My first week in Halifax has come to an end as I have now officially moved into my halls of residence at Dalhousie. It's been a long week that has involved a lot of walking but I'm very glad I had the opportunity to explore the city with some moral support from Hannah before being left to fend for myself. I'm now able to navigate the main areas of the city without a map so I don't have to wander aimlessly down various streets looking like a lost puppy.
So far my main impression of Canada is that it lives up to it's stereotype of bring polite. I am yet to meet a rude Canadian in fact many will go above and beyond to help you out. Brits are also meant to be polite but ours is just reflex, we say sorry before we've even realised where as here it seems so much more genuine.
Halifax itself seems to, so far, be a really lovely city, particularly the boardwalk along which I was able to experience my very first snowcone! It was also the best place to get some obligatory Canadian tat. While it's definitely not the most exciting city in the world, it's a city that I think will suit me well. It's not massively overwhelming in terms of it's size which I'm thankful for having spent the past 3 years in Bangor which let's be honest is more of a town than a city.
One negative we did come across this week? Phone plans. They make no sense! It just seemed alien to us that we would have to pay to receive calls and also that emergency calls are standard but instead must be included in your contract. The one thing that truly boggled my mind is what was classified as long distance here which is basically any calls made to phones outside of Halifax, not even Nova Scotia! I don't think my mind can honestly comprehend the size of this country.
Overall it's been a fun week but I'll be glad once I've started lectures and have some sort of routine. However, before that happens there's Orientation Week. Hopefully I'll meet lots of cool people and will start to feel at home a little more.
