Home and Away Again...

Well, finals finished fairly gracefully (kinda, sorta) and I can't believe my time at Calgary was over so fast! Packing was bittersweet and a challenge to keep my checked bag under the weight limit, especially with bringing home three text books and one binder packed with work from the term abroad! In the end it was accomplished, but I had to carry all of my books and binder in my backpack as a carry-on...not ideal but functional.

After finals a friend of mine (Thea) from Germany and I went to Vancouver for about four days. We stayed at a hostel right downtown on the main strip for shops, clubs, cafes, and restaurants, which was perfect. We walked almost the entire island that makes up downtown Vancouver about twice and went down to Grandville Island to check out the shops and public market there. 

                                                  


Vancouver was absolutely  stunning. It's a typical Pacific Northwest town with mountains right next to the city. My roommate, Amanraj, met me and my friend for half a day and we biked around Stanley Park and ended up hiking our bikes up the mountain when the sea wall trail was closed. Stanley Park is like a Pacific Northwest Rain Forest tucked right up against downtown Vancouver and the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle. 

Thea and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium for an afternoon as well. The animals were amazing and being able to see aquariums that focused on different parts of the Vancouver coast line were awesome! We also got to see a Dolphin show and a White Beluga show. We also got to see sea otters, which are absolutely adorable...yes, even more adorable than the penguins. Also while at the aquarium, we were able to learn about the research the aquarium partakes in and how they rehabilitate animals. They talked about how every animal they rescue they try to release back into the wild, but if they are unable to they work with the animal for both research but also keeping the animal happy and healthy and making sure it enjoys its life. 

Another event Thea and I partook in was called "Fly Over Canada" in Canada Place (a convention center built to look like a cruise ship floating on the harbor. Fly Over Canada was a simulated 4D glider ride (similar to "Soarin'" at Walt Disney World) that went over Toronto, Vancouver, the Prairie, the Rockies and other parts of Canada. The ride was a fantastic way to wrap up my time in Canada. 

Being back home, I miss so much about Canada already! I miss the mountains and hospitality of the people. I miss the general atmosphere and lack of political ads. Most importantly, I miss the people that made my time there truly unforgettable. There are things I don't miss though..I don't miss having to use transit every time I want to do something or the expensive beer and alcohol, and my first Friday home and I was reminded how much I had missed good Fish Fry Friday's! 

Since flying home, I have moved back to Warsaw, IN for my summer position as a Knee Manufacturing Engineering Intern and will be moving back home around the 4th of July. Thank you to everyone who has followed my posts, I hope they were a fun to read as they were for me to write! 

Until my next adventure (hopefully Australia Summer 2016),
~Amanda

Goodbye Calgary, it's been great!

As my time here in Calgary comes to an end and I finish my final exams, I would like to take this time and reflect on my experience abroad. It's hard to believe that in 11 days I'll be home. Feels like just a few days ago I was landing in Calgary and moving in!


I can't believe all the friends I've made here from all over the world...nice to know if I ever want to travel I can go to loads of countries and probably know someone there, or close to it! The endless movie nights ending in discussions about how different countries handle things will be extremely missed, especially when we boiled down our country's foreign relations to a game of "if the US was throwing a party who would attend?" I'll also miss the group posts to Facebook and hearing/reading the phrases "post it to the group" and "I'm keen" several times a week.

 Some of the exchange students on our trip to Banff.

  Penguins on their walk during a trip some of us took to the Calgary Zoo.

Over Easter weekend my parents came up to visit and I really enjoyed showing them around the city I have called home for 4 months! We went to Banff on a beautiful day, and then explored Calgary and the surrounding areas the other days, including the Saddle Dome, Chinook Centre, Calgary Tower and various other places we drove through. I think the picture below proves they had a great time!

Calgary Tower during their visit.

This past weekend, on a break from studying some of us went to watch the UCalgary Club Baseball team play. It was a fun game and I had a blast, especially when explaining the rules and learning about how it's similar to sports played in other countries...each with their own twist.

Well, that's all for now, I have four finals over the next three days so I should go back to studying. My next post will most likely be after my trip to Vancouver and a night in an airport (next post will explain). I'll be super busy until then!

See you on the flip side American followers!

  

Spring Time in Calgary

Well, midterms are finished and my research project report has been submitted for review. The research I have been working on during my time here has involved a literature review on properties of the tibia, femur and patella (knee joint) to aid in the development of a functioning model that accurately replicates real bone. This model would be used to aid in training surgeons so they can get more practice outside the OR. I have had the honor of working with Dr. Carolyn Anglin and her master's student Aubrey Blair-Pattison! I have learned so much about the vertebral model and can't wait to see where their models go in the future. They have taught me so much about research and literature reviews, along with general life lessons and several tips for living  Calgary. Especially when comparing the States to Canada as Aubrey is from New Mexico. Dr. Anglin also used to work for Zimmer in Switzerland. I couldn't have asked for a better team to join and work with this semester!

Now, with less than a month left until I finish finals, the question now is what to do with my remaining time and to reflect on my time spent here. Calgary has been an awesome host town with enough to keep busy, but not too overwhelming. I will miss the views of the mountains and the weather here. The phrase “if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes” has held true my entire time here. It has been shorts and t-shirt weather here for a little over a week now and just absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait for the local bike rentals shops to start renting their street bikes and go for rides along the river and downtown. I've gone for walks along the river a few times and am always shocked at how shallow it is now. In 2013, from a storm and melting snow in the mountains, it caused major flooding in towns and areas along the river…now it’s only a few feet deep!

Peace Bridge over Bow River around time of 2013 Floods.

Peace Bridge now.

Calgary War Memorial along Bow River

Going for walks down to the Bow River will never get old, but I’m ready for a new adventure. After finals I’m traveling to Vancouver for about four days before flying back to Wisconsin and can’t wait. Several of my friends here have been to Vancouver and are giving me load of things I can do while there, including zip-lining and just chilling on the beaches along the Pacific Ocean. However, before I travel there and before finals starts, my parents are visiting this weekend. I’m super excited to show them around the city that has been my home for 3 months now and take them into the mountains…because the hills of the Midwest are nothing compared to the Rockies. Fingers crossed this great weather continues for their visit!

I've been busy with course work as everything starts winding down for the term and starting to prepare for finals. This past week I registered for courses back at Marquette for Fall 2015 and had to file a senior year course review…can’t believe I’ll be graduating in about 14 months (but who’s counting, haha)!

I’ll write again soon with even more amazing pictures of Calgary and the Mountains after my parent’s visit.

Happy Easter!

Two months in, two to go....

I can't believe I'm halfway through the semester, where does the time go?! Since I'm at the halfway point I wanted to change up posts a bit and do a comparison post between Calgary/Canada and home.

First off, Americans have a lot of stereotypes and explaining that each state is different has been a lot of fun since I've been here. I've learned to give a disclaimer when talking about home, and explaining that I'm from the Midwest, so my experience is completely different from the Coasts and the South. The biggest stereotype is  that we're all gun crazy and that everyone walks around armed...can't say that's the case, but explaining gun laws is always an interesting conversation. The upside of being from the Midwest is that my accent blends in really well with the locals so I don't typically stick out when I go out with other International Students. 

 

(stereotype summary from the discussions I've had)....

Some similarities between here and home is that people are generally really caring and helpful. When my friends and I traveled to Ft. Mcmurray, we got a bit turned around and we were able to flag down a snowmobile to ask for help. He was extremely helpful and even helped us find an amazing spot to catch the Northern Lights! Outside of that, the level politeness and general care people have for each other here is something I will definitely miss when I go home. Campus is overwhelmingly safe and it's common for people to leave electronics (like phones and computers) unattended for a bit and not have them stolen. Also, everyone holds doors for everyone else, a small act that can really make my day sometimes! People also are known for turning in misplaced phones and tablets, instead of just keeping them for themselves. 

Can honestly say I'm a bit homesick and really miss Marquette! I miss fresh cheese and milk (I know, very Wisconsin of me to say, but it's very true). Milk nor cheese taste the same here and are about double in price. Also miss fresh home-cooked meals (mom and dad aren't helping much in this department...making all my favorite dishes recently!). Also craving good old WI cheese curds....ugh

**Picture from Princeton, WI Flea Market.

I also miss smaller classes and professors that put students before research, and not feeling like just a number in a system (hence why I chose Marquette over a larger public school). My research adviser and anatomy professor are awesome and always make time to see students and they have questions, but some of the others are so wrapped up in their research they are rarely available outside of class. All well, classes in general are going well so I can't really complain.

Food here is about the same at home, just more expensive. Staple meals are a bit different as well. I can usually always find chicken tenders on menus back home, but that's not always the case here. Instead you can always find Poutine on the menu (and typically several options/types)! Poutine is fries, cheese curds (not deep fried) and gravy...and what ever else you could want, all in one dish (pictures below).
 vs.    vs   (and yes, this is Poutine Pizza)

I haven't had any yet (not a huge gravy fan), but I plan on getting one when my parents visit in a month, so we can share one...no way I could finish one on my own!



Photo credits:
http://www.nationalstereotype.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/American-Stereotypes-1.png
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzuudgAKjRkkImS8MJm1ej2P1jpgiXN1Wo5t1hskjI2cUazCUO
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTypk_bs5KBlW_j59z6riM50ME0FdO2kpwLDpLm1lgFu5Jp_rIL2g
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8JTLILAJrP4I6EvH8HCPUOhU8xxSGWKr_-wtICjsS7zRaT8mahA

Reading Week Adventures

            This past week was Reading Week here at the University of Calgary. A few of my friends and I rented a car and drove 8+ hours north to Fort McMurray, AB. We went mostly to catch the Northern Lights and ended up checking out the Oil Sand Fields J Alberta is the second largest producer of oil in the world, second only to Saudi Arabia, and Ft. McMurray is located right in the heart of the oil sand fields where Bitumen is harvested from the sand. We spent part of a day at the Oil Sand Discovery Center and learned about how they harvest the Bitumen, how the oil fields were formed, and go to see some of the equipment used out in the fields. We also drove north of the city one night and got to see all the fields lite up and, because it was so cold, got to see all the steam and heat produced from the process.

Oil Fields picture courtesy of The Guardian, those trucks are 2+ tons and 2+ stories tall!

            Two of the nights we were in Ft. McMurray, we got to see the Northern Lights, which according to the locals is really lucky. The lights were not the strongest either night, and the second night was pretty cloudy, but still got to see the greens light up the sky!

Ft. McMurray reminded me a lot of Medford, WI…snow covered roads, wind chills and temps well below zero, and a strong shift based work force (so at least things were open 24/7). Only the work force was mostly at the oil fields. Everyone was super nice and I got to use the skills learned from life in the Midwest quite a bit…such as being totally fine with asking strangers for directions/tips, getting a vehicle unstuck (3 times), how to keep a vehicle running in -20°C weather, and getting from point A to point B with terrible road conditions.

On our way back from Ft. McMurray we stopped in Edmonton (Alberta’s Capital) for a night. We had dinner that night at The Craft, a restaurant that had over 100+ beers on tap…we had to get a sampler just to figure out what we wanted because there were so many options. 

The view from the end of the bar at Craft.

The next day we went to West Edmonton Mall. The mall is supposed to be the largest in North America, but I personally thought it was rather small and that Mall of America is bigger. I picked up a few post cards to send family back home and then we headed back to Calgary! 

There is an ice rink in the middle of the mall!

I’ve been working on assignments the last few days to round out Reading Week with some actual reading. 

To Banff and Beyond

Wow, just wow! No words can describe the views of the Rocky Mountains, see below. It was absolutely stunning, and what luck we had with the weather. Crystal clear skies and some low clouds met we could see for miles from the top of the mountains. We went to the top of the Sulfur Mountain by taking a Gondola up and then walked to the old meteorologist outpost. What I found most fascinating about this trip was that my Canadian Pop Culture class had just learned about Banff and its origins. Like when I traveled to Europe after taking European history, I find it really interesting to learn about the history of a place and then see it!!

Brief history on Banff: 

     Banff was started after some railway workers discovered the "Cave & Basin" in Sulfur Mountain (essentially a hot spring). The Canadian government then made the area a National Park to protect if from commercialization and to help keep it's natural beauty. the Canadian Pacific Railway also laid down tracks so tourists could get to Banff. Today, people come from all over the world for the great ski/snowboarding mountains, views, and hot springs.

I didn't go to a hot spring, but I heard they were just really warm pools with views of the mountain. Instead, after Sulfur Mountain, a group of us went to get some lunch and then wandered around downtown Banff. We got some fudge and a few of them had a Beaver Tail (similar to an Elephant Ear - pastry with toppings, but shaped like a Beaver Tail). 

I can't wait for mom and dad to come visit in April and see all the views that I got to see last Saturday, they are all truly breathtaking! 

On 24 January, I went to a professional Lacrosse game (Calgary Roughnecks vs. Edmonton Rush - aka Battle for Alberta). It was awesome! Lacrosse is a national sport for Canada and is very popular, plus the fights on the field are entertaining :)

Next stop - after midterms, labs, and a research proposal - Fort McMurry, to view the northern lights, see oil sands (if we're luck) and just general exploration of central Alberta and getting out of Calgary for a few days :)

Olympics, Reservoirs, and National Parks

So much to see and so little time! This past Saturday I went to the Glenmore Reservoir and walked around about half of it. It is located in the southwest quadrant of the city and was created when the Glenmore Dam was built in the Elbow River. According to the City of Calgary website, this reservoir is a major source of drinking water for the city, helps prevent flooding (the dam was built to help control the flow rates and level of the Elbow River so Calgarians could develop the land around the river with decreased risk of flooding) and provide a place for recreational activity. 

Fun fact about Calgary, the city is divided into four quadrants...therefore street names can be repeated (ex. 6th Street SW and 6th Street NW). Makes navigating rather easy though since if you know the quadrant you need you can usually get pretty close to where you're headed. It was rather confusing my first week here though because I didn't realize the system and got a bit turned around, but now it's super easy.

Left to Right: Charles (Singapore), Julia (Austria), Fabian (Austria), Andreas (Sweden), Me and Vienna (UK) at the reservoir.

While at the reservoir, we met some really nice Calgarians who took a few pictures of us and talked with us for a while, mostly about where we were all from and how lucky we have been with the weather. It's been 40+ degrees fahrenheit here for about a week now!!

 

Me, Julia and Vienna with the reservoir and mountains in the background!

I didn't end up going to the Canada Olympic Park on Sunday because I wasn't feeling the greatest, but I heard I didn't miss much since the only good views are from the top of the mountain. You need a lift ticket to get to the top and I'm not into skiing or boarding so I wouldn't have purchased a ticket anyway. Instead I spent Sunday working on my research proposal and homework and planning a trip over Reading Week.

Claudia (Singapore), Me and Alyson (Singapore) enjoying a Singaporean dish Claudia made - a bit too spicy from what I'm used to but delicious.

This weekend I'm going to Banff with the Center for International Students and Study Abroad (CISSA). Can't wait to get there and see one of the locations I'm learning about in my Canadian Pop Culture class! We got cheap tickets to ride a Bungalow to the top of one of the mountains, so I should get some awesome pictures. Over Reading Week (Feb 14 - Feb 22) a group of us are going to Fort McMurray to hopefully see the Northern lights! Pictures will follow after the trips!

Favorite part about Calgary thus far...the amazing weather and way better Netflix movie options (make for great movie nights with friends), haha!

Suppose I should get back to studying! Hope you're all enjoying this blog as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

~Amanda

Link to the Marquette Global Correspondent Tumblr page: http://marquetteglobal.tumblr.com/