Exchange Semester & Canada

In the name of God the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful,

I was planning to create a blog two months ago before I was about to leave for Canada and my exchange, but I never found the time for it. But as they say: "better late than never" (;

After a couple of months of undecisiveness last year, whether to go on exchange or not, I decided to go on this journey and make it a chapter of my greater journey. As cheezy as it may sound I'd been wanting to study abroad since I was a little girl.

So, after a few hours of New Year celebration with my crazy lovely extended family in Copenhagen, I took off to Canada. It was a 17 hour long flight due to my transit in Frankfurt and Ottawa, but it went fairly fast because I had a movie-marathon and caught up with all the recent movies.

I arrived in Toronto in the evening on January 1, 2013 (what a way to start the new year, right!). By the way, a friend of mine told me that if you end up travelling on the very first day of the new year it'll be a year full of travelling *fingers crossed*.

Anyway, a sweet friend of mine who happens to live in GTA (Greater Toronto Area) picked me up and I stayed at her place for a few days, which was perfect because I got to see downtown Toronto before I headed to my university in Guelph which is about 1 hour from Toronto.

I stayed at my friend in Markham for approximately 4 days and then I left for Guelph! I arrived to an empty townhouse in Guelph which was quite overwhelming. I had no working internet, no phone - no nothing first world problem. However, another lovely friend of mine who happens to live in a town nearby Guelph came by a few hours later after my arrival and helped me settle in. We went on a big shopping spree and bought everything from groceries to cutlery to bedding!

That night I slept all alone in my three floored townhouse with a noisy ventilation. Subhan'Allah, I remember, that night I solely remembered God constantly, just making dhikr. And I guess it was because I felt so detached from everyone and everything except from God which reminds me that I need to get unconnected more often.

Peace,
S