14 lifestyles November 16, 2011 - Over the Edge AROUND THE WORLD IN ONE SEMESTER: Maria Busck NBC offers a fantastic international student exchange program for students all over the world to come and experience Canadian culture full-frontal style. However, many students miss the opportunity to interact or learn with these suavely dressed individuals with hidden accents walking through our halls, so Lifestyle had an idea. We cornered these people after chasing them down riding a moose (with a lasso of course), and squeezed their opinions of Canada out of them. And then published them. Perfectly legal. Our victims from around the world include - The Mexican: Bianca Paola Meneses Brassea (Sonora, Mexico) The Swede: Maria Busck (Hudiksvall, Sweden) The Australian: Yvette Ekman (Mooneba, New South Wales, Australia) The American: Hannah Underwood (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America) What aspect(s) of Canadian life do you find strange or funny? Bianca: Well, I guess the pronunciation is a little bit different from the USA, which is the English I am used to. Some words are funny, the slang, how the guys call “Yo!” to their friends. As I can tell, Canadians love bacon (well, who doesn’t?). Canadian people are so gentle by nature! They are really friendly, but a thing I consider really funny is their passive-aggressiveness, it’s sarcastic and hilarious. Maria: The regulations on residence life, cheap to eat out and drink on bars, different view on what is healthy and what is green. Yvette: When I first got here I found it funny that everyone drives around in these ridiculous big trucks. I still find it ridiculous. There was actually a lot of times over the first few months I was in Canada when I would find things odd or funny....just little things that are different, but I think I have been here long enough now that I don’t really notice stuff like that anymore. Hannah: “Eh.” In your country, what is the most common animal you’re used to seeing outdoors? y y> y Bianca: Well, I live in a part of Mexico that is a desert so we have desert animals and vegetation. In Bianca Paola Meneses Brassea the cities we are not used to see wild animals, but in the surroundings is common to see snakes, owls, deer, wild boar, sea gulls flying near to the coast, bugs, scorpions, falcons, hawks, a lot of animals! Maria: Birds, people with dogs, cats. Moose and deer are usual wild animals you see. Yvette: Kangaroos definitely, I lived on a property so I would see them all the time. Hannah: Squirrels. Why did you choose UNBC? Bianca: In my university there is a catalog of the different places we can go for student exchange. I chose UNBC because I wanted to come to Canada, special to British Columbia, and when I saw the pictures of UNBC campus, I totally fell in love with it. Maria: Chose UNBC because I wanted to go to Canada and my university placed me here. The nature is very similar to the Swedish. I am used to snow and cold weather. Nice mountains! Hope I can go skiing before I go home. Yvette: UNBC just happened to be one of the universities my home University (UNE) had an ex- change program with. I knew wanted to come to Canada for sure, so it was either here or Winnipeg. But I made the right choice! Hannah: U NBC is much smaller than my home university. The courses are much more focused on reading and writing. Also, Prince George weather is TOTALLY different. What is your favourite food at home? Bianca: Tacos! The place where I live, the state of Sonora, is worldwide famous because of the ex- cellent cattle and the awesome tortillas we have. You haven’t tasted a real taco if you haven’t eaten a taco from Sonora. There are a lot of delicious dishes in Mexico. My country has an awesome variety of food all around the country. Mexican food is awesome. Maria: Moose meat. My dad is a hunter so... Yvette: Apples.....apples are always my favourite food wherever I am, that or milk....those are two things I would not like to live without. Hannah: The standard “mom meal” in my home: Chicken (preferably fried or roasted), mashed potatoes, lots and lots of seasonal veggies, plus corn bread and sweet tea.