Kingston City Hall
Exchange Programme:
Gem - Explorer (One Semester)
My Programme of Study:
NTU, Electrical and Electronic Engineering (don't judge me. Girl Power.)
Semester and Year of Study:
Year 3 Semester 1 (Late August - Early December) or also known as the Fall Semester (Early September - Late December) in Canada. Does not clash with NTU's semesters.
Travel Insurance:
Chartis. You also need to pay an additional $250 CAD to buy insurance from Queen's during your stay in school. I went to the office to see if I could not sign up for the insurance cos I'm insured over Chartis, but it was absolutely impossible because you needed to be insured under alternative Ontario insurance policies. I know, it sucks. I'm under the impression that all Ontario universities (Mcmaster, Western Ontario, UofT, Waterloo, etc) have the same practice so you should check it out.
University:
Queen's University
Location of Exchange:
Kingston, a small city in the province of Ontario in Southeastern part of Canada. (No one goes 'Southeastern' in Canada, I just wanted to give you a rough idea of where it is without having to google map it.)
Weather and Climate:
Summer, really warm summer (Almost as high temperatures as that in Singapore but its dry). Almost non-existent Fall, (Red leaves lasted like 4 days?) and crazy cold winters (-12 to -17 in the day in Mid November - December). Extremely chilly winds because its located right beside Lake Ontario.
What I packed:
Everything from light summer clothes, to winter wear. You can even bring your swimsuit, Queen's has an amazing sports centre that has a temperature controlled pool. In the summer, many Queen's students jump off the jetty into the Lake Ontario for a cooling afternoon dip. Oh yes. Winter boots are extremely important in the winter.
Where I stayed:
I lived 'on' Campus. The Hall I lived in was Jean Royce Hall on West Campus and its located 4-5 bus stops from the main campus. Its annoying to commute to and from school because buses only come at specific timings, (30 min intervals on weekdays and hourly buses on weekends). One thing I felt was very unthoughtful, is that Exchange students are either placed in Harkness hall or West Campus. I got west campus and not only was it far from school, there was no internet. Not being on main campus meant not having free wireless. x.x I don't know. It was bad. I envied my other friends who stayed in a big house together ($600 CAD per person). It cost me $800 CAD a month which was exorbitant considering it was far from campus and there was no internet.
People I went with:
I didn't know the people I went with. The first time I met them was when we met an agent to buy insurance. I didn't get close to them till the school term began. There was a total of 11 people, one from Chemistry, one Psychology, one Engineering (that's me), then the rest were business students. I didn't actually go with anyone, I just made friends there.
Where did I travel to?
Toronto, Niagara, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, New York City, Washington DC
That's all I can think of for now, I'll add points whenever they come to my mind. Feel free to ask questions in the comments box below and I'll try my best to answer them :)
