A Day at CNE

By: Tiara Samosir,and International Centre Student Ambassdor 
 
Hello, everyone!

For those who haven't read my last post, I just want to tell you that I'm pretty much writing down what's on my mind which I think is mostly nonsense, but read anyway, it might get interesting.

So, last Friday, I went to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition, also known as The Ex) in Toronto with my co-workers. It was A-MAZING!

As soon as I set my foot in, I literally ran into one of the booths like a little girl. Well, how could I not?!! The game booths were tempting and the prizes were big! And pretty too! How could someone resist something like that? Also, I'm a big fan of rides and of course, foods and sweets! I know it's just the usual carnival foods and sweets, but have you tasted an Apple Caramel? It's the second best thing about The Ex! The first one has got to be the Toronto view from here. It is one of the greatest views I've ever seen and I’m not easily impressed.

This was actually my second time going to The Ex, but everything about it still took my breath away. The foods, the rides, the games, the shows, they were all great. I'm the type of person that likes to be surrounded by crowd. It makes me feel independent. It's like you're by yourself, but you're not alone.

Though there were two strange feelings that I felt when I was there. One of them was that feeling you get as if you were in a movie, like someone is watching your life as if it's the most interesting thing in the world. Yeah, it's kind of weird, but I loved it.

The other feeling was relief. For a moment, my exhaustion from work and my anxiety about school disappeared. There's just me and my time being there. It made me realized that it doesn't matter how hard it is going to be. All I have to do is face things one by one, day by day. At the end of the day, I have all the things that matter. I still have the same dreams and I'm still me. I'm tough. I don't break easy. Everything's going to be alright. This is a good life!

By: Tiara Samosir

Meet Shelby Guertin: Study Abroad

By: Shelby Guertin, Humber's Study Abroad Student

My name is Shelby Guertin and I am going into my 3rd year at Humber College in the Bachelor of Commerce - Fashion Management program. I chose to study at Humber because it was the only school that offered a program that would provide me with the skills I needed in both the fashion world and the business one.

I'm so happy with my choice to study at Humber (see also "Humby") and would not want to go anywhere else...BESIDES SCOTLAND.

I've never been outside of North America which just adds to the excitement surrounding this exchange. Having the opportunity to learn about the fashion industry from the perspective of another part of the world is unreal! I can't wait to be totally overwhelmed with money I'm not familiar with, food I don't like and people I can't understand. Hopefully three Canadian girls can say "eh" enough to get their point across to everybody.

Which brings me to another one of the 5 millions reasons I'm excited to go to Scotland, and that is that I will be travelling with my two very best friends...ever. Brittany, Angela and I are all in the same year at school, and have probably annoyed at least half the people on campus with the fact that we're NEVER not together. We're always up to something silly and are just trying our best to make every day a good one! This is going to be such an epic journey for us, and only 3 weeks, 2 suitcases (hopefully!) and a relaxing 18-hour series of flights stand in the way.

Meet Angela Bellini: Study Abroad

By: Angela Bellini, Humber's Study Abroad Student

Hello and welcome to the first blog post of Angela Bellini’s study abroad adventures! I want to start by saying I am so excited to be able to share my travel stories with all of you readers, and I hope you will enjoy following me on my journey over the next 4 months.

Lets begin… I’ll start off with a brief profile of me!

Name: Angela Bellini
Hometown: Huntsville, Ontario
Program: Business Administration and Fashion Management
Why I Chose Humber: Following my passions in hopes to achieve my dream job. Humber’s Fashion Management program seemed like the perfect fit for me, and the career I hope to obtain in my future.

During the next 4 months I will study in Aberdeen, Scotland at Robert Gordon University.

I’m so excited for all the new experiences I am about to embark on and I am even more excited to be able to experience them with two of my closest friends that I met at Humber, Shelby Guertin and Brittany Mohns. My adventure begins in the next 3 days, and I cannot wait!

I am travelling to the Canary Islands before going over to Scotland to spend time with a close friend of mine I met on a previous exchange that I did in high school. 3 years have passed since we have seen each other… reunited at last! Stay tuned for updates of my Spanish adventures!

Meet Brittany Mohns: Study Abroad

By: Brittany Mohns, Humber's Study Abroad Student


My name is Brittany Mohns and I am a twenty year old gal studying Fashion Management at Humber, and am absolutely loving it. The first two years of my program have been a struggle to say the least (accounting anyone? Ew) but now the fun begins, and in the most interesting situation it could.

I am preparing to study abroad in Aberdeen Scotland; there are many emotions involved in this preparation – most coming from the fact that I can only bring one suit case that is 50 pounds. For a fashion chick, that’s not cool.

What I am looking forward to most is becoming accustomed to a whole new way of life in the UK. I can’t wait to get new influences from the architecture, street style, and history Scotland has.

Footprints in Colour – Art and I

By: Madhur Prashant, Humber Student & International Centre Student Ambassador

Many believe that nothing can be wrong in art. Art is not run by rules and what you create is open to artistic interpretation.

The first week of art classes will turn this notion upside down.

My text-heavy and theory-based social science background has made me text-dependent, and drawing was a hobby I had generally ignored. Often, when expressing my ideas in words, I found words to be sometimes limiting. Maybe I wasn’t coming up with the right ones. Therefore, I couldn’t wait to indulge in some imagination, mix and create a new colour family, dip brushes into thick paint, dirty palettes with dollops of colour, and make new worlds over un-ruled sheets of paper. I was hoping to break away from the monotony of words, books, rules, grammar and verbosity. Such were my thoughts.

Thus was my new endeavour.

First day in Class

Eager to meet my first art group, I arrived early and waited outside the classroom. As usual, I had a notebook and basic stationery to get started – in case art ‘notes’ were to be taken. The doors opened and there it was - a huge hall with furniture and props I had not seen in my theory classes before. Wow!

I grabbed something that wasn’t a chair but a long wooden bench with two perpendicular planks holding it at both ends. ‘Some arty stool,’ my ignorance remarked!

Our ‘teacher’ (I had uttered that word after a long time. Until then, it had been ‘Boss’) stood facing us with a smile, as students trickled into the room one after the other. I observed my colleagues... err... peers. Some with glaring tattoos and others with blaring headphones and flashing colours, it was an art-full class. There were a few like me who exchanged shy introductory greetings.  The image of my home city flashed and, for a moment, I missed the comfort of a known place.

Everything and everyone was new!

I looked around, ceiling to floors to walls, and found an unidentified, expressionless onlooker by the wall. He/she/it was a skeleton! Skeletons in art classes look classy, clean and sophisticated! I had never paid attention to the one in my Biology lab! That was creepy.

There wasn’t a podium, the kind I was used to looking at during the whole period. Instead, there was an elevated platform right in front, meant for something I had yet to discover!

I was still trying to figure out the name of the bench I was on. ‘Please sit on one of these horses,’ my teacher instructed. I wondered about the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’ of ‘horses’. Then I realized, ‘Oh yes! I am sitting on a ‘horse’. It is not galloping!’

I am still not sure if it is called ‘horse’ or something that rhymes like one. I can’t find it online! Pardon my ignorance. Anyway, not many in the class looked as unsure as I did and chatted without much apprehension.

What was I Learning?

After a few days into my program, I was learning rules and theories in and the science of art. I know that it can be far complex and demanding in terms of thought, skill and dedication. The worst – you can’t guess or Google (I don’t always Google, okay)! Some tasks in art work like scientific experiments. If you don’t get it right, you have either failed the experiment or have come up with a new creation.

I am learning that art is much more than expression and freedom. Art is more than just about you, even if you are the creator. It is an unlimited expanse of substance, meaning and interpretation, yet it is limited and defined by the dimensions of its medium. It takes heart, mind and spirit to experience art.

Coming down to the real, I am surrounded by a more experienced group. I am told to see shapes and not things and people around me; and to distinguish between values and not see just black or white. I am told to imagine freely and not be bound by conventions or inhibitions.

Despite years of work and world-experience, I am a newborn. I have just stepped into the realm of art, and am learning to give meaning to shapes. I try to walk and often trip, but I do get back up in this new endeavour.

Introducing Kevin Marthinsen! - Study Abroad

By: Kevin Marthinsen, Humber's Study Abroad Student

Time always seems to pass slower when
you’re anticipating that big trip.

Though it might be fair to say, considering the type of weather we’ve had these past few months, it may also be considered blasphemy to say—I can’t wait for summer to be over.

It’s like that moment when you’re at a concert and the lights go down; you know that’s the cue for the show to start. Cue the excitement!

My destination in two weeks is Waterford, Ireland where I will be studying for one semester. I’m not new to Ireland, or the surrounding European countries I plan on visiting during my time abroad. I lived in England for seven years during my adolescence, and during that time was able to travel around much of Europe. The only issue is that most of those cultural experiences you hope to remember and appreciate, like gazing at the Mona Lisa or Venus de Milo at the Louvre, or the Colosseum in Rome, were lost on me at that age, as I was too busy chasing pigeons.

This time around we’re going to change all that, and if I have time, I’ll do some school work along the way, ha-ha, kidding.

August Recipe of the Month: Easy version of a Hung Curd Sandwich

So, the mirror isn't flattering you? Don’t worry!

Go to the kitchen. Grab these ingredients.

Chop. Whip. Sprinkle. Slather. And you have the Hung Curd Sandwich!

Ingredients

2 Slices Fresh whole wheat bread

4 tbsp. Thick yogurt (whipped)

1 Finely chopped cucumber

1 Finely chopped tomato

1 Finely chopped celery

1 tsp. Finely chopped parsley/coriander

1/2 Finely chopped bell pepper

Butter

Salt                                          to taste

Pepper powder                        to taste

Mustard Sauce                        to taste

Method

Drain water from fresh yogurt. You can do that by pouring it into a sieve. Excess water in it will filter out. Whip it to get a smooth consistency.
In a bowl add yogurt with the remaining ingredients and mix gently.

Using a spoon put the mix on one slice of bread and spread evenly. Top this with the other slice of bread and cut into equal portions.

Your sandwiches are ready. Slurp!

Your tummy is going to love you!

Remember: Do not store these sandwiches as these can get soggy. Ewww!

By: Madhur Prashant

My First Vacation in Canada Part 1: Ottawa, Ontario

By Chloe Jang, Humber Student

One of the plans I made when I decided to study in Canada was that I experience the whole Canadian continent by myself. So I made up my mind to visit Ottawa and Montreal as the first small step of my plan during this summer vacation. Today, I am posting about my trip to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, a blend of past and present.

From Toronto to Ottawa it took more than four and a half hours by car, which is almost the same time it takes to drive by car from the Northern part to the Southern part of my country, South Korea. Unbelievably, this drive is only a small part of the Canadian map. How huge and massive Canada is!

The first impression of Ottawa was that it is neat and clean. The city seemed well-organized, so it is no wonder that Ottawa is a metropolis of Canada. I fell in love with Ottawa soon after I got there because I felt as if I was in a European country like Germany. Of course Toronto is also an interesting city, but compared to Ottawa, it is highly industrialized and jam-packed with buildings.

I saw the beautiful Ottawa River which flows through the centre of the city with a number of trees enclosing a whole town. I visited the Parliament of Canada and an attractive traditional market in downtown, and ate a lot of Beaver Tails there.

Well, if I give you tips for travelling to Ottawa, I want to recommend that you apply for a free English (or French) guide tour at the ticket booth of the Parliament of Canada, bringing a mat and/or a Frisbee to play with at the spacious park, and last but not least, eating a Beaver Tail there! It was awesome!