One year abroad – Final report of my stay in Vancouver ... · The most memorable fact about studying in Canada for me was the opportunity to gain knowledge in fields I hadn’t

One year abroad – Final report of my stay in Vancouver/Canada

2010-2011

By Philipp Gehmann

Philipp Gehmann Univ ersity of British Columbia (UBC) DAAD BachelorPlus Vancouver 2010-2011

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My name is Philipp Gehmann, I am a student from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität

in Freiburg, and I participated in the BachelorPlus internship program that

enabled me to stay and study for one academic year at the UBC in Vancouver,

British Columbia. This final report is supposed to give some useful information to

future generations of BachelorPlus students as well as give some impressions of

my stay abroad as an exchange student in Vancouver, Canada.

Early morning view of downtown Vancouver

In advance…

Several processes should be initiated as soon as possible in advance to a stay

abroad. First of all a formal application to the University in Canada has to be


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issued. The letter of acceptance from the Canadian University is vital in the

application process for a study permit, which has to be sent to the Canadian

embassy in Berlin. To avoid redundant information I recommend the checklist

available at the website of the Canadian embassy which contains information on

all the required steps: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/study.asp.

I also have to say that the assistance by the staff and especially Mrs. Stadler at

Freiburg University as well as the staff at the University of British Columbia was

great and I never felt lost in the process.

At UBC

When arriving in Vancouver, I was already informed about all the activities for

arriving international students at the Faculty of Forestry via Email. In the week

before the courses start, the GALA-week for exchange students takes place all

over campus. For me the activities over the course of that week were very helpful

to get a first orientation on campus and to meet fellow students from the faculty.

As soon as the term started, there weren’t any difficulties in terms of organising

courses whatsoever, since the staff as well as the fellow Canadian students were

very helpful and open minded. For a first orientation, here is the link to the

homepage of the Faculty of Forestry: http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/

Besides all that, the UBC campus is beautifully situated at the tip of a peninsula,

one of the nicest beaches is practically on campus in 10 minutes reach from the

forestry faculty and there are also plenty of sports facilities like the Aquatic centre

and the must-see Museum of Anthropology. And of course the Faculty of Forestry

is by far the nicest place to be and work on the whole campus!


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Study area in the faculty of forestry

My Courses

The most memorable fact about studying in Canada for me was the opportunity

to gain knowledge in fields I hadn’t learned a lot about before. One of my courses

in the first term dealt with abiotic disturbances, with an emphasis on fire ecology

and fire management. Enriched with several excursions and a final project where

we had to design and present a fire treatment plan, this course was a great

experience for me. Another unique experience was the course “Aboriginal

Forestry”, which was about the complex and difficult historical and present issues

and connections between native peoples and their traditional ways to treat their

lands and forests in Britissh Columbia, and the “modern” and “western” ways of


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conventional forestry. Other courses I took were for example “Forest Ecology and

Wildlife Management”, “Conservation Planning and Wildland Recreation”,

“Conservation Biology” and “Sustainable Energy Policy”. The level of the courses

generally was manageable but not easy, the workload impressive compared to

my studies at home, but looking back the gain of knowledge for me was huge.

And of course a general benefit of studying in Canada was the opportunity to

bring my English skills to a forestry related academic level.

Field trip to Whistler with the “Abiotic Disturbanc es” course

Life in Vancouver

Living in Vancouver was an awesome experience for me. The high rents and

generally the high costs of living were a bit of a challenge, but in the end

everything worked out just fine. I decided well before I went there not to live on


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campus, but to look for a place in town. I was lucky enough to find something

right away, and so I lived in a small house together with three other Canadian

students from other colleges for the whole year. I personally would always make

the same decision again, since it enabled me to get an impression of the city and

the people of Vancouver apart from my life at UBC. I found that very enriching

and positive.

Of course a great benefit to live in Vancouver is the enormous array of outdoor

activities which can be found around town. Also the proximity to Vancouver

Island makes great weekend trips to the west coast of the island easily possible.

There is so much to see and discover in terms of different ecosystems, wildlife

and scenery that even a whole year of just travelling in B.C. wouldn’t be enough

to see all the places worth visiting. Everything from the humid coastline to the

almost desert-like interior to the alpine Rocky Mountains can be reached in a

matter of hours. The hiking trips I did during and especially after the two terms

were some of the most memorable outdoor experiences I’ve had in my life.

A beautiful day to hike in the Rocky Mountains


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Summertime

After the second term was over at the end of April, I decided to stay in Canada for

the rest of the summer. I first worked for a small NGO from Vancouver called the

“Wilderness Committee”, where I had the chance to go on trail building trips in

remote places such as Meaeres Island off the west coast of Vancouver Island,

which was just absolutely wonderful. I also did an internship at the Timber

Engineering Lab at UBC, which was very educative and interesting. The last few

weeks I took some time to travel around in British Columbia and Alberta, and

when I finally left Canada again at the end of August, I already knew that I’ll have

to come back one day to see more of that beautiful place.

On campus…!


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This year was an incredibly enriching and interesting experience for me,

personally as well as academically! I can only highly recommend and promote

the BachelorPlus program, since it made one of the best years of my life

possible.

I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Heinrich Spiecker, Marianne Stadler, Dirk

Niethammer and the DAAD as well as the staff at the University of British

Columbia for their dedication to this program and to make this wonderful year

possible!

For further questions about my time in Vancouver please feel free to contact me

at: [email protected]

Documents

One year abroad – Final report of my stay in Vancouver ... · The most memorable fact about studying in Canada for me was the opportunity to gain knowledge in fields I hadn’t