8 posts tagged “school”
Hey, guess who's taking a break from homework to finally update this - wait, what do they call it again? oh yeah - blog? That would be me. Sorry about the extended absence; my free time tends to get sucked up by chores or trying to get as far away from my computer as I possibly can. (Preferably somewhere outside and oceany.)
Anyway, here's a quick rundown and some of what you missed in the past three months (or at least what I can come up with right now):
- My week-long break from school at the beginning of July was nice, if way too rainy. I didn't do much of note (that was the idea), although Shane and I went in for a couple's pedicure at one of the fancy spas on West Fourth (the yuppie part of town). That was a riot, since it's very much not the norm for either of us.
- When my second term of school started, I made a point of sitting in a new seat. That change has been really good, as it's allowed me to get to know more students and feel less isolated. The program has finally been getting into the web design/development in the past couple of weeks, and I have definitely been enjoying that. (Even JavaScript! Who knew?)
- After spending the first half of the term in the (required) video class for my program, I realized two things. One, I was not going to learn ANYTHING new. Two, I was going to waste WAY too much time on projects for that class. I went out on a limb and asked the program head if I could drop the course, and it turns out I could! Now I am just waiting for my St. Thomas credits to transfer, which hopefully will go through fine.
- For my birthday, Shane and I went out to eat at a new Thai restaurant here called Maenum. Both the food and drinks were amazing, and I can't wait to go back and try more of the delicious curries and cocktails. (Mmm, coconut-flavoured anything.)
- At the end of July, my mom and brother came out here to visit for a long weekend. Shane and I had fun being hosts for the weekend (we don't get to play that role enough!), and we made a point to get out and be active. We biked and hiked around town (the weather was perfect), although probably not enough to burn off all the food we ate over those three days. My family also got to experience a rarity that weekend: a Vancouver thunderstorm! Even better, a Vancouver thunderstorm during the annual Celebration of Light fireworks show. Awesome.
- In related news, Shane and I came home from the final fireworks show of the summer to find six people trapped in our (small) apartment elevator. Our landlord was not around, so we helped keep everybody calm until the elevator repairman could arrive through all the post-fireworks traffic. We managed to crack the door open, pass in ice packs and playing cards, and set-up a fan to blow some air in (did I mention this was happened during a heat wave? it was HOT here). It took about 75 minutes for the guy to get here, but eventually everyone got out.
- My latest obsession is with the bagels from a local bakery here called Siegel's. They are not kidding about having "possibly the best bagels in the world." Seriously, you guys. We've been buying a dozen bagels a week, meaning I have pretty much been eating a bagel a day for the past two months. DELICIOUS.
- Shane bought a new laptop recently, and thus my 2005 desktop PC was finally put to rest. Or at least put into our basement storage until we can figure out a place to donate it.
- Last weekend, we went out to BC's equivalent of a state fair: the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). You may recall we went with Carrie to this event last year, when we saw the Superdogs show for the first time. (Okay, nobody but Carrie probably remembers that.) Well, we went back to the Superdogs show again this year, and it was even more hilarious. One of the performers this year was a tiny, tiny Yorkie named Pocket Rocket. Every time Pocket Rocket came out on stage (to compete in the obstacle course or just run around), the contrast between her and the other, bigger, built-for-agility dogs made me laugh until I cried. I cannot even tell you how much that sight tickled my funny bone. Good times.
- As some of you may have seen on Facebook, I went in for an appointment with a rheumatologist here last week. My pain has been getting worse lately, and I was hoping to come away with some new treatment ideas for my fibromyalgia. Instead, my new doctor wanted to run a series of diagnostic tests on me, to see if we can better pinpoint the problem. I will know the results of some of the tests by the end of month; it's weird to think that I may have been suffering from something else entirely all these years. (And no worries, so far nothing he's suggested is life-threatening or debilitating, if treated properly.)
That's about it. Now
back to my regular homeworking...and counting down the days until my
next week-long break (in October, when we will be joining Jon, Shannon,
Joe and Carrie in California for a long weekend, yay!).
Since I spent most of May not blogging, here's a random update to kick off June. (You're welcome.)
- I bought a bus pass/student ID holder at the dollar store last month to use in my commuting. It is awesomely: a) originally from Korea (and came with a subway map of Seoul), b) called a "Multi-Trance Pass" (pretty sure they meant transit), and c) has a picture of a cartoon dog wondering, "Are you happy?" on the front. (Answer: yes, but only because of this pass holder.)
- Shane accompanied his tennis partner, Etienne, up to the Lynn Headwaters in North Vancouver recently to get some fresh mountain spring water. They stopped by the side of the road and simply filled up some jugs from an aquifer there. It was easily the best water I've ever tasted. (Fuck you, Aquafina.)
- The herons have been back for awhile now, so we are well within the months of late-night heron brawling (which sounds not unlike a ten-car pile-up) and all-night chirping heron babies. Ah, nature.
- Two of my seven classes ended last week, so I can now enjoy five weeks of
no schooldrinking on Fridays. Woohoo! I plan to savor this time, as the term after this is supposedly downright hellish.
- The weather here has been ridiculously beautiful lately. The sun has been shining, the temps have been warm, the breeze has been cool and the bikinis have been plentiful.
- With all my recent school-inspired hoodie-love, Shane decided he wanted to give hoodie-dum a shot. In the past couple of weeks, he purchased three new stylin' hoodies, all of which look fabulous on him. (If you bother him enough, maybe he'll let me take a picture.)
- Our new favourite joint along Denman Street is the place that moved in to the old Cupcakes location: Qoola. They sell a fantastic frozen yogurt (among other goodies, including loose-leaf tea) and the majority of their trash is biodegradeable. Compost that, bitches.
- I was recently inspired by one of VeryScaryCarnival's posts to start assembling a "Things I Miss About the States" post. So for those of you worried we were so over the U.S. of A., look for that in the coming, uh, weeks? (Or at least sometime before August.)
- Shane is gearing up for a 5K PR on June 12th. He's been training to beat his old record while running a race out at UBC (on a Friday night, strangely). I have been training to steathily sneak myself some of the post-race veggie burgers.
- I just learned that Dollhouse has been renewed for another season! While this news was not met by the insane rejoicing of FNL's multi-season renewal, our household is pleased. (Especially since Without a Trace had its series finale last month and Grey's Anatomy is still sucking lots of ass.) (Thank god The Office is still funny.) (Oh, and the first person to mention 30 Rock will get a complimentary shot to the nuts.)
One of the highlights from last weekend for me was finding this backpack ON SALE in my favourite colour (blue). I love buying backpacks - I think they are to me the equivalent of what purses are to (some) others of the feminine persuasion. And this one's been working out perfectly so far.
Turns out I have to maintain a blog for one of my Term 1 classes at school, so you can now also find me at: BCITisha. I'll be updating this at least weekly (it's homework! ha!) until the term finishes in early July.
School officially started for me last week, but it was a nice, slow start. I had my aforementioned class - System Admin for Mac - that got me ready to go with my fresh-off-the-plane Macbook Pro (they actually had to do a last-minute rush order for us, since the first shipment crashed off the coast of Japan!). The lectures were computer/Mac 101 stuff (read: not too difficult), and the assignments were all done in class. We even got out early on the last day, which was awesome. If school was always like this (particularly the part about receiving a BRAND NEW ASS-KICKING LAPTOP on day one), I would never want a job. Ha!
Using public transit each day was quite slick as well. Travel does take about an hour total (as predicted), but I found it simple to switch from bus to Skytrain and back to bus again. It can be crowded during the rush-hour times, but nothing some music and/or Rachel Maddow/Radiolab podcasts can't help me overcome. I think I'll be able to handle it the 2-3 times a week I commute that way.
This week is the start of REAL classes and all that comes with it. I will definitely try to update the blog when I can - let you know how school is going, what my classmates are like, how Shane is coping with doing laundry for the first time in nine months - but I'm making no promises as to when. From here until next April, any blogging will be bonus. (Especially since I have a feeling once I'm done with class and homework, I'll want to get as far away from anything computer-related as I can.)
As the start of school approaches, I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to travel out to class each week. BCIT is located in Burnaby, the city just to the east of Vancouver. The total distance from our place to the campus is about 14k (approximately 8.7 miles), but like all distances in this area, it will take me a lot longer than you’d expect to travel that.
Since biking is out of the question, I have two main options. By car, I should be able to get there in 30 minutes, but that’s if traffic is good. In rush hour, I could be driving for up to an hour. The cost of commuting this way would include gas ($??) and parking ($3.50/day). Using public transit (a combination of bus and Skytrain) I should arrive there in 60 minutes, regardless of congestion (or lack thereof). The cost of commuting this way would depend on what type of pass I purchase, as I can either buy a monthly one ($73 for a two-zone with my student ID) or a book of passes (10 two-zone tickets for $28.50).
Price-wise, the two transportation modes are similar. I would spend $203 for the first term on public transit (48 days of travel) versus $168+gas if I drove. However, I received my actual schedule on Monday, and it turns out I have late-night classes twice a week. This would mean leaving the school at 9:30 a couple of nights, and thus arriving home no earlier than 10:30. Not exactly my cup of tea, especially since I could have an easy drive home that late.
Which is all to say: I think I am going to try a combination for the first term. I’ll take transit the three days my classes overlap with rush hour (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays) and drive the days I'm at school in the evening (Mondays, Thursdays). That will force me to become more comfortable with both modes of transportation AND help me determine what I want to do for the rest of the year. (I’ve been told this is the easiest term of the four, so the time for experimenting is now!)
Provided I don’t need to be at school on days I don’t have class, it works out to be around $230+gas to do both. Kind of a crappy deal considering what it would cost to do all my commuting one way or the other, but I guess that’s the price I pay for wanting to mix it up.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with school. I love learning new things – particularly in areas of high interest for me – and the challenge of not just acquiring but applying that knowledge. I typically thrive in a classroom setting; the structure fits my personality well.
On the other hand, I do not enjoy having my “free time” activities dictated by someone else. Which is to say: I resent the hell out of homework. And I hate the way that I let school interfere with my life at home - the way I feel guilty about taking time away from my studies, no matter how justified. The work vs. play balance has always been an issue for me.
These conflicting emotions all came rushing back to me during my student orientation last night. As my soon-to-be instructor talked about what to expect in April (his description of the next year: “intensity, intensity, intensity”), I found myself feeling both excited and intimidated. I’m thrilled to have the chance to stretch my brain again, to really work my academic muscles once more. Yet I’m dreading the routine of lecture-homework-lecture-homework (his other description of the next 12 months: “be prepared to have no life”). It will certainly be an adjustment.
Don’t get me wrong, though. Overall, I am very much looking forward to this next chapter of my life. Starting April 14th, here is what my course schedule looks like: System Admin for Mac, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Scanning and Colour Correction, Communications for New Media, Graphics & Colour for the Web, Instructional & Informational Design, Overview of Web Technologies, and Adobe Acrobat.
And that first class? System Admin for Mac? Well, that’s primarily for getting us set-up on our brand-new 17” Macbook Pro laptops (part of what the tuition covers). Pretty sweet, eh?
We’ve now been in Vancouver long enough to have given birth to a child (wow), and this is the first month mark in which I actually feel like it’s been that long. Yep, nine months sounds about right. And last month for me was one of the best.
Since we decided to immigrate here, I have looked forward to being in Vancouver for the holidays. I don’t know why exactly, but the idea of seeing Christmas trees and Santa Clauses here always thrilled me; it’s the kind of thing that’s more about residents than tourists, the time of year that would make me feel like a local. So I was damn excited when the Christmas lights started going up in downtown balconies (and, amusingly, on some construction cranes) in November. And that was just the beginning.
If you’ve been reading the blog, you know that we had numerous opportunities to experience Christmas events in the city, from parades to tree lightings to extravagant light displays. I was practically tearing up at the beautiful Festival of Lights – it meant that much to me to be a part of the city's seasonal traditions. We also did a good chunk of our gift shopping here, first at an annual Canadian craft show at Canada Place, then in Pacific Centre Mall and along Robson Street. I absolutely loved it (particularly when we were able to find Vancouver- or Canada-centric gifts)!
In
addition to the fun, December brought more clarity to my future plans. I started the application process back in
November, and everything finally came together this week: I have been
officially offered acceptance at BCIT for a full-time program that begins in
April. I will be attending school for 52
weeks straight, working my way toward a Senior Management Certificate in the
field of design/web development. It will
be an intense (and expensive) year, but one I need to want to believe will be worthwhile.
My
hope is that, through this program, I will be able to further the technical
knowledge (primarily of Adobe products and the interaction of
graphics/video/Internet) that I accrued during my university years, making me
more marketable in the media/communications field. Plus, these are software programs I want to learn and will have practical
use outside of a job (i.e. for my photos and blog). So I’m definitely excited about it, although
I confess the idea of going to school again does intimidate me after five six
(holy fuck) years away!
So, nine months later, this place is starting to feel more and more like home. And with a new year and new plans ahead of us, I am increasingly optimistic that our life in Canada can only get better from here. (Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to knock on approximately 1,000 Stanley Park trees to make up for that sudden, uncharacteristic bout of Not Pessimism.)
