The eight-month exchange student life was really great! During this period I learned a lot, changed a lot.

In the beginning, we had a good time at York University. All the students who attended the orientation got together. Usually I am homesick when I am away from home, besides it was my first time being abroad, but at that time, I did not feel any comfortlessness. Everyone was so friendly and active, and everything was fresh to me. I strongly suggest that the orientation is really worth attending. You can meet many friends there, and more importantly, it helps a lot for you to adapt to the life in Canada.

After the orientation, my friends and I moved to the University of Waterloo. In Canada, bus is a widely used transportation tool, and it is cheap, convenient and comfortable. Usually, you can carry one small-size luggage with you, one big-size luggage for free, and the rest will be charged. Some friends and I applied accommodation at WCRI, a student community, and it took $400 to $500 per term. The rest of my friends rented houses from local people. I do not think it is easy to apply accommodation on campus, because school does not provide enough rooms to satisfy everyone. Actually, Canada is a very safe country, so it is not a problem whether to live on campus or other places. If you worry that you will not be used to Canadian food, then maybe you can cook your favorite food by yourself, because you can always access a kitchen, besides, there are many groceries and you can even buy some Chinese food. If you do not know anything about cooking, you do not need to be worried, neither. Because of the immigrants coming from different countries, you can eat authentic Chinese food, Korean food, and Thai food and so on in restaurants.

Students and teachers were very friendly, and they were willing to be your friends and helped you as possibly as they can. My major is computer science, and I chose courses like algorithm, distributed system and networks. Compared with courses in my home university, the University of Waterloo provides more courses covering wider fields. Teachers were very conscientious and they explained details with patience. Here I have a suggestion for choosing courses. You should try to choose courses that are famous in your faculty and choose those that you are interested in but know little about them. Because these courses always broaden your horizon and bring you challenges. Libraries in school provide you precious resources and good places to study. If you pay efforts, your skills will be improved a lot. I think foreign students are more active than us, and they are always full of endless energy. They keep a good balance between study and entertainment, which makes me feel jealous. Because I was so shy in the beginning that I did not take part in as many after-school activities as I can, hence, I do not have many foreign friends. Now, I regret a lot. Eight months are very short and time flies, so I should have overcome my shyness at an early time and maybe I could have had a more colorful memory.

The happiest thing is that I met some good friends and travelled to many places. Canada covers a very large area and has beautiful sceneries. Toronto is the biggest city in Canada and it is modern. I think it is good for shopping. Besides, you can see the landmark building, CN Tower, and the Ontario Lake. If you want to go to the capital, you must have a look at the Parliament Hill and different kinds of museums. During the winter holiday, my friends and I went to visit Montreal and Quebec. We spent our time in the new city of Montreal and the old city of Quebec, so we not only felt the sophisticated atmosphere but also got to know the long history of Canada. As is known to all, Canada has a very long and cold winter, so we decided to go to Cuba at the end of January. At that time, with temperature climbing, Cuba travelling comes into a dull season and the price of travelling package falls down to an affordable level. Cuba has amazing views and I like the pure sea best. The most important thing is that Cuba is a tropical country and you can get rid of the cold weather of Canada. We did not go back to China as soon as we finished our second term. We went to New York. I think it is easier and cheaper to get the U.S. visa in Canada. New York is a busy and prosperous city. As all we girls like shopping, Time Square and the Fifth Avenue are must-go spots for us. Besides, we went to the Central park, the Empire State, and the Metropolitan Museum. The delicious food in New York also left me a deep impression.

Now, I miss my life in Canada so much! Everything happened there is so clear in my mind and I will never forget. This great experience makes me more outgoing and lets me know how to behave myself better. I have some bigger goals now, because I have seen a wider world and I know there are more important things for me to pursue.

Thanks to OJS program, it really had am enormous influence on me, making me feel more confident of the future life!