WELCOME TO TORONTO!Not me driving - but I wish it was!
(Did I tell you that I have my Level 2 RYA Powerboating Certificate??!)
Well...this is the first entry...it's like the first day at school when you used to get all your new textbooks and then use your newly sharpened pencil or purchased pen to write your name on the cover! OK, not quite. Still, it feels a bit daunting as one wants to get the tone right!! As ever, I'm going to try and lower that one!
Anyway, it's been three weeks now since I left the UK and my lovely friend and mum-to-be, Joanna, very kindly deposited me and my mountains of baggage at Manchester Airport - still can't quite believe I managed to squeeze in 10 pairs of shoes and it was still underweight! Good job I threw out all that useful stuff like towels, travel irons and umbrellas I reckon.
The flight over was fine and seven hours actually seemed rather too short compared to recent Asian schleps...still managed to squeeze in a couple of films though. The time difference is five hours so I arrived in the evening and spent my first night in a rather cool hotel called The Drake. I'll eventually get round to writing an article on Eating History I'm sure. I was rather taken aback by the 'erotic room service menu' but must add that the journey and jet-lag meant I was too exhausted to pick up the phone - honest! I know, I know - one should take these opportunities as they arise!
The next day I moved into my accommodation here at the University of Toronto. I'm staying in the Graduate House. It's a very modern building (my room is just about where the streetcars rear end is!) and despite having a lot of unpainted grey concrete walls it's been ideal as a first base. I'm in a shared-flat with three others - all post-grad students doing summer internships - and we have a shared kitchen/lounge with two bathrooms and our own rooms. It's basic but functional and the rest of the building is very well equipped. A laundry room, a cinema room, a common room, TV areas and a great courtyard with gas-fired barbecues and fancy sun-loungers that I've been making rather a lot of use of! I now look more pink than white as the weather's been great! It's also right opposite the sports centre so I've been swimming a fair bit. The streetcar ('tram') departs from outside the door and takes you downtown ('to the city centre') and the subway ('underground') is just five minutes walk away although the nature of the transport system is integrated so everything connects and you only pay once for each journey as long as you take the most direct route and don't break between changes. Think the UK could learn a think or two about that! I love the streetcars...faster than buses and kind of old-fashioned.
One of the other things I really like about Toronto, apart from the transport system, is the array of summer festivals. There are loads! At least three a week. Since I've been here I've attended quite a few events including the Luminato festival, the Taste of Little Italy festival, the Blues festival, the Dragonboat festival and...the highlight...Woofstock! Actually, the last one was an accident...I went on a free heritage walk around the city centre and somehow ended up in what appeared to be a sea of dogs attending the most bizarre event where all the stalls sold doggy related paraphernalia - there was even a dog bakery for goodness sake! Needless to say, I made a hasty exit, thankfully without stepping in any doggy-do. As most of you know, I'm a cat-lover not a dog-lover! This week it's Pride, next week it's the Jazz festival and then Summerlicious and the Fringe...and so the summer goes on. There seems to be a lot happening culturally and the fact that Toronto has such a multi-cultural population means that there is generally something for everyone.
I've already sussed out when the free entry nights are at the museums - the Bata Shoe Museum was first on my list! I've also done a couple of free guided walks around certain districts in the city, such as Cabbagetown (love the name!), which are proving to be a great way of checking out the different parts of the city. Toronto is very flat so it's my kind of city for walking in. I like the architecture too - lots of different styles. The Distillery District has a really old feel and has been used as a backdrop in many films e.g. Chicago and Cinderella Man. Queen Street West has a fifties feel. Downtown is skyscraper-ville and the Harbourfront has yachts and great views over towards the islands and Lake Ontario. I'm living in the area known as the Annex just on the doorstep of the University, which is great as that's where I'll be working as of next Monday. I've just secured a teaching job for the summer and possibly beyond at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies.
Although my end of the Annex is more studenty it gets quite posh as you walk along the main street (Bloor)...it becomes almost like Knightsbridge with your Gucci, Prada and Burberry shops lining the street. It's also the area where many of the museums are located and, quite controversially, the new Royal Ontario Museum extension known as
the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind who is, I believe, destined to build the new construction on the site of the World Trade Centre in New York. I actually went to the opening ceremony which was hosted by Paul Gross. For those of you who don't know (shame on you!) he played Constable Benton Fraser in Due South so no matter what else happens I can at least say I have seen the Mountie to top all Mounties!!So...so far...things are going great, met some friendly people and I'm really enjoying exploring the city, which I've managed to fit in around applying for jobs, interviews and doing the odd bit of supply teaching for International House and being a paid research participant in a psycho-linguistic study. That was actually quite good fun as I managed to baffle the computer with my British accent and 'strange' vocabulary! I've also started salsa classes locally and, despite falling off my shoes a few times, I'm gradually improving - it's also a good excuse to buy new shoes! Work-wise things are also looking up now that I've landed the job at the UofT, as it's called, and I'm looking forward to starting there next week.
Anyway, I'll sign off there...satisfied that the page is no longer blank!
