn't even light a fire in the fireplace! The boys ended up giving up on the van, so we had to go search for them to show the the way to the correct cabin. We decided this crazy nightmare would go away much quicker if we all just went to sleep and we would at least have sunlight in the morning. The power ended up coming back on the next day...and we had a wonderful fall break there. We had lots of studying to do (a huge midterm was the following week), but also had a lot of fun building snowmen, having snow fights, and visiting the ski village.

How's that for a Canadian experience?

Coming Soon, but Never Soon Enough: Fall Break...

Next week is fall break. WKU, learn from UdeM and give students a whole week for fall...that would be so lovely! Our group is packing our bags and heading west...west to Quebec!! I'm very excited about this trip. People say its beautiful. We will be staying in downtown Montreal for a couple nights, and then traveling up north to stay in the scenic mountains for a few days. I believe this is where a lot of Quebec-natives go vacationing to snowboard in the winter. We're staying close to a small village (the way they described this to me reminds me of those small ski resorts in Colorado). I don't think there will be any snow when we're there. Although, the weather forecast for Moncton has snow in it for Wednesday (yes, THIS Wednesday!). This is the perfect time to figure out if my Ugg boots are waterproof...before we get a big snow! Be ready for tons of pictures from Fall Break, Quebec-style!

Oh, and you know that huge paper I was stressin' about? I got a 99%...

YES!!!!

Things I Find Funny in Canada...

After my last post, and a week full of papers, exams, and assignments, I feel its time to infuse this blog with a lighter vibe. This brings me to things I find funny, odd, or downright hysterical in Moncton. So here goes the list...

• There are no haunted houses in Canada (In fact, when I asked someone where the nearest haunted house was, they responded by saying, "Well, I've heard that there's a building about 30 minutes from here that some people have seen a ghost in the window...")
  


• WalMart closes at 10pm!


• Public transportation has Wi-Fi (side note: the bus system is in no way comparable to that of NY or Chicago where every businessman rides the bus or subway...)
  


• The gym does not have fans
  


• There are no concession stands at athletic games...only snack machines
  


• Most stores close EARLY on Saturdays


• Tanning beds are not in abundance


• Subway has lobster meat subs...not sure if that fits into Jared's diet plan
  


• Every car is a stick shift


• 1950s Doo-Wop music is played in the public bus


• People will wait in a drive-thru line for an hour to get a Tim Horton's regular cup of coffee


• Most people don't speak French or English as their first language...its more like Franglish


• There is not a food court on campus


• The local drugstore carries Smashbox cosmetics (an ultra-fabulous brand)
  


• They put gravy on their french fries (ok, I've actually started liking this...)


• Their zoo does not have polar bears (yet you can find a polar bear a few hours away in the wild...)


• Buildings do not have air condition


• EVERYTHING is more expensive than in the States

I might add to this list as I travel around the city via bus, so stay tuned...

A Pause from the Topic Summary Paper

I'm supposed to be taking this time to write my 2,000-word Topic Summary paper for one of my classes. But, those of you who know me well, know that I get easily distracted from writing papers. I do not like writing papers. They are not fun. They are not me. Its something that I despise doing ever since my sophomore English teacher in high school never had anything good to say about my writing style. Or better yet, my senior year of high school when I had the same exact teacher and she called me on the last day of Christmas break and told me I would not be able to graduate because I had failed to provide a couple of quotes on some lousy notecards that I was supposed to turn in with the paper...and this was AFTER she had met with me and told me everything was perfect to turn in. And on a side note, YES I graduated, but only after I worked extremely hard in two hours to find every single quote in every single reference book and write them down perfectly on the notecards. And even after I did that, she still would not raise my grade. She just deemed the paper "Acceptable" so that I could graduate on time. That grade on that paper cost me my full ride to WKU (by .2 pts in my GPA).

Yes, I'm still bitter...and I still hate papers, but I'm done with my rant.

So, I'm pausing from writing my topic summary to thank everyone who has been keeping up with me and reading my blog. You can subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the "Subscribe via Email" box and an email will be sent to you notifying you when I have made a new entry. Also, I really enjoy reading your comments, so please feel free to comment!

Ok, back to the paper...T minus 1.5 hours.

Here Comes Jean-ny Appleseed

Its that time again that happens every year. There is a slight crisp in the air that could only mean fall is here (the crisp is more like a bite here in Canada though...). The leaves are turning colors, people are starting to wear boots, and I'm getting that feeling I get every year...the need to go to Jackson's Orchard and get an apple cider slush. Except there's not a Jackson's Orchard here. So I was very excited when a family from Moncton wanted to take us to an apple harvest farm (same thing as an orchard) to go "apple picking."

This family has been doing activities with the students of the TMBA program for the past few years. I'm not really sure how they got involved with the program though, because they do not work for UdeM. The man, Jean (pronounced like John...hence the title of the blog), is an English teacher at a high school in the area. The lady is a director for a small college (by the way, Canadians don't ever say "college") in the downtown area. They also have a tutoring business that keeps them very busy afterhours. They have an adorable six-year old that would only speak to me in French (so I had to pretend to understand her!). This family has planned about ten activities for us to do throughout the semester--so about once a week. Jean is also teaching us some basic French (which is a HUGE help!).

The orchard was definitely not on the same level as Jackson's--no apple cider slushes, no popcorn, no petting zoo, etc., etc., etc. Well, no petting zoo unless you count the 20 chickens that were just roaming around that you could catch and pick-up (in all their dirty, chicken-poop covered glory). The apples were so cheap here! Probably the only thing in Canada that's cheaper than in America! Fifty cents per pound. I got about 15 apples for $1.90! And I love apples. Hopefully, we can go to this other orchard sometime soon that actually makes their own apple wine. I can't wait to see how cheap that is! It was a nice, fall adventure for us...especially since the Mexicans have never been to an orchard! No public orchards in Mexico...just your own private garden.