It's been a busy month since I moved up to Toronto. I've been slowly settling into my new apartment. I've also been doing a lot of reading, reviewing, and studying for grad school.
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| My new "home" for the next two years. |
I wanted to get as much sight-seeing in before the semester started. Since I've been to Toronto many times, I skipped the usual spots, like going up the CN Tower and wandering through Casa Loma. I arrived just in time for Buskerfest and the Toronto Chinatown Festival. Buskerfest is a fair of street performers (carnival acts, musicians, magicians, etc.). My favorite acts were the fire performers, like
FlameOz and
Liqueur Flambé (violin duo who literally play with fire). I also enjoyed the aerial performances of
Suspended Animation Circus, who used a giant helium balloon to hang above the crowd. The Chinatown Festival offered great food and lots of erhu players scattered along the street. That's also where I met
John Finley Gilliamson, my new roommate.
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| John Finley Gilliamson |
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| JFG talking to the snail in his tank |
I'm doing my best to take advantage of my current car-lessness. I've been doing a ton of walking around, and treated myself to a new pair of snazzy running shoes. I've also been trying out classes at different gyms, and found a Spinning class that I absolutely love... it just kicks my butt. I'm gonna stick with the Spinning, but I'm glad that the U of T Athletic Center is included in my tuition & fees, because fitness is really expensive here!
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| Cute and comfortable, I'm content. |
I saw this sign walking around downtown. I have a feeling that it wouldn't be called a Philly Cheesesteak if it originated in Toronto. Sorry!
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| I don't think so... |
My colleague and I spent an afternoon exploring the Toronto Islands. The ferry is neat, but a little pricy. The beaches and parks were lovely, and the water was declared fit for swimming, although I doubt I'll have much time for that.
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| A view of the ferry dock at Ward's Island, with the CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the background. |
We also tried
poutine, french fries covered with brown gravy and cheese curds. It's really popular in Canada, but I don't think I'll be ordering it anymore.
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| Poutine. A picture is worth 1,000 words, none of them very pleasant. |
This week, I spent a lot of time observing choir auditions. I love hearing the many different voices that make up choirs, and this was a perfect opportunity for that. It helped that I wasn't the one who had to sight-read!
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| Auditionee's viewpoint, sans adjudicators |
I'm a little nervous, but very excited to start classes on Monday. As of now, it seems as though I only have classes THREE DAYS A WEEK! I have a feeling that the other four days will be spend doing a lot of work for those three days of classes.
Cheers!
