Initial impressions.

The Good:

– Good big basement suite with a private beach.

– Well organized orientation and I’m slightly jealous of the undergrads who are going through a very entertaining Frosh experience….something that was totally absent at UVic when I did my first degree there.

– Compact campus which is essentially adjacent to a very good downtown.  Apparently Kingston has the most restaurants per capita in Canada. Yum Yum.

– New notebook.  Just a basic windows vista machine – but rather powerful nonetheless for the price I paid.  I was seriously looking at a Mac for the photo software but most of the stores are out of stock and I needed a computer ASAP.  Furthermore, the Macbooks and the Macbook pros are ending their life cycle with new editions due out ‘sometime’ in the next month…or maybe 2 months.  No one really knows.  I don’t want to buy an old edition notebook.

– Awesome courses lined up this semester including the following:

• An intellectual history of urban planning
• Physical Planning
• Planning using AutoCAD
• Planning using GIS
• Planning for Multiculturalism

– I’m located in the Policy Studies Building which is home to former MP’s, Senators and other Canadian political heavyweights…not that I’ll be seeing much of them.

The Bad:

– I currently have a 9pm curfew because there isn’t an alarm key-pad installed on my door.  This particularly sucks because I can’t attend any of the parties this week.  My landlord is an elderly woman and I can’t be pounding on the door at 1am asking for an alarm disarm.  I place blame squarely upon the company which was suppose to have installed something yesterday, then today, and now tomorrow, but probably not till next week.

– The School of Urban Planning is somewhat isolated from the rest of the university which may make socializing outside the school circles a little more challenging.  Technically, we never have to leave the 5th floor of the Policy Studies building.  I have my own office space, net connection and mail box, all classes are here as well as all required readings…I was told I would never use the library!  I avoid drama and social politics like the plague.  Luckily there seems to be a good ultimate frisbee intramural.

–  My stuff from China hasn’t arrived.  That means no music, no movies, no photos and no clothing until ‘sometime’ next week.

– Canada has the worst mobile phone networks and fees in the world.  It should be a national disgrace.  Supposedly Canada is a G-8 nation…..

– I’m going to get my ass totally and utterly kicked by this program.

*SURP is technical planning-type talk for School of Urban and Regional Planning