What To Do As An Exchange Student During Autumn: Go Outdoors and Pick Some Apples (by yourself)!

This could be a FRUITFUL experience! And also only available in countries with four seasons or apple trees. *patting my fellow Malaysian friends*

If you’re looking forward to a food review post (idk maybe reviewing apples?), sadly this blog post does not intend for that… simply because I hate eating apples :3

Instead, this post is categorised under “# ROOKIES” since this trip was my first time seeing real apple trees, first time travelling alone in foreign countries and of course, picking apples on my own! Glad for having the opportunity to go for a student exchange program in a country with four seasons and this trip is indeed one of the most memorable events to me.

A long grandma story ahead, kids

Source: GIPHY

Although I had other friends from my university who went exchange in Canada as well, I was still always a lone ranger to travel around and explore Montreal. Being an introvert (or I should say I’m a shy person), I was pretty lonely throughout my first semester of study in Montreal as I do not really like to take the first step. From what I can recall of that time, the lonely yet adventurous me decided to join the apple-picking trip organised by the International Student Office (ISO) in Concordia University, although I’m not a big fan of apple and of course, mixing around with strangers.

The day started off with us taking bus from the university in the morning since it would take around an hour to reach the orchard which was located out of the centre ville of Montreal, at Mont-Saint-Hilare. The place was pretty decent and it wasn't only an orchard but also comprised of a mini-zoo, a souvenir centre and some hawker stalls selling food products made of apple.

Upon entrance, we were given a plastic bag that we could fill as many apples as we can in the bag, which cost around CAD$10+ for the smallest plastic bag and could fit around 30 apples. We were briefed about the few types of apples that are available in the orchard at that time which was in October (and my personal favourite back then was “Empire” if not mistaken).

Signboard at the entrance: Types of apples available that day

And after that… basically I just spent time in the orchard jalan-jalan, makan-makan (YES we were allowed to try the apples on the spot), picking apples, shooting vlog(?) etc. Fortunate enough, I made a vlog recording this extraordinary *COUGH 'cause there isn’t apple tree in Malaysia COUGH* and memorable experience.

Special credits to my companion J during the trip, for helping me for the shooting and bearing with me (and my inner desire to be a Youtuber) that time.

At the end of the day, what I gained was a pair of sore arms for carrying a heavy bag of apples.

K JOKING what I would like to comment about travelling alone in a place that I was not familiar with was indeed a good experience as I made friends (forcibly by myself) from different countries during that trip. Although, probably, making friends or not wanting to be alone is not your priority to go on a trip, to have the courage to step out of your comfort zone to experience something else could actually be a fruitful (pun intended) experience, at least for myself!

P/S: I still hate eating apples :)

*tries not to scream and pretend calm for a good pic*