Pam emailed him already, I'll email him too for the heck. hehe. his email's at the bottom of his message, feel free to say Hi! hehehe
========================
Introduction
My name is Ryan Gillard and I am a third year political science major, and business
minor. I am very interested in international relations, and international business. My
hobbies include skiing, golfing, running, scuba diving, partying, and I absolutely love to
travel. I went to the Philippines for a student exchange because I am a very inquisitive
person, and really wanted to go somewhere that was completely different from Canada. I
also wanted to go to the Philippines because I really enjoy scuba diving, and the
Philippines is one of the best places in the world to go scuba diving. I also have to admit
that I really wanted to get away from SFU, and see what another university was like.
My experience in the Philippines was very enjoyable, and at times very hectic. I went to
a university in the capital city Manila called De La Salle University. I found Manila to be
a very hectic place. I think there were about 15 million people in Manila, and probably
another 10-15 million in the surrounding cities. No city in Canada really compares to the
amount of people that were in Greater Manila. The city was as busy as a bee hive at all
times of the day. It was impossible to escape the masses of people. However, even with
all those millions of people, I did not find Manila to be a dangerous place at all. I would
only recommend to future exchange students to keep their wallets in their front pockets
because it is so crowded. It was a very strange experience living in Manila because I am a
very tall white man. In Manila, there are not that many white people, so I was always
being stared at and the center of attention. Filipino’s are very friendly jolly people, and
wherever I went people wanted to talk to me. My most enjoyable experience in the
Philippines would have to be the beautiful tropical beaches and excellent scuba diving.
Travel and Visas.
I knew that I could only spend one semester in the Philippines, so I just applied for a
tourist visa at the consulate downtown Vancouver. I think I went there on a Friday with
my passport and around $35, and I had my tourist visa on Monday. The tourist visa lasted
for 3 months. I did not have that much trouble extending my visa, but it cost more money
in the Philippines than it did in Canada. I had to get a special study permit, and I extended
my visa a month at a time. I forget how much the study permit was, but I think it was
around 100 dollars. The study permit is considerably more money if you spend an entire
year in the country. I did not like the visa system over there because I thought it was
designed to steal your money. Mr. Masilunganr took care of all the visa paper work,
making the process easier for students.
I booked my flight at the Travelcuts in the MBC building at SFU. My flight was $1200,
and I booked one month in advance. For future exchange students leaving the Philippines
on their return to Canada, you have to have 750 pesos for the Manila airport tax. I
mention this because there are no ATM’s at the airport, and if you do not have the money
you will have to leave the airport and find an ATM.
Financial Details
I did not find it hard at all to get money while I was in the Philippines. There are ATM’s
in the university, and all over the country. In some of the very remote parts of the country
there may not be ATM’s. Just read your travel book before you go somewhere to make
sure.
I did have very much trouble with my students loans while I was overseas. When I
applied online for my Alberta student loan, there was no way to inform them that the loan
was for an exchange semester. I applied for a regular semester at SFU, and when I
brought it to SFU for their stamp, they would not do it. I had to start the entire process all
over again. I did not actually get my loan money until 3 months into my exchange. It
turned out that I would have received the exact same amount of money that I was going
to get with my first student loan. I still do not know why SFU would not stamp it in the
first place, or why it took 3 months to solve the problem. My recommendation for future
exchange students is to talk to someone about student loans.
Arrival and Orientation
When I arrived in Manila, I was picked up by Mr. Masilungr. He drove me to my
residence, and had a bed with clean sheets ready. I recommend to future students to be
very assertive with taxi cab drivers in the country because they are very corrupt and
obnoxious. While you are waiting to get your luggage, and when you are exiting the
airport many cab drivers will be in your face trying to persuade you to use their cab at
ridiculous prices.
The exchange office showed me around the university. Its much smaller than SFU, and
easy to find your way around.
Accommodation & Living
I lived in the La Sallian Center. My room had air conditioning and a personal bathroom.
I was charged 7000 pesos per month, which is around 150 dollars. It took about 10
minutes to walk to the university. Students should be aware that the bedrooms are all
shared. There are many places to stay around DLSU, so you do not have to live in a
shared bedroom. There are also no kitchens at the La Sallian Center, but there must be 50
restaurants around DLSU. Prices at the restaurants are usually around 1 to 2 Canadian
dollars. If I were staying longer than one semester, I would have moved somewhere else
with a kitchen. The La Sallian Center has a curfew, but I didn’t really obey it, and I think
it is just for the local students.
Academic Details
DLSU is similar to SFU in that it has the usual mid terms, papers, and finals. I found
that it was not nearly as competitive as SFU. It was challenging, but just not so
competitive. I found it very enjoyable because I took some business classes at DLSU, and
it was nice to get away from the ridiculous extreme marking that SFU business has.
Country Information
The Philippines is a tropical country, and the temperature is always around 35 degrees
Celsius. I was in the country from late April to the beginning of September. From April
to July, the weather was very nice. In August, two typhoons hit the country, and Manila
flooded. Classes were cancelled for about 6 days, and it was impossible to travel. I was
there for most of the wet season, and I still found it enjoyable though.
Places to Visit
I travelled to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Panay, Boracay, Mindoro, and I spent
most of my time on the island of Luzon(main island). My favourite island was Bohol
because there were great beaches and excellent scuba diving. I would also recommend
the island of Boracay to anyone going to the Philippines. Boracay is the most famous
tourist hot spot in the country. I can’t really go into that much about the places I visited
because my paper is running a bit long, but there are many excellent places to visit.
Challenges in the Philippines
The most obvious challenge for me was dealing with the masses of people. I think
Manila is around the size of Burnaby, but with 15 million people. In Manila, there are
hundreds of thousands of homeless people. They are not confined to certain areas like
they are in Vancouver. They seemed to be all over the city. I was never threatened by any
homeless people though. Prostitution and child prostitution are major problems in the
Philippines. I found it very annoying being bothered by prostitutes all the time.
Prostitution seems to be accepted in the country, and there are working girls everywhere.
I also found cab drivers to be a real nuisance. Sometimes they tried to charge me 10
times the price just because I was white. To avoid this problem I just told the cab driver
to use his meter. Sometimes they just did not want to use their meter, so I found a
different cab. There are hundred of thousands of cabs in Manila, so it is fairly easy to
switch cabs.
Conclusion
I would recommend the Philippines to anyone. I love the country, and would go back
any day. I found Manila to be a bit much, but once you are out of Metro Manila it’s a
wonderful and amazing country. I am actually thinking of owning my own scuba
diving/beach resort there one day. I took over 300 pictures while I was there, and if
anyone would like to see my pictures just email me at rsg6@sfu.ca .
My name is Ryan Gillard and I am a third year political science major, and business
minor. I am very interested in international relations, and international business. My
hobbies include skiing, golfing, running, scuba diving, partying, and I absolutely love to
travel. I went to the Philippines for a student exchange because I am a very inquisitive
person, and really wanted to go somewhere that was completely different from Canada. I
also wanted to go to the Philippines because I really enjoy scuba diving, and the
Philippines is one of the best places in the world to go scuba diving. I also have to admit
that I really wanted to get away from SFU, and see what another university was like.
My experience in the Philippines was very enjoyable, and at times very hectic. I went to
a university in the capital city Manila called De La Salle University. I found Manila to be
a very hectic place. I think there were about 15 million people in Manila, and probably
another 10-15 million in the surrounding cities. No city in Canada really compares to the
amount of people that were in Greater Manila. The city was as busy as a bee hive at all
times of the day. It was impossible to escape the masses of people. However, even with
all those millions of people, I did not find Manila to be a dangerous place at all. I would
only recommend to future exchange students to keep their wallets in their front pockets
because it is so crowded. It was a very strange experience living in Manila because I am a
very tall white man. In Manila, there are not that many white people, so I was always
being stared at and the center of attention. Filipino’s are very friendly jolly people, and
wherever I went people wanted to talk to me. My most enjoyable experience in the
Philippines would have to be the beautiful tropical beaches and excellent scuba diving.
Travel and Visas.
I knew that I could only spend one semester in the Philippines, so I just applied for a
tourist visa at the consulate downtown Vancouver. I think I went there on a Friday with
my passport and around $35, and I had my tourist visa on Monday. The tourist visa lasted
for 3 months. I did not have that much trouble extending my visa, but it cost more money
in the Philippines than it did in Canada. I had to get a special study permit, and I extended
my visa a month at a time. I forget how much the study permit was, but I think it was
around 100 dollars. The study permit is considerably more money if you spend an entire
year in the country. I did not like the visa system over there because I thought it was
designed to steal your money. Mr. Masilunganr took care of all the visa paper work,
making the process easier for students.
I booked my flight at the Travelcuts in the MBC building at SFU. My flight was $1200,
and I booked one month in advance. For future exchange students leaving the Philippines
on their return to Canada, you have to have 750 pesos for the Manila airport tax. I
mention this because there are no ATM’s at the airport, and if you do not have the money
you will have to leave the airport and find an ATM.
Financial Details
I did not find it hard at all to get money while I was in the Philippines. There are ATM’s
in the university, and all over the country. In some of the very remote parts of the country
there may not be ATM’s. Just read your travel book before you go somewhere to make
sure.
I did have very much trouble with my students loans while I was overseas. When I
applied online for my Alberta student loan, there was no way to inform them that the loan
was for an exchange semester. I applied for a regular semester at SFU, and when I
brought it to SFU for their stamp, they would not do it. I had to start the entire process all
over again. I did not actually get my loan money until 3 months into my exchange. It
turned out that I would have received the exact same amount of money that I was going
to get with my first student loan. I still do not know why SFU would not stamp it in the
first place, or why it took 3 months to solve the problem. My recommendation for future
exchange students is to talk to someone about student loans.
Arrival and Orientation
When I arrived in Manila, I was picked up by Mr. Masilungr. He drove me to my
residence, and had a bed with clean sheets ready. I recommend to future students to be
very assertive with taxi cab drivers in the country because they are very corrupt and
obnoxious. While you are waiting to get your luggage, and when you are exiting the
airport many cab drivers will be in your face trying to persuade you to use their cab at
ridiculous prices.
The exchange office showed me around the university. Its much smaller than SFU, and
easy to find your way around.
Accommodation & Living
I lived in the La Sallian Center. My room had air conditioning and a personal bathroom.
I was charged 7000 pesos per month, which is around 150 dollars. It took about 10
minutes to walk to the university. Students should be aware that the bedrooms are all
shared. There are many places to stay around DLSU, so you do not have to live in a
shared bedroom. There are also no kitchens at the La Sallian Center, but there must be 50
restaurants around DLSU. Prices at the restaurants are usually around 1 to 2 Canadian
dollars. If I were staying longer than one semester, I would have moved somewhere else
with a kitchen. The La Sallian Center has a curfew, but I didn’t really obey it, and I think
it is just for the local students.
Academic Details
DLSU is similar to SFU in that it has the usual mid terms, papers, and finals. I found
that it was not nearly as competitive as SFU. It was challenging, but just not so
competitive. I found it very enjoyable because I took some business classes at DLSU, and
it was nice to get away from the ridiculous extreme marking that SFU business has.
Country Information
The Philippines is a tropical country, and the temperature is always around 35 degrees
Celsius. I was in the country from late April to the beginning of September. From April
to July, the weather was very nice. In August, two typhoons hit the country, and Manila
flooded. Classes were cancelled for about 6 days, and it was impossible to travel. I was
there for most of the wet season, and I still found it enjoyable though.
Places to Visit
I travelled to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Panay, Boracay, Mindoro, and I spent
most of my time on the island of Luzon(main island). My favourite island was Bohol
because there were great beaches and excellent scuba diving. I would also recommend
the island of Boracay to anyone going to the Philippines. Boracay is the most famous
tourist hot spot in the country. I can’t really go into that much about the places I visited
because my paper is running a bit long, but there are many excellent places to visit.
Challenges in the Philippines
The most obvious challenge for me was dealing with the masses of people. I think
Manila is around the size of Burnaby, but with 15 million people. In Manila, there are
hundreds of thousands of homeless people. They are not confined to certain areas like
they are in Vancouver. They seemed to be all over the city. I was never threatened by any
homeless people though. Prostitution and child prostitution are major problems in the
Philippines. I found it very annoying being bothered by prostitutes all the time.
Prostitution seems to be accepted in the country, and there are working girls everywhere.
I also found cab drivers to be a real nuisance. Sometimes they tried to charge me 10
times the price just because I was white. To avoid this problem I just told the cab driver
to use his meter. Sometimes they just did not want to use their meter, so I found a
different cab. There are hundred of thousands of cabs in Manila, so it is fairly easy to
switch cabs.
Conclusion
I would recommend the Philippines to anyone. I love the country, and would go back
any day. I found Manila to be a bit much, but once you are out of Metro Manila it’s a
wonderful and amazing country. I am actually thinking of owning my own scuba
diving/beach resort there one day. I took over 300 pictures while I was there, and if
anyone would like to see my pictures just email me at rsg6@sfu.ca .
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