The Canadian Experience 2

Bishop's University

Marcienne Koenig spent our second semester of the 2009 academic year at Bishop's University in Canada.

From “eish” to “eh” and back again in six months 

At long last!!! I sit looking out my bedroom window onto a snow-covered soccer field and white trees peaking out from the blanket-covered forest, as yet more snow flurries fall from the grey, yet lit up, sky. Wow, were you worth the wait, Canadian snow!

A memory of an experience, which I feel I could never really fully capture in words but will try to recount in the hope that somebody else gets to go on this kaleidoscope roller coaster ride too – From “eish” to “eh” and back again in six months is hardly an uninteresting feat.

With the northern hemisphere and Canada being all upside down, it meant that I could take advantage of not one but two long holidays in 2009. I finished up in June at Rhodes and in July I found myself on a plane, jetting off to familiar faces in unfamiliar Vancouver, Canada. I spent July and August in Vancouver and the province of British Columbia, as well as in Calgary and Edmonton which are in Alberta. Not only was getting to see precious friends fantastic, but their incessant enthusiasm to show me every corner of their part of the world would be something I found common in many the Canadian. We embarked on adventures; hopping across islands and climbing mountains. Sampling vineyards and first-world north American cities. My first time marvelling at the enthralling Rocky Mountains, it felt like they managed to look menacingly down at you but smile warmly at the same time. These first two months were the bang at the beginning of six months which would change my life forever.

In September I boarded a plane, teary-eyed and sad to say goodbye but happy to be bound for the west and the Rhodes-given adventure which awaited me. I met with a large group of Bishops University going international students in Montreal. If the butterflies in our stomachs had been released, I am sure that that bus would have been an explosion of colours and wings (maybe it would have even been swept up into the air?). I fast met Caitlin, one of the other Rhodent exchange students. Winding along the road joining Montreal and Sherbrooke, green pastures, red-orange forests and gurgling rivers zooming past, we spoke about our familiar South Africa and our feelings about what we had experienced so far and what lay ahead of us on this strange new turf. It felt strange to hear this familiar accent and to not have to explain certain phrases or the background behind each story – but to be doing it in a land which was so unbelievably foreign to us. Although my “eish” had claimed a little bit of a Canadian “twang,” it began to reveal itself as I proudly announced my identity to new international friends.

Down one more road and we entered the tiny two street town of Lennoxville; through the robot (or rather traffic light) intersection; over the railway line and round the corner. And, there it is. The warm red bricks and refined white trimmings of the front administration building bring two things to mind – astonishment of how much the university reminds me of Harry Potter and his wizarding world and complete elatedness that I get to study in this overwhelmingly beautiful environment.

In the following week, which actually felt like a never-ending really long day of excitement and activity, we were welcomed to the Bishops family. There are less than 1800 students attending this university (or rather “school”), over 140 of which are exchange students. I met person after person; each friendly face becoming friendlier as I progressed. I was so excited to be meeting Canadians as well as people from all over the world and so proud to be sharing my identity and love for my home country with so many others too. International activities were organised as well as an orientation week for us and first-year students. The first week’s “Gaiter Games” was a time to meet other members of the family; have fun and get to know the place in which we would be living for the next four months. With classes looming ahead, I eventually felt desperate to have one quiet minute in my new room in order to get organised and unpacked. (I had been put into “bog-style” accommodation. I would be staying in Abbott and would have my own fairly large room and share a bathroom with one other girl. What an upgrade from Jan Smuts Hall!) I decided to register for five classes, which included Economics of the Environment; Microeconomics; International Law, The Politics of the European Union and Conversation and Aural French. Classes were so different to the usual Rhodes impersonal lecture theatre. My biggest one had 25 of us, whilst the rest averaged 10 to 15. Lecturers knew us by our name and we were encouraged to question and discuss in class. From getting to come up with our own essay topics to being encouraged to give our own opinion, undergraduates at Bishops seemed to have much more freedom. I was proud and felt lucky to have the support of the strong academic foundation created by Rhodes but felt challenged in this new and different environment. Maybe one day I will see this time as a transition period in my personal education, a time where my “eish” would remain intact but its nature would begin to change.

I spent many mornings in Bishops’ story-book like library, doing weekly assignments or studying for tests. The library is WIFI-equipped which helps a lot, but I found Rhodes IT facilities on a close par to this north American university’s. Hours on end were spent in Dewey Dining Hall, opened a few hours short of 24 every day and free for us to take advantage of as much as we wanted (heaven for any foodie at heart!). It was a meeting spot to catch up on the days of others and initiate afternoon or weekend activities. Bishops offers an array of sports and cultural activities. American Football, soccer, lacrosse and basketball are favourites, but, among many others, mountain climbing, dance classes and yoga are also available and I was able to find my inner “eish” in the latter. There is a gym, courts, fields and even an ice rink as well as a forested area with golf course next door (not to mention the ample walking and running trails and area to be explored!). There are many music or culture-orientated societies, which remain active through out the year. The thing I liked most is that the university offered extra-murals on both a competitive and non- competitive level. There was always the opportunity to join a social team or group if you did not make the cut, which is attractive in a world where competition is so highly valued.

Many weekends would be spent taking advantage of Bishops’ campus and surrounds with friends. From night time activity; dress up parties, “Beer Pong” and “Flip Cup” tournaments, to day time meanderings, there is always something on the go. When snow began to fall, it took longer and longer to walk between the local pub, the Lion and campus – not only because of the difficulty in walking in snow with more still pelting at you but because we wanted to be in it, taste it, throw it, jump in it and so a five minute walk could take hours. Snowmen and Christmas lights replaced October’s Halloween pumpkins and witches all over Lennoxville and in our very own quad. Lennoxville is situated in the beautiful Eastern Townships of Quebec and provides a wealth of outdoor activities. Its close accessibility to mountains and lakes as well as nearby towns and cities, means travelling is a definite must if you can fit it in (hint: hiring a car and dividing costs or using share-ride websites is often cheaper than relying on buses etc). I was lucky enough to visit Quebec City and Montreal as well as the area of La Baie and the Eastern Townships and even got to Toronto and Ottawa. Quebec province enriches the historian, linguist and outdoor sport enthusiast all in one go. From walking 16 kilometres to a nearby picturesque town to sharing Christmas Eve dinner with a large family of Quebecois, attempting my French and trying to catch theirs under their throaty Sanguenay accents. You learn to love Quebec’s yearning for independence from Canada as you count every stop sign you stop at, which is translated into the French “arret.” I mean they don’t even translate this sign in France. It is a world apart from the one in which I found myself months before in western Canada, but at the same time I could never see it as being outside of this country, because of the diversity and striking contrast of culture, landscape and downright Frenchness among others.

As I, along with my fellow international students who were now family to me, left its grounds in December to return home, the hearty school song rang out in our hearts. Bishops and Canada had left me with more than a mere change of the small word “eish” to “eh.” It has changed my very being as my eyes have been opened to another world, but foremost it has shaped my identity. With home always being South Africa and my “eish” never losing its distinct South African flavour, this experience makes me want to sail for the skies and new horizons in other countries (and maybe with my new fellow exchange student friends met at Bishops this is even more possible) and its thanks to Bishops that I left with tears in my eyes as reminders of past memories, but a grin on my face in anticipation of what is to come. So...

“Raise a toast to Bishops University on the mighty Massawippi shore...”

(Bishops University School Song)