I share tips for inexpensive fun and relaxation with my international students at Conestoga College.

Here’s a list of my recent suggestions to my Technical Communications classes, with a focus on minimal cost recreation. This is also likely of interest to any student at Conestoga, and at the University of Waterloo or Wilfrid Laurier University.

During the break week, when I’m not teaching, I share information about activities that don’t cost much or any money.

I encourage them to spend time outside visiting:

• Parks and trails in Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener,
• Grand River nature areas 
• The rare Charitable Nature Reserve near Blair Village, near the Cambridge Campus of Conestoga College.

Kitchener Public Library, Waterloo Public Library and the IdeaExchange library in Cambridge, offer events, such as movies, crafts, and a 3D printer access. Yes, the libraries still offer books and movies to borrow.  (Students will be asked to sign up for a library card for any registered events).

There’s an e-sports gaming hub open to Conestoga Students at the Waterloo Campus of Conestoga College, at 108 University Avenue, in Waterloo.

There are also Farmer’s Markets to visit in Kitchener, St. Jacobs, and Cambridge.

I also always suggest international students go for a walk in Downtown Cambridge, which straddles the Grand River. Four bridges are open for pedestrians to cross the river in what was the City of Galt. Galt, Preston, Hespeler and parts of Waterloo and North Dumfries townships were joined in 1973 to create the City of Cambridge.

There’s also evening video shows projected on the Old Post Office branch of IdeaExchange, the Cambridge public library system. Times and shows follow the seasons.

Cambridge is a popular place for movie and television production companies looking for filming locations, often including historic buildings and the Main Street bridge as backdrops.