Japanese Garden, Wreck Beach, Aquarium, Homecoming!

 

Hi everyone!!!!

 

Boy, a lot can happen in one week! First, let's talk about vegemite. I have two little jars of vegemite that I brought over with me so I've been taking them down to breakfast with me most days, and having vegemite toast! It tastes so good, and reminds me of home :) A few of the girls on my floor have tried it and everyone hates it! I knew they wouldn't like it though. One of the Canadian girls on my floor actually said that it tasted like salty poo. Thanks girls, it's what I eat for breakfast every morning!!

 

 

Last week we had a floor dinner, with a floor from another house. We all caught the bus and went to BC Sushi. It was really nice but there was so much food!

 

 

A few of us went to the Nitobe Japanese Memorial Garden that's on campus and is actually really close to my residence. It was really pretty and peaceful.

 



The other night about 8 of us went down to Wreck Beach. We saw this sign along the way and had to get a photo.

 

 

Wreck Beach actually really close to my residence, and it's a nudist beach. We went down to see the sunset, so there wasn't any nudists at that time, phew. The beach at sunset was so pretty.

 

There was like a million stairs coming back up from Wreck Beach. It was insane! You don't realise how many there really is when you're coming down them. It made me feel so unfit. I was huffing and puffing once I reached the top. According to Wikipedia there's almost 500 stairs on that trail to Wreck Beach!!

 

On Thursday I went with an exchange friend from Melbourne to the Vancouver Aquarium! We caught the bus from UBC to downtown, then caught another bus to Stanley Park. The aquarium was so much fun, and we saw so many animals!

 

 

The aquarium also had an Amazon section with other animals like birds, butterflies, and monkeys!

 

 

We saw penguins, sea lions, and otters.

 

But my favourite had to be the beluga whales. They were amazing, and so cute! We got to see the beluga whale show where they did tricks :)

 

 

 



 



 I'd also like you to meet the newest addition to my family, Betty the Beluga Whale :)

 

 

After the aquarium we caught the bus back downtown then had lunch at an Italian restaurant. I had lasagna and it was so good having a real meal again. Is it a bad sign that I'm already starting to get a bit sick of cafeteria food? That night my house had a movie night and we watched 'Toy Story 3' which I love :)

 

On Friday afternoon a couple of us went down to Wreck Beach again for a supposed free BBQ for international students. There wasn't any, it was more like a big picnic, but there was no food there once we got there. This time, because it was earlier, the beach was packed with people, including quite a few nudists! We left after a little while, and had to do the 500 stairs again. The second time round wasn't as bad!

 

On Saturday we walked to Thunderbird Stadium for the homecoming football game, UBC Thunderbirds vs. Saskatchewan Huskies. We went early and got a free hot dog, and free pancakes. We also got our faces painted for free! It's a thunderbird on my face, in case you were wondering.

 

 

I've never been to an American football game before, so this was my first one! They played at Thunderbird Stadium. I found out the other day that this is where the movie 'She's the Man' was filmed. I got so incredibly excited because that is my favourite movie of all time!!!

 

 

The game lasted for about 3 hours, and there was so many players. Look at this photo of all of them holding hands. Aww, how cute :)

 

I didn't really understand the game that well. One of my Canadian friends was trying to help us understand what was going on. We got the gist of it, and yelled, screamed, and chanted with everyone else. Let's go T-Birds, let's go!!! Here's some photos from the game:

 

 



 

UBC Thunderbirds ending up losing to the Saskatchewan Huskies 39 - 34. Boo :(

 

Yesterday I spent basically the whole day studying! I'm finding the workload here much more intense than at Sydney uni. There are a lot more readings to do here, so studying is taking up a lot of my time and it's quite stressful. It's difficult to try and fit in everything else I want to do.

 

This weekend we have Vanier Olympics. I live in Place Vanier on campus, and all the houses are versing each other in a mini olympics. We have house shirts and everything, so that should be fun :) That afternoon there's another football game on. My friend from Spain recently made the cheerleading squad and I think her first time cheering will be that game, so of course I have to go and cheer her on! :) That night my residence is having a dance called Graffiti Night. Everyone wears a plain white shirt and during the dance you have a marker and write stuff on everyone else's shirts. In other news, a bunch of us from my floor have created a team for Day of the Longboat! It's a UBC tradition that happens every year, and teams get in canoes and compete against each other. This Sunday we have a one hour clinic for it where I think they teach us how to row and go through all the safety precautions. The actual competition isn't until next weekend, so I'll let you know how we go!

 

I miss all of you so much!

 

Love,

Emily