Bright, beautiful, brilliant, but no place like home

Academics can be a great vehicle for experiencing another culture. You get to work and holiday in an environment that is its own safety net. It's like nannying really, but you get a professional qualification at the end of it.

I left Ireland in August, 1995, to do a master's degree in English at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. I was granted a teaching assistantship worth $8,000 a year, and had $10,000 in the bank - at the insistence of the Canadian Embassy.

This sounds expensive, but let me explain. Most North American universities charge thousands of dollars tuition. UBC, at that time, did not distinguish between domestic graduate students and international students. Everybody paid fees of $2,800 a year, roughly similar to the £1,400 some Irish universities were charging for MA programmes. Add on £5,000 a year for living expenses and it was almost as cheap to travel to Canada as stay in Ireland.

I was offered teaching experience under the supervision of a senior professor - as you taught, you learned. I can think of no better combination for a student than to be sitting in a graduate seminar one day and trying to teach Shakespeare to a class of predominantly Asian students the next.

A course on first-year English is mandatory for all UBC undergraduates, many of whom have English as a second language and many of whom regard the course as a nuisance, something to be endured and passed on their way to commerce, computer science or physics.

An enormous institution with over 35,000 students, UBC is highly bureaucratic. I needed a form for everything from office keys to graduating. Such bureaucracy is standard, however, and, once mastered, admits you to interesting opportunities.

Within the programme, opportunities for moving around were manifold. It was possible to take undergraduate courses, courses in other departments - sociology, geography and theatre were favourites. Or you could design your own courses, a reading course for which you devised a reading list, schedule and, with the professor of choice, had weekly meetings to discuss texts.

Alternatively you could take a course in another university. Under a special agreement, UBC students could study in another British Columbia university, or in colleges in Alberta, Oregon or Washington State.

There was also an exchange programme. I knew one student who went to Sydney for a term. UBC actively encouraged networking and, to this end, had a $500 travel grant to defray conference expenses.

The semester system is very flexible. To graduate with an MA, you needed 30 credits, the sum of 10 three-credit courses, and although completion in two years or less is desirable it's possible to string out a degree programme over three or even four years - a favoured move among students with big loans.

Some Canadian students have whopping loans - one friend owed a total of $40,000. Repayments kick in six months after graduation, so it's in many students' interest to stay in school for as long as possible.

Vancouver is an expensive city. Average rent stands at about $450-$500 a month. Medical insurance is vital and costs $36 a month under the BC Medical Services Plan. Electricity is cheap and often provided by landlords under the "utilities included" part of a rental notice. Phone and answering machine/voice mail are absolutely essential. Local calls were free as were Internet and email access - once you had a UBC account.

I spent a lot more time than I should have surfing the Internet and writing emails. Apart from studies and work, social life in Vancouver was quite limited from an European perspective. A beautiful city, it offers a more outdoor lifestyle than a lively, clubby one.

My social circle consisted of a great many foreign students and Torontonians and Montrealers. It was difficult to find natives - everyone seemed to be from somewhere else. Quite a transient city then, I found myself buoyed by friends from England, Australia and eastern Canada.

THERE were ways of creating something of the missed atmosphere of home. It satisfied something to lounge on the sofa on a Sunday morning eating sausages from Marks & Spencer and watching a six-week-old episode of Coronation Street - or to sit with a drink in the Dover Arms on Denman Street watching the 1996 European Cup final between England and Germany.

But I had a far more satisfying time teaching Asian students, lolling on one of the beaches, eating dim-sum in Chinatown, climbing Grouse Mountain, taking the ferry to Victoria and Bowen Island, walking the sea wall around Stanley Park, day-tripping to the United States to shop in one of the discount stores or pay $2.99 to sit in a rundown cinema and watch three movies.

Studying abroad is challenging, but it's also one of academia's greatest rewards. I was there for just over two years and worked for the last nine months. Vancouver with its standard of living, beauty, amenities, multi-cultural society and professional opportunities, is a tempting place to live.

I resisted the urge to put down deeper roots and make my stay more permanent. Instead, I returned home to a society which can offer less in material comforts but has much more vigour. The best sign of a successful visit must - to be sent home with a broadened mind and lots of good memories.