Capilano University Students Blogging Abroad

  In just a few months, I can proudly call England my home, I can say I studied abroad, I lived on my own for the very first time, I have made lifelong friendships, I have travelled to 8 countries and in the end I will be rewarded with 12 credits toward my bachelor’s degree marking the end of my 3 rd year in university. I’d say life is good!       For all of you debating whether studying abroad is for you, the answer is yes! I had so many doubts in the beginning and I even hated myself for even thinking of the idea and putting myself through this. But the minute I landed in London, I knew I made the right choice.       Studying abroad has been the most rewarding experience of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it baffles me why every single person doesn’t apply to study abroad sometime during their degree. You get to travel the world and at the same time not having to put a hold on your sc

All my life, I have lived in the greater Vancouver area. There’s a skytrain station five minutes from my house, equipped with a 24 hour corner store and pizza place open until 2 in the morning. Costco is conveniently located a minute away, and if I need anything else I just get into my car and drive.   Vlissingen feels like Vancouver’s polar opposite. Almost everything closes at 6pm, and on Sunday’s almost nothing opens at all. Public transportation in Vlissingen isn’t really a thing, either. There are a few buses that will take you out of the city to a nearby town, or the train station that can take you pretty much anywhere in the Netherlands. However, if you want to get to school by transit, you’re out of luck. I started with walking to school the first week as I was getting settled, and soon realized it was necessary to get a bike.        In Vlissingen you see double the amount of bikes as you do cars. Everyone rides his or her bike everywhere and anywhere. At home th

I’m going to start out by saying leaving my friends, family and boyfriend for 6 months was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. There were plenty of tears at the airport and unfortunately, those tears followed me to Vienna. I’ll be honest; this experience is tough at the beginning. You are leaving something so comfortable to experience something so foreign and in the first few days it’s easy to think “was this the right choice?” But after being here for a month, I can now confidently say that it was.   Over the few weeks that I have been here, I have had the opportunity to be able to learn so much about another culture. Living here, you really get hands on look at the European lifestyle and what it entails. I mean, it’s one thing to visit, but to completely immerse yourself and live amongst it gives you a whole new outlook. I’ve been able to combine being a tourist with being a resident and because of that I have already seen so much.     So far I have walked ar

As a design and illustration student, I’ve become enamoured with finding out the differences and similarities between Japan and Canada in terms of advertising, packaging, illustration and graphic design. Packaging must be the number one difference. I started to notice certain things like just how MUCH packaging there is. Japanese culture has deep ties to cleanliness and purifying, and you’ll almost always see a package of sweets or crackers with individually wrapped food inside the bigger package. A lot of emphasis is placed on presentation, and giving someone a neatly wrapped cookie on their desk is much more presentable than crumbs and having it touch the (possibly dirty) surface.       Why is presentation and packaging so important here? It elevates the act of whatever you’re consuming. Eating a cookie wrapped individually in a beautifully designed packaged is an entirely different experience than one on a plain napkin. You can find single, incredibly expensive ma

Living in a foreign country has made me aware of many of my strengths and weaknesses.   I find that I am quite independent and resourceful; I am able to easily find my way around and I am not afraid to ask for help when it is needed.   I am also not afraid to adventure around a city on my own.   With that being said, there are still quite a few weaknesses for me to work on.   First, I am quite apprehensive to use a foreign language as I am scared to make a fool out of myself if I mispronounce a word.   I am also quite quiet and am not the most outgoing individual.   This can sometimes hold me back in social situations.   During the remainder of the semester I hope to improve my German language skills and to be more open to trying new things and to meeting new people! Alanna Wylde is a Bachelor of Business Administration student at Capilano University. Alanna studied abroad at FH Wien University of Applied Sciences in Vienna, Austria.

It’s hard to believe that 3 months has already past, and I’m at the end of the semester so soon. In January it seemed like I would be here for so long, but already it’s bright into the evening and I only have one more class to finish. I think I finally realized that I was acclimatized to life in France when I spent a sunny Sunday laying on the grass under the Eiffel tower. There were locals all around us, enjoying their wine, baguettes, and cheese on a beautiful Parisian day; and I was doing the same. The bustling city intimidated me at first: the maze of the metro system, the abrupt French people with no time to help a foreigner.   When I first arrived in France, I seriously wondered what I had signed myself up for. It had seemed like a good idea at home, but once I was here I wasn’t sure anymore. Before long I settled into a routine, and one day as I sat under the Eiffel tower, I realized that I wasn’t forcing it anymore, I had just fallen into place. My big learning cu

Boy has it been a blast living in the UK! From the moment I stepped off the plane, I knew I had made the right decision and could hardly wait to immerse myself in this new culture.   Lesson 1: Look both ways before you cross the street. Even after being here a while, my friends and I still get nervous crossing the street. The streets are filled with busses and cars whipping around the roundabouts, and only coming to a stop right at the lights. This feeling is enough to keep you on your toes and was just one of the many things I have gotten used to.         Hatfield reminds me a lot of Vancouver. The weather is similar, it is very green throughout the county, and the people are friendly and diverse. I almost wish it were a bit more different, more challenges getting around, speaking with locals, but I know I will experience this when I go travel and I will probably realize how nice it was to be in England.       When I arrived I was worried about how I