Library Owl

Seagulls can be seen all around Vancouver, even at downtown area. This kind of scenery is unimagineable for Taiwanese, seeing seagulls on campus or flying around skyscrapers at downtown area.

Seagulls at Jericho Beach is so used to human beings that they just sat on the beach without moving. They would slowing strayed aside if a human has crept too near them thought.

Shots taken at Jericho Beach, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

I am not quite sure whether they are sandpipers or dowitchers. My guess is that they are short-billed dowitchers.

The photo was taken at Jericho Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Great Blue Herons are a kind of herons that can be easily spotted in North America. I thought I was seeing a grey heron, which is a common winter bird in Taiwan, when I first saw it.

What is a potluck?

I haven't heard about a potluck before I came to Canada. A potluck is a gathering that each participant brings a dish to share with the group of people.

In the first week when the term started, SLAIS put up a potluck at its lounge. It was the first Friday of the term and there was a after-potluck party afterwards. Faculties, office members, and students greet each other to have a new beginning, and got drunk at the after-potluck party. Afterall, it's a Friday. People are welcomed to bring their partners to the potluck as well.

In the end of the term, there was also a potluck to celebrate the end of all the labours given during the term. A lottery was held there as well. The rule of the lottery is that 2 tickets for CAD$5 (or 3 for $10, kind of forget about the rules). The winner can get half of the cash while the other half of the cash goes to a charity organisation of the winner's choice.

I didn't know about it at first, and just went to the potluck in the beginning of the term. Then I learnt about the tradition and brought some fried rice noodles with pumpkin at the end of the term potluck. Some of the friends even baked their own brownies or cupcakes, they are really great chefs.

Well, it's not a pigeon. It's a special kind of doves that can be spotted in Taiwan only.

I stayed at Walter Gage Residence, which is an undergraduate dormitory, during my time at UBC. One thing about UBC Housing is that they suggested on their official guide that first graders and exchange students should choose freshmen dorm, such as Totem or Vanier, since they offer meal plans and international students don't have to worry about eating problems. Learning from experience, it seems that their "recommendation" does not mean every exchange student need to sign up for freshmen dorms since I got an offer from Housing Dept asking about whether I'd like to transfer to Gage instead due to age and other things. To be honest, if one tries to live with people with one's own age group, despite the living expenses, just sign up for whatever dorm that fit, don't take the advice in the Housing Handbook so seriously.

I took the JAL flight transporting from Narita airport to Vancouver, BC. I waited at the airport for the reception volunteers from UBC, who would arrang cabs for arriving students to take. Since they have arranged a special discount with cab companies, students who took the taxi only need to pay around CAD$5 each to get a ride to UBC. The cab would take students to their own residence, it's definitely recommended to wait for the volunteers if one is not familiar with Vancouver. (And of course, to save money for poor students living on budgets.)

It costed me around CAD$40 to take a cab from Gage residence to YVR airport when I tried to catch the flight back to Taiwan.