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Showing posts from May, 2025

A Calgarian’s First Impressions of Vancouver

I'm hanging out in Vancouver for a few months, so here are some of my observations from my first stint in the city :). The Skytrain is much more frequent than the C-Train and generally better (cleaner, has station gates, cheaper) No free fare zone downtown like in Calgary though :( Also, no fare capping like in other big transit systems 12% sales tax feels criminal as an Albertan, but at least most of what I'm buying is food (which is exempt from PST) The fact that you need to separate recycling into 3 containers... one of which is a yellow bag silly bag Restaurant prices are much better in Vancouver, which was surprising considering the housing prices. The restaurant variety is also amazing! House of Dosas is my GOAT UBC is pretty separate from the rest of the city, but it does have more things to explore than UCalgary (including a nudist beach) Nudists not pictured Many places have a... variety of interesting smells (some more unpleasant than others) Everyone is hiking all th...
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IKEA Yearly Midsummer Buffet 2024 Review

Every year around June, IKEA hosts a Midsummer Buffet full of fish, meatballs, salad, and more. You have to be an IKEA Family member (which is free) and buy a $25 ticket in person on a previous day. I attended the Calgary buffet, and here is my full review!
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5 Things to do Before the UCalgary Semester Starts

I know, I know... summer is almost over already and it feels like it's barely started. Regardless, it's only a bit more than a week before classes start again (less if you're doing Block Week, which I tried last year ), so here are some reminders before the school year begins. Set up your calendar For UCalgary students, download your class times through the D2L portal and  import your them to your preferred service (mine is Outlook) : Personally, I like to colour code and label lectures/tutorials/labs separately on my calendar like so: Of course, many people also just take a screenshot of their timetable and set it as a wallpaper or save it somewhere easy to access; that can work too :). Put in your Course Overload Request(s) This is a pretty urgent and important one: make sure you check your degree requirements. If you're still waitlisted or not enrolled for a course that you need  to take this year, then you should submit a course overload request ASAP. At UCalgary fo...
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My Study Abroad "Girl Math(s)"

For the unitiated, "Girl Math" is when you justify spending money as saving money by jumping through a few mental hoops - such as by spending an extra $15 on Amazon to get free shipping. So as a lighthearted and slightly helpful financial overview of my exchange experience from UCalgary to Oxford Brookes University, here are some Girl Math examples I thought about during my study abroad experience. If you exchange to a university with tuition more expensive than your home university, you're getting a great deal Living in student accommodation is $30/night versus a minimum $100/night hotel, and you get a free transit pass, so it's a super discounted vacation! Visiting a free museum in the UK is worth $30 equivalent in Canada. So visit many! Every $400 trip to another country basically saves $1000+ in flights that you'd have to pay to take that trip from Canada If you get a study abroad scholarship, that's free money that you wouldn't get otherwise  Eating l...
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