1. You bump into people. All. The. Time.
This can happen at grocery stores, in the gym, in the park, basically everywhere. You’ll bump into friends, into neighbours, into that girl you see at every lecture hall but you don’t know the name of. You might or might not look at your phone just to pretend you don’t see them.
2. You can walk everywhere.
Especially if you come from a bigger city, you might find the fact that you can walk to downtown within thirty minutes from campus to be the most amazing thing ever. Being healthy and fit has never been easier.
3. Downtown is one street, basically.
If you’re used to hopping from one corner to the next on your weekend nights out, then you’ll find the tiny downtown region a bit weird to get used to. The choices might be finite but, on the plus side, you’ll get to know these places and the people around them on a personal level.
4. Shops close way too early.
Too many times you might chance upon a shop you’ve been wanting to visit, only to find it’s closed. At 5 p.m.! So, the only other option, if you don’t want to go home quite yet, is to haunt the bars and restaurants.
5. The difference in city demographics between summer and the school year is equivalent to day and night.
Kingston is considered a university town. This means that summers can be quite dull, but once school starts, you might realize that the dullness was quite nice, compared to the human traffic you get everywhere.
6. It’s easy to know the city like the back of your hand.
Before moving to the city, you might be anxious about getting to know another place, especially if your sense of direction isn’t so great. But once you get there you’ll find the city generally easy to navigate, mostly because of its size. This can be a great confidence booster for your ability to trek urban areas.