Girl in Canada

Just a Turkish McGill graudate in Montreal

[girlincanada]

Where have I been??

I. AM. BACK. Wow. I haven’t posted in a very very long time but I really want to get back into this! Soo much has happened in the last two years–where do I even begin?

I graduated from McGill in December 2017 (and I miss it so much), I started living with my boyfriend, I GOT A DOG, I got a job, and finally I got fired from that job yesterday. Oh and I’m moving to Toronto in December. I will probably make individual posts about all of these huge things because I have a lot to say about them, which is why I wanted to get back into this whole blogging thing. 

One thing I will say now is that I’m happy–knock on wood! I’ve been reading a lot, taking online courses about marketing and coding and all those good things I didn’t get to learn about in school, and enjoying Montreal. Again, I will explain why I’m moving to Toronto on a different post but I promise there’s a good reason! 

For now, I will leave you with a cute picture of my dog, Mylo :)

[girlincanada]

Winter is coming.

In the past couple of days, I’ve been noticing a few people wearing big coats. Like Canada Goose big. If you’re one of those people, or if you’ve been thinking about becoming one of those people, my advice to you is don’t. It’s way waaay too early for you to pull out your secret weapon against the cold. I switched to my “medium” coat from a light jacket literally two days ago. While I do admit that it got colder much faster than it did last year, that only means that it’s going to get that much colder soon. We’re only in October (November?) and the winter here doesn’t seem to end until March. You can still see piles of snow/ice in April. Soooo wearing your biggest coat now isn’t the best idea. 

On a slightly brighter note, if you haven’t been to Montreal in the winter and you’re worried about the cold, I can tell you that it’s really not that bad. This is only coming from two winters of experience here, and last winter was considered to be the warmest winter in history or something like that. But still... Turkey has a warm climate. In Istanbul, the coldest I’ve ever seen is about -3 I think (Celcius of course). So coming from that to Montreal was a huge change for me and I was terrified. But it’s honestly not as bad as some people say it is. I will say that it definitely does limit the time you spend outside (because it’s still super cold), and you probably will be Ubering or cabbing to some places more often than you normally would. But you’re not going to freeze to death. 

As long as you layer up and get a proper big coat (Canada Goose or North Face would be my recommendation), a warm scarf, hat, and gloves, you are going to be okay. Montreal looks super beautiful under the snow and there are so many activities you can do like Igloofest and going ice skating at Old Port. So don’t let the cold weather scare you because with or without it, Montreal is an awesome place to be and you’re going to have a great time!

[girlincanada]

Last year at McGill?

So this year is supposed to be my last year at McGill. However, I’ve never been fond of goodbyes. I don’t want to be done with university. I don’t want to be done with my friends, this city, and even going to class. I don’t think I’m ready to go to work every day when I can barely make myself go to class. That’s why I have decided to stay here for an extra semester. This way, I can convince myself that this actually isn’t my last year at McGill. I still have three semesters here. I have another summer where I can still call myself a university student. And most importantly, I have another OAP next fall. (Okay, maybe not “most” importantly, but it’s still OAP.) 

Now, the plan is to find an internship for the summer (not an actual job, doesn’t count) and enjoy the three semesters I have at McGill. I’m only taking four classes instead of five, which is a blast. I definitely should have started this way and then went up to 5 classes but whatever. It’s pointless to worry about the past. 

If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be done with my Econ major in the winter, which means I’ll be taking four psychology courses in my last semester. I’m not exactly thrilled about that idea so I’m going to try to figure out a way to switch things around and have a more balanced scheduled. But seeing as I started my Psychology major a year after Econ, I don’t know if that’ll actually be possible. 

One thing that’s kind of sad about staying for another semester is that I keep getting emails about graduation. I technically have to apply for graduation and get my graduation photos taken and stuff like that... But it’s actually too early for me to do any of that stuff. I’m not entirely sure when I’m supposed to do it but I’m assuming next fall? Probably? Hopefully? I don’t really want to worry about this right now, which is kind of the whole point of this extra semester plan. 

Apart from this, there isn’t really anything interesting going on. It’s midterm season (Seasons at McGill: First week of school, midterm season, finals season) and I feel like I’m constantly doing work. But even so, I’m not ready to be done yet :)

[girlincanada]

Summer 16

Hello everyone! As you may have noticed due to the lack of snow we’ve had in the past couple of weeks, summer’s finally here and I can’t wait to tell you all about my plans!

So first of all, I’m writing this post in June, basically July. I took a summer class (COMP 202 - Foundations of Programming), which I enjoyed a lot! 

Quick side note about the course: If you’re thinking about taking it, I would recommend NOT taking it in the summer. It feels very rushed and you really don’t want that with this class. It requires you to put a lot of time and effort into it and summer is just not the time to do that. Overall it is a fun class though! I would recommend taking it with Melanie, not Dan, simply because she was much more interactive, which really helps with understanding what’s going on. 

Quick side note about summer courses in general: If you have a class that you need to take but you’re scared to take it (from what I heard, MATH 133 - Linear Algebra), summer is a great time to do it. Usually it’s much easier and they are taught by PhD students. It’s also a good excuse to stay in Montreal to enjoy the city when you can actually go outside without being scared of getting frostbite. There’s a shit ton of stuff going on in Montreal in the summer so you get to enjoy that while learning things. Yaay!

Basically what happened was, I took a summer course, which started right after finals, then I came back to Turkey only a couple days after my COMP 202 final. That was my mistake. Now I’m in Istanbul with nothing to do. (That’s technically not true. I deferred my ECON 330 exam so I have to study for that but shhh) It’s disgustingly hot and barely any of my friends are here. I’d rather be stuck in Montreal than in Istanbul but whatever. Shit happens. You gotta move on. 

I’m going on vacation for 10 days with two of my best friends, so that’s basically the only highlight of my summer. I have 16 days until then, which isn’t TOO bad. It’s just that waiting is much harder when you don’t have anything to do. 

After my 10 day vacation that I’m definitely overexcited about, I have another two weeks of absolutely nothing in Istanbul. BUT THEN I GO BACK TO MONTREAL. I’m going back on August 7, which is going to be amazeballs because my deferred exam is on the 18th. So I’ll have time to chill AND study. Oh I also moved into a new apartment so I’ll get to spend time there. (I probably should mention that my boyfriend is currently in Montreal with basically all my friends. That also may or may not have caused my slightly bitter tone about Istanbul.)

All in all, I have a countdown and I have 43 days until I go back. Until then, my goal is to eat a gross amount of Turkish food so I don’t crave any when I get there. 

I think this was a good enough 3 AM rant about my struggles. I have other stuff to write about and I will actually do that, as I don’t have anything else to do. I’ll see y’all later.

PS. I absolutely love this season of Game of Thrones. Can’t wait for the finale. And yes, I have proudly made “hold the door” jokes. #noragrets

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U2 Winter classes reviewed

Social Psychology, PSYC 215 - I took this class with Julie Caouette. I don’t think she taught at McGill before or if she will teach again but she was a total sweetheart. The course material is quite interesting but it’s so simple and straightforward that the course ends up being somewhat boring. I ended up enjoying the course. It wasn’t very challenging. You do have to read the textbook so that was very time consuming but other than that it was good.

Overall, I would give PSYC 215 a 7.5/10.

Cognition, PSYC 213 - I think this was my favorite class of the semester. I really enjoyed the content and the professor. This class used to be taught by Daniel Levitin (big name in psychology) but apparently last year he showed up to class three times because he was busy promoting his book around the world. So this year, the class was taught by Signy Sheldon, and I loved her. It was neither too easy nor too hard. I just really liked this class. 

So I think I would give PSYC 213 an 8.5/10. 

(not 9 because some of the topics were quite vague and somewhat weird)

Introduction to Personality, PSYC 332 - Everyone seems to be loving this course but to be honest, it wasn’t my favorite. I enjoyed the content a lot; it was very interesting. But I think overall, this is definitely not an easy class. There are 2 books (actual books, not textbooks) you have to read, in addition to 10 articles. I think my biggest issues was with the books. I can keep up with reading textbooks every day/every week/whatever but I’m not really used to doing that with actual books. (I do read in my free time but not on a schedule, if that makes sense) So I had trouble with that, and the books are a BIG part of exams. The prof, Richard Koestner, is really nice though.

All in all, PSYC 332 gets a 7/10.

Current Economic Problems: Topics, ECON 219 - This class. This class was a nightmare. It seriously gave me so much anxiety. It was absolutely ridiculous. I could go on for HOURS about how much I didn’t like this class but this is going to be a shorter version. First of all, this is supposed to be an easy A. Even if it’s not an easy A, it’s supposed to be an easy class because it’s a 200-level ECON. But that wasn’t the case at all, and no, it’s not because the material is ridiculously hard. It’s because it’s impossible to learn anything from the professor. There is no textbook, no lecture slides, no proper lectures where you can listen/take notes/learn. Only completely illegible notes that are shown to you through an overhead projector, and a prof that just talks without teaching anything. He assigned us videos which were the only useful thing in this entire class. After trying to study (not even studying, TRYING to study), I ENDED UP WITHDRAWING THIS CLASS AFTER THE DEADLINE. I think that was the best decision I have ever made in a very long time. There are more things about this class that made me hate it but I think the fact that the prof didn’t teach us anything was the biggest issue. 

ECON 219 doesn’t even get a rating from me. Don’t take this class. 

[girlincanada]

(More than) Halfway done!

It finally happened. I’m done with finals, which means I’m more than halfway done with McGill! You’re probably asking “More than halfway? Whaat?”. Let me explain. 

So, I came in with IB credits, which let me skip a year basically. I started as a U1, instead of U0, and I was supposed to graduate in 3 years. This year, I realized that I don’t want to do that. 

First of all, taking 5 courses per semester is a shit ton of work and I don’t want to focus on JUST work. So I decided to take 4 courses each semester and add an extra semester. 

Also, I’m not ready to graduate. On a normal day, I get up at 10 and don’t get out of bed until 12, sometimes even later. I simply don’t get out of bed when I’m on period. (This may or may not have happened today.) I simply can’t see myself waking up early in the morning and going to work. Every. Single. Day. I don’t know how much 1 semester/4 months is going to help with that, but it still gives me more idea to at least get used to the idea of having a job. 

In the meantime, I should also figure out what I’m going to do after I graduate. Right now, I actually have no idea. I’ll probably do something related to marketing? That seems to be a fun thing I can do with a degree in Economics and Psychology. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to stay in Canada. We’ll see what happens...

[girlincanada]

U2 Fall classes reviewed

Macroeconomic Theory, ECON 330 - I took this class with Daniel Barczyk and the most important thing to do is to attend lectures. He writes everything on the board and he has a tiiiiny writing so you have to go early and get a good seat. Otherwise don’t bother going. He is really nice and funny! One of the few professors that made me laugh in lectures. His exams are pretty straightforward and very similar to what we do in class. 

Overall, ECON 330 gets a 7/10. (Kinda low because I really don’t enjoy D1/D2 courses)

Economic Development 1, ECON 313 - I think this was one of my favorite classes at McGill so far. The Econ classes I’ve taken are all requirements so this was like a fresh breath of air. Unlike Micro, Macro, or Stats, it has context to it, which is why I enjoyed it so much. I took it with Eesha and I really liked her as a prof. She’s a fair grader and her exams are pretty straightforward. 

All in all, ECON 313 gets a solid 8.5/10. 

Introduction to Behavioural Neuroscience, PSYC 211 - Britt is bae. After my first lecture with him, I genuinely thought to myself that I’d be down to go to a bar and just have conversations with him. While it’s a very interesting class, there is a LOT of material to learn and memorize. He is a good lecturer but that really helps to a certain point, especially because there’s stuff in the textbook he doesn’t go over in the lectures. When I took it, it was a three hour long lecture so it was impossible to actually go to lectures and be focused for the entire thing. However, as it’s in Leacock 132 like almost all required Psychology classes, it’s recorded. I believe NTCs are available too so you might find that helpful as well. 

Overall, PSYC 211 gets an 8/10 from me. 

Human Cognition and the Brain, PSYC 311 - I had a love-hate relationship with this class. The material is extremely interesting. The professor and the TA are amazing. BUT there are no lecture slides, recordings or a textbook. You have to go to class and listen to the professor very carefully but his accent makes this a bit hard. I also tend to lose my focus towards the end of a lecture (which I’m assuming is quite common?) so that wasn’t very helpful either. The exams are quite hard too. The prof asks VERY tricky and detailed questions. But as I said, the material is just fascinating. I’d say it’s a must-take if you’re interested in psychology. 

So I’d probably give PSYC 311 an 8/10.

Statistics for Experimental Design, PSYC 305 - I took this class with Amsel and I just loved her. Overall, the course is very straightforward. There are 3 assignments, a midterm, and a final. You’re allowed to resubmit your assignment after it’s corrected, which is amazing. They’re also very helpful in understanding the material. I didn’t take PSYC 204 so I can’t say it’s easier or harder than that, though I heard it’s easier. 

This one gets an 8/10 as well. 

[girlincanada]

One more final.

Hello everyone! I am currently struggling with finals (I have my last one in two days - of course, the very last day of finals) but I’m almost done with my second year at McGill! It was a really good year, and slowly I’m starting to get sad about the weird fact that I’m graduating soon. (Not THAT soon as I decided to stay for an extra semester, which gives me 3 semesters until I’m done. More on that later.)

This was my first year double majoring in Economics and Psychology and I can honestly say it was amazing. I really really enjoy both (maybe Psychology a bit more but no one has to know). I’m going to do a full review of the courses I took this year like I did last year (or should I say last post, lol) so you can have an understanding of what I’ve been through. I’m also going to do a post about the classes I’m going to take next year and I’m actually super excited about all of them so that should be fun. 

But anyways, this was a fun little way to procrastinate. I shall post again soon, hopefully after my final, but probably tomorrow...

[girlincanada]

U1 Fall classes reviewed

So I ended up changing what I’m doing but until the very end of this year, I was majoring in Economics and minoring in Pathology. Basically all of the classes required for the Pathology minor had prerequisites (Chemistry, Physics, Biology - I was exempt from Biology thanks to IB), which is why I had to take crappy intro classes this year. In other words, I wasn’t very happy with my course load. 

This is only my Fall classes because I didn’t want this post to be too long. I’ll do the same thing for my Winter classes as well!

General Chemistry 1, CHEM 110 - General Chemistry in general was by FAR the most enjoyable class for me this year. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the material in the first semester the TA’s were EXTREMELY helpful. CHEM 110 focuses more on the periodic table, bonding, intermolecular forces etc. As I said, I wasn’t a huge fan. And even though I didn’t take chemistry in high school, I was able to do well because of the study material provided by the TAs. I enjoyed the labs but I know a LOT of people who hated them. I’ve always liked labs and writing lab reports because I’m weird like that. 

So overall, I would give it a 7.5/10.

Calculus 1, MATH 140 - First of all, I hate math. I’m not good at it, I’m not interested in it. I just simply hate it. But even so, this was a very simple course. I didn’t do well on IB SL Math, which is considered to be very easy. However, I still knew most of the material because of that. I still didn’t enjoy it, but it was very doable. They also make it very hard to fail, as you have the option to take the quizzes and if you don’t do well on them, they simple don’t count towards your final grade. 

So overall, MATH 140 gets a 6/10.

Introductory Physics - Mechanics, PHYS 101 - As I’m not good at math, I’ve never been good at physics either. But I definitely enjoy it more than math as there seems to be more context to it. (I’m more a theoretical/conceptual physics person) I guess I could say I enjoyed Physics 101. I definitely liked my prof, Ken Ragan. That dude is smart as fuck. The labs, I unfortunately did not enjoy because they made it obvious that the physics department definitely needs funding. Everything was super old and most of the stuff didn’t work in the first place. We also had to finish the reports DURING the lab, which made everything much harder and stressful. Keeping that in mind, 

I would give PHYS 101 a 6.5/10. Maaaybe a 7 because of Ragan.

Economic Statistics, ECON 227D1 - Kenneth fucking Mackenzie. The cutest, nicest and most adorable Santa Clause look alike. He was probably my favorite professor this year. He’s really old and slow, especially when it comes to grading but he’s just too adorable so you can’t get mad at him. His exams are very straightforward and he always curves. I didn’t really go to class because the material wasn’t hard at all. I just went to Prep 101, which is kind of like a weird private tutoring thing. Normally he asks pretty much the same questions in every exam but for some reason, he decided to make the midterm hard as fuck. Even with a curve, a lot of people got bad grades (including myself) so he gave us a makeup midterm. (WHO DOES THAT??) 

I can’t really say I enjoyed the lectures as I didn’t attend them but content-wise I’d give ECON 227 a 7/10. (KMack gets a 9/10 though)

Microeconomic Theory, ECON 230D1 - No matter what you do, don’t take a class with Fabian Lange. I didn’t go to lectures because I was literally scared of the guy. Unlike the other ECON 230 section, we did a LOT of calculus, which I think is extremely unfair. I wanted to switch sections but the other one just didn’t fit my schedule. This was by far my least enjoyable class in the Fall semester. I hated the prof, I hated the content because of the extreme use of calculus... 

ECON 230D1 gets a 4/10 from me.

[girlincanada]

End of U1

I’m finally done with my first year at McGill and it was quite possibly the best year of my life. I finished the year with a GPA that’s much MUCH lower than I expected because I failed one of my classes. (Physics... What a bitch) I’ll have to take the supplemental exam in August, which means I have to spend my summer studying for my favorite ( :) ) class. It was still an amazing year though. So #noragrets. 

Because I failed physics, I decided going to medical school is probably not the best idea. (How am I going to deal with harder classes, even Organic Chemistry, if I can’t pass Physics 102? Right?) So I decided to let go of the Pathology minor. I’m currently double majoring in Economics and Psychology and I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t really know what I want to do after I graduate. Maybe marketing? I don’t know. I have time... Kind of...

I'm going to be a frosh leader for the arts frosh this year. If anyone who’s reading this is going to attend arts frosh, let me know! I’m super excited because frosh last year was so much fun and now that I actually know what to do in Montreal, I’m assuming it’s going to be even more fun.

Even though I just got back to Istanbul about 2 weeks ago, (I took a summer course for 5 weeks - Introduction to Psychology) I have 42 days left until I go back to Montreal. (Yes, I already have a countdown because I want to go back, move into our apartment and see my boyfriend. Sue me.) I literally have no idea what I’m doing in those 42 days. Still haven’t figured out if I’m doing an internship or not. I don’t know if/when I’m going on a vacation. All I know is that 42 days is not a long time and I feel like it’ll be over before I get to figure everything out. I really hope that doesn’t happen...

After we go back (I’m going back with my best friend/roommate to be), we’re going to move in and it’s going to be awesome. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am about our apartment. It’s perfect and we get to decorate it ourselves and THANK GOD we have similar tastes. I’ll try to remember to post pictures when we’re done. It’ll be amazeballs. (yes, amazeballs.)

I’ll post more stuff about my first year, my summer and what I’m doing next year soon. I literally don’t have anything else to do...

[girlincanada]

Update

It's been about four months since I last posted something on here. That's ridiculous. Okay. Time passes EXTREMELY quickly in college. Actually. In less than a month, I'll be done with my first year. What?! I'm genuinely having trouble believing that. I was worried about getting my visa, and now I'm apartment hunting with my best friend. (Yes. Apartment hunting. Am I adulting right?)

My first semester at McGill was amazing. I had so much fun and I actually studied and stuff as well. I met and befriended wonderful people, discovered Montreal... 

Right now, I'm almost done with my second semester and so far I've been doing well academically. I'm happy. Finals start next week, so I’m mostly studying. (I’m going to two concerts next week but meh. YOLO.) 

I’m aware that I haven’t posted anything since November but I decided to use this blog as a stress relief during finals. I’ll write about apartment hunting, La Nuit Blanche (which was amazing), I’ll review the classes I took this year and write about the ones I’m going to take next year. And of course I’ll write about the concerts because Kodaline and OneRepublic. I actually promise I will post more stuff. I kind of just forgot about this blog entirely but all is well now. Get ready for more updates!

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Chartreuse

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Stayin' Alive

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I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo

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Safe and Sound

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Capital Cities

After the cancelled Kodaline concert, I am happy to announce that I actually was able to go to the Capital Cities concert and it was so much fun! The opening acts were also pretty good: Night Terrors of 1927 and Cherub. 

The only Capital Cities song most people know is Safe and Sound but they actually have amazing songs! And their live performance is definitely entertaining. If anyone's interested I would recommend listening to One Minute More, Stayin' Alive, One Minute More, Kangaroo Court, Chartreuse and I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo. (Yes, that is half of their setlist. Sue me.) Oh and I have to mention their trumpeter Spencer Ludwig because he was PERFECT. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend you to see them live if you get the chance. I will post videos from the concert soon!

[girlincanada]

More midterms...

I thought I was done with midterms; turns out I wasn't. I have one left. (I think?) Chemistry. Tomorrow. I definitely don't feel ready but I also don't think that I will ever feel ready so I'll just go with it. After midterms, I have a free month, then finals. So technically, I don't have any free time. Yes, I spend time with friends, go to parties and concerts... But I always have something on my mind.

I don't know if this is the case with other universities but McGill is definitely keeping everyone busy. Technically speaking, that is what we're here for. But to be honest, I'm here for the entire college experience. (I'm not exactly getting much of that as I'm living in a fucking hotel but meh, I can't complain.) I want to enjoy the beautiful city of Montreal, I want to hang out with my friends, and just have fun. I kind of managed to establish a balance between the two but that means I am busy ALL THE TIME. I'm either studying/doing work or having fun. I can't find the time to be alone and I need my me time. I feel like it'll eventually work out but I think this has been the only thing that's been bothering me lately, apart from personal stuff. 

Let's hope it stays that way.