Study...
Second year final exams are rolling around. It's hard to concentrate when the summer is more or less here (it's 17 and cloudy today, but tomorrow is supposed to be 30C with sun). Although I've written one exam, I've got two more left before I start work for the summer.
One thing that keeps going through my mind is "You must convince yourself, study study day day up". There's a famous Mao saying in Chinese that goes 好好学习天天向上 (hao3hao3 xue2xi tian1tian1 xiang4shang4), which means "good good study, day day up", or study more and more every day. It's something that my students in China often quoted. And now I'm trying to tell myself that to keep studying through exams.
(Image courtesy of artwork.com.cn, which has a lot of old Communist posters)

Back to Uni...
It's hard to believe that I'm back in classes again after a truly great summer travelling around. And the profs decided not to waste any time getting back into the swing of things, so I'm already in the thick of the readings, research, and job searching process. Lots to keep me busy.

Fez...
It's hard to believe, but I've been in Fez for three weeks now studying Arabic. During my time here, I've stayed with an amazing Berber family in the heart of the medina who has been incredibly welcoming. I know that if I were to stay in Fez for three weeks in a hotel, I would have had a totally different experience.
Fez is the third largest city in Morocco, contains the world's oldest continually functioning university (Qarawiyyin), and the old medina where I lived is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apart from that, Fez is one of the four Royal Cities in Morocco, along with Meknes, Rabat, and Marrakech). The city itself is quite interesting to just wander around. Of course there's a bit of hassle from the shop keepers who all want you to take a look or buy something from their shop, but it's a lot less then I expected.
Fez is famous for a number of things, including the tanneries where they turn animal hide into leather of all sorts of colour. The whole process is done naturally, in huge vats of chemicals (including pigeon excriment) and natural dyes, by people who have learned the trade from their fathers/uncles. The process does smell a bit, though it's not too bad if you go in the afternoon.
The city is great to just wander around, and get lost in (which is rather easy to do). The old city is totally surrounded by the original/repaired medieval wall, which helps a bit with the navigation.
I've enjoyed my three weeks in Fez, and I know that I'll be back ('Insha-allah' as they say here) when I have the chance. I'm now off to explore other parts of Morocco, including the coast and Marrakech.

Exams...
It's that time once again -exam time... I've just written my first exam, contracts, and I've got four left until it's the summer and I'm off to Europe and Morocco!
Anyway, back to the books.

One to go...
They say that law school exams are like a marathon. If that's the case (and it certainly feels like it), then I'm almost at the end. My last exam is Thursday, Criminal Law, before I head home for two weeks over the holidays. It'll be nice to take a bit of a break from all the studying -eat lots of holiday food, see old friends, and read a book for fun.

Countdown...

I've got my first exam (Constitutional Law) out of the way, the biggest one, and it feels great. Not that I think I aced the exam, but that I did well enough given the time constraints.
Last night I took a break from studying and went to the official Holiday Lighting ceremony at the university with a few friends. It was actually really cool -they had free hot chocolate and cookies, carolers, and there was a bit of snow falling. Perfect evening for it to. So that's what the two photos are from.

Vote for Latin..
An interesting article from the New York Times about Latin. It's really a shame that more people don't study Latin, though I'll admit that I'm not about to rush into a Latin classroom (I've got enough to study right now). But who knew that Williamus Clintonus studied Latin for four years, or that even Georgius W Bushus studied a bit of Latin.

Here's part of it:
Primum, duces nostros linguam Latinam non iam studere triste non videtur. Sed reipublicae artem - quae principes iuvenes educationem praeparationem pro curriculo considerare excitat — cum rhetorica exigua, moribus infirmis, grammatica inepta et rationis historicae metu congruissse fors non est; aeterna de quibus Romani nos multum docere possunt. Romani ipsi dicunt,

Roma urbs aeterna; Latina lingua aeterna.

Nemo principes candidati praefecti Latinae languae periti sunt. Hillaria Clintona scientiae politicae Wellesleiae studuit; Barackus Obamus Columbiae. Rudius Giulianus linguam per quattuor annos theologiae ad Episcopi Loughlin Memorem Scholam Altam Brooklyni attigit, quando se pontificem futurum esse consideravit. Sed tum quod studuit? Scientiae politicae.

Quam res post Patres Fundantes mutaverunt! Ex VII libris in Thomae Jeffersoni bibliotecha in Monticello, soli XXIV domi manent. Posteri alteros vendiderunt, Bibliotecha Concilii emptos. Lectissimus liber, iam in pluteo vitreo in Jeffersoni bibliotecha, Aeneis a Virgilio est.

Jeffersonus, novem annos natus, linguas Latinam et Graecam ad scholam in Virginia pontifice Caledonio administratam docere coepit. Liber grammaticus Graecus iuxta eum ad Conlegium Williami Mariaeque Williamiburgi semper erat. Tacitus Homerusque carissimi erant.

Jeffersonus optimam scholae altae educationem lingua in Latina, Graeca et Gallica, cum grammaticis thematibus lectionibusque, libris translatis in linguam Anglicam, et recordatione locorum famosorum esse consideravit.

For the rest in Latin, and for the article in English.

Average Student Today...
I came across this interesting video on Motion to Recess. It's about the life of an 'average' student, though I think it would be interesting to find out about the life of an average law student (especially the part about sleep and reading).

And with that, it's now less than a week until law school exams officially start. My first exam is Constitutional Law, worth 100% of the course. Fun times to be had on s.7 today!

Snow?
Normally I'm excited when it snows, because in BC we only get a day or two of snow a year. But now that I'm living in Ontario, I'm not so excited about the snow. Especially since it's already started, and this Friday's low is supposed to be -13C (7F)! I've never experienced that in Canada, except when skiing at Whistler. My roommate commented this morning about how sad it is that I've never lived a real Canadian winter.
Well, I think my "first real Canadian winter" is starting with trudging to uni this morning in the snow.

Pakistan...
I'm assuming that most people have heard about the situation in Pakistan. The Canadian Bar Association is organizing an even this Sunday to support the lawyers in Pakistan. Here are the details:

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) is joining legal organizations around the world in a show of support for the lawyers and judges of Pakistan, calling for the restoration of the rule of law in that country.

On Sunday, November 25 in Ottawa, the CBA will be holding a march in solidarity with the defenders of the rule of law in Pakistan. CBA President Bernard Amyot will lead the procession of CBA Bar Leaders, lawyers, law students and other members of the legal community from across Canada. The County of Carleton Law Association is also giving its full support to the march to the steps of the Supreme Court of Canada. Bar Leaders will address the marchers and participants will have the opportunity to sign a petition of support for Pakistan lawyers, judges and the rule of law.

All lawyers, their families and champions of the rule of law are invited to join in this Ottawa event to show their concern.

We need your participation to make this a success. Here are the details:

What: Lawyers’ March to the Supreme Court to support the rule of law in Pakistan
When: Gather at the Delta Hotel Ottawa - 10:00 a.m., Sunday, November 25. The March will begin at 10:30 a.m. and is expected to end by 11:30 a.m.
Where: The Delta Hotel, 361 Queen Street, Ottawa (Coffee and hot chocolate will be available from 10 a.m.)
Attire: Dark suit

Continuing HP and Staples Bad Customer Service...
The customer service problems continue with both HP and Staples. I was told last week Thursday that my computer would be ready for pick-up in 5 business days. So when I hadn't heard anything by yesterday (Friday, or 6 business days) at 4:30 I decided to go in. I asked if they had my computer, since it was supposed to have arrived the previous day. Nope, come back next week.
This time I wasn't going to leave so easily. I've got a number of big essays due, plus research and exams coming up in less than a month. After all, I've only had my Compaq laptop for three weeks since the first week of August -that's less than a week a month! Why did I buy a computer if it was just to sit in repair. I said that I wanted a replacement computer, since I was told the computer was shipped on the 29th of October and should have already arrived. "We don't have a computer replacement program", says Bradley. Blah, blah. "I want to talk to a manager." Why waste time with the guy in a red shirt? "I am one of the managers" says Bradley. So I keep complaining, and demanding that they do something, contact HP on my behalf because HP is ignoring me, or at least tell me where my computer is.
So finally Melissa, in a blue manager's shirt, comes over. Same thing. I want to know where my computer is though. I've called HP, and been sent to people on 3 different continents. Kumar didn't even know where I was calling from.
Turns out that Staples doesn't t even know where it is!!! All they know is that HP shipped it on the 29th of October, and it hasn't arrived yet. Supposedly it normally ships in 2-3 days, so why has it taken almost 2 weeks by courrier? Is UPS now using horse and buggy for deliveries within Ontario? And what's more worrying is that HP normally gives Staples the UPS tracking code, which they didn't do with my computer... Sounds very sketchy to me.
Lots more talking and trying to stay calm. I eventually asked for the HP complaint number, and they gave me the toll-free number that I called two weeks ago, was put on hold for 10 minutes, then automatically transferred to a voice mail system which said HP would respond within 24 hours. Two weeks later and still nobody has called, despite leaving my name, number, and computer serial number.
So I'm up a creek, with no computer, nobody knows where it is or when it will arrive, and Melissa has Tuesday off so she said she can't do anything until later in the week.
Shitty service from both HP and Staples I'd say.

Whipping in Canada...
Unfortunately I'm not referring to whipping cream, but the coporal punishment type of whipping. I'm always learning strange and sometimes useful things in law school. Today I learned that whipping was used in Canada as a type of punishment in the recent past. Guess when it was last used?
If you guessed 1971 then you'd be right! Mr. Ziemba was given 10 lashes of the whip and imprisonment for theft. He appealed the case, and the decision was upheld because whipping was legally in the Criminal Code (at the time). You can find R. v. Ziemba on Westlaw (but you need a subscription).
It makes you wonder if the whipper had to practise first? How do you determine how hard the lash has to be?

Procrastination...
It's amazing that when you've got a big essay or paper due, you always find things that "need" to be done more urgently. For example cleaning the oven, blogging, pouring a glass of wine, changing lightbulbs to energy saving ones, or checking your emails every 5 minutes.
Yup, I've got a bigish paper due on Thursday, and instead of writing about medical negligence and signing "Refusal to Permit Blood Transfusion" forms (based on Hobbs v. Robertson [2004] B.C.J. No. 1689 (B.C.S.C.)), I've been cleaning the oven, blogging, pouring a glass of wine, changing lightbulbs to energy saving ones, and checking my emails every 5 minutes.

Censorship and Privacy...
I was reminded of a post that I wrote a while back this week during my Torts class when we were talking about the alleged tort of Invasion of Privacy (it's recognised in some jurisdictions under Common Law). I didn't want to post this until after I left China for obvious reasons, so here's the post more or less in its entirety.
It's well known around the world that China has a lot of censorship in many areas and it's been evident living here. It's been rated in the bottom 10 countries for censorship. Even this blog is blocked from time to time by the Great Firewall of China. There seem to be two types of blocks in China -soft blocks and hard blocks. Soft blocks are easy enough to get around using an anonymous proxy (i.e. to read my blog when it's blocked), but hard blocks are pretty much impossible to get around.
Starting off with personal anecdotes, I have friends and have met travellers who have had their Lonely Planet China guides confiscated at overland border crossings, but not when entering by air, with the excuse from the border guards that the books are "wrong". They have a map of China which doesn't include a certain highly-disputed island/province. You can't buy Lonely Planet China in bookstores that sell LP for every other country, but there are a few places in Beijing with secret imports.
A friend of mine was entering the country overland from Vietnam when the border
guards went through her bag. They of course removed her LP China, but also a history book she had about China. When asked why they confiscated it, the border guard said "it contains 'wrong' history" and that "maybe [she] should buy a book with 'correct' history at the government controlled XinHua Bookstore". The real reason for confiscation? The book had a photo of a man in front of a tank from a certain 'incident' in 1989.
I've been reading an interesting blog lately called Truth About China, which has as itstagline "Truth About China, for people who want the truth". They recently ran a story about a French website blocked for warning of risks of investing in China. A section of the report that gets the site hard blocked in China is:

"The Middle Kingdom has managed to divert international investments for its benefit, obtain technologies without anything in return other that the promises arising from our own imagination, gag its dissidents - including those abroad - and ensnare the west in its golden clutches (...) Perhaps it is time to realise this before we are closed in the Chinese trap for good"

Supposedly you can read the whole story, but it's hard blocked in China.
Another example is Google.cn, the site that you get redirected to after typing Google.com within China. Massive amounts of information are directly censored, and some of the sites listed end up being blocked anyway. For example, even though Wikipedia.org comes up in some searches, it's always blocked (some pages about China are hard blocked, the rest is soft blocked). A funny joke I found referring to Wikipedia and China goes like this:

Question: What do you call a cooperative community of individuals, each granted use of the means of production, working as equals not for profit but to produce something that is collectively owned by all?
Answer: A threat to Communism.

The perfect example though is in the image section of Google. Go to
Google.com and type in Tiananmen Square. What's the image that appears? Now check out Google.cn's versions of Tiananmen Square. At the time of writing this there are apparently only a few photos of Tian'anmen Square on the internet, showing photos of happy soldiers, ethnic minorities, and tourists.
There was an interesting article on Yahoo!news not too long ago about blogging in China, and how it scares the Central Government. They're worried in part because "blogging is a disruptive technology that helps open up people's minds". I keep reading that in the near future China will make it necessary forbloggers to register with their real ID before they can post.
All in all though, things are much better than they were just a few years ago. Here are a few more links in case you're interested:
Danwei on Television censorship in China
Business Week: The Great Firewall of China (2006)
CNN: Tech execs get grilled over China business (2006)
CBS: China's Internet Censorship (2002)

Head-in-Vice...
Another good expression I heard about law school was from the lady in charge of student programs at one of the big firms in Ottawa.

She said something like "first year law school is where they put your head in a vice, and crank it around until your view of the world is never the same again."
I've mentioned this to a few of my "collegues" (i.e. fellow law students) and I don't think that any of them have disagreed with me.
(Photo from this site.)

Like Undergrad on Steroids...
One great quote that I heard or read somewhere this past week is that "law school is like undergrad on steroids". I couldn't agree more!
There are way more readings, way more activities (clubs, moots, speakers, wine & cheeses), and way more stress (I already have to think about finding a job this summer, and hand out CV's in 2 weeks!) than in undergrad. It's fun and exhilerating, but at the same time it can really wear you down. At some point you just have to say "OK, enough reading, time to go to bed". I'll make it through, just like everyone else, I just have to take it one day at a time. Yesterday in Constitutional Law the prof asked "is anyone feeling overwhelmed by the whole law school thing?" Almost everyone put up their hands, and I'm sure that those who didn't were so overwhelmed they didn't hear/understand the question or were lying.
And my picture (along with a few friends) is on the front of the law student newspaper! I'll post a link when the newspaper updates their webpage.

First Week (or Two)...
I was hoping to make a post at the end of my first week, but it's been so crazy busy that I just haven't had time. The first week of classes was a bit of a shock, just in the amount of legal readings we had to do right off the bat. OK, I know that I'm in law school, but I figured they'd explain some of the terms, or tell you how to write a case brief before they tell you to actually do it. A steep learning curve might be
the way to put it.
This week has been better. More free food as the different student clubs and associations start up -I've attended a few info sessions, but I don't want to commit too much because I know that things can get busier than they are now. I did get to attend a session
by the US Navy Defense Counsel in the case of U.S. v. OmarKhadr, the 21 year old Canadian who has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since he was 15. The speech was really insightful, and makes you wonder why the Canadian government hasn't done as much as the Afghan government to secure the release of one of their nationals. It also reaffirmed everything I've heard about the conditions in Guantanamo and the way the US has gone about ignoring international law, and making up rules that it sees fit for itself only.
In addition to all the uni work, my laptop broke again (I just had the hard drive replaced 3 weeks ago!), so it's now at Staples again getting fixed again. But the police did find the guy who broke into the house, which is good news even if they can't recover what was stolen. At least he won't be out and about still breaking into other places (he broke into more houses after).
And tonight is the annual boat cruise on the Ottawa River. Should be lots of fun!

Orientation Week...
This past week has been my official "Orientation Week" at UOttawa. In brief it's been a very busy week -I've met a lot of new people, been given a lot of free stuff and free food, and haven't had enough sleep.

Since Monday was Labour Day, the official activities didn't start until Tuesday morning. However, there were bar nights organised on the Sunday and Monday nights before it started. It was good to meet some people that would be in the program in a less formal setting, and to at least recognise some faces on Tuesday morning!
Tuesday activities included a free breakfast, a bag of free stuff (including a slinky!) from different law firms, a few speeches, the Dean's BBQ (free of course), and free nachos at a pub in the evening with the new students. But the highlight was probably Maher Arar and Monia Mazigh's presentation. Maher Arar is the Canadian who was deported by the Americans to and tortured by Syria. Instead of being bitter, he and his wife instead encouraged us to stick to our guns, become good lawyers, and to stand up for justice. Monia Mazigh said something like "law is not justice, but justice needs the law".
The next day was another early, but free, breakfast, followed by speeches about faculty specialties and small group meetings. My small group and prof seem really cool -there are actually quite a few science students in it! The prof is even planning on having us over to her place for a pot-luck once she's got all her furniture moved in. Then we had an 'image consultation', which was mostly about how to shake hands and what is appropriate clothing/colours for a business casual reception in the legal field. The reason for the consultation is that evening we had a Wine & Cheese reception at the Ottawa Court House. There were a number of judges there, a live jazz band, and some really good food. Another chance to meet the almost 300 students in both the English and French Common Law programs (the Civil Law students always seemed to do their own thing). I got to meet a really nice judge who was encouraging, and gave us students a few tips for law school!
Thursday was a bit more relaxed. We had a few short speeches, and 300 large pizzas for lunch (sponsored by a law firm). Needless to say I filled up on free food once again! In the evening the CLSS sponsored us to go on the Crime & Punishment Jail Tour of the old Ottawa jail (now a youth hostel!). Then we had a bit of a pub crawl through ByWard Market in the evening. Yet another late night, but another great oportunity to meet people in my program. I was actually surprised a few times that people in the program know other friends of mine from here and there. Such a small world.
Friday morning we had another free breakfast, quickly followed by an Algonquin Smudge Ceremony led by Elder William Commanda, who is the Supreme Chief of all the North American Territory, carrier of the Sacred Wampum Belt (including the Seven Fires Prophecy belt telling of the arrival of pale-faced people and the destruction of native lands, and the 1793 Jay Treaty Border Crossing Belt), and who has led smudge ceremonies at the UN. It was an interesting ceremony meant to purify/cleanse the profs and students and law building before the start of the school year. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to be part of it. After the ceremony was another free BBQ sponsored by another law firm at a park near the river. Unfortunately it was really hot and humid (30C plus humidity), so most people just sat under the trees and talked. I ended up with a bag of 24 extra hamburger buns though!

In Ottawa (again)...

I'm back in Ottawa again, but this time for school and not for work. I arrived a few days ago, to settle in and visit a few friends before orientation and uni start next week. One nice thing about having a small room is that there isn't much to set up or to clean.
It's been nice to wander around the city -apart from when I arrived during a thunder storm the weather's been great- and to have coffee and meals with friends I haven't seen in a few years. I've even randomly ran into people that I worked with a few years back. I can't forget to say thanks to "Winston" for the gift.

Stupid School Guard...
For the past three and a half months, I've left the school through the side gate because it's much closer to my dorm. No one has ever said anything, and some of the students go out the side gate. Normally the guards nod or salute and say ni hao or hello as I walk by and nod. If the guards don't nod, it's usually because they're too cold to move their heads or they're engrossed in a book. One time the guard even offered me cigarettes.
I decided to leave campus this afternoon to get some groceries, so I went to the side gate as usual. A new recruit got up off his chair and came over and saluted me. I nodded, and he stuck his hand up to mean "HALT". He asked me in Chinese where I was going, but I answered back in English "Sorry, I don't understand". I took a step forward but he put his orange stained fingers up again, and opening his mouth to reveal red spotted teeth (I think it was from tobacco) he said in Chinese "I don't speak English, wait a second" and nervously gestured for me to move back towards the school. I said again "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese" and made a gesture to show that I wanted to leave and go on the bus.
The four long whiskers on his chin started to twitch (maybe he was jealous of my beard?) as he looked around frantically for someone who spoke English. He shouted at the kitchen workers leaving campus to get water because the water was broken, but of course they don't speak English. The guy I normally buy meat 'bing' from told him to ask a student.
So he calls over a student and after a short discussion the student asks me where I'm going. I tell him I'm going to buy food. Some more animated discussion (which I understood as the guard told the student to tell me I had to leave through the main gate) followed but the student couldn't translate it into English. Another student came up and translated what I had already understood about having to go through the big, middle gate.
But why do I all off a sudden have to go through the big gate? They pay even less attention to me there, and it's a much longer walk away. I know that the students must get a teacher's signature then the guard's signature before they leave the campus, but I'm obviously not a student. I also know they want me to enter through the main gate so that two or three guards can nod at me instead of just one guard at the side. My only identification is the colour of my skin (teachers have to do a thumb scan at the start of the morning and afternoon sessions). Honestly, do they think some other bearded white male (I know all 3 of them) is going to wander to the outskirts of the city to sneak into the school and steal everything? I'm sorry, but it was one of the students who stole the teacher's laptop and who stole things in the student dorms. Just let me leave by the closest exit.

On a semi-related note, there was no water at the school for about 10 hours, and the power went out twice in the morning.