Pre-Departure Blog

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Well here goes, my very first blog. Travel has been, and I hope will continue to be a big part of my life, so I figured it was a good idea to keep track of everything going on, so I can remember and draw from my experiences, while sharing them with whoever happens to be interested.

I'll be leaving for India in a couple of weeks, for a university exchange in to St. Xavier's College in Mumbai. The program I've been selected to participate in, called the Ontario-Maharashtra-Goa (OMG) Program, organized by the Ontario (a Canadian provice), Maharashtra, and Goa (states of India) governments, with help from involved universities, rather than by individual institutions alone (like the exchange I'll be participating in to Chile right after this one). Ontario and Maharashtra especially are important regions of their countries, and they're looking to increase and improve relations between themselves. Pretty smart in my opinion! India is about to burst with how much development is happening there, and Canada is smart to help the process and maybe benefit from it in the future. Here's a link to the program's website: http://omg.ouinternational.ca/. There's a bunch of post-secondary institutions involved, and though the program is still getting on it's feet (it seems that way anyways), it's providing some great opportunities for students from both countries!

Anyways, on a more personal level, I'm very excited that I've been selected to participate in this program, and I can't wait to go! Of course I'll miss home; family, friends and the University of Ottawa will be in my thoughts while I'm abroad, but I could never pass up an opportunity such as this! A lot of people have said to me, 'I could never do something like that!,' which is a shame in my opinion, but I guess not everyone is as comfortable with an experience such as this; it's a huge change. I read this article published by the Globe and Mail a little while ago that talks about how Canadian students, compared to other students around the world, have a lower rate of participating in international exchanges, and how this could hurt them in the long run. It's quite interesting I think, and surprising considering the number of opportunities and resources students have over here. So maybe, in terms of marketability and job opportunities, this could help me. Honestly though, I would probably do this even if I got nothing out of it. I want to learn as much as I can about everything I can, haha. There's so many aspects and perspectives you can explore when traveling, it's incredible! For example, there's arts and culture, actual physical places, the language(s), the education system, economics and jobs, religions, creating and observing relationships, and even just lifestyles. I have to mention that I'm also quite excited about the different kinds of people I might meet, and the relationships I hope to make. You can learn and share so much with even just one person, so the more the merrier! Fingers crossed that one of these people will be willing to help me with my Hindi, I'd love to try and pick it up while there! I already have a bit of a base since a lot of my family speaks it, and I've watched enough Bollywood movies to have learned at least something, but we'll see.

Another thing I'd like to expand on is other people's opinions of my trip, and their thoughts on what the experience will be like. On one hand, people get really excited for me, talking about what a great experience it will be, but there's always a 'but...' I've heard warnings against pickpockets, pollution, rapists, gropers, con artists... The list goes on. Part of me is stressing about these warnings, but if the approximate 20 million people in Mumbai can handle it, why not me? Because I'm a foreigner? Obviously I'm not the only one, but either way, I'm going to have to find a way to enjoy my experience, be careful, and not spend my entire time there being scared.

Anyways, I have a bit more preparation to do in these last 2 weeks, including packing (very light so I can take advantage of the shopping situation over there, haha), calling my credit card company, pausing my cell phone contract, registering with Foreign Affairs Canada, applying for my visa etc. One thing that is kind of stupid in my opinion, is that as soon as your Indian visa is issued, it becomes valid, so I've left it to the last minute so I can stay longer. Thankfully the Indian Consulate of Toronto came to our OMG Orientation earlier this month and gave us her information just in case we were having visa problems, which is super nice of her and great to have her support.



Wish me luck! I'll post again once I've reached.

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