{"id":4798,"date":"2017-09-13T15:00:28","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/qut-exchange-students\/?p=4798"},"modified":"2017-09-06T15:43:24","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T05:43:24","slug":"ottawa-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joel, R. Bachelor of Mathematics<\/h2>\n

University of Ottawa (Semester 2, 2016)<\/h2>\n

My first night at the University of Ottawa in Canada\u2019s capital city was 30 degrees Celsius and muggy.\u00a0 Not at all the weather I expected, but perhaps that was simply thanks to my lack of research into my host city.\u00a0 My housemates were chatting in the lounge as I walked into my new home, a Chilean, Russian and a Belgian rounding out our multicultural apartment, and they made the next 4 months far more welcoming than that first hot night.<\/p>\n

Before arriving in Canada I took the opportunity to visit Europe, managing to visit Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna and Munich before finally heading to North America.\u00a0 I then spent another couple of weeks in Kelowna BC, Canada, a beautiful town which offers a huge amount of outdoor activities and natural beauty.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As the first weeks in Ottawa went by I took the opportunity to explore and meet my neighbours, generally fellow exchange students from places like Ireland, Sweden, England, China, the Netherlands and everywhere in between.\u00a0 Ottawa is a curious mix between city and town, not as big or busy as Toronto or Montreal, but with just as much history.\u00a0 Originally a frontier logging town, Ottawa prospered into the home of Canada\u2019s government.\u00a0 Separated from Quebec and one of its cities, Gatineau, by a large river, Ottawa is a city of beauty and variety as I came to discover during my time there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Eventually the university semester started and I began my first classes in a new country, an experience that ended up feeling very similar to those I had at home.\u00a0 Professors used technology to present lectures, answered class questions and gave assignments, just like they do at QUT.\u00a0 The only major difference was the rack of winter coats hanging at the back of the classroom by the time cold weather came through in about November.\u00a0 Snow followed soon after, transforming an already beautiful city into a winter wonderland (as corny as that sounds).<\/p>\n

My apartment, while not luxurious by any means, was cosy and sufficient enough to keep me alive through the cold weather.\u00a0 I was relieved to find the cost of living similar enough to Brisbane, with goods roughly the same or cheaper in Ottawa.\u00a0 My housemates and our neighbours grew accustomed to the idea of spending 15 minutes or more just layering up enough to brave the -25 degree weather to go get some shawarma or poutine from the local store.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Through all the pitfalls of a new country, like dealing with tipping, winter clothes and the rules of hockey, I was lucky to have a tight group of friends to go through the same experiences.\u00a0 We shared trips to Toronto, Montreal, Niagara Falls, even managing a week in Cuba, and meeting people like them has been the most important takeaway from my time overseas.\u00a0 My advice to future exchange students is to focus on that network of friends, push yourself to talk to anyone and everyone.\u00a0 Any city in the world has things to do, but it\u2019s the people in that city that sets it apart and makes exchange a truly worthwhile experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joel, R. Bachelor of Mathematics University of Ottawa (Semester 2, 2016) My first night at the University of Ottawa in Canada\u2019s capital city was 30 degrees Celsius and muggy.\u00a0 Not at all the weather I expected, but perhaps that was simply thanks to my lack of research into my host city.\u00a0 My housemates were chatting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1513,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1242,207,259,6155,212,213,450,226],"tags":[1242,207,11976,212,213,12042,15900,450,15965],"class_list":{"0":"post-4798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-accommodation","7":"category-adjusting-to-uni","8":"category-canada","9":"category-first-impression","10":"category-food","11":"category-friends","12":"category-student-life","13":"category-travel","14":"tag-accommodation","15":"tag-adjusting-to-uni","16":"tag-canada","17":"tag-food","18":"tag-friends","19":"tag-qut-student-exchange","20":"tag-qut-study-abroad","21":"tag-student-life","22":"tag-studying-in-canada"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOttawa Ontario - QUT Gone Global<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ottawa Ontario - QUT Gone Global\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joel, R. Bachelor of Mathematics University of Ottawa (Semester 2, 2016) My first night at the University of Ottawa in Canada\u2019s capital city was 30 degrees Celsius and muggy.\u00a0 Not at all the weather I expected, but perhaps that was simply thanks to my lack of research into my host city.\u00a0 My housemates were chatting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"QUT Gone Global\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-13T05:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/qut-exchange-students\/files\/2017\/09\/Pic-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Study Abroad and Exchange Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Study Abroad and Exchange Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Study Abroad and Exchange Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/#\/schema\/person\/1caadfafc64c36916a92beca156fffa7\"},\"headline\":\"Ottawa Ontario\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-13T05:00:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/\"},\"wordCount\":529,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/qut-exchange-students\/files\/2017\/09\/Pic-1-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Accommodation\",\"Adjusting to Uni\",\"Canada\",\"Food\",\"Friends\",\"QUT Student Exchange\",\"QUT Study Abroad\",\"Student Life\",\"Studying in Canada\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Accommodation\",\"Adjusting to Uni\",\"Canada\",\"First impressions\",\"Food\",\"Friends\",\"Student Life\",\"Travel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2017\/09\/13\/ottawa-ontario\/\",\"name\":\"Ottawa Ontario - 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