Capilano University Students Blogging Abroad

This reverence for ceremony and the very zen idea of paying close observation to every movement or change is found in Japanese tea ceremony (called "sadou") or "way of tea". The simple act of making tea and drinking it has many micro rules placed on it down to the amount of times you turn the tea bowl after you drink from it (3 times turning the bowl in your left palm with your right hand, counter-clockwise). The attention to every detail by the preparer of the cup of tea is beautiful. A swirl of the bamboo whisk inside the bowl is carefully ended on an upward motion to catch any drips. It’s a slowing down of time, a rebellion against hastiness and absent-minded acting. In the end you get what you came in for: a cup of tea. But it has been transformed. I find myself trying to appreciate more detail these days. I’ve slowed myself down in some ways, to appreciate what I’m doing in the current moment and live a little more Japanese zen. I see women careful...

To anyone who is contemplating whether or not they should study abroad, my only response would be yes! Do it!   Study abroad has been one of the greatest experiences of my life; I have lived and studied in a foreign country, made friends from all over the world, and had the opportunity to travel around Europe.   If that isn’t considered a once in a lifetime experience, I don’t know what is!     Alanna Wylde is a Bachelor of Business Administration student at Capilano University. Alanna studied abroad at FH Wien in Vienna, Austria.

I truly love the freedom that I get from living on my own. Independence is something I was not truly aware of living back at home as I was constantly surrounded by friends and family. Knowing that if I want to get something done I have to go and do it myself. There is no one here checking in on me or watching my back, and this has helped me grow so much. My first month abroad was very laid back, getting my feet under me and getting into the rhythm of living into the UK. So I thought now that I had become situated that it was now time to go on some adventures and see a bit more of this country, and experience the culture of London a bit more. My highlights since my last blog post have got to be spending St. Paddy’s weekend in Dublin, watching a Premier league football match in London, and making it to the championship game with my football team. 6 months ago if you asked me if I would be playing for the best university team in England I would have said no way!   Co...

Before leaving for the Netherlands, I remember talking to mine and Stephanie’s study abroad ambassadors about how much fun they had at Kings Day the previous year. A month after we arrived in Vlissingen, a group of us agreed to stay together and head to Amsterdam for the big event. Formerly known as Queens Day, Kings Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands. It is held on April 27 and celebrates the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. In short, it is an all day party where everyone wears a lot of orange and drinks a lot of beer.   Amsterdam was packed with people on Kings Day, yet somehow we ran into over thirty friends from the HZ. There were street vendors everywhere and even a small carnival set up with rides for people of all ages. All across central Amsterdam there were stages set up with live music and dancing, and all streets were blocked for pedestrians to walk and dance anywhere and everywhere. We had a solid group of about eight people and we spent the entire ...

 Trying to put into words what I’ve experience in the past month since arriving to the UK is much harder than I thought. For starters, it seems like forever ago I was at YVR waiting nervously to board the plane. My bed that felt so unfamiliar now feels like heaven after a long day. People that I referred to as “that girl from…” or “that guy I met at…” are now people I refer to as “my friends”. I am not going to lie; the first days were hard. The water tasted funny, people’s accents were a lot harder to understand than I thought, and it was colder than people said. At what point exactly, I don’t know, but suddenly, everything was better.     Abby Road My advice would be as simple as to take a deep breath. There were so many times that I felt overwhelmed, homesick, and exhausted. It didn’t feel like the experience everyone kept talking about. They said, “it’ll be the time of your life”. At times, it didn’t feel like it. Then, I realized that I don’t have to be doin...