My last week at UBC

Hi everyone!

 

Yes, I am still alive. I'm back in Sydney, Australia now so I guess it's time to get back into the business of blogging and let you know the ending instead of leaving you hanging!

 

Before I start, I want to officially announce on my blog that Kurtis is my boyfriend. I've talked about him in a few of my past blogs. I didn't plan on this happening while I was on exchange but it did! We're incredibly happy together and are now in a long distance relationship :)

 

The day after I got back from the Yukon, Kurtis and I went out to dinner then went to the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens to see the Festival of Lights. The whole garden was covered in Christmas fairy lights. It was absolutely gorgeous. I loved it. I want my future backyard to look like this!

 

 

We walked around the garden while listening to Christmas songs. It was so much fun :)

 

I had my Social Interaction exam a couple of days after, which I found really hard.

 

On the 13th, we got to celebrate Clara's birthday!! Abby, Marie and I decorated her door while she was out, and I ordered her a cookie cake. She loved it all :)

 

A few of us girls were chilling in the floor lounge for awhile. I had to say goodbye to Joanne! It was my first goodbye and I was crying so much. She signed my flag and we exchanged letters. I wrote a letter to every girl on my floor.

 



I gave Abby, Clara and Marie each a necklace, and I got one for myself too. It's a silver necklace with a tiny little bow pendant. Like 'forget me knot' :)

  

 

The next day I had to say goodbye to Marie which was really sad and involved more tears from me! In the afternoon I went downtown with Clara to go shopping. I bought Kurtis his Christmas presents. Yes, that's right, presents! I got him six, haha!

 

That night my floormates threw me a party. My RA, Lotem, organised it. We had lemonade, hot chocolate, sushi, snacks, and ice cream cake that she made herself. About 13 of us snuggled in the lounge with our blankets and pillows and we watched the first Harry Potter movie. Naiomi had made us cake pops which were so amazing!

 

I gave some of the girls their letters and a lot of them signed my giant Canadian flag. They gave me a present. There was a card that they all signed, and they got me a new travel journal and an infinity necklace. It's so pretty. I was crying so much and we had a big group hug. We all watched Mean Girls together then I skyped the family for an hour, and went to bed at 2am!

 



 

The next morning Kendra and Rebekah shows me that it was snowing at UBC! It snowed all morning and looked so pretty. It didn't stick on the ground though. It was an awesome distraction from studying.

 

That day I just couldn't concentrate on studying. I only had 4 days left at UBC! I had to say goodbye to a few more girls and I hung out with my friends. I took down my post-it wall and photos, gave out more letters and got more messages on my flag. I also wrote a message to my SL 4th girls on a big piece of cardboard and stuck it on my door for them all to read. 

 

I went out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner with my Aussie exchange friends, Rikki and Sally. We then went downtown to Stanley Park to see the Christmas train. The little park around the train was full of fairy lights. It was pretty, but I liked the Botanical Gardens better.

 

We walked around, got a photo with Santa, had churros and hot chocolate, then went on the train which was really cute. Once we got back to UBC, I said my goodbyes to Rikki and Sally and gave them their letters. I moved my mattress into Clara's room and we had a sleepover! We put Aussie flag tattoos on all over our bodies. It was so much fun.

 

The next night Kurtis and I exchanged Christmas presents. He gave me a really beautiful silver heart necklace. I wore it for awhile but when we were taking it off the chain broke

:( Now that I'm home I've taken it to a jewellers and it is currently being fixed!

 



To avoid having way too much luggage for Contiki I sent a second and third box full of stuff home!

 

On my third last night at UBC, I went out to dinner with Kurtis and I got to meet his Mum. I was so nervous, but she's so lovely. We had a great time :)

 

On my second last day I went on an adventure all over campus with Clara. We went to Starbucks, then to the library so she could print things, then to so many places to find out how I could transfer the leftover money on my UBC card so I could spend it on something practical, rather than food, or just waste it! Clara is so stubborn, and she talked to lots of people and made phone calls pretending to be me, and she got it all sorted out for me! We went to the bookstore and I bought UBC hoodies for Abby, Clara and Kurtis. Clara and Kurtis are now twins, because they got the same one.

 

I went out to dinner to Mahoney & Sons irish pub on campus with Clara and Kurtis which was really good. When we got back, Clara and I exchanged letters. Hers made me cry, then she beat me up. Such a loving friendship we have haha! Clara and Kurtis then helped me pack. On Contiki tours, your luggage has to be under 20kg at the start. My bag was a bit over so I was stressing majorly. Lucky they were there to help me. They're amazing friends and I'm so happy to have them in my life :) I ended up leaving some things with Kurtis to lighten the load.

 

On my very last day at UBC, I woke up to snow everywhere on campus! It was absolutely gorgeous and I was so excited. This was exactly what I wanted to experience while on exchange; snow where I lived! Abby and I exchanged letters in the morning. Hers was so nice.

 



 

I went out and played in the snow with my floormates who were still around on campus. It was so much fun!! Rebekah wrote my name in the snow, and Kelsey made the base of a snowman!

 

 

I got more messages on my flag, and I said goodbye to Lotem. We found out exams had been cancelled because of the crazy weather and were being rescheduled for January. I was meant to have my Crime and Society final exam. I was freaking out because I didn't know what that would mean for me as I wouldn't be there! I was sending frantic emails to my professor, my UBC exchange advisor, and my USYD exchange advisor. One of my exchange friends from that class texted me and told me that our professor was still holding the exam for those of us that were on campus. I hadn't studied all morning and I was freaking out! In a mad rush I got ready and I practically jogged to my exam in the snow! I didn't think my exam went that well, as I stressed and not prepared. But, when I got my UBC final results back, I got a distinction for each subject! I did so much better while on exchange than I ever have at USYD!

 

 Because of the weather, public transport in Vancouver was experiencing major delays, and a lot of flights were being delayed or cancelled. Clara had booked me a taxi so I could get to the airport. After my exam, I exchanged letters with Kurtis which was really sad but his letter was so lovely and made me cry so much. I said goodbye to my little dorm room and some of my floormates and then caught the taxi to the airport. Kurtis, Clara, and Abby came with me. We got there a bit too early so we got to hang out together one last time.

 



Saying goodbye to them all was so difficult, but I know I'll be seeing them again in the future.

 

Love,
Emily