Ice Skating for the first time.

So I don't have any pictures, primarily because I'm pretty sure I would have busted my camera if I tried to take it and ice skate at the same time. I did, however, ice skate. There is an outdoor rink across from campus here in Ottawa. I rented some skates and met with a group of students from the Graduate Student Association. I can report that I made it around the rink at least 4 times with only one fall. The only fall came when I was trying to practice the proper stopping method. I guess falling down is one way to stop. I had a good time and met some really nice people.

Classes have started and I'm swamped with reading already. If I total all the writing assignments in all of my classes, I probably have about 100 pages worth of writing to do. Yikes! The good news is all of my classes are very interesting, so it shouldn't be hard to pay attention.

Don't worry, though. I am planning on taking advantage of all the activities I can while I'm here. There are several meet & greets this week along with a tour of Parliament and later this month there will be a snow shoeing trip. The best advice I've gotten since I've arrived is "embrace the winter!" I find that I spend much more time walking outside now that I'm here than I ever did in Austin. I just walked back from ice skating tonight and it was refreshing, even though it's -6 C (21 F) outside.

On the walk to the skating rink, I witnessed a debate between people from 3 different areas of Canada about what type of cold was the worst, a dry cold or a wet cold. I had to laugh because what I was thinking must be what others think when Texans argue about a dry heat versus a wet heat. I was thinking it's pretty freakin' cold!