by Abbie Chaytor

Getting around campus

UCalgary is in a unique spot compared to New Zealand, due to the large amount of snow they get, especially in their Winter term (ie. January-April). This year the snow is only just melting away now in the beginning of April, and comparatively, they have not had that much snow this year (it has been a warm winter). It can get down to about -30 degrees Celsius!

When it is that cold, it is a bit cold to walk above ground, so the university has what they call +15’s. These are tunnels that students use to walk between classes that are sheltered from the outside elements. This means they are snow free and generally a bit warmer (though some are just enclosed and not heated). They do take a bit longer to get to some places on campus than just walking above ground, but it saves having to wear snowproof clothes to get to class!

Luckily as it has been a warmer winter, we have not had to use these too much and have been able to walk above ground to class, which takes me 6 or 7 minutes from my accommodation to the law school.

Papers I’m taking

The papers I’m taking this semester are:

1. Human rights law
2. Indigenous peoples and the law
3. Law, science and regulatory state
4. Conflicts of laws

They are all really interesting and the professors are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Classes are all in person, which is convenient when living on campus, and are very interactive.

It was hard to begin with as I do not have any background in Canadian law. Luckily, the New Zealand legal system is very similar so a lot of knowledge can cross over; mostly, I just presume it is the same and it seems to have worked out.

I tried to take papers that would be relevant to law school back home and, on the whole, I believe they do. There were limited papers to choose from, as most students here pick their classes at the start of their university year, which is well before we as exchange students are able to pick them (it does take time for your exchange to get approved), so the options you can pick from are fewer as classes do get full.