St Jacob’s Farmer’s Market
This is the week before Orientation and school starts at University of Waterloo (UWaterloo). The six of us arrived separately but we found each other once we made our way to Waterloo from Toronto Pearson International Airport.
We did not let the jetlag slow us down one bit. As school hasn’t started, we took the opportunity to visit St Jacob’s Farmers Market, 20 mins away from UWaterloo and only open on Thursdays and Saturdays. Over there, we got to see local produce, food and entertainment as well as how families spend their weekend morning.
On Sunday, we attended a function at Verlisa’s home. Verlisa is a Canadian who has spent the last 3 falls organising welcome parties for Singaporean exchange students, and she plans to continue doing that for future batches of exchange students as well, so look out for an invite to her FB group when exchange is near! It was really nice at Verlisa’s party as we got to meet the other exchange students from NTU and NUS as well as break the ice.
We left the party feeling more settled in to Canada and ready for Orientation the next day.
Tip list:
1) Get your SIM cards at the airport. We got ours for $40/month, 4GB data, unlimited texts and calls
2) There is a bus available from Toronto Pearson International Airport to University of Waterloo, bus company is GoTransit (https://www.gotransit.com/), $16.05 for a one way ticket to Waterloo.
3) Tipping is expected for services such as sit in establishments, hairdressers and other services. Basic amount to tip would be about 15% of the total bill.
4) Get your WatCard the moment you reach Waterloo. It is your Student Matriculation Card, as well as your bus card. With your WatCard, you can board buses for free around the whole region of Kitchener-Waterloo (Usual price $3.25 for a day ticket).
