Grace O'Keefe

Is it easy to travel in Canada?

Yes it’s easy to travel as there are different modes of transport to choose from, a lot of my friends drove (even though they’re long trips). Flying is much easier but you have to book tickets in advance otherwise it is a bit more expensive.

How was the weather?

I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be, during the summer it was beautiful (tad humid). But as winter has progressed it mainly rains during the night and of course its cold (But it’s winter) and when its sunny its great weather.

Most useful item you packed?  My power adaptor.

Is the course load very different than home?

It’s definitely different from Australian universities, as you attend multiple classes a week and I found that depending on the subjects you take you have a lot of assessment throughout the term. However when it comes to end of semester finals they aren’t worth 60% but rather 30%, so it doesn’t take the pressure off.

How did you adjust to life at Dal?

My housemates and international friends and international centre that i met along the way, helped me immensely to adjust to life at Dalhousie/Halifax. This being my first time away from home, I expected to have a  bit more of a shock but I didn’t find myself as homesick or freaked out as I expected to be and it’s definitely due to community I found myself in.

Favorite part of going to Dalhousie?

Even though I found that the course load are a lot heavier than my courses at home I must say that the professors and classes that I attended here are fantastic, they weren’t big classes and they had great discussion and I was studying something I don’t usually study at home.

The things you MUST see or do?

Definitely see a hockey game, travel around Nova Scotia in general (Cape Breton), Cape Split, Kayaking, go to the oval in the North end, Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg, definitely go see some theatre even if its amateur theatre put on by either the Dalhousie Theatre Society or Kings Theatrical Society. Visit Point Pleasant Park, the public gardens, take the ferry to Dartmouth, go up to the Citadel

My favorite thing about Halifax?

It had to be the theatre that I got to experience and the theatre community that I became a part of even just for the short time I was here. I got to go to a play once a week and it was very cheap but fantastic performances!