I realized I've been in school for almost 6 months now and have not blogged about it ONCE. Probably because it's pretty dull, but maybe I'll share anyway, yes?
I'm in the Library and Information Tech, Accelerated, program here at Seneca College. It's "accelerated" because they took the first 2 semesters and crammed them into one for us, so it's a one year program instead of a two-year program. It's not exactly rocket science, so that's not really as crazy as it sounds. Even condensed, the first 2 semesters worth of classes seemed pretty slow to me. I was worried that with 10+ years of library work under my belt, this would be almost entirely review and therefore incredibly dull for me. Well, it's still pretty dull, but there's also some good, useful stuff. A lot of things that I'd learned on the job, I'm starting to see more of the exact hows and whys of them. Cataloguing, primarily. Nothing has been terribly challenging so far, but it's been less dull than I had feared.
Which isn't to say there aren't many moments of extreme boredom. For instance, probably half of my blog posts have been written during classes in the computer lab (like today's, in a class on blogs of all things). In a week, though, things should get a bit more interesting, at least temporarily. One of our requirements for graduation is to complete 3 different 2-week field placements in different types of libraries, as assigned by the field placement coordinator (we don't get to choose, or there's no way I'd be going where I am for my first placement). It's unpaid, but still, it's like going back to work, and I'm looking forward to that. Even if my first placement is at a Government special library - the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Strategic Planning and Implementation Branch. Woo! It's downtown, too, which is both a plus (I'll have a chance to explore more of downtown) and a minus (I have to take 3 separate subways to get there). I'm going to try to keep an open mind, though - it could be much more interesting than it sounds. I hope. It starts on the 22nd, and lasts 2 weeks, so even if it sucks, it'll only suck for a little while.
Monday, October 15, 2007
I slack, therefore I am
Um, so I'm a horrible blogger. Actually, I'm just bad at correspondence of any sort. In the past week or so, I've been yelled at by 2 different people for not communicating with them at all since I've moved here. One, my old boss, who was really more like an aunt to me and I feel terrible about not keeping in touch with. The other, my sister via my mom, although honestly I've gone 6 months or so without talking to her before, so I didn't really notice that it'd been that long. Regardless, I've been chastized, and I will make it a priority to send them each a PERSONAL note before this week is out. Also, to update a bit more since there's been a lot of stuff going on that I can share.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Cricket, anyone?
Sometimes I forget I'm in a foreign country. And then I see things like this to remind me:
"Newnham Rec will be holding tryouts for its Extramural Cricket team beginning Thursday Sept. 20 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Selected players will compete against other colleges in Seneca's Extramural Cricket Tournament Thursday Sept. 27. "
This is from a notice posted on the electronic bulletin board for students at my school. A cricket tournament. I can't even imagine the levels of boredom that must involve. I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, though, considering that a lot of the kids in my building were playing cricket out on the front lawn during the summer. Still, it makes me chuckle, as one more reminder of Canada's British heritage.
"Newnham Rec will be holding tryouts for its Extramural Cricket team beginning Thursday Sept. 20 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Selected players will compete against other colleges in Seneca's Extramural Cricket Tournament Thursday Sept. 27. "
This is from a notice posted on the electronic bulletin board for students at my school. A cricket tournament. I can't even imagine the levels of boredom that must involve. I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, though, considering that a lot of the kids in my building were playing cricket out on the front lawn during the summer. Still, it makes me chuckle, as one more reminder of Canada's British heritage.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
A Tale of Two Cons
Apparently the end of Summer is prime time for Comics fans in Toronto*. There were not one, but TWO comics-related shows over the past few weeks, and because I feel it is my duty, I spent some time at both.
First up, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. I was prepared to say that the best part of this show was that it was free, but this is just not true. I mean, it was free, don't get me wrong, but it was also a pretty great show. They held it in an old building on the University of Toronto campus, which gives them serious bonus points for atmosphere. And it was almost exclusively hipster indie comic artists and authors (even the few guys there who'd worked with DC and Marvel - Paul Pope and Stuart Immonen, for example - are far more 'edgy' than your standard comic book artist.) Also, there were a ton of great webcomic creators there, including two of my favorites, R. Stevens and Jeffrey Rowland. Also Ryan North and Chris Hastings, from whom I bought this most excellent tshirt. What Would Batman Do, indeed. I also picked up a few compilation books from people I'd never heard of, and checked out some pretty cool art (although I was out of money and could not buy any). As free shows go, this one rocked. And now that I've been once, I would totally pay moneys to go again next year (if they decide to start charging, that is, although I would obviously prefer that they didn't.)
This weekend is the Toronto Fan Expo, which has Comics, Sci-Fi, Horror, Anime, and Gaming components. Sounds cool, right? Is not so great, actually. Look at the guest list, man. Even the people who CANCELLED are pretty mediocre. Supposedly it's been better in the past, and maybe they made a huge mistake by scheduling it the same weekend as PAX, but whatever. Also, it's one of those cons where you have to pay extra to be able to see any of the panels - your $25 ticket only gets you access to the dealer's room, and a few of the signings. Needless to say we just went to the dealer's room and bought a lot of comics. Oh, the World Series of Video Games was there, also. Which is kinda cool, I guess. I was looking forward to watching some serious Guitar Hero shreddage, especially if someone chose to play 'Miserlou' on expert. But when the second dude we saw picked a song on MEDIUM and then proceeded to screw it up, I was a little disappointed. And shockingly, watching a slew of people sit at computers and play WoW is not nearly as thrilling as I had anticipated. The best thing about this show, really, was the mix of people attending. I didn't bring my camera, because I wasn't expecting so many cosplayers, but they were EVERYWHERE. We briefly debated instigating a fight between the Horror fans and the Anime kids, but it wasn't to be. The one booth selling TPBs for 40% was the redeeming factor, since I easily bought enough to make up for the ticket price.
*Yes, there is a third Comic Convention in Spring, the Paradise Con. We went to that too, but since it sorta sucked, I'm not going to bother with it. Really, it wasn't worth the price of admission.
First up, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. I was prepared to say that the best part of this show was that it was free, but this is just not true. I mean, it was free, don't get me wrong, but it was also a pretty great show. They held it in an old building on the University of Toronto campus, which gives them serious bonus points for atmosphere. And it was almost exclusively hipster indie comic artists and authors (even the few guys there who'd worked with DC and Marvel - Paul Pope and Stuart Immonen, for example - are far more 'edgy' than your standard comic book artist.) Also, there were a ton of great webcomic creators there, including two of my favorites, R. Stevens and Jeffrey Rowland. Also Ryan North and Chris Hastings, from whom I bought this most excellent tshirt. What Would Batman Do, indeed. I also picked up a few compilation books from people I'd never heard of, and checked out some pretty cool art (although I was out of money and could not buy any). As free shows go, this one rocked. And now that I've been once, I would totally pay moneys to go again next year (if they decide to start charging, that is, although I would obviously prefer that they didn't.)
This weekend is the Toronto Fan Expo, which has Comics, Sci-Fi, Horror, Anime, and Gaming components. Sounds cool, right? Is not so great, actually. Look at the guest list, man. Even the people who CANCELLED are pretty mediocre. Supposedly it's been better in the past, and maybe they made a huge mistake by scheduling it the same weekend as PAX, but whatever. Also, it's one of those cons where you have to pay extra to be able to see any of the panels - your $25 ticket only gets you access to the dealer's room, and a few of the signings. Needless to say we just went to the dealer's room and bought a lot of comics. Oh, the World Series of Video Games was there, also. Which is kinda cool, I guess. I was looking forward to watching some serious Guitar Hero shreddage, especially if someone chose to play 'Miserlou' on expert. But when the second dude we saw picked a song on MEDIUM and then proceeded to screw it up, I was a little disappointed. And shockingly, watching a slew of people sit at computers and play WoW is not nearly as thrilling as I had anticipated. The best thing about this show, really, was the mix of people attending. I didn't bring my camera, because I wasn't expecting so many cosplayers, but they were EVERYWHERE. We briefly debated instigating a fight between the Horror fans and the Anime kids, but it wasn't to be. The one booth selling TPBs for 40% was the redeeming factor, since I easily bought enough to make up for the ticket price.
*Yes, there is a third Comic Convention in Spring, the Paradise Con. We went to that too, but since it sorta sucked, I'm not going to bother with it. Really, it wasn't worth the price of admission.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Automated DMV!
I think this might be the best idea any government has ever had: self-service DMV kiosks!! It's genius. If all you're doing is paying a fee, why should you have to do it in person? I think this explains why, when I went to get my Ontario drivers license (still have to do that in person), there was no line and virtually no wait at the actual Driver Licensing office. The other genius thing they do? Aside from first-time licenses and drive tests, you can take care of just about any other motor vehicle regulatory service at a privatized center, and they are everywhere. No 2-hour waits surrounded by unhappy people waiting to be served by surly staff. It's pretty great, really.
The postal service is slightly more convenient, also. There are Canada Post locations everywhere (the nearest mall has 2 of them). And they're open at hours when most people can actually go! Too bad the actual mail-delivery part of Canada Post is ice-age slow, especially for packages.
The postal service is slightly more convenient, also. There are Canada Post locations everywhere (the nearest mall has 2 of them). And they're open at hours when most people can actually go! Too bad the actual mail-delivery part of Canada Post is ice-age slow, especially for packages.
Red, this one's for you
Have I mentioned the beer store?
So in Ontario, you can only buy booze at the LCBO or at the Beer Store. It's kinda like Utah but without all the polygamy. While it's a wee bit inconvenient to not be able to grab a six-pack while grocery shopping, the awesomeness of the Beer Store makes it all okay. First of all, they're everywhere. I don't think there's anywhere in the city you can live without having one or the other within a few blocks of you. Then there's the name : THE BEER STORE. It's brilliant. If they sold t-shirts or hats I'd buy them. Also, you can return your old cans, bottles, bottlecaps, wine and liquor bottles and boxes to them for cash and for Green cred. But the best thing about the beer store?
THE WALL OF BEER. Just look at the choices, man! You just walk up to the register, place your order, and your beverages are delivered to you on a conveyor belt as if by magic.
Now, not all Beer Stores are like this - some are self-serve, refrigerated warehouses, but those generally have an inferior selection. The one pictured above is right across the street from me. So far, my favorite Canadian beer is La Fin du Monde, from Quebec, which I had to try after Dave kept raving about it (thanks, Dave!). I'm gonna "force" myself to keep trying others, though. If it weren't for the fact that beer is insane pricey here, I'd be in big trouble.
So in Ontario, you can only buy booze at the LCBO or at the Beer Store. It's kinda like Utah but without all the polygamy. While it's a wee bit inconvenient to not be able to grab a six-pack while grocery shopping, the awesomeness of the Beer Store makes it all okay. First of all, they're everywhere. I don't think there's anywhere in the city you can live without having one or the other within a few blocks of you. Then there's the name : THE BEER STORE. It's brilliant. If they sold t-shirts or hats I'd buy them. Also, you can return your old cans, bottles, bottlecaps, wine and liquor bottles and boxes to them for cash and for Green cred. But the best thing about the beer store?
THE WALL OF BEER. Just look at the choices, man! You just walk up to the register, place your order, and your beverages are delivered to you on a conveyor belt as if by magic.
Now, not all Beer Stores are like this - some are self-serve, refrigerated warehouses, but those generally have an inferior selection. The one pictured above is right across the street from me. So far, my favorite Canadian beer is La Fin du Monde, from Quebec, which I had to try after Dave kept raving about it (thanks, Dave!). I'm gonna "force" myself to keep trying others, though. If it weren't for the fact that beer is insane pricey here, I'd be in big trouble.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Gee, how convenient
Now that the "accelerated" part of this Library Tech program is almost over, I've been thinking that it's time to look for a job. With a study visa, though, you're not allowed to work off-campus for the first 6 months (which means not until November for me), although you can work on-campus at any time. Also, you need to apply for a separate work permit to work off campus and that application costs $150. Okay, fine, I don't mind working on campus - it would actually be a hell of a lot more convenient, anyway, since I'm already here. Here's the catch : most campus jobs want you to be eligible for the Ontario Work Study Program. Guess what? You have to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for that. Thanks again, Canada.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
comic con :(
Needless to say, I'm not going this year. Since, y'know, it starts today. I had my passes, hotel reservations, all that stuff, but finances and school intervened to make it a pipe dream. Although, it's really not such a bad thing to be forced to take a year off from it. I guess. Still, I'm sad to not be spending the weekend in San Diego with all the freaks and geeks.
Next year, SD. Next year.
Next year, SD. Next year.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Guitar Hero, Part 2
Round Two was much much better than Round One. I made it all the way through the first 2 tiers on easy, and I even got 4 stars on "Woman" the first time I played it. My fingers are getting a little more used to the positioning and the timing. That being said, I still failed "Wayward Son" horribly on the first try.
What the *@!# was that?
Evil Dead the Musical, that's what. Now, many of you know that I HATE musicals. There are a few I tolerate, but that's either because of fond childhood memories (Paint Your Wagon) or better-than-average music (Rocky Horror). Given that, I enjoyed this one. I wasn't crazy about most of the songs (unlike Dave who bought the soundtrack). I don't really know exactly what it is about the music from musicals I don't like. Maybe it's just because they all have the same kind of sound to them - and that sound is unmistakably cheesy. But Evil Dead is inherently cheesy anyway, so it works. Plus, it had blood. Lots and lots of blood. You have to love a play that has a "splatter zone". Also dancing evil zombies. Now I just need to see Spamalot...
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Eureka!!!!
Let's start with The Danforth. Anyone who's seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" has seen the Danforth; it's the street the restaurant is on, and it's the heart of Toronto's Greek Town. The sheer number of Greek restaurants there is shocking. Actually, the number of restaurants, period. A few weeks ago Kiran and Vivek took us to this place called Mezes for dinner, and it was amazing. I don't even remember what I ate but it was delicious. We went for a little walk afterwards, and I spotted a place across the street that appeared to be Mexican, which I filed away in my little brain for future reference. A couple weeks later, Mark and Viv and I headed back down there to investigate further. But we saw a little burrito shop on the way and stopped there instead, because at this point, I wasn't sure that THAT wasn't what I'd seen. We walked around again to be sure, and it wasn't... it wasn't bad, but it wasn't the place I'd seen originally. So this time we grabbed a menu from the RIGHT restaurant so we wouldn't have to rely on my memory.
Last night, we went back to the Danforth to pass judgement on La Cabana. We walked in and were greeted by yellow walls and mariachi music (both good signs), the proprietor and what appeared to be half of his family (also good signs). We order some guacamole and chat with the owner some (I ask about tamales, he says he's considering expanding the menu but wants to make them for special occasions for sure). The guacamole is thick and chunky and creamy and tangy and perfect. Not like the stuff you usually get here, which is frozen or canned and over-processed. We get our food, and it's good. Surprisingly good. I tried some of Mark's chicken enchiladas and wow... sooo good! I had chicken in some kind of tasty chipotle sauce, and some of the best refried beans I'd ever had. Yummy! We all finish eating and are happily discussing our full bellies, when the owner asks if we want desert... fried ice cream. The consensus is yes. Hell yes. And again, soooo good!
Anyway, I am now content. I have found good Mexican food in Toronto. And I'm telling everyone I know here about it so they'll all go and keep this guy in business for a long long time. And then he will make me tamales.
Last night, we went back to the Danforth to pass judgement on La Cabana. We walked in and were greeted by yellow walls and mariachi music (both good signs), the proprietor and what appeared to be half of his family (also good signs). We order some guacamole and chat with the owner some (I ask about tamales, he says he's considering expanding the menu but wants to make them for special occasions for sure). The guacamole is thick and chunky and creamy and tangy and perfect. Not like the stuff you usually get here, which is frozen or canned and over-processed. We get our food, and it's good. Surprisingly good. I tried some of Mark's chicken enchiladas and wow... sooo good! I had chicken in some kind of tasty chipotle sauce, and some of the best refried beans I'd ever had. Yummy! We all finish eating and are happily discussing our full bellies, when the owner asks if we want desert... fried ice cream. The consensus is yes. Hell yes. And again, soooo good!
Anyway, I am now content. I have found good Mexican food in Toronto. And I'm telling everyone I know here about it so they'll all go and keep this guy in business for a long long time. And then he will make me tamales.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Guitar Hero, part 1
So I'm FINALLY getting around to playing Guitar Hero on the 360. Being a complete novice, I did the tutorial first, and then tried some practice songs before heading into career mode. Only the 4 practice songs I tried turned my fingers into goo. "Heart-Shaped Box" DESTROYED me. On easy mode.
I really need to practice more. A lot more. Once I can feel my fingers again.
I really need to practice more. A lot more. Once I can feel my fingers again.
Wherfore art thou, carne asada?
Toronto has some amazing food. The best Indian, Greek, and Chinese food I've ever had have been here. Which makes it especially disappointing that good Mexican food seems to be non-existant. I don't get it. You can get Chinese or Italian food ANYWHERE. Why not Mexican?? It's not like it's some kind of crazy exotic combination of foods that nobody likes. It's meat, rice, bread, and cheese, people, how can you go wrong?!?
Don't get me wrong, there is Mexican food here. And I don't mean Taco Bell. It's just not the same. I have YET to see a menu with either carne asada, carnitas, machaca, or tamales. I am seriously considering importing some Mexicans to start a restaurant with me. Something called Palomino's, or Juanita's, or Paco's. Some greasy little hole in the wall with mariachi music playing in the background and a salsa bar that looks like it's been there for 3 years. I even drove through the neighborhood which theoretically has the highest population of Hispanics in the city - nothing. Not even a Mexican market.
I'm still hopeful, however. There are a few Mexican restaurants downtown we haven't had a chance to try yet. I don't expect to ever see fish tacos here; but if I can order a tamale, some flautas, or a good ol' carne asada burrito, I'll be content.
Don't get me wrong, there is Mexican food here. And I don't mean Taco Bell. It's just not the same. I have YET to see a menu with either carne asada, carnitas, machaca, or tamales. I am seriously considering importing some Mexicans to start a restaurant with me. Something called Palomino's, or Juanita's, or Paco's. Some greasy little hole in the wall with mariachi music playing in the background and a salsa bar that looks like it's been there for 3 years. I even drove through the neighborhood which theoretically has the highest population of Hispanics in the city - nothing. Not even a Mexican market.
I'm still hopeful, however. There are a few Mexican restaurants downtown we haven't had a chance to try yet. I don't expect to ever see fish tacos here; but if I can order a tamale, some flautas, or a good ol' carne asada burrito, I'll be content.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
All Smarties are not created equal
"When you eat your Smarties, do you eat the red ones last?"
Mark asked me this question a few weeks ago. I looked at him like he was nuts, because everyone knows there aren't any red Smarties. Or so I thought. Apparently, the little powdery sugar bombs I've been eating all my life are only "Smarties" in the U.S. Elsewhere, they're called "Rockets". Why? Because "Smarties" EVERYWHERE ELSE are these little gems, which are pretty much just M&Ms with a thicker, sweeter candy coating. I have to say, I prefer the chocolate Smarties.
Mark asked me this question a few weeks ago. I looked at him like he was nuts, because everyone knows there aren't any red Smarties. Or so I thought. Apparently, the little powdery sugar bombs I've been eating all my life are only "Smarties" in the U.S. Elsewhere, they're called "Rockets". Why? Because "Smarties" EVERYWHERE ELSE are these little gems, which are pretty much just M&Ms with a thicker, sweeter candy coating. I have to say, I prefer the chocolate Smarties.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Nooo! They be takin my JoCo!!
A few days ago I found out that Toronto plays host to a music festival, sort of a SXSW Jr., called (naturally) NXNE. This was exciting news; more so when I saw that my favorite Nerd Rocker Jonathan Coulton was scheduled to play on Friday night!!! Then this crazy weather deal happened, and we thought it would be wise to stay in tonight. But then it cleared up... so we decided to try to make it down anyway. Now, for some reason, I thought the show started at 8... so we rushed downtown, and made it at 7:45, only to discover when we purchased our wristbands that he wasn't scheduled until 9. What the gal who sold us said wristbands failed to mention, however, was that the crazy weather also disrupted air traffic and JoCo had to CANCEL. We did not discover this until we had returned to Reverb (which is a pretty cool place to see a small show, actually), waited around for about 15 minutes, and then saw this 5-man band get on stage. Thankfully the ticket girl was spared my murderous wrath, because the replacement band (Public) was pretty rockin'. Think Killers without the suits and the keyboards. So even though things did not go as planned, they turned out A-OK. The evening gets bonus points for a) HMV security dude smokin' it up on his break one doorway down from the shop, and b) strange old homeless lady talking to herself in the Second Cup.
I love downtown.
I love downtown.
When did I get to Kansas?
Well, that was interesting. I'm sitting here at my desk, thinking about starting work on a paper I have to write for next week, when I start to hear strange noises from outside. I don't think much of it... this is a busy area, lots of people, lots of cars, and there's construction going on in the plaza across the street anyway. Then my curtains start billowing like crazy... okay, so it's windy, big deal. Then my plant gets knocked out of the window. Hmmmm... maybe time to close the window. I get up, look outside... and there are very large swirls of dust and debris spinning through the parking lot of that plaza. Then I see a big metal square, like part of the AC unit up on the roof, go tumbling down into the lawn below. Time to close ALL the windows. Then the rain starts, with the thunder and lightning and all that good stuff. Thankfully the wind is mostly gone now, although it's still gusting occasionally.
Sadly, I was too dumfounded to get any good pictures.
Sadly, I was too dumfounded to get any good pictures.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Milk in a bag... WTF, Canada???
Yup. It comes in bags. Also in cartons... but if you're serious about your milk, you get yourself a pitcher and bag it, baby.
It's funny how many people are surprised that I'm constantly amused by this concept. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure bagged milk doesn't exist in the US anywhere. Please, send me a link or a picture if it does.
Next, let's discuss the double-double. From their respective Wikis:
"A Canadian term made popular by Tim Hortons outlets is "double-double," which indicates a coffee with two creams and two sugars. It was added to the second edition of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary on August 10, 2004" (Tim Hortons)
""Double-Double" - a double cheeseburger (two slices of cheese and two meat patties)" (In-N-Out)
The first time I walked into a Tim Hortons and heard someone order a double-double I was disappointed that they did not walk away with a tasty, tasty burger. Keep in mind, they add the cream and sugar for you, which is why you don't just ask for a large coffee... you ask for a large coffee, double cream, double sugar. Or, a large double-double. This is now pretty much a daily staple of mine, considering that there are Timmy's EVERYWHERE. Canadians love their coffee. Unlike California, where your choices are generally Starbucks or 7-11, there are at least 4 major chains of coffee shops here. It's awesome.
We'll end with a little bit about weather. In SoCal, "summer" pretty much starts in April/May, with a brief timeout for some lovely June Gloom in San Diego, and it ends sometime in October. So imagine my surprise when the weather man last night tells people to cover up or bring inside your vulnerable plants, because the temp is going to drop to near freezing. IN JUNE. And it did!! I wake up this morning, the sun is shining outside, so I'm wearing a tshirt and flip flops. My feet were freezing by the time I got to school. And it's supposed to be back up to around 27 C tomorrow. So bizarre. The lesson here? Never put all of your blankets and sweaters away. You could need them at ANY TIME.
It's funny how many people are surprised that I'm constantly amused by this concept. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure bagged milk doesn't exist in the US anywhere. Please, send me a link or a picture if it does.
Next, let's discuss the double-double. From their respective Wikis:
"A Canadian term made popular by Tim Hortons outlets is "double-double," which indicates a coffee with two creams and two sugars. It was added to the second edition of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary on August 10, 2004" (Tim Hortons)
""Double-Double" - a double cheeseburger (two slices of cheese and two meat patties)" (In-N-Out)
The first time I walked into a Tim Hortons and heard someone order a double-double I was disappointed that they did not walk away with a tasty, tasty burger. Keep in mind, they add the cream and sugar for you, which is why you don't just ask for a large coffee... you ask for a large coffee, double cream, double sugar. Or, a large double-double. This is now pretty much a daily staple of mine, considering that there are Timmy's EVERYWHERE. Canadians love their coffee. Unlike California, where your choices are generally Starbucks or 7-11, there are at least 4 major chains of coffee shops here. It's awesome.
We'll end with a little bit about weather. In SoCal, "summer" pretty much starts in April/May, with a brief timeout for some lovely June Gloom in San Diego, and it ends sometime in October. So imagine my surprise when the weather man last night tells people to cover up or bring inside your vulnerable plants, because the temp is going to drop to near freezing. IN JUNE. And it did!! I wake up this morning, the sun is shining outside, so I'm wearing a tshirt and flip flops. My feet were freezing by the time I got to school. And it's supposed to be back up to around 27 C tomorrow. So bizarre. The lesson here? Never put all of your blankets and sweaters away. You could need them at ANY TIME.
A brief clarification
It occurs to me that anyone not in on the whole Kandor plot is probably a bit confused, so let me clarify. (I would have done this sooner but I'm lazy, sue me).
Anyhow, I have quite a few friends that I only interact with online, through a message board called Comics Haven. We all met on the City of Heroes MMO message boards; however, you are only allowed to post on those boards as long as you are an active subscriber to the game. Several people were only paying their subscription fees in order to be able to post there, which frankly, is retarded. So when a new, Nazi-esque board moderator came to town, a few of us decided to jump ship and start our own little community where we can swear and tell fart jokes and derail threads with impunity.
So what happened is, they all knew I was moving to Toronto, and decided to surprise me with a housewarming present. They managed to keep it completely hidden from me, which is amazing. So one of them (I think it was Austinwulf) ordered it from eBay. Another guy, Dave, was in Philly visiting family for his sister's graduation. Dave's brother lives in Toronto. Austin passed it on to Dave, who passed it on to Dave's brother, who then met up with Mark the night we had sushi as seen in the previous post.
Hopefully that makes a bit more sense for anyone who wasn't in the loop!
Anyhow, I have quite a few friends that I only interact with online, through a message board called Comics Haven. We all met on the City of Heroes MMO message boards; however, you are only allowed to post on those boards as long as you are an active subscriber to the game. Several people were only paying their subscription fees in order to be able to post there, which frankly, is retarded. So when a new, Nazi-esque board moderator came to town, a few of us decided to jump ship and start our own little community where we can swear and tell fart jokes and derail threads with impunity.
So what happened is, they all knew I was moving to Toronto, and decided to surprise me with a housewarming present. They managed to keep it completely hidden from me, which is amazing. So one of them (I think it was Austinwulf) ordered it from eBay. Another guy, Dave, was in Philly visiting family for his sister's graduation. Dave's brother lives in Toronto. Austin passed it on to Dave, who passed it on to Dave's brother, who then met up with Mark the night we had sushi as seen in the previous post.
Hopefully that makes a bit more sense for anyone who wasn't in the loop!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
I appreciate your Kandor
So Foo picks me up today to go have dinner before getting comics (even though we're retarded and Monday was a holiday here so we don't get them till tomorrow). As I'm walking to the car which I can't really see into because of the sun glaring off the windows, the front door opens and some Chinese dude gets out. I'm like, uh, hi there? Mark says, hey, this is Mike. Mike says, hi, I think you know my brother! And then I'm thinking, okay, this must be Dave's bro who I knew lived in Toronto... I wasn't sure why he was here with Foo, but whatever, it's Dave's brother, so cool. So we head out for dinner at the all-you-can-eat sushi place, which is awesome. As we're leaving, he asks if we're interested in photography and pulls out his camera. I just figure he's really proud of it (it was a pretty bitchin' camera) and again, don't think much of it. (Sadly, as we were walking out, part of the lens spontaneously detached for no apparent reason :( ) We get outside to the car and he says, darn, I can't fix this, i was going to take a picture of you guys... then Mark goes and grabs MY camera from the car, which I thought was odd, but didn't really worry about it much (apparently I'm just WAY too trusting). Then he pulls this big box that I didn't really notice out of the back seat. And tells me to open it. Now I'm confused... but I open it... cautiously. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Anyway, you guys are awesome. I was TOTALLY blindsided by this. And well done keeping it a secret!
Also, as a bonus, as we were getting in the car we noticed a mysterious object floating in the sky...
Anyway, you guys are awesome. I was TOTALLY blindsided by this. And well done keeping it a secret!
Also, as a bonus, as we were getting in the car we noticed a mysterious object floating in the sky...
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
For lack of anything better to do...
I'm gonna go ahead and start the next chapter in my saga, which should bring us up to the start of school. This one'll be shorter, I swear.
So when I first got here, we had an apartment, but couldn't move in just yet. So we spent the first few days in Mark's mom's basement. Now, they have a dog, and I have a cat... so that was interesting. The dog is a total wuss and would just whimper whenever he saw the cat. Possibly because my cat is the size of a small car and was hissing at him, possibly just because Koby is a pansy. Once we were allowed to move in, we started taking my boxes over a few at a time. We didn't actually "move in" until we'd made a massive Ikea run.
A short aside regarding the Furniture Shopping Extravaganza : we'd decided that we would try to split the cost, since although I am not working, my final paycheck from the Zoo included my sick and vacation time payouts and was pretty sweet. However, both Wells Fargo and Citibank have excellent fraud protection, and took one look at this $1500 charge in a different country and said "I don't think so". They both called me within a few hours to confirm that my cards weren't stolen or my accounts compromised, which really is pretty cool when you think about it. But still, at the time, it was kind of a pain.
Lacking a truck of any kind, we had Ikea deliver the bulk of our stuffs and then we got to put it all together, whee! Now we had a couch, a bed, a place for the TV... so it was time to move in for real. There was still a week or so before school started, so I got to do a lot of the rest of the shopping I needed to get all settled in, as well as make an early trip to the school to get my bearings and my books. Oh, and then on the Sunday before school started, we went to see Spidey 3 in IMAX.
Told ya it'd be shorter. It wasn't very interesting, really, but it bridges the gap. I'll try to do better next time, when I start detailing some of the differences I've noticed between Toronto and San Diego.
So when I first got here, we had an apartment, but couldn't move in just yet. So we spent the first few days in Mark's mom's basement. Now, they have a dog, and I have a cat... so that was interesting. The dog is a total wuss and would just whimper whenever he saw the cat. Possibly because my cat is the size of a small car and was hissing at him, possibly just because Koby is a pansy. Once we were allowed to move in, we started taking my boxes over a few at a time. We didn't actually "move in" until we'd made a massive Ikea run.
A short aside regarding the Furniture Shopping Extravaganza : we'd decided that we would try to split the cost, since although I am not working, my final paycheck from the Zoo included my sick and vacation time payouts and was pretty sweet. However, both Wells Fargo and Citibank have excellent fraud protection, and took one look at this $1500 charge in a different country and said "I don't think so". They both called me within a few hours to confirm that my cards weren't stolen or my accounts compromised, which really is pretty cool when you think about it. But still, at the time, it was kind of a pain.
Lacking a truck of any kind, we had Ikea deliver the bulk of our stuffs and then we got to put it all together, whee! Now we had a couch, a bed, a place for the TV... so it was time to move in for real. There was still a week or so before school started, so I got to do a lot of the rest of the shopping I needed to get all settled in, as well as make an early trip to the school to get my bearings and my books. Oh, and then on the Sunday before school started, we went to see Spidey 3 in IMAX.
Told ya it'd be shorter. It wasn't very interesting, really, but it bridges the gap. I'll try to do better next time, when I start detailing some of the differences I've noticed between Toronto and San Diego.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Actual weather! ZOMG!
Hooray, thunderstorms! I took the first picture from our balcony about 10 minutes after getting home today. The second picture was about 30 seconds later when it suddenly became extremely windy and there were itty bitty balls of hail flying around. Thank goodness it was warm (26c, 80F) or it could have been trouble! There was even a brief tornado watch!
Oh, this one I just thought was kinda pretty.
Getting here
I guess a good place to start would be to describe what a pain in the arse it was to actually get here in the first place. Let's start with the insane amount of red tape you have to wade through in order to immigrate to Canada. Whee!!! (This is gonna be a long one, folks...)
Now, pretty much anyone from the US is allowed to live in Canada for up to 6 months at a time... but they aren't allowed to work. You can get a TEMPORARY work permit, but only if you already have a job offer (easiest if your present employer has a Canadian branch or whatever.) Alternatively, you can apply for a Skilled Worker visa, which involves lots of crazy paperwork (like a Department of Justice background check) and can take up to 2 years. 2 YEARS!!! Who wants to wait that long?
As I previously mentioned, you can ALSO come to Canada on a student visa. This is also temporary, but it does allow you to work on campus for the duration of your visa, or to apply for a part-time temporary off-campus work permit as long as you have an offer in your field of study. Hopefully, that part will come later for me. For now, though, the student visa is adequate. Having a diploma or degree of some kind from within Canada also makes it (supposedly) easier and faster to receive a Skilled Worker visa, which has NO restrictions on when, where, or for how long you can live and work in Canada. So I'll be applying for that fairly soon, and hopefully it will be processed / approved and all that jazz before my student visa expires and they try to deport me. Another consideration here is whether I eventually try for my MLIS at the University of Toronto or not. A Skilled Worker visa would qualify me as a permanent resident and would let me take advantage of reduced tuition fees, as well as giving me more flexibility as far as working.
So that's background info. In order to apply for a student visa, you first need to apply for an appropriate college-level program (duh). I applied for the LITA program at Seneca in Toronto (which is basically a Community / Technical / Continuing Ed school). Oddly enough, the tuition for International Students was comparable to the tuition for a similar program in San Diego. The same is also true for the International tuition for the MLIS at the U of T. Score one for Canada! Now I don't expect this program to be terribly challenging for me, but it will definitely be nice to have some kind of FORMAL library education to fill in any weak spots I have. Once I received my acceptance letter, I had to pay the tuition, which is one of the requirements of the student visa application. They want to make sure you can afford to live in Canada for the duration of your studies even if you aren't able to find a job, and part of that is being able to pay tuition. So getting that out of the way ahead of time looks good to La Migra. So I submitted all my paperwork and then some (better safe than sorry, I say) and about 2 weeks later got my letter of approval from Canadian Immigration. Halfway there!!
Now I had to make my actual travel arrangements. Getting myself there was easy; getting all my stuff, not so much. My options were to hire a moving company (for $2K-$4K, depending on whether I brought my furniture too); rent a U-Haul and drive myself for around $2K plus whatever for gas and hotels and such; or pack up the necessities and mail 'em. I went with option C, and became VERY familiar with my local UPS store. I thought that would be the easiest, cheapest option. If I had to do it again, I'd hire movers, if only to avoid the tremendous hassle of dragging everything to the store, filling out endless paperwork, and then having to deal with Customs bullshit here on this end. Live and learn. Moving Munchie, my cat, turned out to be one of the easiest parts of the whole deal. All he needed was a rabies shot, a certificate from a vet that he was healthy enough to travel, and a call to the airline to save him a spot in the cargo hold (for an extra $75). Oh, and a tranquilizer from the vet for the little guy so he wouldn't hyperventilate himself to death on the way.
I started mailing stuff straight to Mark about 2 weeks before I left, and sent out the last group of boxes the day before my flight. I JUST got the last box last Friday, and it was one I'd sent expedited, 2-day air. Fucking Customs. We had to drive down to the Customs office at the airport and clear it in person. Also, when they open your boxes for inspection, they CHARGE you. They call it a "brokerage fee". It's such a racket, it's incredible. Anyhow, by this point, I have most everything I needed. There are still a few boxes of less-critical things in my mom's garage, which I will probably have her send out eventually. Right now, though, it's a pain to have things from UPS delivered to our apartment, so they'll have to wait a bit.
The last part of my journey, naturally, was the actual journey itself. The flight itself was fairly standard and uneventful. Getting my visa and going through customs on the other end was a bit more interesting. When you land in Canada, you go through a preliminary Customs interview before you pick up your baggage. In most cases, this is all you have to do, and then they let you loose on the unsuspecting Canadian public. Some times, however, they send you... elsewhere. Last time I came here, since my study permit application was already in the system, they sent me to Immigration to make sure I wasn't going to try to stay here until I was authorized. This time, I was sent to Immigration to finalize my visa. It was surprisingly fast and easy - I think they were just so relieved to have someone who spoke fluent English and had actually followed the proper procedures, they just sped me on through. Seriously, the 2 people on either side of me were there with nothing but a passport and were trying to immigrate on the spot. Don't work that way, folks. So they stapled my visa into my passport, stamped it a few times, and out I went. Next, I had to pick up my bags, and of course, my cat. Who was completely stoned and totally out of it. Then they sent me into the second Customs area, for a more thorough inspection. Honestly, if it wasn't for the cat, I think I would have skipped this part too. But they had to verify that he had his shots and things. This part was interesting... I was literally the only white person in there aside from the Customs personnel. They were pulling all kinds of crazy stuff from the bags of these 2 Chinese families, I can't even identify most of it. So again, when they get to me and my furry friend, it's a piece of cake. Although everyone assumes by the size of his carrier (he's a 20 pound beast) that it's a dog, and are amazed when they actually see the "little" guy.
Last paragraph. I promise. Thank you for putting up with my little essay here, and for staying awake to the bitter end. Now you're all caught up, at least to April 27th which was the day after I arrived. Next update I'll try to cover the week before school started, with the moving and the settling and stuff.
Now, pretty much anyone from the US is allowed to live in Canada for up to 6 months at a time... but they aren't allowed to work. You can get a TEMPORARY work permit, but only if you already have a job offer (easiest if your present employer has a Canadian branch or whatever.) Alternatively, you can apply for a Skilled Worker visa, which involves lots of crazy paperwork (like a Department of Justice background check) and can take up to 2 years. 2 YEARS!!! Who wants to wait that long?
As I previously mentioned, you can ALSO come to Canada on a student visa. This is also temporary, but it does allow you to work on campus for the duration of your visa, or to apply for a part-time temporary off-campus work permit as long as you have an offer in your field of study. Hopefully, that part will come later for me. For now, though, the student visa is adequate. Having a diploma or degree of some kind from within Canada also makes it (supposedly) easier and faster to receive a Skilled Worker visa, which has NO restrictions on when, where, or for how long you can live and work in Canada. So I'll be applying for that fairly soon, and hopefully it will be processed / approved and all that jazz before my student visa expires and they try to deport me. Another consideration here is whether I eventually try for my MLIS at the University of Toronto or not. A Skilled Worker visa would qualify me as a permanent resident and would let me take advantage of reduced tuition fees, as well as giving me more flexibility as far as working.
So that's background info. In order to apply for a student visa, you first need to apply for an appropriate college-level program (duh). I applied for the LITA program at Seneca in Toronto (which is basically a Community / Technical / Continuing Ed school). Oddly enough, the tuition for International Students was comparable to the tuition for a similar program in San Diego. The same is also true for the International tuition for the MLIS at the U of T. Score one for Canada! Now I don't expect this program to be terribly challenging for me, but it will definitely be nice to have some kind of FORMAL library education to fill in any weak spots I have. Once I received my acceptance letter, I had to pay the tuition, which is one of the requirements of the student visa application. They want to make sure you can afford to live in Canada for the duration of your studies even if you aren't able to find a job, and part of that is being able to pay tuition. So getting that out of the way ahead of time looks good to La Migra. So I submitted all my paperwork and then some (better safe than sorry, I say) and about 2 weeks later got my letter of approval from Canadian Immigration. Halfway there!!
Now I had to make my actual travel arrangements. Getting myself there was easy; getting all my stuff, not so much. My options were to hire a moving company (for $2K-$4K, depending on whether I brought my furniture too); rent a U-Haul and drive myself for around $2K plus whatever for gas and hotels and such; or pack up the necessities and mail 'em. I went with option C, and became VERY familiar with my local UPS store. I thought that would be the easiest, cheapest option. If I had to do it again, I'd hire movers, if only to avoid the tremendous hassle of dragging everything to the store, filling out endless paperwork, and then having to deal with Customs bullshit here on this end. Live and learn. Moving Munchie, my cat, turned out to be one of the easiest parts of the whole deal. All he needed was a rabies shot, a certificate from a vet that he was healthy enough to travel, and a call to the airline to save him a spot in the cargo hold (for an extra $75). Oh, and a tranquilizer from the vet for the little guy so he wouldn't hyperventilate himself to death on the way.
I started mailing stuff straight to Mark about 2 weeks before I left, and sent out the last group of boxes the day before my flight. I JUST got the last box last Friday, and it was one I'd sent expedited, 2-day air. Fucking Customs. We had to drive down to the Customs office at the airport and clear it in person. Also, when they open your boxes for inspection, they CHARGE you. They call it a "brokerage fee". It's such a racket, it's incredible. Anyhow, by this point, I have most everything I needed. There are still a few boxes of less-critical things in my mom's garage, which I will probably have her send out eventually. Right now, though, it's a pain to have things from UPS delivered to our apartment, so they'll have to wait a bit.
The last part of my journey, naturally, was the actual journey itself. The flight itself was fairly standard and uneventful. Getting my visa and going through customs on the other end was a bit more interesting. When you land in Canada, you go through a preliminary Customs interview before you pick up your baggage. In most cases, this is all you have to do, and then they let you loose on the unsuspecting Canadian public. Some times, however, they send you... elsewhere. Last time I came here, since my study permit application was already in the system, they sent me to Immigration to make sure I wasn't going to try to stay here until I was authorized. This time, I was sent to Immigration to finalize my visa. It was surprisingly fast and easy - I think they were just so relieved to have someone who spoke fluent English and had actually followed the proper procedures, they just sped me on through. Seriously, the 2 people on either side of me were there with nothing but a passport and were trying to immigrate on the spot. Don't work that way, folks. So they stapled my visa into my passport, stamped it a few times, and out I went. Next, I had to pick up my bags, and of course, my cat. Who was completely stoned and totally out of it. Then they sent me into the second Customs area, for a more thorough inspection. Honestly, if it wasn't for the cat, I think I would have skipped this part too. But they had to verify that he had his shots and things. This part was interesting... I was literally the only white person in there aside from the Customs personnel. They were pulling all kinds of crazy stuff from the bags of these 2 Chinese families, I can't even identify most of it. So again, when they get to me and my furry friend, it's a piece of cake. Although everyone assumes by the size of his carrier (he's a 20 pound beast) that it's a dog, and are amazed when they actually see the "little" guy.
Last paragraph. I promise. Thank you for putting up with my little essay here, and for staying awake to the bitter end. Now you're all caught up, at least to April 27th which was the day after I arrived. Next update I'll try to cover the week before school started, with the moving and the settling and stuff.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
An introduction
Hallo hallo! Welcome to my brand new blog. And welcome to my introduction. Soon enough, I'll follow up with updates and observations and such regarding not just my quest for official Librarianhood, but also differences between life in Canada and life in California. There are many, most of them minor, few major, but all interesting (to me, anyway).
Here are the basics for anyone who doesn't already know what's going on: I met a dude on the internet (playing City of Heroes, actually) and eventually decided to travel to Toronto to meet him and another CoH friend. It went so well that eventually I decided to try to move to Canada to see how it would all work out. I'd been thinking about leaving San Diego (my hometown) for a while anyway, just to try to get out of my rut, so it wasn't as crazy an idea as it might sound at first. Also, I've been working in libraries since I was in college over 10 years ago, but never really had any formal library education. I'd also been thinking about going back to school to remedy that. It was my mom's suggestion to combine the two, and it turned out to also be the fastest, easiest way to legally move to and possibly work in Canada, albeit temporarily.
So that's the story here, in a nutshell. And, away we go!
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