Tuesday 9: Settlement

(note: leaf up there may be an overstatement)

On this, the 30th of October, 2012, I arbitrarily declare myself Canadian. As "Jane is in Canada" is assumed in body and in spirit, it shall become a normal, and thus, un-blog-worthy state.

Farewell, mes amis! Thanks for reading :)

Tuesday 8: Lab

Our lab website is up: https://uwaterloo.ca/self-regulation-motivation-lab/

Yay research!! I'm suspicious, on occasion, of how I got such an interesting, important position.  The best explanation may be that I’m in an elaborate study or prank, like in that Eddie Murphy movie, “Trading Places.” 

(The fact that the people who hired me literally experiment on people by profession does lend some credibility to this theory)

Tuesday 7: Politics & Poutine

Me and the rest of our friends from the North have been enjoying following the debates.  In fact, living in Canada has piqued my interest in US politics much more than, say, living in the US those first 22 years.

My new Canadian identity also piqued (and quickly unpiqued) my interest in Poutine.

This little delicacy is rampant in Ontario (and amazingly not in the US)-- frequently serving not even as a side dish, but the main meal.  Francis and I got one with pulled pork mixed in. (balance out the nutrition)

Tuesday 6: Francois(!) & ToFurkey

Canadian weirdness of the week: 

Thanksgiving in October!

Vegetarian Canadian Thanksgiving Potluck hehe

It's ALSO Oktoberfest!!! (the biggest beer/polka/schnitzel festival outside of Germany is apparently in my little town of Waterloo-- don't know why but I like it)

Francis and our feathered friends

IN OTHER NEWS...
(1 of 2) A very odd occurrence at the bubble tea store. 

Kassandra, Alex, and I didn't know what we were getting into when we sat down, innocently, to play a familiar children's game.  Yet, by some ghost's whispers, perhaps, or the mythical (and fairly benign) GuessWho? curse, Kassandra actually guessed ours first AND we guessed hers dead last.

What?!!!!! 1/576 chance of these independent events... I will never play GuessWho? again.

(2 of 2) Home Highlights

4th level finally achieved!

& 3 new housemates!

Tuesday 5: Nuit Blanche

Toronto is falling apart!!

...Also (unrelatedly of course), there was an all-night contemporary art festival called Nuit Blanche this Saturday. So it was my first experience of the city. woopee!  Here are some highlights:

Icing Art!

"Future of Architecture"

(reminiscent of a ted talk + cult recruitment)

Photocopy/dance room

"Krishna" Song w/ group heart rate and heat displays

FLASH

K that's all for now-- happy tuesday!

Tuesday 4: Dogs

Location: St. Jacob's Market

PS Here's my housemate!

(we have agreed to color-coordinate daily)

PPS  Good quote from G:

“You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
– Miriam Adeney

Tuesday 3: Jane 1.2

As many of you know, I'm a low maintenance kind of girl.  L.M. girls can primarily be characterized as not owning a hairbrush or functional technology (shout out to Ellers!!)--

Thus, it is with particular relish that I introduce...

Horatio the computer and Huawei the phone!

To be fair to my roots, I still don't have a hairbrush.

 Aaand my bed is more rock-like than ever... 

...and I may or may not have purchased a few lean cuisines. 

Hey I didn't say Jane 2.0

Tuesday 2: The Dream

Canada Redeems Itself

........At this point I got tired of documenting but it went on and on and on. (in and in and in our bellies)  No, it is not a dream!

But how can five people get so much from this world???

That's right. Canada has All-you-can-eat sushi. And it was psych-department treat!
I could not be more pleased.

(Though I did experience some unprecedented eating-back pains lol.. didn't know that was a thing)



Anyway the real dream I was referring to in the title was:
The Life Outside of Work

Yes, this is the luxury that consumed the months of May 2011 through August 2012 in my own being.

What did I do with my year off?  Maintained a smattering of dispersed social lives and threw myself at every hobby I'm remotely interested in.

So it turns out I will not be joining running, climbing, singing, beatboxing, cooking, painting, being-a-hippie-in-the-desert, and french-chatting clubs while being a grad student.

What I will be doing is texting 15-year olds and then realizing I have too much work to do 8/9 of these things.

To explain the first part-- in my endeavors to find a group of music enthusiasts, I began searching on Kijiji, the Canadian version of Craigslist.  Mind you, I've never used Craigslist either, and so I really can't be blamed for chatting about my musical interests with a guy for a few hours before finding out he and his band-mates have barely reached puberty.. (but, the bassist is probably 20, so "it's cool")

Anyway, as for the not being able to whim-frolick and hobby-prance part-- apparently grad school is not the same as teetering around my parents house.
shoot.

I should mention, though, to be fair-- I have at last been socially-oriented! And to my delight, lots of awesome people in the program.
Here are my fellow international students (plus Charles)

And the social psych crew

PLUS great responsibility... means......

Great power!!!

Bam. My office.

A lot of trade-offs in this world.
Week 2: Canada for the win.

Tuesday 1: Into the Exotic Territories!

On Friday, September 31st, my dad and I set out en route to the University of Waterloo, in Canada, where I will start a PhD program in social psychology.  I offer a 3-part reflection.

Part One: Frustration & Delight

After

scrambling to collect documents,

a frantic embassy rush

calling, e-mailing to no avail

trying to find a diplomat to personally vouch for me (haha),

asking neighbors for advice,

a last-minute money order,

overnight FedExing,

MANY forms and MUCH anxiety....

It turns out you bring a few documents, wait ten minutes at the border, and a jolly man says, "stapler me" and attaches your new 5-yr study permit to your passport.

Just cancel that other slow application.

In fact, I only actually had evidence of financial support for 2 years, 

but he threw in the extra 3-- what the heck!

I spent the rest of the ride very conflicted

and giddy...

and antsy for my mysterious new life...

while eating way too many peanuts because that's all that was in the car-- dad.

(Butterflies don't mix well with peanuts)

Part Two: French Cheerios & Bagged Milk

A new variation on an old theme

Part Three: A Comparison

First few memories, first-year undergrad--

First few memories, first-year grad--

Ok so maybe it isn't that bleak, but room/bank/appliance/grocery orientation certainly do come before social orientation this time (officially tomorrow!)  

What's worse, though, is that in that endless sea of organizing, there is not even the slightest distraction to grab onto: NO NETFLIX, HULU, PANDORA, or even any inferior equivalents in this country!! I don't even normally resort to watching shows, but there I was, finally in my time of need-- and no streaming-- nothing.  

Canada will have to make up for this. 

And so it is, in my search for joyous reprieve, I returned to the raw distraction of years past, my native love: tweezing.  My pores are irritated, to say the least. But, in the event that someone catches a glimpse of me through a magnifying mirror in a well-lit room tomorrow, boy, will they be impressed.

Wish me luck!