The Seasons, They are a-Changing

Coming from Canada, where fall effectively arrived about two months ago, all I can think is, “what took you so long?”

Autumn is perhaps my favorite time of year.  The weather gets cool (but not cold), the air gets crisp, and the light takes on almost a clearer hue, thinning after the thick heat of summer. When September rolled by with no sign of the heat breaking, and the first half of October slipped past with only a slight decrease in temperature, I started to fear that North Carolina would decide to skip my favorite season altogether.  But, one morning, I woke up to find that the tree outside my window had a hint of color to it.  And within the span of two weeks, the leaves on my street have turned from a lush green to a deep, flaming crimson.  Trees on campus have flashed a rainbow of colors: first red, then orange, then yellow, and finally brown, dropping their leaves in piles overnight.  Streams of dried foliage have collected on the sidewalks, rustling and crunching as I walk to class, sticking to my shoelaces and making me smile.

Back home, people have already finished raking and the first snow fell last week.  Fall in North Carolina has come at the point when the weather back in Ottawa just starts to get depressing.  No sun, No leaves, No snow, No-vember.  In a way, this serves to remind me that I’m farther from home than I thought.  As an “international” student, I’ve always been somewhat on the outside.  Yes, I’m technically from another country.  But Canada is frequently seen as simply an extension of the U.S., so I’ve been accepted as just one of the bunch.  I haven’t had to overcome any cultural differences.  There’s no language barrier making things more difficult.  My lack of a Social Security number made things challenging for awhile, but I have one of those now, too.  Really, I don’t feel like an “international student,” I feel like a student with a Canadian passport.  But every once in awhile I’m reminded that this is another country, and things are a little different down here.  Like, for instance, the seasons.  So for now I’m content to take things as they come, and marvel at the differences as well as the similarities.  And I hope you’ll join me for the ride.