Examland

Classes at McGill ended on Tuesday, meaning that from the 4th to the 19th it's exam period. This is my first exam period not living in Douglas and it's like entering another world - Examland. In Examland, there are no classes you have to get up for, no scheduled mealtimes like in Douglas, and no parents to judge you for sleeping too long. For the first time in my life, there's absolutely no reason to live by any sort of schedule. Because the sun sets at about 4:15, I only see a couple hours of daylight each day. The roommates are either taking exams, out somewhere, or in Genna's case, studying at her grandparent's house somewhere else in Montreal. And my first meal is usually around 5, with another at about 10:30.

No matter how many groceries I buy, though, there's never anything to eat. The exception is bagels. Today I made the long, snowy walk up to Fairmount Bagel and ordered 6 All-Dressed, 3 Cinnamon Raisin, and 3 Sun-Dried Tomato. The woman gave me a very large bag and charged me $15, which seemed a little steep and chalked up to the high price of Sun-Dried Tomato. When I got home, though, I found 6 All-Dressed, 6 Cinnamon Raisin, and a dozen sesame. Great.

Maybe the weirdest thing about Examland is the fact that the Tribune doesn't publish during exam period. Throughout the semester, I've seen the guys that I edit the paper with - James, Tom, Bernard, Adam, and Matt - almost every day, as I spent at least as much time in the office as with GG, Genna, and Kate. It made living with women a lot easier. Now it's all women all the time. Mostly it means a lot less takeout and a lot more bagels.