{"id":1156,"date":"2016-09-27T16:09:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T16:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/?p=1156"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:42:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:42:52","slug":"starting-classes-at-ubc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/starting-classes-at-ubc\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting classes at UBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve just finished my second week of classes here at UBC and to say it\u2019s been pretty intense. The timetable here works very differently to the UK- instead of doing 6 modules over the course of a year they do a minimum of 3, normally 5 for a full time student per semester. As an exchange student I\u2019m doing 4. My classes here are shorter than the ones I had in Cardiff- only 50 minutes or an hour and 20 minutes long, but you have 2 or 3 classes a week on each module. This means that although the work is of a similar standard to Cardiff there seems to be a lot more of it! And assessments don\u2019t just come in one essay and one exam either- I\u2019ve already had one assessment that was a written exercise in class. Participation and with your classmates and lecturers is encouraged and expected- for someone that only piped up once for the whole of first year- this has taken some getting used to!<\/p>\n

Having said this, I am loving all of the modules I chose to study here- UBC has a wide variety to choose from. I chose, Introduction to Economics, Geopolitics, Geography Environment and Sustainability and Creating Canada. Learning about geography here is so different from in the UK- mainly because of the case studies that they use. So far they have either been on Canadian case studies- which include a lot on indigenous peoples and their histories and cultures, which I find so interesting having never really known anything about them before, or ones closer to home such as the UK and the EU. Hearing about our issues and geographies from the perspective of Canadians is really thought provoking- and has made me question a lot of my own previous assumptions. Also, all of my lecturers are really engaging and so helpful if you have a problem.<\/p>\n

Despite classes having started I\u2019ve still managed to have loads of fun- I\u2019ve been whale watching, climbed Grouse Mountain, checked out a few local restaurants and the Museum of Anthropology and attended Homecoming. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing some more of Vancouver itself this weekend- Stanley Park and Downtown are two spots I can\u2019t wait to visit!<\/p>\n

\"Whale
Whale watching<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Home
Home coming<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Views
Views from the top of Grouse Mountain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Views
Views from the top of Grouse Mountain V<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve just finished my second week of classes here at UBC and to say it\u2019s been pretty intense. The timetable here works very differently to the UK- instead of doing […]","protected":false},"author":1053,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[269],"tags":[42,273,108,90,100],"class_list":["post-1156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-exchange","tag-erasmus","tag-north-america","tag-school","tag-studying","tag-travelling"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-iE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/week-one-at-ubc\/","url_meta":{"origin":1156,"position":0},"title":"Week One at UBC","author":"Lorna Hayne","date":"September 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So I\u2019ve been in Vancouver for a week now and I\u2019m still sane and functioning which I have to say has been a shock to most of my friends and family and especially to myself. Admittedly I may still be in the honey moon stage with this amazing city and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"14315766_1382948828399186_227321271_o","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/09\/14315766_1382948828399186_227321271_o-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3829,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/settling-in-my-first-week-at-ubc\/","url_meta":{"origin":1156,"position":1},"title":"Settling in- My First Week at UBC!","author":"Niamh O'Reilly","date":"September 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday I left Vancouver Airport at 3pm on Saturday. It didn\u2019t take much more than half an hour to get to UBC and I was checked in my room by 4. 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University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada What motivated you to take up a year abroad? I've had a desire to study abroad from a young age, enhance my CV and experience a different culture. What were your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GO Student Ambassadors"","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/12\/hockey-2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/12\/hockey-2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/12\/hockey-2-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/12\/hockey-2-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/12\/hockey-2-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3872,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/class-differences-adjusting-to-canadian-courses\/","url_meta":{"origin":1156,"position":4},"title":"Class Differences- Adjusting to Canadian Courses","author":"Niamh O'Reilly","date":"September 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today marks the end of my first full week of classes at UBC. I have noticed some major differences in teaching\/learning styles between the UK and Canada. I\u2019ve listed 5 main differences I have noticed so far. 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