Do you have the CapU Spirit?!
Mayumi Izumi (she/Her) // Contributor
Yohahnah Loker (She/Her) // Illustrator
October is a month of beautifully coloured leaves, sweater weather, pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween. For students new to Canada, Halloween is celebrated on October 31 of every year. It is referred to as a holiday, but it is not a statutory holiday; everyone must still attend school and work. Halloween is a day where children dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating. They knock on neighbours’ doors and say, “trick-or-treat” and receive candy (…or raisins if they are not so lucky). Adults also dress up in costumes and go to Halloween parties or night clubs.
Halloween originated from the Celtic festival of Samhain at the end of summer and beginning of harvest to keep away evil spirits.
Every October, CapU Student Life hosts a haunted house and a costume and photo contest. I spoke to Shanon Liu, one of their staff, and they are in the process of planning the events as we speak.
The CapU community will commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on October 2, 2023 as this year September 30 falls on a Saturday and the university will be closed. The event will take place to honour the Indigenous Peoples who lost their homes, land and children in residential schools. On October 17 from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm, CapU Indigenous will be hosting an Elders Celebration and Ceremony at the BlueShore Theatre.
CapU boasts a month full of activities and events beginning with the CSU elections:
- CSU Voting Period begins Tuesday, October 3, 9am – 9am
- CSU Voting Period ends Thursday, October 5, 5pm – 5pm
The BlueShore Theatre has interesting productions beginning such as:
- The Birds & the Bees October 04, 2023 7:30 p.m – 9:30 pm
And CapU Rec has a month full of amazing classes some of which are:
- Pilates Fusion October 3, 11:35 am – 12:05 pm and Stretch Fusion 12:05 pm to 12:20 pm BR 210
- Hatha Yoga Move More Edition, October 4 11:35 – 12:20 pm LB 322
- Relaxation Studio, October 11, 12:30 – 1:15 pm, BR 210
- Heels Dance October 16, 11:45 am to 12:30 am LB 322 offered every Monday of the month
- Laughing Yoga October 16, 1:00 – 1:45 pm BR 210 offered every Monday of the month
For those of you who are international students and new to this country, our Thanksgiving is celebrated one month before the American one. This year, Thanksgiving is on Monday, October 9th which means CapU will be closed. The tradition is marked with a grateful heart, lots of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, yams, sweet potatoes or squash, cranberry sauce and tons of stuffing. If you attend a Thanksgiving dinner, your host will probably ask you what you are grateful for. This year, I am grateful that the Tomahawk Restaurant in North Vancouver will be accepting orders for Thanksgiving dinners soon. Although my mom and I have made turkey and all the fixings together in the past, for a family of two, it is too much food and work to make it ourselves. We have previously ordered from Andrew’s on Eighth Coffee and last year from Save-On-Foods.
International and domestic students living at the dorms will be happy to know that I asked my friend and former RA, Quang Nguyen and he informed me that the RAs are planning a Halloween party. The date is TBA.