Waiting Game

December 15, 2019

Waiting Game

As per, I sat down to write this post and started looking through my camera roll to jog my memory of this past week. For some reason, though, I'm having a hard time recollecting what exactly it is I have spent my week doing without classes or exams. Of course, I've spent a lot of time studying and some time with friends, but, while this week has felt quite long, I can't seem to come up with a week's worth of activities. I guess maybe it's because I've spent a lot of the week not doing much at all, and another large part of it just waiting to go home.

It's been a weird week as I've watched friends here go back to their homes, and friends all over the place go back to Portsmouth, all while sitting and waiting for my two last exams to finally arrive. I don't think many people wish their exams would come sooner, but this twelve day break has been plenty long for me, especially because I know that every day spent here doing nothing is a day I could be spending back home with family and friends with whom I have limited, valuable time. It's not that I don't want to be here—I really do like it here and my life here is pretty much all I could want it to be—it's more that there's a lot I want to do while I'm back in Portsmouth and I have so little time that spending so many days relaxing and trying to pass the time has given me a little cabin fever. I had planned on trying to ski during this long break, but it's been warm here and the mountains don't have much snow. And, although I got a long break, not everyone has had the luxury of having seemingly endless time to study, and most of my friends have been occupied with their own finals. My need for social interaction is definitely not on the same priority level as them passing their classes and exams.

Now, I may have just complained for two paragraphs straight, but that doesn't mean that I really deserve, or want, any pity. I was able to treat some of this week as a vacation, and I got some good studying done as well. Monday was sunny and somewhat warm, so I walked around campus with the intention of getting lost, and did just that. Lost might not be the right word, but I let myself take random turns and avoided ending up somewhere I had been before. I found myself in an opulent neighborhood at the edge of campus. I walked through the streets for a while, looking at all the houses that, quite honestly, I did not find attractive. I stopped to take a few pictures and was caught off-guard by how green everything was, even in mid December. The leaves have long since fallen off the deciduous trees, but most of the trees here are conifers, and their green color hasn't faded a bit. That's nothing new for me, though; what I was surprised by was the vibrance of the grass and shrubs. Walking around in a hoodie, it definitely did not feel like winter was only a week or so away.

On Thursday I took the bus about as far away from UBC as you can get while still being in Vancouver to meet with a group that I am going to volunteer with next term, and to fill out forms for them to be able to do a background check. I first heard about the group, called Writers' Exchange, at a volunteering event held by UBC Science, and they work with kids in the city to help with their literacy skills through in- and after-school programs. All the people involved that I have met so far have been so kind and passionate about this, and I'm very excited to be a part of the group so soon.

Once I decided that I had let myself take enough of a break and began studying again, that became the main use of my time. I've spent a lot of time at my two favorite study spots: a coffee shop just 2 minutes from my dorm and a big, cathedral-esque room in one of the main libraries on campus. While studying is never the most fun activity, I definitely find that I'm most productive and mind it the least at those two places.

It seems that, despite not having done all that much this week, I've found plenty to write about in this blog post... It's been a while since I've written this much, probably not since Norway. Hope no one minded too much! Next time you'll hear from me it will be from the US, but until then, have a nice week and enjoy whatever Christmas spirit you can!