Northern Travels

Here a new update. After travelling now for a couple of weeks in Cuba and Mexico, I start to get back into the real travellers vibe. I am totally adapted to the warm weather and I have totally lost track of time or days. I forgot what a pleasure it is to meet all these wonderful and inspiring people. Every day is a new adventure. Without making any plans you can live in the moment and enjoy everything that comes on your path. This trip definitely reminded me that I have to travel again in the future.

Back to Canada, The final trip

After my sister left I had only one more exam. It was weird to put an end to my minor in Canada. It reminded me a lot about my final exams in secondary school. Sitting in the gym, waiting to start on your final exam and realizing that this is the last test. When your studying you constantly work towards this moment and when it’s finally there it seems much sooner than expected. Suddenly you realize how time flies and that this is the end of another chapter, Minor in Canada.

I was planning to visit some Canadian friends after exams. It turned out that most of them were still busy and when I got invited to a final trip up North I couldn’t resist. These so called “Northern Travels” would be a quest to see the Northern Light and, more importantly, have a great time. The group existed from a now well known French friend: Clement, a Dutch girl Annick and a friend of her Björn. It was not the first trip together with Clement and Annick and we really became close friends during our time in Canada. Sharing meals, having drinks, playing squash, several road trips and much, much more. This would be our final trip and it will be a good one! I never met Björn but I was sure he would only improve the company.

Northern Travels

I didn’t do much research on the destination because I joined only last minute. The plan was to drive around Georgian Bay(the same way I drove back with Jo from Manatoulin Island) and stay in a cabin for 3 days on the St. Joseph Island, the second biggest fresh water island, located right next to it’s bigger brother Manatoulin. I knew it would be a long drive and I hoped we would have more luck with the roads than my journey from Montreal. Annick and Clement picked up the car so I could have a quick Skype session with my girlfriend. We started driving around 9 and had to pick up Björn first in the centre of Toronto. As I did several trips in the centre it was way easier to navigate. After a lot of traffic and a short stop in Toronto we started making our way north around 12. It would be at least another 8 hours of driving but there was a good vibe in the car. Björn turned out to be a great guy that had a good sense of humour and a lot of energy.

The road was much better compared to the journey from Montreal but it was still snowing along the way. This made the driving way more intensive so we switched between drivers. We had dinner along the way in a restaurant called “Dragonfly”. They were very committed to their name and there were thousands of wooden dragonflies hanging around, paintings of dragonflies and when the waiter came walking down with our burgers we all started laughing. The icon was burned in the bum of the burger in no other shape than, of course, the dragonfly.

After some good food we continued our way down the island and after another 2 hours of driving in the dark we finally arrived on the island and it didn’t take long before we found our cabin. It was located right on a lake and the host had set up candles on the path to our cabin which made it look very romantic. Very happy and tired we stepped into our new contemporary house. After a short drink we all fell asleep into something that could be compared with a coma.

The next day was very lazy and easy going. We walked to town and discovered the area a bit. Along the way we had plenty of snowball fights. It really felt like a holiday and the weather was perfect. A nice blue sky and a warm sun that made the cold temperature a bit more mild. There was a very sweet little town centre. We first walked to the dock and found a nice lighthouse. After walking back we got some food and drinks for our stay the coming days. We walked back to our house to drop off the food. I introduced Bjorn to a very local snowstorm that happened just to be at the cabin when he opened his jacket. This became a nice theme during the next couple of days. After the local snowstorm we continued our journey up the hill to the house from the host. We saw some deer trails in the snow along the way and I was immediately scanning the woods to find any sign of life. Unfortunately no animals along the way and also the host was not there when we knocked on the door. We just continued our way and walked through the woods that were all part of their property. It was a nice little hike and on our way back we saw there was someone at home. We introduced ourselves and were invited to come inside. The old barn that was transformed in a house was very pretty from the outside but when we stepped it was even prettier. Everything was made from wood and although the owners were not so happy with it, we were very amazed. Our host was a very friendly German couple, named Daniela and Detlev, that lived in Canada for over 20 years. We felt a good connection with them and it felt more like visiting family or friends than just hiring a cabin.

The next day we wanted to be a bit more active and took the car down to a park to go snowshoeing. Since I would only be in Canada for another two weeks I didn’t buy any good, water proof shoes. As a true mechanical engineer we found a solution by putting plastic bags around my feet and sealing them with duct tape. Nobody of our group had any experience with snowshoeing. It was an amazing experience. The bad thing about hiking in the snow is that you always have to follow a trail. With the snowshoeing you can go wherever you want to go. Bjorn took the lead and we started following a deer trail through the woods.  We saw some deer along the way from the car but I guess we made too much noise to see them while snowshoeing. We made our way to the shore and walked around the lake. Here we saw a huge boat cruising. You could feel the waves underneath the ice and we decided not to try and  come any closer to the boat. After about two hours we made our way back to the car and drove back to the cabin to get some lunch and to get ready for a cross country skiing tour.

I did not have any experience with the ccs but it was a lot of fun because everyone was struggling and every 10 minutes someone would see the snow from a bit different perspective. After laughing we usually helped each other back on the feet. We sometimes raced a small distance. This was so much fun. It felt like running and sliding in the same time. Daniela and Detlev took us to a small maple syrup factory. Here he showed us how the juice was sucked out of the tree and condensed into syrup. This was a modern version of what I’ve seen prior on Manatoulin Island, where they still collect buckets with the juice. Here all the trees were connected with tubes and the juice was simply sucked out of it. This did take away the natural look of the forest. After skiing back to the home of the house I felt tired. I could feel the morning walk in my legs and I started to develop blisters around my feet. We were invited to come inside but someone had to go back to get the cars. Everyone said they would join to go back. My Dutch proud was a bit stronger than my tired legs and I decided to join also. After 10 minutes I was already regretting my choice, haha. My feet really started to hurt and it was very hard to keep up with the others. It turned out that there was a lot of ice on my skates and this was why they were not sliding anymore. After it went better but the trip seemed way longer than I imagined. When it got dark and I couldn’t see the others I realized I really didn’t want to get stuck around here. In the far distance I saw some lights and finally I made it! We drove back to the house of  Daniela and Detlev and got invited inside to try some homemade beer and cider. We couldn’t resist to try it and it was very delicious. It all tasted so pure. We really became friends with the Daniela and Detlev and we got invited to come on a trip the next day. We would drive up to another park where they used to live to do a hike on snowshoes for about 4 hours. After they would cook us dinner. It sounded perfect and we were all very enthusiastic. I saw a picture on the wall of a small house covered in snow and asked about it. She told me that it was a sauna that they build at their old house. This reminded me of what I would like to do that trip so I asked her were the best place would be to visit a sauna on this island. She said I should follow her and she took me to the back of the house where the sauna was located. It was a wood fired Sauna and outside was a nice terrace where we could rinse after the sauna. We were welcome to use it after the hike of the next day. I couldn’t be happier. It was really like a dream, first a nice hike followed by a good sauna session and finish with some proper food. My smile didn’t disappear the following couple of days.

We got back to our own cabin and made some dinner and played some card games after. I learned them the Dutch game “boeren bridge” that is very famous in my beloved student house “RKSH JVB 71 B’vo!”. After a few games we had some interesting conversations with also a recap on the amazing experience in Canada. Bjorn actually studied in Quebec City which is located much more north than Toronto. This made a huge difference on a temperature base. The stories sounded more like what I was expecting it to be, before I came to Canada but I’m very glad that Waterloo was much less extreme. After a few beers, jagershots and whisky we decided to call it a day.

 Winter wonder land

After a good night of sleep I woke up and it was so nice to be in such a beautiful area. It was completely quiet and we really felt part of nature. We made some breakfast and prepared for the big hike. This time I was able to borrow some real winter boots from Detlev which made the entire trip much more enjoyable. The day was just perfect. A beautiful blue sky and a lot of fresh snow. Not to cold not to warm, just perfect JIt had not been very windy so there was still a lot of snow in the trees what transformed the forest in a true winter wonder land.

I was so happy that they took us up to the park because it was a real treasure to visit it. Only locals can recommend the best places or show you their favourite spots. We were surprised by how fit this German couple was and together with their niece we had an awesome group. The terrain was quite rough and every now and then someone would slip and make a nice “Touchdown”! I started counting everyone’s touchdowns and the final score. The niece definitely won with a good score of 9 touchdowns followed by Bjorn with 7. Annick and Clement both scored a good 6 touchdowns and I made 5. The German couple did pretty well with Detlev 2 and Daniela 4. We found several tracks of wolves, deer and a couple of other animals but we didn’t see any. After taking pictures at a very pretty viewpoint we had a little lunch break. It was quite warm to hike around in the snow but after sitting still for a few minutes the cold temperature started to kick in again. I was very happy when we decided to continue our journey. We made a nice loop around the mountain and in exactly 4 hours we came back to our cars. It was a very pretty hike and to be honest I didn’t mind to do another couple of hours. After we got back to our car it was time for a little toilet stop. We were joking that Annick should try to write her own name in the snow. When I started to cry out of my stomach I was still laughing about that joke and before I knew it I was writing my own name followed by a nice circle around it. I simply couldn’t resist. Haha. I was actually not keen on taking a picture but when I walked away I had to think about this thing that is always said at my surf club: “pics or it didn’t happen”. As I was very proud of this little piece of art I took my camera out and took a picture, haha.

After a drive back we took our clean clothes and towels up to get ready for a couple of good sauna sessions. We settled down and prepared some buckets with water to put outside for the after rinse. The first session was just a quick one and we only rinsed ourselves after the sauna. The second one we increased the heat and I imitated one of the “opgiet sessies” I once saw at a sauna park Elysium in Holland. It was much hotter and we decided to climb down to another terrace and cool ourselves with some snow. This was much better and we sat down on a couple of chairs outside before heading back in. On the last session Detlev joined. This was a little less hot session but very long because we started asking about his life and why he came here. It was so special and for about half an hour we were listening to his stories. He came down with some friends from Germany to build a log cabin in the woods. When a fire caught their tipi they were sleeping in he lost everything, including his passport. He decided to stay in Canada but after two years he was caught by immigrations and almost thrown out of Canada. He fought for a reminder of departure which would give him the ability to re-enter Canada. If he would be deported this would not be possible again. He booked the cheapest flight to Amsterdam and within a week he was back in Canada. In this time he already met his current wife and they actually married to be able to stay in Canada. A very inspiring story about a passionate man that followed his dream and we all had so much respect for this guy. When he was done with his story it was getting time to cool down. Clement was never a big fan of sauna’s and really begged to get out of it. We decided to climb down the terrace into a field of snow where we all made snow angels. This was another activity that I can now proudly cross from my bucket list: Making a snow angel, naked.

Everyone was starving and I felt like I was just floating. After that long hike we didn’t had much to eat so it was time to fill our stomach. During our sauna adventure the rooms slowly filled themselves with the delicious smell of some Chilli con Carne. We brought some beers but I first had to eat something in order not to get drunk within a zip or two. When they put some bread on the table and said we could start I simply couldn’t keep waiting patiently and started grinding food, haha. Every bite tasted like pure gold gliding down my stomach. We brought the Jagermeister. The couple was a big fan and the guy kept asking for another shot. It was almost like he was the young guy among us. It felt really like a big family which gave the cabin a much higher value. I never met any host with such a high level of hospitality.

Canada, The start of the winter.

When I chose to come to Canada I knew it would be a cold experience. With this in my mind I was very surprised how good the weather still was during the first weeks. There was still a reasonable amount of summer and good weather left. After, during autumn, it was still warmer than I expected. On my trip around Georgian bay with my stepdad during thanksgiving, I was still able to wear shorts and flip flops! My girlfriend didn’t pick the most fortunate time to come around. The weather was changing and in the two weeks she was here it doubled the amount of rain I’ve seen in Canada so far.

From the day she was here, it really started to get cold. First with some wet snow and rain but soon it was cold enough for the snow to stay around. I didn’t bring a winter jacket so it was time to buy one. Noëlle is the best shopping buddy ever. Every time we go into a store we walk out completely satisfied within 10 minutes. This time, there was no difference. The first shop we walked in had some awesome snowboard jacket’s and for a good price. The first jacket I tried was immediately a winner. I wanted to try other ones to compare, but eventually I bought the first one.

Now I was all set for the winter. At least, that’s what I thought. It was still very cold and my body had to adjust to this cold climate. Within two weeks I was completely adapted to this new temperature and also trained to dress up for a cold climate. This includes scarf, beanie and gloves. If you dress up warm it is actually not that bad.

NBA: Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors

One thing I always wanted to do was watching a NBA match of the Chicago Bulls. Conveniently, they were coming to play in Toronto. This is only an hour away(two by bus) and with a huge group of international students we made our way to the stadium. Some of them purchased fake tickets and had to buy new ones. Luckily we bought them at an official place and I didn’t have any troubles to get in. As it was my first time to go to such a big event, I was completely lost in the madness and had no idea where to go. I asked everyone and eventually managed to get to the section I was seated. The stadium was huge! Apparently they also have the Maple Leaf games in this stadium(Ice Hockey). Within three hours they can transform the Ice Field in a basketball field. The whole experience to watch this game was amazing. There is so much stuff going on around the game. It starts with the National Anthem followed by cheerleaders that come up in every break or time-out. It almost seems like the game itself isn’t exiting enough. Actually the game was, compared to most games, not that exited. Within 5 minutes, the Bulls were way ahead with more than 10 points and the entire game there was no real comeback from the Raptors. I was cheering for the Bulls, but it seemed like I was the only one. I was a bit scared that people would beat me up if I would be making too much noise, so I kept it down a bit. Haha. On the other hand, when there was anything happening on the Raptors side, the entire stadium went nuts. Just a steal would bring so much live into the stadium, this was usually punished by a score from the Bulls and everyone would be quiet again.  It was very amusing to see. The final score was: Chicago Bulls: 96 – Toronto Raptors: 80.

After the game we finished with a couple of beers and while other international students went partying, I made my way to Nathan, a Canadian friend. He would go to Waterloo the next day so after spending the night with him he brought me back to WCRI.

The following weeks I was quite busy with studying. We were nearing the end of the term and had to finish the last assignments and midterms. The pressure that comes with the prospect of the final exams was noticeable. It was very hard to find a place to sit in the library and they transformed it with hundreds of study tables. I did not share this pressure because at my university we only have final exams. Back home I would be nervous at this time. At this university, the final exam is a part of your grade but most of it you earn along the way by making exams and assignments. Most of the assignments and midterms went pretty well so it was not in doubt if I would pass or not.

New York

In one of our last free weekends we decided to plan a trip to New York since it is located so closely to Waterloo.  We had some troubles with finding enough beds for the entire group at one hostel so we had to split between two. There were 7 of us and also a group of Swedish exchange students but we did not see them during our trip. We took the bus on Thursday night and returned on Sunday night so we would have 3 full days.

We chose the perfect weekend to come to New York. It was still very mild and the weather was amazing. After the first morning with a bit of rain we could enjoy the next day without wearing a jacket! This was a bit cold if you were standing on a windy corner in the shade but warm enough if you walked around.

After we arrived at the bus terminal we immediately continued to time square. It had always been a dream to stand on this world famous square and I was very pleased to cross this of my bucket list. With the rain and daylight it was still impressive but we decided to come back during the night. We split up with our group to check in our hostel and decided to meet at a subway station later that day. As New York is very big we were a bit anxious that we might not be able to find each other again. The subway trip took a bit longer than expected, so we ran a bit late but when we showed up at the point where we planned to meet, they just showed up as well. It was just perfect. After walking around in Little Italy, Soho and China town, we made our way to the Brooklyn bridge. This gorgeous, state of the art bridge gave an amazing view over the skyline of NY. It caused the same behaviour as I had with the Niagara Falls. I just could not stop taking pictures. From every piece of wood, every cable, every stone and every clinch to the flag on top of the towers could be appreciated by itself and gave another picture perfect look. The entire time in NY it all seemed so familiar. It was almost as walking through my hometown, DELUUUFFTTT!!! I can understand why so many films are shot here and it was funny to recognise some of the images in the city. After the Brooklyn bridge, and a thousand pictures, we made our way to the Central Station and MoMa(Museum of Modern Arts). I was so hungry at that time so we went for some food from the street. This so called “The halal guys” seemed very good since it had a huge line. First we walked past it but it looked and smelled so good so we decided to step in line. The service was very quick and before we knew it we scored some amazing kebab. In the museum we sat down and literally bulldozered the food inside.

After that quick meal we made a small tour through this huge museum. The first floor was not so impressive but the other floors contained some high quality art. I found some Dutch art: Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, a chair from Rietveld but also other giants like Picasso. It is funny how my interest for art has grown by following the course Expressive Drawing. It changed the way you look at the composition and the use of light. I was never a big fan of any form of art but I start to appreciate it more.

After dinner our group split up once again. Everyone was a bit tired after the long bus ride and the long and exiting day in NY. I could definitely use some sleep at that time but others felt more like partying. After we said goodbye to the party animals we left to go and see Time Square by night before heading back to our hostel.  It was AMAZING!!!! Better than my expectations and much better than earlier that morning. It just felt like a dream to walk around here. Before I came to Canada I did not expect to visit New York and I’m so happy we decided to come here. It was picture perfect and all the different screens created so much light that the street lighting was really unnecessary. We made tons of pictures and after walking around for an hour one of my new Australian friends, Sheldon, bought us ice cream. Delicious Ben & Jerry’s in different flavours. After seeing the biography of this company I appreciate it even more. The reason why it’s so tasty is because one of the makers, I believe it was Ben, had really bad taste buds so they put 3 times the amount of flavours in it than the “how to make ice” book described.

The next day we took a ferry to Staten Island which was free and cruised along the Statue of Liberty. It was actually smaller than expected but still quite impressive. After a quick coffee on the island we made our way back to NY and walked around in the financial district, visiting Wall Street and seeing Tower One. We wanted to see the “Ground Zero” memorial, but there was an enormous line to get in and we were not feeling like waiting for an hour. We tried to meet up around the memorial but we couldn’t reach each other. This would be our last night in New York so we wanted to go out drinking and maybe see one of the shows on Broadway. Most of these shows were very expensive. More than a $100 for one ticket. We found a place where they sold tickets for half price and decided to go to iluminate, Artists of Light. Still a bit expensive but much more affordable than the other ones. Sheldon heard of these artists because they won the show: “America’s got Talent”.

Before the show we met with our other friends again we decided to go for dinner at this Chinese Restaurant. It was a good choice because they had a good and cheap selection of cocktails and after spending three months in Canada where alcohol is very expensive this was a real blessing. After some good food and delicious cocktails we were ready for the show. It started snowing but this was not a real problem.

When we walked in the theatre I really hoped we made the right choice, because I had no clue what we were about to see. We sat down and it started immediately, it was a perfect timing. It was completely dark in the theatre. This already gave a special feeling. A voice started and told us we were not allowed to use our phones during the show but that it was an interactive show and that you could make noise or clap if you see something you liked. The show started and this figure came walking up the stage. He only wore black clothes with lights sewed to it. Because it was completely dark you were only able to see the lights. It looked amazing when he was dancing and it really gave an entire new dimension to dance. I’ve never seen anything like it and when the audience started to applause during the first trick, I felt goose bumps all over my body and knew that the money was well spent. It was so amusing to see and it is so much better for the experience to give applause during the show instead of doing it only at the end. It is also better for the performers, because it will give them some sort of feedback to see which tricks work and which don’t. The dancers were very skilled and the combination of good music with the lights made it very spectacular. I was a big fan of the music and it was similar to music like “Disclosure”. The entire show took a bit more than an hour but I never enjoyed a show this much. I can recommend this to everyone and if you want to have a bit of a better idea of this great performance, you should try and find some video’s on Youtube.

After the great show we went in town for some shopping. In NY was one of the biggest H&M’s in the world and it is ENOURMOS. The selection was great and the prices were much cheaper compared to Holland. I bought a nice sweater. I think the most clothes I bought here so far were sweaters. Every time I walk into a store it was very cold outside and the only thing I could think of was warm stuff. I think I bought 4 sweaters so far. Haha.

We caught up with some other friends around SoHo to go out for some drinks. It was a great coincidence to find Annick, a Dutch friend, in one of the biggest subway stations, when we were waiting for the tube. She was actually not planning on coming with us because of a misunderstanding but we could convince her and now we were complete again with all our friends.

The bar we went was great and luckily Sheldon had no problems coming in, since he is still under 21, the legal drinking age. The beers were cheaper compared to Canada and with some great company it made the perfect formula for a wonderful night. I was very happy. After a few beers we walked around and started dancing on one of the small tables. Others were standing on the little bench that was next to the table so it seemed that they would approve. As we, Sheldon and me, climbed up on one of the tables the bartender started to take a torch and try to signal us that we should come down. The light was very bright and we first thought that someone was trying to make pictures. Haha. Eventually I saw that the light came from the bartender, so we climbed down but we gained a lot of kudos from the other guests. The night ended in a drunk walk to a hotdog place. We started to order more and more hotdogs. It was really funny. After we took a taxi back home and started to play pool. Since my stay in Canada I played a lot of pool because our residence owned a pool table and almost all the bars have one. I really improved my play but this didn’t came out this particular night. I played horrible and it took forever to finish the game.

Last day NY

The next day was the last one in New York. We started by visiting central park and visiting one of the bakeries. New York is a real food capital and everywhere we went the food was delicious. This bakery was a real treasure and made some very tasty cookies and good sandwiches. After a nice tour around central park we planned to see the skyline from one of the high buildings. It was very expensive to go up in the buildings that had “official” look out points. We decided to sneak up. This was not possible at the Rockefeller Centre but when we tried the Hilton hotel we had more luck. It was rooftop mission 3.0 but we were with a big group this time. We did the same trick again. We took the elevator to the highest floor possible that you can reach without a special card. From there we took the stairs and walked up. We almost got caught because there was a security guy when we stepped out of the elevator. As an experienced rooftop sneaker, I managed to get everyone moving on so it seemed like our room was up here. When we took the stairs we didn’t know if we could get to the roof. After several floors, the staircase changed and there were no more floors which contained rooms. If someone found us here it was mission failed. We continued and found an open door. We stepped outside and it was mission accomplished! We were the only ones on the roof and we had a great view of the Rockefeller Centre, Central Park and The Empire State building. It was a great experience once again.

After the Hilton rooftop it was time to say goodbye. Other friends took a bus earlier and had to proceed to the bus station. Sheldon and I went to the Hostel to get our luggage and after we found a nice Greek restaurant to have our last dinner in this great city. We took a starter but this turned out to be huge! We were almost not able to finish our main course anymore, and completely stuffed we stepped into the bus back home. The bus to NY was pretty bad and this one was much better. The seats way more comfortable and more space. We drank our beers and after an hour the seats behind us became free so we both could have 2 seats. This was way more convenient and I was even able to find some sleep.

 Last weeks of school

The end of the lectures was in sight and with this also the Canadian experience. The time of saying goodbye started and suddenly I noticed how fast the time went. It felt like 2 weeks ago since I arrived at Toronto Pearson Airport. I remember how curious I was to this new country. All these preconceived ideas about big Canada would soon be confirmed or demolished. Are they really the friendliest people on the planet? Do I see a bear or moose every time I leave the highway and walk around a bush? Is it starting to get cold as soon as I arrive and will there be snow for 4 months long? Is the maple syrup really that legendary?

Looking back, it was such a great experience to learn about this new culture. The people are very friendly and that is the only preconceived idea that was confirmed. Sadly I didn’t spot any moose besides the floating piece of wood that we found in Algonquin park. I think the people and the rough nature would make it possible for me to live here one day. I did not have the time to see much more than Ontario besides 2 days in Montreal and I would really enjoy coming back in summer and travel more.

It was weird to be in the final lectures and to realize that this also comes to an end. I thanked every teacher for the ability of my participation and I told them how much I’ve learned during this term. After the lectures it was time to study. I wanted to finish the term with some nice grades so it was time to lock myself in my room again. Luckily I had only 3 exams and these were nicely widespread over 2 weeks, which gave me plenty of time in between to learn for the next exam. I just received the grades and I finished the courses with the following grades:

Expressive drawing: 85%

Green Entrepreneurship: 84%

Industrial Ecology: 82%

Social Psychology: 70%

Physiological Psychology 65%

 I am very pleased with the grades. It was such a nice experience to be able to choose al my courses. This made me so much more motivated and I enjoyed learning in all these courses. I will try to stay just as motivated when I will be back home.

Montreal

Before my last final of Social Psychology my lovely sister Myrthe came around to visit me for one weekend. She was staying in Chicago for work and on the way back she did a little sub tour to Toronto. From here she hired a car and came over to me. The day prior to her visit I had to say goodbye to most of my Canadian friends. It was such a pleasure to meet every single one of them. From day one I was surrounded by the friendliest guys that immediately  invited me to birthday party, house parties, Thanksgiving dinner, Hockey game and much, much more. I felt very welcome and without them the Canadian experience would not be the same. So here is a special thanks to all you guys!

I gave a route description to my sister and although this contained one mistake she managed to reach my house without too much problems and arrived spot on our arranged time. After a big hug I showed her my room and the drawings I made during my stay here. I made some soup the day before, so after a quick lunch with soup, epic eggs and a lot of catching up we hit the road to drive to Kingston. I booked a room for the night and this was a good stop station between Toronto and Montreal. I hoped we would be ahead of the traffic jams but unfortunately we got stuck on the highway around Toronto. This took us 2 more hours but after a long drive and loads and loads of talking we arrived in Kingston, the old capital of Canada. We stayed in the oldest hotel in Canada. We had a pretty, small room with a very comfortable bed. We dressed up as warm as we could because this weekend it hit -17 C. After a little walk through the lovely centre of Kingston, we found a very nice restaurant. We got a table right next to a fireplace and I was completely satisfied. It was a new experience to spend an entire weekend with my sister but it felt very good and this will definitely be repeatable in the future. The food was very tasty and for desert we went to another place to try some cocktails. We found a nice bar that was specialized in beer. The cocktail changed into tasting of several different beers. They had a unique concept. They imported every week different kegs (fusten) from different places and if the keg was finished it was finished so they had a huge variety. I really liked this concept and if I would ever open a bar in Holland I might use it. The bar was a good choice and after talking with the bartender a bit he offered us to try his new cocktail. Of course we agreed and it was DELICIOUS! It was whiskey mixed with black tea that had a very “smoky” taste. We got the cocktail for free and with the good service they provided we couldn’t resist in giving a good tip. When we arrived back in our little room we immediately fell into this deep, deep sleep.

The next day we proceeded to Montreal, passing a scenic route called “The thousand islands parkway".”It was a gorgeous drive but if we stepped out to take pictures it was too cold to take more than 2 pics before your hands started to freeze to the camera. The entire drive to Montreal went very well and Canada looked very pretty. The entire landscape was covered with a white blanket of snow. When we drove in the city it was a bit hard to navigate because our GPS wasn’t working that well. Eventually we found our hostel and it turned out to be a very “hippy” like place. The name of the room where we were sleeping was called “rouge” and I immediately send a picture to one of my housemates with the same nickname.

We dressed up as warm as we could and stepped outside to brace the cold. It was ridiculously cold with the wind and the “feeling temperature” was -25 C. After walking for 15 minutes in the cold we looked for some warm shelter. Interested in souvenirs or not, it didn’t make much of a difference, we would go in anyway. After a short stop to recover to our own temperature we tried again, but soon we escaped for a coffee into a Starbucks. After, we decided to go for dinner to a restaurant that was recommended by some international friends that went to Montreal a month prior to our visit. This was an Italian restaurant specialized in all sorts of pasta with an unlimited salad bar. The food was just as good as we hoped for and after filling our stomach with plenty of fresh veggies we went home. We wanted to have a nice drink before going to bed but the entire city was a bit deserted because there was a snowstorm in the prospect. We hoped that it would not be too much troubles for our journey back home because we had a lot of miles to kill.

The next day we woke up and discovered that over 30 centimetres (a foot) of snow fell that night. We were a bit worries and tried to leave as soon as possible to have bit of a time buffer. This was a good decision and released a bit of the stress because my sister had a plane to catch that night. When we returned to our car it was completely snowed in. We first cleared our car from all the snow. When we got all the snow off we discovered a parking ticket... This was my very first parking ticket ever. It was for the most stupid reason I could think of: parking in 5 metres of a fire pole. Why would they built a parking spot in front of a fire pole if you can’t park there?! A little confused we started our journey. Luckily my sister got the car out of the snow without too many problems. After escaping the city it was a very long, intensive drive to Toronto. It felt a bit like that movie: “The day after tomorrow” because it was still snowing a lot and we didn’t know how the conditions would be along the way. Along the road we saw over 20 accidents which reminded us to drive as save as possible. We arrived in time at the airport without too much problems and I was very happy when we finally returned the rental car with the knowledge that we didn’t crash along the way.

It was great to see my sister after such a long time of separation and it was a pleasure to spend an entire weekend together. It was a bit hard to say goodbye but I knew this experience really strengthened our band. After saying goodbye it was a three hour bus ride home, caused by all the bad connections between busses on a Sunday night. Exhausted I arrived at the Waterloo and I was warm welcomed with a nice meal, made by my French friend Clement. A great way to end this weekend and to fall asleep with some delicious food in my stomach.

I just arrived in Mexico safely and had an awesome time in Cuba, I will soon write more.

Lots of love,

Iori

The Dream

After the Thanksgiving weekend, my stepdad Jo left back to Holland. The lectures continued and I was getting back into the normal student routine. I had to catch up with some study material because I didn’t had the chance to study during the trip. It was a bit busy in the following two weeks because there was another visit in the prospect. The visit from someone very special. Someone who has been very supporting during my entire stay in Canada and who I can still proudly call: My Girlfriend, Noëlle.

I didn’t want to spend too much time studying when she would be here, so I tried to do as much as I could on the assignments that were due in the time she would be here. I didn’t mind spending the weekend at home since I made a trip every single weekend since I arrived in Waterloo. The first week in Canada I didn’t see much of the nature and from that point I decided to take every possibility to go and explore the country. Doing so I didn’t spend one weekend at home so it was refreshing to see Waterloo on a Saturday.

As I was preparing for her visit, we both were counting down the days. When she finally arrived it felt like a true dream to finally see her again. It felt so good to have her in my arms again and the first days we simply couldn’t stop talking. The day after she arrived we had a great chance to discover more about the Canadian culture with the so called Halloween. People in The Netherlands do celebrate Halloween but I couldn’t remember the last time I actually cut a pumpkin or dressed up in a scary outfit.

 In Canada Halloween is huge! People spend a lot of time and money to get the best outfit. As some of you might know, I am a huge fan of “theme party” or any other occasions where you can dress up in  a self made outfit..... NOT. This time however, it was different. Noëlle and I both went to the Wallmart and it was a lot of fun to try and find a nice costume. We almost bought Angry Birds costumes but they only had these in kids size. Since I arrived in Canada everyone was calling me “Thor” so I didn’t have much of a choice and was happy to build my own hammer and cut myself a nice cape from my, conveniently, red blankets. Noëlle dressed up as a nurse, in case I would actually hit someone with my hammer ;) The Halloween night could not be a lot worse. It was pouring down rain and very stormy. I felt so sad for all these little kids that waited all year to collect candy.

 We got invited by a friend from my Environment and Business courses: Luke. We arrived a bit late at his house and most of the guys were already drunk. We, completely sober, felt a bit weird at the start but after a few drinks we were all best friends again. We tried to get into one of the clubs in Waterloo. We experienced an interesting bus ride up to Phil’s. It was packed with all these dressed up, drunk teenagers. Just like all the big Canadian nights it was super busy and the line was enormous. It was no option to wait in the rainy storm weather so we decided to go to another smaller bar. After a few drinks and some nice snacks we walked back to our house. With Phil’s on the way back we gave it another shot and we managed to get in. Inside we were so happy that we tried again. They played some old school songs and it was so nice to dance with my girlfriend again. <3

The first weekend I decided to take her up to one of Canada’s wonders: The Niagara Falls. It would be my second time to see it, but like I described last time you just can’t take your eyes off this amazing phenomenon. When I was there a month prior to this visit I climbed one of the high hotels around to see the falls from a higher point. This amazing view had made so much impact that I wanted to spend the night in a room with a view like that. As a surprise I booked a room at Embassy Suites and asked for the highest room. Without knowing if I actually got it we took our stuff to the hotel and found out they put us in the 38^th floor. This was much higher than I expected, because the room description said it would only be between 10^th and 15^th floor. Totally amazed we stepped into the elevator and I started to get Goosebumps when we pressed the “38” button. Curiously we opened the door and I couldn’t believe we were actually staying in this room. Totally amazed by the view we just took two chairs and sat in front of the big window. I was totally flabbergasted and I could only say “Oehhh” and “Ahhhhh!”.

After discovering all our gadgets of the room we had dinner at the restaurant that was located in the same building. It was a steak house and since I hadn’t eaten a real steak since I was here it was time to  cross this one from the list. We both ordered the smallest steak but it turned out to be ENORMOUS! The taste was amazing and while sipping on red wine and looking at the bursting Niagara Falls it really felt like a honeymoon. The next day we drove back and started watching the HBO show: “the pacific”.  A really well documented show about the American navy that fought the Japanese  during WWII.

During the week I showed Noëlle around in Waterloo. Taking her to some classes and showing some of the drawings I made during my course Expressive Drawing. After a week with some small parties and nice dinners we rented a car and drove up to one of my favourite places in Ontario: Bruce Peninsula.

This would be my third time up here but I was still very excited to go. The night before we left it started snowing and this gave the third time a complete new look. The first time I went up to BP it was still the end of summer and all the trees were very green. The second time, It was during Indian summer and most of the trees turned yellow and red giving it a complete new, rough look. This time it was starting to get winter and the white blanket of snow gave the entire trip a complete makeover. The quite busy town during summer was now completely deserted and there was only one Hotel that was open and this was also the only place where we were able to get food. When we came in the hotel we immediately noticed the huge amount of old videotapes. Our room was not equipped with a video recorder but fortunately there was a spare one we could borrow. After dinner we took a while to make the selection for which film we were going to watch. The whole collection turned out to be less exiting than we hoped for but we ended up choosing “The Titanic”. A real classic. It brought back a lot of old memories to use a video recorder because at first I totally forgot to rewind the tape and thought it wasn’t working.

After doing some hikes on the very slippery trails we drove back to Waterloo. The drive back was a bit more adventurous than expected. The moment I decided we should get gas at the next station we drove into this lonely road. Because Canada is so developed I felt so confident in finding a gas station that I did not take any safety  measures and tanked when the tank was still a quarter full. Because of this overconfidence the fear was growing with every kilometre we drove without finding a gas station. It was already dark and it was also very cold outside so we definitely didn’t want to get stuck without gas. We quickly looked at the map and found the first closest town was 20km away. Okay, I was pretty sure that we could make that. When we arrived in this town, it was nothing more than a couple of houses without any sign of a gas station. Now we really lost our inner peace and it was just praying that we would soon get to the highway and gas station. I think I actually never saw the fuel gage that low. It was lower than the empty indicator and I felt very responsible for any drama that might happen. After 20 minutes of stress we were finally released with a small pump.

After the heart rushing ride we came back just in time for a basement party, organised by one of the international students. I missed the previous one because it was during the thanksgiving weekend. This time it was organised way better than the previous one, as I heard from stories. This time there was a DJ and a good sound system and it was a real pleasure to spend a good night with all my friend AND my girlfriend together.

After the party the last days of her visit were gone before I knew it. We spend our last days in Toronto. We did some shopping and discovered the city on a rented bicycle. This was a great way to see more of the city in a short time. It was perfect weather. A little bit cold, but clear blue sky with a warm shining sun. Before I knew it we were on our way to the airport. I couldn't believe this dream was about to end. I enjoyed every second that she was here and it was great to introduce her to all my new friends and show her where I spend most of my time. On the airport it was very hard to say goodbye. Usually I am the one taking the plane but this time it was me that was waving sadly. Now I can understand the hard time I gave my mother when I left for my first trip three years ago.

It was a real pleasure that she was here and it will be another 2,5 months until I will see her again. Today is actually the day that we are together for a year! Let’s hope there will be much more years to come.

Happy New Year!

I am currently in Cuba and it is very hard to get internet access. It already has been a great adventure and it is a beautiful country. I want to wish everyone a happy New Year and I hope that 2014 is going to be a very fruitful, inspiring year. It is hard not to be around the ones I love during this special occasion but I hope I will still enjoy tonight in a cloudy Havana. Next update will be send from Mexico and hopefully I get the chance to fully cover Canada and Cuba.

Lots of love,

Iori

Canada covered in ICE

Hi there peepz!


Happy Christmas to everyone and special congratz to my big Sister Myrthe who turned 26 today.

I'm sorry I didn't updated my blog last week. The delay is caused by some technical difficulties. My charger decided to stop working so my laptop died after 2 hours. Today I went to the computer store and after trying 3 different kind of chargers I tried my own charger again and this time it worked.

Now with a charged laptop here a short update.

Canada is all covered in a layer of ice because of an ice water storm. Everything is covered in 2 cm's of ice and gives a special feeling like Winter Wonderland.

Goodbye
This week I had to say goodbye to Waterloo and all my friend I made there. I gave back the keys and when I stepped out of the door it was the real end of my Waterloo adventure. It was hard saying goodbye to all these friends I made along the way. In such a short time some people became really good friends and I hope I will see them again in the future.

Later this week I will continue the story I didn't finish last week and complete it all the way so it will be a big one next time!

This week I will spend with my Canadian friend Nathan and his family. It is such a blessing that I have been invited to this warm Family. This way I will still have the real Christmas feeling. We are going to eat a Turduckin' tonight(a turkey stuffed with duck and the duck stuffed with chicken!)(btw sorry veggies), and I'm really exited.

I think we are about to leave so I have to finish this quickly.

Happy Days to everyone, I hope you have a great time and think about your loved ones :)

x

Iori

Thanksgiving Weekend Continue

Hi all!

Thanks for all the positive reactions. As promised, here is the weekly update!!

The Thanksgiving dinner was more than I could dream of but the story wasn't finished.

After eating more than even I ever ate we went to "The Boathouse", the guestroom that was provided to us. Both sleeping in a queen bed was very delightful after a night of camping. When we woke up there was a beautiful sunrise across the lake. What a dream place to live I thought, and I dreamed away imagining how it would be to actually live here. You might be far located from everything which would be inconvenient but on the other hand, it brings you closer to nature. Maybe in a couple of decades. First finish this Canadian adventure :)

After a quick shower we were invited to have breakfast. Could we be spoiled more? After an amazing diner the previous day, we had some pancakes with HOME MADE!! Maple Syrup and bacon for breakfast. Impressed by the amazing taste of the syrup(served in Dutch Grolsch bottles btw!) I was very curious about the process of how the syrup is made. I couldn't imagine how. With already some culture lessons from last night I was about to become a real Canadian Culture Expert 2.0 :) Apparently it is made in a similar way rubber is made but under special conditions. First of all it has to freeze about 10 degrees during the night and it has to be above zero during the day for about 10 days in a row for the juice to become sweet and for the tree to give as much juice as possible. This juice is collected in buckets. The juice in this state is actually really fluid and not syrup structure at all, it looks more like water. All this juice is placed in a giant boiler. Here the juice gets boiled long enough for most of the water to evaporate. The ratio between syrup and juice is about 1:60! So thanks again to Tristan’s Family for all the info and I hope I didn’t spoil the family secret now! :o

After the delicious breakfast we hit the road again. We asked for some recommendations to do a bit of hiking across the Manatoulin Island and ended up with some spectacular views! The first hike we did was called “Cup and Soucer”. If you ever find yourself near the Island this is definitely worth a drive and hike up the mountain. After just half an hour we were on top of one of the highest mountains of the island. From here we had one of the most amazing views I have ever seen in my life. Standing on the side of cliffs that are over 100ft (30m) high, Jo got a bit nervous and even I had a bit of wet hands after looking down one of the huge cracks were you could see the ground. The view was just a full spectrum of colours all around. With no cloud in the beautiful blue sky, the gorgeous autumn colours and big lakes that crossed around the horizon I felt like being in a dream. It was maybe good that my camera was low on battery otherwise I was still standing there and making pictures. I could definitely imagine some native Indians owning this mountain. The fact that you were not able to see any men maid buildings gave a complete feeling of the beauty of Canada.

After the little but beautiful we continued to a waterfall. We were just in the right time(or maybe a week to late) to see salmon swimming upstream to lay their eggs. This phenomenon was something I always wanted to see. I remember those documentaries where you see this river through the rough wild nature of Canada full with salmon that are struggling to return to the puddle they were born in. Along the way several salmon would be encountering small waterfalls, here they actually have to jump to get to the next section. This obstacle would be a favourite fishing spot for bears and they would simply be waiting for the fish to jump in their mouth.

So far my imagination.

We got to the falls and without parking our car we were able to see the waterfall in the middle of a small village. The smell of rotting fish came straight up your nose. Just a man made stairs down and you could see the fish that made it to the puddle. It was pretty obvious this was the “end point” since the waterfall was around 60 ft (20m) high. Although most of the fish already made their final journey, there were still some left that were struggling to swim upstream. Maybe less beautiful or picturesque and idyllic than I would have imagined but it was still special and I could cross it out from my bucket list. Haha. Saying this, I probably won’t cross this off until I’ve seen something that comes close to what I’ve seen on the documentaries. These spoiled me for life. PEOPLE DON’T WATCH NATURE DOCUMENTARIES!!!! (joke)

 After this we continued our roadtrip towards mainland. Driving through another very scenic landscape around the Kilarney National Park. It was such a pleasure to drive here. Although we were already driving lots the last couple of days it was still a great pleasure. During our trip I had the great opportunity to discover more about Jo’s life. I have been knowing him for 14 years now, but there were still a lot of questions I never had the chance to ask. Talking the entire trip made our band really strong and gave something maybe more precious than all the beautiful things we saw.

The last evening we were very fortunate and finished our roadtrip in a perfect way.

First we had some troubles finding a camp site that was still open in this late season. Eventually we ended up in one of the provincial parks. This was really in the middle of nowhere. The closest “restaurant” was an hour drive away. This was the only thing where you were able to buy some food. We quickly drove down to the restaurant because it was already getting late. When we entered the “restaurant” the kitchen would be closing in 15 minutes. Very relieved we ordered 2 burgers, basically the only things that they served. After returning to our campsite we were regretting that we didn’t accept the offer of buying some firewood. The night was just perfect for a nice bum fire. Because it was technically still Thanksgiving weekend and with the knowledge of Canadians being the friendliest people, I stepped towards our neighbours and asked if they had some spare wood. Within 10 seconds a huge box full of fire wood was handed over to me with the message to burn as much as I could. He asked if I had any tender to start the fire. Unprepared as I was, I didn’t. He grabbed his axe and started chopping down some of the wood.

Very grateful I thanked him a lot and started making the fire. My inner Bear Grills came out and within a couple of minutes we had our fire up and running. I pulled out the flask I received from some friends in Holland and during the crackling sound of the bum fire the taste of whiskey made the ending of the day, and with this also the trip, legendary! 

The last day it was basically driving home. Saying goodbye was hard, but we had a great time and with a smile in my heart I saw him driving off.

To be continued!!!

p.s. Small update for some recent events:

I finished all the lectures last week and now I am in a week full of exams. I really enjoyed all the courses and thanked all my profs for the great experience and the possibility of having me in their lectures. I’ve made 2 exams this week and I will have my last final this Monday. After my holidays will start and I will have a bit more time to write! I will definitely keep you guys posted J

X

Iori

Winner, winner, Thanksgiving Dinner!

Hi All!

Thanks for all the positive reactions!
I noticed more people started following my blog so I will definitely continue writing in English(Sorry Jolanda).
This site changed since my last blog: Bangkok to Sydney. and leaving a comment is a bit more complicated now. If you have any difficulties, just leave a comment on Facebook :)

I feel really bad that I did not keep you guys posted and that it has been over one month since I last wrote a story for my blog. With the ending of my study period and travel plans in the prospect, I would like to start writing more frequently. I will use my blog as a real blog now. It took so long because I wanted to post a finished story. But if you encounter more and more experiences, the story is never finished. This caused the major delay of any writing on my blog. From now on I'll post every week(maybe more! please remind me if I fail to do so). These stories might be a bit smaller, but it will be more fun for you and for me! I hope you guys are still my faithful followers and are able to read this, so this message will not only be read by the few supporters from back home like my mom. Haha.

Enough of the excuses, here will be a small but legendary story:

Traditional Canadian Thanksgiving
After the great trip to the Niagara Falls my step-dad  Jo came around to visit. His first days were spend around the Falls and after he came around to see where I'm spending most of my time. It was great to see him again and he brought some really helpful attributes from Holland that didn't fit in my regular luggage, like my basketball shoes! These shoes helped me playing in the Intramurals. This is a league for students of the University of Waterloo and can be compared with the: "maandag avond competitie" from TU Delft, but this is for every single sport. We subscribed with a team full of international students. We were a bit ambitious and subscribed for the "advanced" league since we all played basketball before. Eventually we ended up not winning a single game because most of the players were a foot taller or more muscular than any single one of our team.

Back to Jo.
After a short meeting we decided to meet again at the end of the week for a small trip during the weekend and to plan our big trip for the weekend after. We spent our first night in Stratford and had some nice dinner and a few beers in a typical Canadian pub. The next day we drove off to one of the coastal towns around Lake Huron(one of the big 3 lakes). The town was recommended by some friends but because it was out of season it was totally deserted. We found a provincial park nearby and slept in a so called "Yurt". This tent fits 6 people and comes with central heating, beds and is a great way to camp if you don't own a tent. When looking for a place to have dinner we had troubles finding a nice crowded place. When we were super desperate we bumped into this tiny little restaurant called: "Paddington". It had only 12 tables and was completely packed. We were lucky that we managed to get a table. All the food was super fresh and after a nice appetizer we waited for out main course. Just when the main course arrived, this young girl started to play live music. Covers from "Mumford and Sons" to "Coldplay" were played and the entire restaurant was amazed by here voice. After finishing the delicious meal we ended up staying for another hour, just to enjoy more of the great music and ambiance.

On Sunday we did a couple of small hikes through the park and drove back to Waterloo. We made some plans for the following weekend and decided to meet on Friday morning again to start are big road trip.

This week I was busy doing midterms and finishing projects and assignments. Studying here feels really different than what i'm used to back home. Here it feels more like middle school where the teacher basically does everything for you and you have a quiz or midterm every two weeks. I am not sure what I prefer. On one hand it maybe helps you dividing the work and make you study more as you go. On the other hand, I think that you should learn to plan yourself and be mature enough to take care of it yourself since you are studying on a University.

I made some great friends here in Waterloo and one of them was kind enough to invite me to his house for Thanksgiving. I felt very honored, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to accept this offer. It felt like a big burden to bring two hungry dutch men to a traditional thanksgiving dinner. On the other hand, I was really curious and wanted to learn more about the Canadian culture. After asking several times if it was absolutely no problem to join them, we decided to add their home address to our itinerary.

My roommate left for New York on Thursday so Jo was able to sleep in his bed so we could leave early the next morning. We drove up all the way up to Bruce Peninsula, where we would also find a place to camp. The weekend we chose to do our big trip was splendid. All the trees were changing color a magical phenomenon what they call: "Indian summer". This actually already started a week earlier and I was afraid that we would be too late. Fortunately our trip was during it's peak! A couple of trees already lost some of their leaves but this didn't spoil the beautiful scenery full of yellow, red and green. Every mile we drove north we could see the trees becoming more red and more beautiful. You don't have to guess where the national colors or icon comes from.

After spending a night camping and doing some nice hikes we decided to wake up early(6 a.m.!!!) to watch the sunrise. This wild idea reminded me to all those early morning surf sessions, where you feel very shit but also very exited because in the back of your head you know that there is something really nice waiting for you. As we walked to the point where we would see the sunrise we were afraid that we might be too late. It was getting lighter and lighter and fewer stars could be counted. The first bay we thought to be we good for sunrise spotting turned out to be too much north orientated. We walked to the next bay and this gave a wonderful view of the Georgian Bay with small peninsulas reaching from the mainland into the water. Our fear of being to late was really unnecessary since we had to wait for another 45 minutes before the first light beams hit our faces and the beautiful yellow sun could be seen on the horizon.

Before I came to Canada, my sister gave me her old camera. It's a great camera and much better than the one I used in my previous trips. I just started to use the camera and I am starting to figure out all the little tricks to make the most beautiful pictures. As I am practicing on this trip I took many pictures just to try on the first day. Not thinking about the battery life and the length of our trip. During this sunrise the battery indicator told me it was almost empty! It was only 1 day and already was the battery life finished. This is also a part of figuring out a camera, but it was a very unfortunate timing. We had 3 days to go and I was about to see Canada's nature on its best. This however turned into a funny result. Because I never knew when my battery was totally finished I tried to stretch it as long as possible. Only making pictures that I really wanted to and immediately shutting it off after taking the picture without looking at the result. This felt like one of the old school cameras where you are only able to see the result after the pictures are being processed. It definitely boosts the quality of the pictures and reduces the time spend on selecting after! I do have to say special thanks to my sister because the camera has been a real pleasure!!!

Back to our trip.
After sunrise we drove to Tobermori to book our place on the ferry to the Manatoulin Island. We quickly drove to a nice lighthouse before heading to the island. The lighthouse was really tiny but was maintained by a super friendly man who couldn't stop talking about how his family already owned the lighthouse for years. With only a little amount of time we were not able to enjoy all of his stories before heading back to the ferry. The boat was very nice and we had some traditional fish and chips. It was such a great weather, there was no wind and I could just walk around in shorts all day! This was already October!!

After arriving on the Island we drove to my friend's place. It was funny, because his address only existed with a lane name, no number. It turned out that there was only one house on this lane and all the land surrounding it was owned by them. haha. Driving down the lane we ended up on a beautiful house with a small boathouse located right on a lake. It looked beautiful and it would be the perfect setting to retreat for a couple of weeks to write a book or look for some inner peace. After a short meeting with the family we freshened up and prepared ourselves for the Thanksgiving dinner.

The amazing smell of fresh turkey was noticeable from outside of the house. The house was just as beautiful as the nature surrounding it. Tristan and his family gave us a real warm welcome and it definitely confirmed why Canadians are known for being the friendliest people in the world. We started with a nice beer and after a quick appetizer and introduction talk, the feast began. The dinner was including a huge turkey, mashed potatoes, some vegetables and as a finish we had a home made apple pie with ice wine, a Canadian specialty. The dinner was delicious and once again I was very happy that I wasn't a small eater. Every single cell in my body enjoyed being there and saying yes to his invitation was the best decision I made in years!
I tried the delicious ice wine before on the winery tour, but I never drank it as a real dessert wine. It was wonderful and tasted very well with the apple pie. A traditional Canadian night could not be without watching a game of Ice Hockey. The Toronto Maple Leafs where playing and as new fans we started cheering for every goal they made. The leafs won in overtime and gave a nice ending to a more than amazing night.


To be continued!!!

First Month, IN ENGLISH

From now on I will start writing my blog in English. It will be harder for me and I will probably make a lot of mistakes during my writing, but it will be a good exercise and this makes it possible for all my new (and old of course) international friends to read the blog as well.

The first month has been wonderful. I’ve met so many people and I’ve seen a lot of things. It was a bit of a hustle to get all my courses sorted out, but finally after a lot of effort it worked out. I’ve arranged a nice spectrum of courses, that in my opinion will all contribute of being an engineer. They are not only very interesting but some courses are really fun! Because I could choose every single course myself and even had the possibility to switch courses if they turned out to be different than I expected, I am really motivated of completing all these courses and getting the most out of it.

The courses(for the people that I haven’t told yet) I participate in are:

• -        Green Entrepreneurship ( changed from Venture creation and Entrepreneurship)
• -        Industrial Ecology(changed from field ecology)
• -        Social Psychology
• -        Physiological Psychology
• -        Expressive Drawing

The field ecology seemed very interesting but I noticed in the first lecture that it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. You could compare it with biology from secondary school. The level was a bit too low and it wasn’t orientated to industry at all. Every week there was a Lab session. Here you would have to recognise trees, plant seeds and that sort of stuff :P Very interesting of course, when you want to be “the dad” one day, and know all the names of the trees and plants(which is actually quite cool if you could) but I think it would not give a real contribute to my purpose why I am here.

All the other courses were very interesting but different than the courses I’m used to in Delft. The course Venture creation and Entrepreneurship wasn’t possible to do because it was an online course. This was a bit of a turn off because I really looked forward to participate in this course. Eventually I found the replacing course, Green Entrepreneurship. The problem was that at this time the course was already full, so I had to ask permission from the prof.

After a bit of a search I found his office, knocked nervously on the door and on the inside I was praying that he would approve. There was not really a good replacement or anything like this course that would not have interfered with my schedule or that would contain the same contents. He turned out to be a great guy with a very enthusiastic response that he couldn’t refuse a Dutch international student, because his wife was Dutch. I regretted that I didn’t bring one of my traditional Dutch souvenirs but I was really glad that I was enrolled J

The first weeks were really intensive. Finding out about all the new things: Cheap groceries, all the lectures, all the required books and tools, sporting facilities and maybe joining one of the 1000 clubs. Apparently they have a club for everything.

Now I’m settled and getting more used to the Canadian culture and also taking some of the accent(they pronounce the “ou” more like “oo” or in Dutch”oe”, you hear it especially with words like about or out). The weather has been great so far, I was expecting it to be very cold now, but I can still wear my shorts and I’m still walking around on my flip flops. J The housing reminds me a lot of my backpacking experience through Australia. The kitchen is horrible and sharing a room with someone else makes the feeling complete. The sharing of the room however, is less worse than I was expecting. My roommate is a cool guy, we have been drinking beers several times and it is actually quite cosy. It’s also really useful because we share some food and usually eat together.  The kitchen is a real nightmare, compared to this kitchen the one in the JVB(my student house) is like heaven. I gave up after cooking the first meal. I had to turn off the fire alarm 5 times(not because my food was burning!!) and there wasn’t any cutlery. Luckily the kitchen from the second floor is much better. It’s clean and has more the feeling of a living room. We have been cooking there ever since. To make friends I just ended up cooking for everyone. We started some cooking groups where we all take turns to cook.

Although the housing isn’t so good, I am really happy I’ve managed to get a room here. I think I would never have made so many friends in such a short time as I did now. It’s like a big community with international students. There are a lot of nice activities and every night there is an opportunity to party or hang out. This is much better than living in a private and bigger room, but be lonely. The location is also very good, it is right next to campus and I’ve been walking everywhere ever since.  Only for groceries I took the bus. Tomorrow I can pick up my bicycle! I was thinking about buying a longboard but i’m afraid that I am not able to use it after next month because of rainy or snowy weather. I couldn’t find any second hand bike. But after hearing that a friend got one when he asked at the office of the housekeeper, he just got one. Now i’m going to get one, and hopefully it will fit my long Dutch legs :P

Canada’s nature is breathtaking, literally. The first big road trip we(team Holland and a German guy who loves Tim Hortens) made, took us to Bruce Peninsula, one of the local recommendations . It was really gorgeous. It started with the long scenic drive. Everybody was really excited and we’ve had a wonderful day. When we came to our first view of one of the big lakes, we all just stopped talking. It was completely quiet. The water was crystal clear and had a beautiful blue colour. The trees were still very clean and we had chosen a wonderful day with a clear blue sky. For pictures, see facebook. The drive took us a bit longer than expected, and without a place to stay, we were forced to drive back on the same day. We did a couple of hikes through the rough nature of Canada and finally my hunger for nature was fulfilled. Our last hike we almost had to run to be back before all the light was gone. It was unfortunate that we only had such a small amount of time to spend there because I could have stayed there forever. The walk back in the dark was a little tense because they told us there was a bear around. One half of my body wanted to see this amazing creature, but the other half would prefer to see the bear from a safe place.... just from the car or something :p Eventually we only scared each other with some good, really good jokes but we didn’t encounter any bears.

The weekend after we drove down to one of the biggest national parks in Ontario, Algonquin Park. Now with a bit of a different crew, (French guy, 2 Aussies, Dutch girl and me J) we hit the road again. The drive was much longer (6-7 hrs) but now we could spend the night camping. The drive was a bit rough because of all the rain. When we arrived the rain stopped magically. I mentioned that we should start setting up the tent ASAP before it would start raining. Unfortunately I didn’t knock off(afkloppen? Haha), because it immediately started raining again. Camping is great, but setting up a tent in the dark and in the rain is quite hardcore. After having some beers everybody fell asleep because we were so exhausted. The next day we hiked the longest trail so we had the biggest chance on seeing some wildlife. We heard that the Moose are in rutting(mating) season and could be very dangerous. I was convinced we would encounter a moose on our long hike. We tried to call them with our moose call, which just sounds like: MOOOOOOSEEEEEE!!!! But no moose replied and they all left us without any memories of seeing this great animal. The entire day it continued with raining. We cut ourselves some really nice design poncho’s from plastic bags. Now I think about it, this might be the reason we didn’t see any moose, you could see those fluorescent blue bags from miles away! The second night was a lot more comfy and we all had a really good sleep. The next day we did a short hike to a stunning lookout. Again, for pictures check facebook!

The third trip was to one of the world’s most impressive wonders: The Niagara Falls. The trip was arranged by the Federation for students and included a winery tour. The weather was beautiful again and after a two hour bus ride it was time for some serious wine tasting! First they told about how the wine was made and the history from the winery. The most impressive fact was the temperature that is required to harvest (with hand) the frozen grapes from midnight till 5 a.m. This ice wine takes 10 times more grapes than regular wine and therefore is also around 50-100$. After all this new information I got really thirsty and luckily the tasting was about to begin. We first started with a nice white wine and this was followed by a good merlot. We finished with, of course, the ice wine. I was so curious about this well priced product. It was really sweet and felt like silk when swallowed. I would not spend so much money for this kind of dessert wine but it was great to have a taste. After we went inside and I managed to taste some more.

After tasting all these delicious wines, the day was even more beautiful. We had to drive another 30 minutes to get to the falls. We were dropped off in a “Las Vegas like” town. Everywhere you turn your head, you see touristic attraction, fancy hotels and casinos. After a short walk we started to get to the fall area. There was a white mist rising above the edge and I felt a rush of goose bumps when I came closer and closer. I looked over the edge and there it was! It was even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. The overwhelming amount of water was again: breathtaking. When you see the small guys next to it you realize again how small humans are. We could join our international group that was just entering the famous boat: Maid of the Mist. This was, just like all the other touristic stuff, a money machine. But the money machine was more than worth its 15$. I will never forget the local rain that you feel when you get close to the fall. This is made from all the water that is splashing down on the rocks. With all my friends we really encountered and felt the Falls! After we spend the day just walking around the fall and taking pictures, pictures and MORE pictures. I think my camera never shot so many pictures in one day. Once the screen began with: “We have already over a 100 pictures of the same waterfall, would you wish to continue?”.  When we had only 40 minutes left, we decided to try to get on top of one of the fancy hotels. We sneaked in on one of the casino’s and tried our way into the hotel. First we encountered a door that required a “guest card” which we didn’t had. We continued our mission and found some stairs. We walked up to the second floor and found ourselves in a big congress hall and looked for a sign with: “elevator”. These activities gave me a déjà vu when I was with my friend Gilmee in Singapore. This time we didn’t manage to get to the roof but we did end up on a lovely balcony with a beautiful view over the falls. This was the best ending of one of the best days in Canada so far.

So far, my first English blog.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please leave a comment.

Cheers!

Iori