Sunday, July 29, 2007

Summer study at UoManitoba -part II.

In previous post I more or less introduced my working part in Winnipeg. Today I will try to explain something about living there for that month.
We were placed in St.Andrews College in the university Campus. Building seems to be relatively old and rooms are made out of bricks - and just nobody cares about beauty or comfort. Walls are usually not decorated but only painted bricks - you are able to see them. Women and men are separated in two levels. You have about common toilets in each level. Each room has anti mosquito net (I will tel you about this symbol later on). Building is run by some Ukrainian Orthodoxes. It is religious college and in summertime when regular students are out they rent rooms to the others. All such facilities are using this practice to earn some extra money.

Next to study second main occupation is sport. I wont tell about golf fields - If I am right around Winnipeg there is more than 20 of them. One is just next to the campus. However, there is also big grass field with running distance on the edge of approx. 1,2 km. Each second day I ran about 8 laps in the morning. Second sport occupation is use of university sport facilities. For 34 CAD you get free entrance to the tennis courts, basketball playground, Olympic pool with sauna, fitness and some other things. Each day in the afternoon I spent about hour and a half in fitness doing exercises together with our professor.

Next to the regular sports activities, there are also irregular sports activities - It is shopping. You need fresh watter to drink and something to eat in the evening, so we used to go each evening to nearest grocery shop - about 15 minutes walk. I always ate some cakes from shops' bakery and bananas (0,59CAD for lb). And We always walk with each other even If you did not need something that day you escort your buddy to be more fun. And it is a lot of fun sweating (in July it can be normally more than 30 degrees and almost 100% humidity - you can breath water. And you have fu...ing mosquitoes all the way and even local sprays are almost ineffective - so you are hitting yourself like madman. And because of golf yard where too much water is used mosquitoes are even more aggressive. There is some pawned road to the store and we call it "mosquito road" just for too much mosquitoes. National symbol of Manitoba is Bison but even Manitobans say that is should be Mosquito. But it is still fun - I prefer mesquites to daily routine in Ljubljana. Oh by the way in the winter it can be -45 degrees.

Lunch time we decided to have around 12.30 Ind we use one of many student restaurants. I prefer Pembina hall, where you have bunch of slates, about three main meals of the day and dessert. You have salate self-service, and if you are smart you will take more compact salate and put ti on as much as you can - you pay for plate, no matter how much you add to it, and than you get main meal and you can again serve your self something to the main meal - usually pommes, rice, cooked vegetables or something - again as much as you can, and than you take dessert (if you want) and you will pay about 5-6 CAD. And After that if you are able to eat anything until evening it is proof that you are not able to build your plates with food good enough. Oh by the way - food in Pembina hall was always great. You can eat at other places but you will not be able to put food on your plate by yourself and you will pay more. First - it is more expensive and second, because you will get less it is even more expensive - so until now I am fan of Pembina hall. Oh by the way every sixth meal in Pembina is for free - you can get some card and then they mark you each meal you buy and every sixth is for free. This is more socialism than in Slovenia - In Šumi under Faculty of Social sciences you have no choice to pick up food as you wish and you have to pay every meal - more than it is worthy.

Next time, something about fun we have there.

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