Snow

Well. When people ask me how I like living in Newfoundland, they always say something along the lines of "the weather must be pretty bad there, eh?" A statement I usually counter by asserting that no, the winters (from my experiences) are typically milder and a lot less snowy than in New Brunswick, and that really, the weather's not bad.

This week we had a blizzard that shut the city down. I have never seen anything like it before... there is SO much snow here. Nobody moved for a day and a half - no taxis, busses anything, because the roads just couldn't be cleared. It took two days before the sidewalks around residence were plowed. It feels a bit like living in a hedge maze where the walls are made of snow. Most of the residences are connected to the other university buildings by underground tunnels, which is very convenient at times such as these. However, some houses are not - and the day after the storm people were hopping out their second floor windows to get to dining hall because the doors to the house were blocked by snow.

Here are a few images taken by a friend. It's hard to capture the magnitude of the snow, and what it feels like to walk around amidst all of this! The kicker is, it's supposed to happen all again on Saturday:)

On the Rock

Streets of St. John's, Newfoundland

Has it really been almost a year? Alas, the Nerd is no longer in Northampton. Simply put, I had reservations about keeping this blog, as it was so specific to what I was doing last year. However, maybe it will encourage me to venture out and capture a bit more of Newfoundland during my final two months here. Life also hasn't been all that exciting lately, just a whirlwind of school, med school applications, interviews, and thesis writing... all of which makes for dull stories. But, I think I will bring back the blog, if not just to try and reflect on interesting things going on around me.

I miss Smith dearly, think about it every day and can't wait to go back for a visit. It has certainly been a challenge to readjust to the environment at MUN, as they are at entirely different ends of the spectrum. However, the year has flown by and there are only two months left until I'm done my degree. Scary, considering I remember the first day of first year, wandering alone around campus excited and scared senseless about being in a new place!