October and November

So what’s been happening since I last updated my blog? Well lots!
October is a big month in Canada with two popular holidays, Thanksgiving and Halloween. Thanksgiving was at the beginning of October and is slightly different to the American version, which is later in the year. Basically the weekend is about eating lots of food (Christmas dinner type food) and spending time with family. I was lucky enough to be invited to my housemate Miranda’s family home in Erin, just over an hour outside of Toronto. Erin is lovely little town surrounded by lots of countryside. I even got to go to the Erin Fall Fair complete with tractor pulling and a demolition derby as well as many other typical north American activities.

Halloween was at the end of the month which is very popular here. Pumpkins were everywhere and many people put lots of effort into their costumes. Parties took place across the city over the weekend. My night was spent at a huge Coop Party in the Lowther Division which hosts a Halloween party every year.

At the beginning of December we had a few days off Uni ,supposedly meant for reading so me and a few friends decided this was the best time to spend 5 days in New York! We got the Megabus all the way from Toronto to New York which only took 12 hours, which by North American standards is no time at all! On the first night we went to a gig at the Mercury Lounge in downtown New York to see a few local bands which was very cool. My few days in New York were amazing, doing all the main iconic sites such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Met, the MoMA and walking through Central Park. We also spent a lot of time walking through neighbourhoods such as Soho and the East Village as well as going to a Flea Market in Hell’s Kitchen. There is so much to do in New York after a few days I felt I barely scratched the service. Hopefully I’ll be going back next May for my 21st!



Statue of Liberty at Sunset



View from top of Empire State Building



Bryant Park


Well apart from all this exciting stuff going on I’ve mainly been in lectures or at the library. U of T surely does know how to work you hard. When I checked the calendar I realised that I will be coming home for CHristmas in 4 weeks! My time here has gone by soooo quickly, but before then I have to write a research essay and sit four exams. Hopefully between all that I’ll get to explore some more of Toronto! xxx

The first month

So I've been here in Toronto for just over a month now and how time has flown by! As I don't have very much time with the mountain of reading I have to do I'll give you a taster of what's been happening.

After a 7 hour flight I finally arrived in Toronto and got straight into the swing of things. Sorting out bank accounts, mobile phones, paying rent, buying bedding and stuff for my room all took their time but had to be done. Although me and my mum were busy getting organised we found time to do some touristy things as well such as going to Niagra Falls.



After a few days staying of staying in the hotel I moved into 602 Spadina Avenue with is apart of Campus Coop.



Fenwick House is a beautiful old Victorian building whose green ivy is already turning red as I write this. I live with 9 other people; 8 Canadians and a German so not having any problems making friends especially with the locals!

Toronto is such an amazing city with lots going on. I've been trying to do lots of touristy things before the workload gets too heavy. So me and a friend decided to get the Toronto CityPass which gets you into 5 of Toronto's top attractions, the Royal Ontario Museum, Casa Loma (old mansion which looks over Toronto and has been in lots of films such as X men and Scott Pilgrim vs The World to mention a few), the Zoo, the Science Centre and the CN Tower.


ROM


Casa Loma


Butterfly at the Zoo


View of CN Tower from Lake Ontario

As I mentioned before there is something always going on in Toronto. This weekend it was Nuit Blacnhe which is an all night arts festival which takes place from sunset to sunrise. Me and some others from Coop spent the night walking around Toronto looking at all the different art installations with thousands of other people.


Light installation on Yonge Street

This is just a small taster of what I've been up to over the past month but hopefully it has satisfied your curiosity! I will hopefully be updating this every so often with interesting pictures and such forth.

Keep in touch!