Advent Ca(le)nada: December 6th - 10th

6th December: International students getting Christmas spirit right. Okay, this was technically the night of the 5th - but I'm sure many peoples' tummies were still recovering today! Christmas dinner with the international student family, many of whom are going home at the end of this semester. Lots of sad goodbyes on the way.

This evening I did go to a Christmas concert that Helena was taking part in at a local church. A lovely hour out of my day.

December 7th: I went out to meet Paul whom I am partnered with through Best Buddies International and took him out to lunch in Villa-Maria.

December 8th: The McGill squirrels are stocking up for hibernation.

December 9th: Evening walk with a hot drink.

December 10th: McGill does school swag like nowhere else. (Note the wrapping paper!)

Advent(ure): December 1st -5th

December will likely be the least exciting month of my year abroad, at least in some ways. Half of that is because currently what I'm excited about now is going home for Christmas - the fortnight or so that remains before then just sort of feels in the way. The other half of the story is the fact I have one too many deadlines and exams to prepare for in that space of time. Every advent calendar door I open is a reminder of the depleting number of days left before my next hand in . . . So, to help ensure I don't end up wishing away a month of my adventure, I have decided to squeeze something festive into every day and I will document it on the blog. 

Please don't be fooled, these photos are all glossy and lovely - they certainly aren't the whole story though, I just thought nobody would appreciate a month's worth of photos of bibliographies and revision notes. So without further ado, here is what I have been up to this week:

December 1st: The best dressed moose in Canada. Christmas has come to the Hudson Bay Company.

December 2nd: The Book of Mormon at the Place des Arts. I saw this for the first time in February with Jamie and was definitely game to see it again. When we came out we were greeted by some pretty heavy snowfall, and I did had ballet flats on - cue very chilly toes!

December 3rd: Campus exhibiting school and festive spirit in equal measure.

December 4th: Okay, today I failed at my task of making each day exciting. Today was a library day, although it did mark my last day of classes for the semester, yay! This is a quotation on the steps up to the library from Rue McTavish that I only noticed a few weeks ago. A nice touch of a crisp winter day.

December 5th: I really like this picture because you can see Old Port, Downtown and of course winter skating which takes the foreground. Old Port in the evening was very festive indeed, it is decorated so beautifully! The best part of all - alongside the ice rink, the water in the port is frozen too! Seemingly once winter is in full swing, skating opens up on the actual water!