Spending my Australian summer semester in a Canadian winter was definitely an experience I will never forget. When you come home you realise that our winter is officially ‘not cold’. Living in the Queen’s student ghetto also meant that I was only ever a few streets away from any one of my friends & I was also super fortunate to get along really well with my housemates.
St Paddy’s Day is a crazy event / day at Queens. There are a lot of house parties & social events which occur throughout the day, along with a lot of street gathering. Its like a see of green. & nothing says its St Paddy’s day in Canada like keeping your beer keg cold in the snow combined with a house against house snowball fight in the backyard.
During winter Canada also presents you the opportunity to undertake a few tourist like past times which you would never really get to experience in Australia.
Like:
Going to see an ice hockey game. This I absolutely recommend, it was an awesome experience. It can be anything from your local game to an NHL game.
(Below picture: Toronto Maple Leaves vs Ottawa Senators)
Build a snowman. Probably the most fun I have ever had with frozen water. I was super proud of my accomplishment. His name is Sebastian 🙂
Go ice skating. In Kingston the local council flatten out sections of snow in the parks and in the town square to be used as ice skating rinks. So whether you borrow a friends or find a pair second hand, it is a must do winter activity that you shouldn’t miss.
Be open to new experiences, throw yourself into your surrounding culture & don’t forget to just have fun!!! 😉