Latin American Regional Day and a whole lot of homework.

This Saturday was Latin American Regional Day. Three times a year, we have special days which are designated to celebrate and learn more about different regions in the world. The days usually consist of a brunch which food typical to the specific region, followed by lots of workshops, a show and a party.

Latin American Regional Day was the second day of this kind this year, and it was just as amazing as the first one. All the late nights of dance practices and choir rehearsals were absolutely worth it when we finally got to perform. Also, it always amazes me how talented and passionate people are here.

Except for amazing musical performances, there were some spoken-words about the issues that people in Latin America are currently facing. The week before this day students from the affected countries talked about issues such as racism against indigenous people, drug-dealing and the immigration from Latin America to the U.S.

It has been a truly interesting and instructive week, although I'm glad to have some more time to do my homework this week. Since next week is Project week, meaning that all students will be off-campus for a week, we have a lot of tests, deadlines and presentations to do this week. Sometimes, we have so many other things going on that it's easy to forget that we're actually doing the IB. (Although, not really...)

Some Japan-house people, ready for the Latin American dinner.


Side note: As I don't have a camera, I'm using pictures taken by some of my lovely co- and second-years. This one is from Zoë (Newfoundland).

Life at Pearson almost two months later.

I remember reading an incredible amount of UWC-blogs during the time I was applying and later waiting for an answer. The main thing, which all of them seemed to have in common, was that they were updated quite rarely. As I still remember my own frustration about this, I feel somewhat guilty about the lack of posts on this blog. In order to be able to catch up, I'll do my best to tell you a little bit more about what has happened since I arrived at Pearson.

The first week was mainly an opportunity to settle in and get to know people. Classes started, as well as activities, student jobs and everything else that is on our schedule. Trust me, it is a lot. On the other hand, most things we do are either very enjoyable or feel meaningful, which helps with keeping the motivation up.

My favorite classes so far are marine science, economics and philosophy. We do have quite a bit of homework to do, but it's all quite manageable. Nevertheless, you will probably find people studying in the library no matter what time of the day/night it is.

We have classes between 8:00 and 14:00, which most days of the week is followed by various activities/meetings/special events. For example, on Mondays I have medical responder-training, followed by choir-rehearsal and then practice with the A cappella-group. On Tuesdays we usually have village meetings/international affairs, which I will explain to you some other time. Wednesdays I have my student job, time to study, wash my clothes and another rehearsal with the singing group. Thursday is fitness-day, meaning that everyone has a fitness-activity after school, in my case, gym workout. Fridays means yoga and then finally some time to breath. If there is not something else going on, which often is the case. Weekends vary from being quite relaxed to being super busy, but usually weekend means sleeping morning, the possibility of going to town and just hang out with people.


It is quite a hectic, exhausting but at the same time very wonderful way of living. This place gives us so many possibilities and there is always something cool going on. I hope to write updates more regularly from now on, in order to give more details and share this experience with you.

The A cappella-group performing a Swedish song at the European Regional Day. 

Field trip to Race Rocks with my marine science-class.

The floating building, where I have marine science- and philosophy class.

Japan House-girls dressed for a Toga party. 

30th of august.

Writing this feels quite surreal, but I've safely arrived in Canada and made my way to Pearson College. After 27 hours of traveling I was picked up by my Canadian hosts in Metchosin, where I got to stay for a night. Let's just say that getting to shower, eat and sleep for a while felt quite amazing after such a long travel. The next day we went to Pearson and suddenly there were so many things going on at once. New faces, names, places, people, languages, everything! So far it has been both very overwhelming and wonderful at the same time.

My roommates are lovely, the campus is just utterly beautiful, the food is amazing, the ocean is overwhelmingly large and spectacular and there are awesome people everywhere. Classes don't start until next week which means that we've got a few days to adjust to Pearson-life, have fun and get to know each other. Also, it gives us the chance to catch up on some sleep and cope with jet-lags. (The struggle is real.)

Today I've spent most of the time talking to people, walking around on the campus, eating an amazing brunch and walking to a nearby beach. I would love to write more, but our first-years Japan-house meeting will start in a few minutes. You'll hear more from me soon.

At the airport in Toronto.

The beatiful, beautiful boat house with a view on the Pacific. 

6 days.

Six days, and gosh, I'm nervous! So incredibly nervous. Time has been flying away and now I'm sitting in my room, starring at my big red suitcase, wondering how I'm supposed to fit everything I need for the next nine month in it. Even though I've traveled quite a lot during the past two years, packing for such a long time is a huge challenge. Coconut oil, chocolate, a teacup, rain coat, glowing stars for my room, running shoes and my favorite sweaters are what I have packed so far. Basically, everything that makes life a little bit sweeter.

 There are so many things that still need to be done. Some papers to fill out, some things to buy, a lot of people to say goodbye to and preparations for the travel to be made. When all of this feels quite overwhelming, I often find myself watching videos, reading old blog posts and kind messages from my going to be co- and second-years. It always leaves me with a huge smile on my face and makes me genuinely excited and happy about the upcoming adventures.

I don't really believe in sugar-coating life, so to be honest, there are some very difficult things about leaving all of what I know behind. Projects that I would have loved to continue working on, people that I hold so dearly and that mean a lot to me and the comfortable feeling of knowing exactly where I have everything. But then again, this has been my dream for such a long time. I think that now is exactly the right time to step out of that comfort-zone, spread my wings and live this amazing experience to the fullest. And if life at Pearson is  even just half as crazy, busy, wonderful, chaotic, beautiful and exciting as everyone says it is, and as I imagine it being, I am sure that I will love it.

One of my little brothers in the middle of the packing chaos. 

The months before.

Hello there,

it is quite some time left to go until I am going to Pearson, but I couldn't keep myself from writing a first entry on this blog. There are so many things to be said already! Well, first of all, yesterday I finally received my official letter of admission. And that might have been the point were I finally realized that this is for real. I'm actually moving to Canada in less than five months. Although this might seem like ages from now, I know it is not. In February I received the news, and now almost a third of the time that I have left here at home has passed. Without me even noticing it. It scares me a little bit and at the same time I'm so overjoyed with the fact that summer holiday is approaching, which will give me time to just stop for a while and spend more time with my loved ones.

Meanwhile, as Pearson is sending out letters of admission all over the world, Facebook-groups and the like are created, which gives me the possibility of getting to know some of my prospective co-years already. This makes me over-excited and nervous at the same time. You couldn't possibly understand how eager I am to know more about the people that I'll spend the coming two years with. On the other hand, I so much want to leave as much as possible for the unknown and let it be a surprise for when I actually arrive. I want to come to Pearson with as few preconceived pictures and ideas as possible, both of the people and the campus.
 A very nice second-year at Atlantic College gave me the tip to really "Carpe Diem". I try to be careful about spending to much time dreaming of my time at Pearson. My main focus right now is to spend as much time as possible appreciating what I have here. Meeting friends, finishing this school-year with good grades, spending time with my family and simply doing things I enjoy to do here. Because there is a lot. And now that I know that my days here I counted, I want to make the most out of it.

135 days to go.