mixed with work experience

like it gives people a life

I don't know how people can work and study at the same time.

I have done it throughout my undergrad

or else I couldn't afford my living

I had full scholarships

so I had to consistently maintain a gpa every term

I admit to procrastinating, but I doubt I can really work 8 hours or 6 hours in addition to spending the same amount of time at uni.

if it dropped, my scholarship would have been taken away

oh yes

it's hella hard

Well I loved what I did - where I am from, there is a huge demand for tutoring

so I tutored students

It paid a lot

and I love teaching

Seems almost impossible to me. Whenever I ask my friends who pull that stuff off, they basically "never" study and then work so hard a couple of days before the exam.

Well, I was a horse back in my days

And I also did not have another way, I had to

Now I lazy

I also regularly talked to a law student in Canada (Montreal), and I actually understood how she was able to do that. It's because the whole thing is based off of reading and retelling stuff, whether it's essays or whatever. You don't need to attend classes to do that.

yes

I was fortunate I had a really great group of friends

they helped me a lot

We divided contents among us

if there were 4 chapters

say in an exam

we each picked one to master

that means reading the book, solving all previous test materials on that chapter

and surfing the internet for more content on that particular chapter

and then we would meet

and explain the major parts to each other, discuss the most important concepts

that saved all of us so much time

its so effective having a friend explain concepts

Wow, haha.

because teachers get so hasty in the class

And some my friends were shy to ask questions in front of others

That's amazing.

thanks

I never had friends who were interested in anything school-related.

hahaha

oh sorry about that

well, it's hard for me to make friends here in Canada

Canadians are super nice

but making friends is a very different thing

I can't relate to them

In my grad class, I hung out with my batchmates

but I couldn't relate to them

Do they have different interests?

yes, but we also had similar interests (basketball). We played together a few times, but I still couldn't become one of them

We had a (harmless) conversation like this once: "So you guys don't have any clubs and bars in your country? How do you then pick up women? What do you guys do for fun then?"

I said "Well, for fun, we go out to eat all the time, and we also play different sports"

And they laughed (harmlessly)

Chat seems to be lagging for me...

I will buy a turkey this year and treat myself

I gotta find some Gordon Ramsey turkey cooking videos

they don't make classics like F.R.I.E.N.D.S anymore

Sure they do...

tell me tell me

Any show that's popular is today's Friends.

Provided it matches that genre or whatever.

oh, I was able to form connections when I joined a Martial arts gym here - It's very different ... I was able to connect deeply with people - its different because we are not exactly friends - but people understand each other's desires and pain without actually speaking about it that much

I felt at home

we were doing the same thing, striving for the same thing

A nice punch in the mouth conveys more than a thousand words' worth of argument.

there was a connection, ... when I sparred during my testing I heard people cheering for me and motivating me

hahaha

yes

unwrapping hands after a tough session together seems really like nothing from outside - but to me it felt special

I'm trying to understand, and maybe I do. Perhaps everyone there thinks of it as trying to get better at something, for their own sake (the whole spiritual aspect of martial arts), and perhaps by cheering you on, they are projecting what they want for themselves. (???) Haha.

yes that is a part of it sure.

but there is something more to it.

its like a family

where we constantly beat each other up, help train each other, and share the same goal

Right.

I am sure you can find this in good sports teams

Wait why is Christmas/New Years Eve the day before?

Shouldn't they be on the same day as Christmas/New Years?

oh

Do you have the holiday sweaters?

I like them - very colorful

I don't know whether that was facetious; you just reminded me of that reply.

Well, we have sweaters alright...

But holiday sweaters aren't really a thing here.

I like wearing this army sweater thing that's as thick and as rough as a rug.

brushing it off must be hella tough

I just put that on before I go out. I don't bother putting on my pants, and I still feel warm.

My dad's friend gave it to him. It's some kinda special ops... sweater.

oh wow

German or Swiss army, I think (it has some kinda symbol on the arm).

But anyway, in my first language we have (very) different names for Christmas Eve, etc. and Christmas, etc.

@AIQ Are winters cold where you are?

You mentioned snow, but that doesn't necessarily mean cold, heh.

It's not as cold as some of the more snowy places in Canada

it snowed like for a week last year

that's it

Ah...

but what we have is this bone chilling windy rain

its very painful

say the windy rain in my place at -1 is as painful as the cold in Alberta when it's -20

the warm cloths don't help all that much because they get wet

so it's rain jacket all day

Nice.

how is the winter where you are

You need some kinda padded rain jacket and it's fine.

Well, I'm actually in a really windy city right now (studying here).

yes thats what I have on right now

The wind blows throughout the year, and sometimes it's so strong you can't actually be outside. That's just a couple of days a year, however.

I remember walking out of my house trying to get to the gym like hell with the weather - omg I ran back inside in a min - the wind was strong and my skin started burning from the snowy rain hitting it

oh

I guess umbrellas are not popular that time of the year then?

Damn. I know what you mean.

Oh, you can say goodbye to your umbrella any time it rains here. And it rains a lot here.

I've been wearing boots for the last 3 months.

waterproof?

Yeah.

You never know when it's gonna rain. Sometimes it rains an entire week. All day every day.

brand?

I can't see the label.

They're Swiss boots, cost about 350 euros.

woah

nice

I've had them for 5 years now. No signs of wear, really, except the usual stuff. My brother's got a new pair, so I'll tell you what the brand is when I get home because his are brand new. Heh.

(If I remember to check.)

... 5 years .. wow it's solid then. I have been wanting to buy these for a while now - too expensive

mec.ca/en/product/5056-424/Quest-4D-3-Gore-Tex-Hiking-Boots

Oh, mine are similar.

Boots are very useful ... but many don't have good cushion

You check before you buy, lol.

What I meant was that some of them don't say cushion-y after a few months of use

I wouldn't know about that.

I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Well, your pairs lasted you really long - they must be top tier

Yup. Of course, we're talking winters / rainy days, not all year round.

I do have waterproof shoes that I wear sometimes as well.

A couple of uni friends here don't have actual waterproof shoes. I have no idea how they survive.

aahh, wet socks

Haha.

Hell yes.

Also, people here don't wear underpants. Am I "not man enough" or something, haha? The toughest these people here have is jeans. I find jeans wholly inadequate.

oh, but it could also be that they are used to the cold

I see many people in Canada wear shorts in the winter

I'm not some kinda weakling, but I don't want to shiver and itch from cold every time I step outside. I love being prepared and comfortable.

and girls will wear skirts on Friday nights

Yeh

Oh, I see that here, too. Jesus.

I like when my body is warm, it helps me stay awake

haha

maybe the alcohol helps

Only mentally...

to get the internal heat going

I've seen girls going to school/uni in skirts/shorts; i.e. completely bare-legged. I had thick trousers and underpants on on those occasions.

yes

it makes me feel like I am getting old

Me too. I don't know if I'm not normal or what.

I can stand the cold, but I don't see why I would...

true.

When I go to the gym, I see every one wearing tank tops and shorts

girls wearing tights

guys wearing t-shirts,

I am wearing a hoodie and trousers

I love wearing something that keeps me warm

Oh, but they'll happily leave the heater on all day long.

I know, because I co-pay their bills, basically; my roommates', that is.

I'm helping my landlord's son with his PhD, lol (with MATLAB and some simulations, nothing serious), so he lets me pay a little less every month. (:

that's great!

good deal going on

Yeah. I love my landlord. Haha.

I forgot my key and he brought a replacement one in 20 mins. He brought me a new chair when mine broke (it was old). He replaced these ... shower door wheel thingies within a couple of days when I told him about it.

He lets me use the room over the summer for free, too.

looks like you have a great landlord

It's hard to find one of them

Yeah, I've lucked out.

I have one too, I have been leaving in the same house for 3 years

mine is great too

I feel blessed

Haha.

my rent has not gone up in the last 3 years

haha

Oh yeah, that's a bit of a problem there, innit.

its crazy

Wouldn't really wanna be in your shoes, to be honest.

I just wana graduate and get a job asap

Here rent isn't that high, but I think buying an apartment is nigh impossible.

I mean, buying a house, a flat, your own place.

It's not really comparable to N. America and such, but it is to the median salary here.

Alright.

I wish you luck. I gotta go now, it's almost 3 a.m. so I don't wanna miss this opportunity to finish some of my projects.

Working on some kinda game for disabled kids at the moment. The hardest part so far has been finding cartoon pictures with the background adequately removed.

Clipart

or silhouettes, vectors,

might be a bit of work, you could just use illustrator

@snailcar I want to ask a question about in-text citation in the main site. I don't know if that would be on-topic. What should I do?

ell.stackexchange.com/questions/232458/… Why was this downvoted and closed?

@AIQ Is it about English? If the answer is yes, ask on the main site.

That was downvoted I think because of OP's comments ... which are now deleted... OP came out too rude towards a moderator

it wasn't a good look

Oh, the original question was a two-liner.

Or even a one-liner.

yes, to be honest I felt it was disrespectful

how was your day

?

Word of the day: meromictic lake

Word of the day: the dog who caught the car

Word of the day: tonotopy

@AIQ Can't complain.

Word of the day: word of the day

I've just learned that Sesame Street and The Muppet Show are two different shows.

By the way, the kid I'm doing this game for learned English by watching cartoons only, and probably before he learned his mother's tongue. (He can't speak, hence "probably".) Perhaps it happened simultaneously, but yeah, he communicates in both languages pretty much natively from what I've seen (he's like 10 now).

I say "mother's" because he lives with his mom, and her first language isn't English.

I should've just said "mom's" to obviate the need for clarification.

They figured this out first when they showed him a picture of an apple, and he kept choosing the letter A to represent it, instead of J (jabuka in Croatian), and B for ball, etc. He learned to read / spell because sometimes the shows he watched were subtitled, and he often watched those karaoke-like music videos or some such (they have those inside cartoons; there's a little ball that jumps from one syllable to another).

I know there are 4 aspects of a language (at least): Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening. What do you call it when a person is fully able to understand a language (Listening) and speak in it too with errors here and there (as expected from a non-native), but can't at all read or write in that language.