January has been the longest month of my life, no joke. I started the month (and year) in Nottingham with my uni friends, and I am finishing it in Montreal halfway through week four of my second semester at McGill - it's amazing what can happen in such a short space of time. It hasn't been the best month , but I've still done some pretty great things.
As I said, I started January in Nottingham to see the New Year in with my friends from UoN. It was so lovely because the plan was thrown together literally the day before and I had fully expected to spend New Years alone at home. I got to see a friend I didn't think I was going to be seeing until May which was so nice, and I spent the night back where I belong with a lot of the people who made 2017 so great. Despite spending £20 to get into Ink (daylight robbery right there), we had a great night and I even ran into one of my best friends from school in there. It was so surreal to be back but it got me excited for third year!
The day after New Years was my dad's birthday and we went for a cute family lunch in a really nice pub. I have missed pub lunches since being away (such a Brit, I know) and it was such a lovely meal.
During my last few days at home I met up with old work friends, saw my family and relaxed after such a busy semester - the break was definitely needed.
I flew back to Montreal on January 8th and was reunited with the snow, cold weather and McGill, as well as my friends from last semester and 20+ new housemates. I have only been back for a few weeks but it feels like I never left, and it is good to be back.
My first week back was spent getting back into the swing of things and the intensity of McGill, getting to know my new housemates (they're great, if you were wondering), and adjusting back to the time difference. We went to the International Student Festival at the end of the first week and I had a great time. It was our first night out (of many) with our new pals and queueing for a club during a snowstorm in a bomber jacket is something I will never forget and a mistake I will never make again...
Another highlight of January was going to Igloofest, which is essentially an outdoor music festival in the middle of Winter. Only in Canada, eh? We saw Kaytranada, and although my toes basically froze off, we had a pretty sick time. Again, I feel like this is something that I will never get to experience again so I am super happy that I went. I'm so conscious of the fact that I am leaving Canada and North America in May and once I'm home I don't know if/when I'm coming back, so I am making the most of everything which is probably why I'm so tired right now...
A couple of weekends ago we had a such a lovely couple of days. On the Saturday we went up Mont Royal and built a snowman, potentially the most Canadian snow-related thing I have done so far. I hadn't done anything except complain about the snow up until this point, so it was nice to appreciate it a bit more.
The Sunday of that weekend we went to Ottawa with the intention of getting a Nandos and Denny's (praise Ontario), and ice skating on the Rideau Canal. The only thing we managed to do was get a Nandos but I would say that 1/3 is pretty successful. We skated on Parliament Hill and took a tour of the parliament buildings before going to get Beaver Tails and taking a picture with the Ottawa sign - spot the tourists. Jokes aside, it was such a lovely day and it was nice to see the capital of Canada, although it was probably the quietest city I have ever been to, definitely the quietest capital!
These are the main things that I did in January, but I have also been out to eat way too many times, been to see The Greatest Showman (SUCH A GOOD FILM), been on a few nights out and almost lived the American Dream and joined a sorority (but didn't). We had a fun weekend in Montreal this week which included Australia Day (I am surrounded by Aussies), karaoke and a night out for a friends' birthday. I have also experienced rain that lands on top of snow, freezes and becomes a sheet of ice (needless to say, I have slipped over a couple of times).
Despite it being a jam packed month and doing so many cool things, I will definitely be glad to see the back of January just because it has been so insanely long.
omg, it's 2018.
2017 went so incredibly quickly and was the best year of my life so far. I was going to do a reflection post on it but I've left it way too late now so I thought I would do a 2018 goals one instead.
The reason I have decided to do this is because a professor I have last semester said that if you wish things into existence and write them down, then you are more likely to make them happen. I want 2018 to be better than 2017 which is going to be such a hard task, so I am going to make some pretty ambitious goals and hopes for the year ahead. I only have five because I actually want to focus on them and make them happen.
1. To Travel
This was my number one aim of last year and is my number 1 aim of this year. In 2017 I visited Amsterdam, Cyrus, Geneva, France, Montreal, Coaticook, New York, Toronto, Quebec City, Mont Tremblant and so many new places in the UK, making it my most travelled year. I want to make 2018 full of more new places and new countries as I feel like it may be one of my last year to do so without restrictions in terms of work commitments, etc (real work, not uni). This year I want to visit Ottawa, Banff, maybe Vancouver, Chicago, Boston, Florida and some of the Islands off of the Southern US. I also want to visit more places in the UK and Europe.
2. To do well in University
In 2018 I will finish second year and start my final year, so my grades are very important. I am aiming to do a lot better in my second semester at McGill than I did in my first, and then smash it when I'm back in Notts.
3. To Get Fitter
Something I really want to do this year is to get fitter and eat healthier. I have eaten so much rubbish over Christmas so I definitely need to start eating better and I want to do more exercise as well. I bought a FitBit today (new year new me and all that), and I am determined to use that to help me get a bit healthier.
4. To be more Positive
I feel like this has been a running theme of the blog as I am such a negative person but I really want to change that. 2018 will be my year of positivity.
5. To Cook More
I am THE worst chef on the planet. All I eat at uni is pasta and it's actually a bit of a joke. I want to expand my cooking horizons this year and branch out a bit. Watch me keep eating pasta because it's cheap, lol.
I'm going to try and blog more as well, and keep you updated with how these goals are going as well as my usual monthly(ish) reflection posts and some other surprises.
Happy New Year!!!
As I said, I started January in Nottingham to see the New Year in with my friends from UoN. It was so lovely because the plan was thrown together literally the day before and I had fully expected to spend New Years alone at home. I got to see a friend I didn't think I was going to be seeing until May which was so nice, and I spent the night back where I belong with a lot of the people who made 2017 so great. Despite spending £20 to get into Ink (daylight robbery right there), we had a great night and I even ran into one of my best friends from school in there. It was so surreal to be back but it got me excited for third year! 
A couple of weekends ago we had a such a lovely couple of days. On the Saturday we went up Mont Royal and built a snowman, potentially the most Canadian snow-related thing I have done so far. I hadn't done anything except complain about the snow up until this point, so it was nice to appreciate it a bit more. 
The Sunday of that weekend we went to Ottawa with the intention of getting a Nandos and Denny's (praise Ontario), and ice skating on the Rideau Canal. The only thing we managed to do was get a Nandos but I would say that 1/3 is pretty successful. We skated on Parliament Hill and took a tour of the parliament buildings before going to get Beaver Tails and taking a picture with the Ottawa sign - spot the tourists. Jokes aside, it was such a lovely day and it was nice to see the capital of Canada, although it was probably the quietest city I have ever been to, definitely the quietest capital!