Good morning everyone and Happy Galentine’s
Day! Yes, that’s right, I said Galentine, which is a day for celebrating with
your best girlfriends! I’m fortunate to have so many girlfriends, here in
Lennoxville, back in Ancaster and all around the world, and I am thankful for
everyone of them. What better way to celebrate than by having brunch with my
best girlfriends here at school and then going to the annual school Fashion
Show?!
So since you heard from me last, winter has
returned to Lennoxville. And by that I mean, Vicki and I chose not to go skiing
today because it was going to be a low of -33’C at the bottom of the mountain –
THE BOTTOM! Since we were not really in the mood for frostbite, we decided to
wait until it (hopefully) gets a little warmer. However cold weather will be
good for the mountain to help the snow stay and cover up the bare spots that
returned during the warm spell we had a few weeks ago.
The highlight to the end of January was
definitely my sister coming to visit me. She came to visit over Winterfest
Weekend and we had an absolute blast! She flew in on the Friday night, getting
here with enough time left in the evening for a sister movie night. We fell
asleep watching Pitch Perfect 2. Saturday, she had her first sleep-in of 2016, sleeping
right until our friends starting arriving for brunch. Brunch was a great way to
start of the day – we had quiche, croissants, mimosas, boozy fruit – DELICIOUS.
It got a little bit crazy though when we started getting into our ski suits,
courtesy of my granny. Correction, my housemates got into their ski suits with
bathing suits underneath for a quick photoshoot before going to campus. I
thought it might overwhelm Lauren a bit but she said to me, “this makes me so
excited for university.” So I guess it was the right amount of fun! Following the photoshoot, I put
on my pink ski oneside and we headed to campus for Rail Jam. Either it was not
as cold as previous years or my ski suit was very well insulated, because I was
the perfect temperature all afternoon. We ran into Gavin and Chuck there, which
was nice for Lauren to see some familiar Wenonah faces. We watched the
snowboard and ski competition, bought drinks at the ice bar, ate pizza, gave
Lauren a tour of a residence (NoPo) and danced in the heated DJ tent. It was so
much fun to have my sister in tow! Everyone kept asking her if she was going to
be at Bishop’s in the fall, to which she responded no. I told her to lie so
that I wouldn’t be shamed for not convincing her that there is no better choice
than Bishop’s. Regardless, it was a great day at Bishop’s University!
After the Rail Jam, Gavin, Lauren and I
went back home for a snack and a rest before the basketball game. Vicki and I
attended a sushi workshop the day before, so I saved my rolls to share with my
guests. They were delicious! We watched the rest of our movie, took a quick nap
and then went to watch the Gaiter’s basketball game. It was a great game to
attend because it was part of the NBA All-Star tour across Canada, so there was
a competition at halftime for tickets to the All-Star game in Toronto. NBA Hall
of Famer Dikembe Mutombo was in
attendance to help crown the contest winner, and the Brooklyn Nets dance team
performed between quarters. The stands were packed and though the Gaiters were
not victorious, it was a great basketball game.
Following the game, we
went to Vicki’s apartment before we took Lauren to the Gait. Much to Lauren’s
dismay, Lennoxville does not have much of a “club scene” so I took her to the
closest equivalent – the campus bar. It was packed with people to give Lauren
the full student bar experience. Upon arrival, we went straight to the bar so
Lauren could order her first legal drink (and treat her big sister). We then
spent the rest of the night dancing to the guest DJ before coming home to bed at
3:30 in the morning.
 |
| Lauren’s first bar purchase! |
It was a rough wake-up
at 6:30 on Sunday morning but I am happy to say that I got Lauren on her 7am
bus back to Montreal. She called me in a panic from the airport because she
could not find her driver’s license – she had dropped it at the Gait so I
rescued it from campus security. They tried to tell me I could not pick it up
for her because she had to come in person, but after proving that we were in
fact related, and saying she was on a plane back to Ontario, they gave in and
let me take it. Classic night at the bar. Luckily, Lauren had other ID so she was able to fly home and
make it to cheerleading. It was a short but sweet weekend, and really, if she
could only stay for a day, she chose the perfect winter day to come. Now I just
have to wait 3 years before I can take her to the States!
The following week
flew by way too fast. We had our Students’ Representatives Council elections,
this year electing only 3 executives, instead of the usual 4. It was also
Eco-Week on campus and there was the first Bishop’s Bazaar, featuring local
vendors who make their own products. I bought a mint honey from a local
beekeeper and it is too delicious for words! I eat it every morning on my
oatmeal and fruit. On Thursday, we had an informal class meeting at the Lion
and then the Golden Key Exec had a social at happy hour to get to know the new
officers. We have five returning officers from last semester and five new
additions. We had a good turnout and a lot of sangria – the perfect combination
for a great night. Myself and two other officers stayed until the end, which
was not the greatest decision since I had 8:30 class the next morning, but
after a pit stop on the way home for a McFlurry, I was good to go.
POST-BRUNCH CONTINUATION:
Last weekend was the
annual U4 Up for Debate Weekend, but this year was renamed the U4 Weekend
Conference, as a business school case competition and associated workshops were
added to the debate tournament and TEDx Talks. The theme for the weekend was
“Global Citizenship.” Each U4 school brought a debate team and a case
competition team. Additionally, there was the Quebec Model United Nations
conference on the Saturday, with all the Model United Nations classes from
universities around the province, making Lennoxville a popular place to be. We hosted
the Mount Allison debate team of 4 boys for the weekend and they were a lot of
fun. We got to go to the opening dinner on Friday with the other debate teams
and invited faculty and then went to a see a panel and guest speaker on social
justice and human rights. The panel featured a student refugee sponsor from
Rwanda, a professor studying international conflicts and peacekeeping relations
and the leader of the Sherbrooke Amnesty International chapter. The guest
speaker was Dennis Edney, the Canadian lawyer for Omar Khadr, a former
Guantanamo Bay prisoner. It was a very hard series of speakers to listen to.
On the Saturday
afternoon, I went to the TEDxBishopsU talk series. There were 6 speakers, 3 of
whom were from Bishop’s. Dr. Murray, the Dean of Arts and Science and faculty
advisor for Golden Key, talked about how studying religion is a gateway to
understanding the world; Heather Thompson, the campus Chaplain spoke about
her work as leader of the refugee student sponsorship group; and my friend and
SRC President Matthew Robinson, spoke about how university doesn’t just
prepare you for real life, it is real life. All were very interesting and
extremely well done. Following that, there was a 3-course dinner for the debate
teams, the case competition teams, the speakers and the billets, followed by a
debate by the university debate team coaches, and 3 rounds of Guess Who, where
panels of students and professors try to guess a mystery celebrity guess on a
Skype screen behind them by asking yes and no questions, a spin-off of the
former show Front Page Challenge. The celebrity guests were: former Habs player
Georges Laraque, a Canadian Red Cross leader and CBC radio host Michael
Enright. Following the event, we ended uo hosting the after party, and 27 WP
hosted its first and final frat boy party.
On Sunday, Vicki and I
went skiing at Jay Peak and it was an absolutely beautiful day. We got a bit of
a late start but stayed until the chair lifts stopped running. We stopped at
the grocery store on the way home to pick up only-available-in-the-US Ben and
Jerry’s cookie core ice cream. I was then confined to my study cave for the
rest of the night to finish an assignment, emerging for half an hour to watch
the Super Bowl halftime show.
Monday was an exciting
day because it was the 100-days old celebration for the baby panda cubs at the
Toronto Zoo, which by ancient tradition, marks the day they are named. The
Toronto Zoo is having an online vote regarding their names – if you haven’t
voted yet, here is the link: http://www.torontozoo.com/GiantPandaCubs/.
I voted for the last option, Toronto Treasure and Canadian Treasure, I think. I
can’t wait to see the results!
Tuesday, I had a
meeting with my old boss Chantal to discuss the blog channel. Honestly, I have
not had a lot of time to work on since it became a volunteer position, so I
thought that in the meeting we were going to discuss shutting it down. HOWEVER,
there is currently a social media campaign about to start and the team behind
it wants the blog channel to be a component of the campaign, sooooo, the blog
channel is going to be kept alive and guess who was hired to run it? It’s not
much work but I am excited to be a part of the social media team again. I’ve
missed my job so I am excited to work with Chantal and the communications
department again. If you haven’t seen the latest post yet, written by special
guest writer Alan Zucker, aka my father, here is a link: http://blog.ubishops.ca/blog/bu-a-parents-perspective/
On Wednesday, I got to
go to Lennoxville Elementary one final time to work with my grade one student
there. He had just returned from a trip to Cuba so was excited to tell me all
about it. He got to lie on the beach, play in the sand and swim with dolphins! I
was incredibly jealous. We had a great time doing the activities I had prepared
and reading the book I had borrowed from my professor. It was sad to say goodbye
at the end (for me) but it was a great learning experience and I learned so
much from my little guy.
On Thursday, Vicki,
Sara, Gaby, Sarah and I went to a little place on Queen Street called “Espace
100 Noms” (Translated from French it means either Space without a name/Space of
100 names, a little play on words). I recently learned that the place runs a
vegan restaurant for dinner throughout the week and it is by donation. I had
seen an event page on Facebook advertising an Indian supper, so invited my
friends to come and we made a dinner date out of it. We had not known that you
needed to make a reservation in advance, so unfortunately when we arrived there
were no tables left so we ate our samosas at a table on the floor. However,
right before our main course came out, a table emptied and we were upgraded to
chairs to enjoy chana masala, naan bread and rice, followed by rice pudding and
banana ice cream for dessert. It was incredible! Great food, a really cool
atmosphere and friendly people. They are hosting a veggie burger night on
Tuesday, so I think we might go again.
Following dinner,
Gavin and I went to the mall to get him an outfit for Fashion Show. We were
successful, including finding a tie for $10 that was regularly $50. For a second
deal of the night, I got a free tea at David’s Tea. All in all, a successful
shopping trip. He then came back to my place and we searched AirBnB to find a
place to say in Boston and I think we have picked a winner. We are going to
spend Wednesday to Friday of our reading week in Boston, visiting my cousin who
is on exchange from Scotland at University of Massachusetts – Boston. We are so
excited!
Friday, following free
supper, Vicki and I had a girls’ night, drinking wine, baking and watching
Bridesmaids. She helped me make my Valentine’s gift for a certain someone, so I
cannot say what it yet in case he reads this! He’s going to love it (I hope). I
have to give credit to his roommate Chuck who inspired the idea behind the
present. We originally planned on going to see How to be Single, but it does
not come out in English in Quebec until next week. Movie date postponed. We then ate our ice cream
that we had purchased last weekend, finished our wine and laughed until we
cried. Bridesmaids never gets old.
So I’m now going to
brave the cold and try to go for a run in order to digest some of the food I
consumed at brunch. Fashion Show preparation begins at 5:00 sharp and I have to
stop eating my Valentine’s Day chocolate if I plan on fitting into my dress
later. (Thanks to my mom for the Walker’s Chocolate and candy corn – my two
favourites!). We’re sitting in the VIP section this year, right beside the
stage, 15 of us altogether. It’s going to be a blast! Then tomorrow, there’s a
surprise planned for me so I’ll report back on what it is. Stayed tuned for
photos of the 27 WP girls dressed up for one final Fashion Show!
Happy Valentine’s Day
everyone!
Love, Erica
P.S. Happy Birthday to
my step-mom Terri two days in advance and congratulations to my step-brother
Tyler who just got hired to follow in my footsteps and work as a lifeguard in
Walt Disney World this summer! I could not be more proud!! (and jealous)!
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