Vancouver: Week 10

Wow! I can’t believe it is Week 10 already! The term is nearly over … which means this trip is nearly over!! I spent so long planning this trip that this feeling is just strange. There’s no way I’m ready to leave! I do have an awesome final few weeks planned, and then the two months of travelling afterwards, thank goodness!

AND it looks like I’ll have an internship in DC after all! A friend of my father is looking to begin a tuition program with underprivileged children in DC and Baltimore, and he has asked me to help out! Definitely my kind of thing! And another friend has offered me accommodation which is fantastic! Can’t wait!!

On Tuesday this week I handed in another paper – this time for POLI365: Asian International Relations. It was on Chinese-Indian relations following the Cold War. Quite interesting, but I just don’t feel like I’m getting a huge amount out of this class. Most of the discussion is so descriptive, and none of us have any background knowledge of the region (South Asia) so whilst we are learning a lot, it’s just not at a university level.

Wednesday’s Pit Night was quite fun, but with Amanda on crutches (kudos to her for joining us!) and the music as bad as it was, it just didn’t live up to previous visits. On Thurs I attended the IRSA (International Relations Students Association) careers evening, with representatives from the US State Department, Canadian DFAIT and the volunteer organisation YouLead. It was really worthwhile going and even though I can’t (through virtue of citizenship) work for any of these places, hearing their stories was great. There’s no ‘set’ route to a job in IR or development, so the more alternatives I hear about, the better.

The rest of the week was spent doing mostly domestic things: laundry, study, cooking etc. I met with my ZOOM photography group on Friday, although so far no real decisions have been made because we’re all too busy. Shame actually, because it had such promise. Now it just looks like I won’t get anything done before I leave.

Sunday night (being part of a long weekend – Remembrance Day) meant one thing: Lotus Long Weekend. Everyone I had spoken to about this had rave reviews, and so a group of us went to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say it’s the closest I’ve come in Van to a ‘real’ club. Three floors, three separate music tastes (electro/mash-up; techno; hard house/breaks). The music was loud, the booze expensive and all was peachy until Amanda had her phone and purse stolen and Julian got into a fight with a wigga! On the plus (!) side Amanda called a sex line from my cell accidentally! Certainly topped off an interesting night. We’ll see how interesting it is when I get my bill!