"The Way Must Be Tried" [Part 2]

Thursday

All the classes started on Thursday. And although I do not have a really busy schedule my first class started early in the morning. So I got up fairly early because I did not know where to find the class room, got some breakfast and walked over to the building I believed was the right one. It was a lovely day. It was still a bit cold but it seemed to be a sunny day. My class was called “Psychology of Women” and it took place in Vari Hall which is the main building on Keele Campus.

The classroom was big and modern but somehow the air conditioning was turned up high so after a while I could feel my feet go numb. Nevertheless, my professor held a really interesting lecture on how women grow up in society and different role models and other factors that influence women and their thinking. The lectures here are always three hours long with only a short break of 10-15 minutes. By the time that course was over I was really cold and hungry. I went for a walk in the sun to go to one of the Frosh events: cupcake decorating! There was a whole table full of cupcakes, different kinds of icing and colourful sprinkles everywhere. Unfortunately, I could not eat more than two cupcakes because of all the thick icing but it was great fun decorating them anyway.

Earlier that day Carly had asked me whether I wanted to join her and go to a meeting about current politics and Marxism. The meeting was not that bad but it was a lot of boring talk and the guy hosting the discussion was simply trying to convince his audience to agree with him rather than starting a genuine discussion. Thankfully, Sam and some other internationals decided to meet in the “Underground” (which is sort of a pub/ restaurant on campus) so we had something to look forward to after the whole political thing was over. It was really nice meeting some of the other internationals and getting to know them. It turned out that most of them were Brits, too!

Friday

I guess I am highly motivated about my classes because it is the first week and everything is still quite exciting. Otherwise I would never get up as early as 6.30 just to get to a lecture! I have a class at Glendon (the bilingual campus of YorkU) on Fridays called “Psychology and Law”. Because it takes about an hour to get to Glendon I wanted to take the earliest shuttle. That would give me enough time to explore the campus, go for a walk and look for the correct class room.

Glendon is much smaller than Keele but it is such a pretty campus! There is a lot of greenery, neat lawns and colourful flowers that a beautifully displayed. Apparently there are several films that were filmed at Glendon because of its picturesque surroundings. The most prominent building is probably Glendon Hall which is an old historic villa. I could not help myself but sneaked into the building and it was so beautiful! Polished wood flooring, pretty creamy-coloured wall paper, posh chandeliers and a squeaky old staircase. Although I really enjoyed my little adventurous nose around the house and its gardens I still had to attend my class eventually. The classrooms here are not quite as modern and nice as the one in Vari Hall but they are much smaller and therefore they provide a better atmosphere. While I was walking through the hallway on the lunch break I could hear professors teaching in French. Although I could only understand little bits of what they were saying it still felt really sophisticated!

The whole trip to Glendon took about five hours which seems devastating considering the 10 minutes bike ride it takes to get to Uni in Germany.

Still, I got back to Keele in time for the tree planting event at Calumet. I was really looking forward to getting my hands dirty and planting some trees (although eventually we did not plant trees but flowers instead). I already miss my little garden at home...

Later in the evening Stong college hosted a party. And although Frosh is dry and nobody is allowed to drink any alcohol the people went mad anyway. Before entering the party zone security checked every single person for weapons and other dangerous things with a metal detector. I did not expect that! Anyway, the party itself was huge: they had a massive stage and it was a proper event. There was me thinking this would be a smallish gathering of people playing beer pong with water with bad music playing in the background. Turns out I was completely wrong. This was more like those crazy spring-break videos you get on youtube with people cheering, dancing excessively, a proper DJ and confetti bombs.

Saturday

After a whole week of excitement and new things I could not be bothered to do anything today. So I slept in and decided to just be lazy all day. Somehow my plans did not work out too well... The other internationals wanted to go downtown and take the ferry to Toronto Island and asked me whether I wanted to join them. How could I say no? Since I have never been downtown before it was really exciting to get off the subway and be right in the middle of this huge city with skyscrapers and people everywhere! While we walked towards the harbour I tried to take everything in: all the cars rushing past, all the people pushing and shoving and all the different buildings.

At the harbour we boarded the ferry going to the main island. It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice little breeze and blue skies. We set off and slowly the whole skyline came into full view. It was really impressive!

To be honest, Toronto Island is not very exciting. It is mainly a park and apart from some flower beds and fountains there is not a lot to see. Still, it was nice to take a walk and have a picnic with all the others. Also, there was a platform right at the end of the island looking out to the lake. Ontario lake is huge and it feels like an ocean. You cannot see the other side of the lake (which would be the U.S.) that is how big it is. By the time we made our way back home the sun was setting and everything was covered in a glowy red haze. The best part of this trip was the skyline going back to the mainland. It was nearly dark now and the skyline looked terrific. There were little sparkling lights everywhere!

Sunday

It has nearly been a week now since I arrived in Toronto and Frosh was coming to an end. Of course there were big plans to celebrate the end of Frosh (and me making it through my first week). During the last week everyone was able to earn “Frosh Bucks” at the Frosh events. “Frosh Bucks” is a currency used at Frosh (obviously) and I was told that the notes could be traded in for some goodies at the end of the whole event. On Sunday morning there were games (mostly poker) at Calumet to gamble and earn even more Frosh Bucks. I did not stay long because I am not too good at poker so I went back to my residence instead. To celebrate the beginning of the new semester we would be going on a boat cruise tonight. Therefore, I had to get myself ready. I got showered, put on some nice looking clothes and got styled up.

But compared to some of the girls that turned up in ball gowns and high heels my outfit was rather meagre.

Anyway, the whole Calumet group piled into school buses that were already waiting for us and off we went. We arrived at the downtown harbour all giddy and excited. Naturally, this excitement had to be expressed with loud “Calumet-Cheers” to the slight disdain of people trying to have a peaceful meal at one of the many restaurants. The boat was really huge. There was a lower deck, an upper deck and even like a roof terrace! We set sail and cruised on the Ontario Lake for a while. It was great fun sipping some ginger ale, having nice conversations with some of the people and enjoying the glory of the skyline in the background. It was such a beautiful sight looking out to the skyline, a string of lights illuminating the deck of the boat and joyful music playing. Soon it was time for dinner. We had a proper buffet and the food was really nice (despite the plastic cutlery). It was really quite decadent spending my time on a boat like that, with an abundance of food and drinks and having a good time but I guess everyone deserves a little bit of luxury from time to time. Eventually, we got to spend our Frosh Bucks at an auction with prices like a TV, a Playstation and all sorts. The evening ended with acknowledging all the students that were involved in organising Frosh and looking after all the Freshmen and of course even more “Calumet-Cheers”. This truly was an unique experience and I will definitely not forget Frosh nor my first week in Canada!