Hurricane = no bananas?

Just a quick hello to everyone. I'm writing here, safe and sound in Larwenceville, New Jersey. Rich and I left NYC on Thursday night before calls for evacuation began. We have been watching the news and getting ready for the hurricane here as it should be hitting us late tonight and early tomorrow.

Like the rest of the state of New Jersey, Rich and I decided to go grocery shopping yesterday. It was, of course, filled to the brims with people and empty of many of the necessities. We were able to scrounge for bread and water, but strangely there were no bananas to be found.

In NYC everything in downtown (Battery Park, the Village, Chelsea) is being shut down and evacuated. In addition, all commuter rail trains going North and South and all subway service is being shut down at noon today. And they closed down Washington Square Park...ha! Not something you see every day in the city.

All in all we are safe and sound, away from the crowds, and just getting ready to relax and hang out as the storm passes over us.

A tour of Toronto's libraries

The purpose of this blog is to communicate to you all, dear readers, my life and my experiences in Toronto. For a long time I've been fretting over the fact that, well, I don't have that many experiences of "Toronto." At least not the typical, culturally fascinating ones that would warrant a blog post. But then I thought to myself, "self, your intention is to write about your life in Toronto, so why not just do that." Eureka! What a thought! Therefore, tonight I will delight you with one of the most central aspects of my life, the wonderful, the beautiful.... library (libraries to be more exact, UofT has several).

 The first library I'd like to bring your attention to is the Kelly Library. This building is indeed so reminiscent of Soviet architecture that it has been used as a backdrop for a film set in the USSR! (Imagine my surprise when I came here to get a book one snowy day and all the signs outside were suddenly in Cyrillic. I thought it was a sure sign of sleep deprivation.) The great thing about this library, once you get past the facade, is the amazing collection of Slavic literature it contains. This is the library closest to me and conveniently adjacent to the Slavic Department. So I spend a lot of my time browsing the shelves and hiding in carrels here.

For those of you with more modern tastes there is the Pratt library. The Pratt library is beautiful inside. All the walls are white and natural lighting somehow abounds here even on the darkest winter days. This library seems to have been built with all the luxuries a hard-working student could desire: comfortable chairs, plenty of outlets, big windows to stare out of... But for that reason this library also tends to get crowded. Rarely do I go here for books unless I can't find a copy at the Kelly library. But when I need to write a paper, this is a great place to go! It is also the closest to the Centre for Comparative Literature which is another plus.

 Let us move on to my personal favorite, the Hart House Library. This library is a small room located in one of the student centers called Hart House. Not only is this library beautiful inside, it is also in the same building as the gym, the swimming pool, and the theater where I work. Frequently this library is occupied with undergraduates who think it is a good idea to take a nap on the extra long couches. As long as you can get over the snoring, this is the best place to read on campus. I always feel lucky when I get one of those seats by the window. This winter I have spent many a day curled up, reading in one of those big cushy chairs as the snow storms pass me by outside.

Finally, no tour would be complete without a stop at the massive and monumental piece of architecture (read: eye-sore), Robarts library. Often called the "Concrete Peacock" or my personal favorite "Fort Book," Robarts is the central library on campus. Once you get over its harsh, cold exterior... you can look forward to a harsh, cold interior of the same style. Once you get over that there are a lot of wonderful books here. Almost any book that an academic could dream of lives within these walls. There is also a gorgeous rare book library with many, many original manuscripts and first editions available to fortunate researchers such as myself.

So we will end there. There are dozens more libraries on campus so if I ever get bored of these staples I have plenty of new book-filled buildings to turn to! And so, I can sigh the sigh of a contented reader!

Woof, it's cold outside!

Well we've been hit with what the weather channels are calling "severe cold" and "deep freeze" here in Toronto. I'm sitting here by my blessedly warm little radiator happy as can be that my feet are warm and toasty and that I am not out in such ungodly weather.

 One thing that has surfaced during this unusually frosty weather that I am fairly certain is a phenomenon left to the Northern parts of the world is dog booties. Truly, it is not something I ever contemplated, but I suppose a dog's feet must get cold on the ice-lined sidewalks of Toronto. Canadians, being the caring, pet-loving people they are, don't want their pooches to suffer while out on their daily walks and thus arm their pets with booties. If the animal is really lucky it will also get a matching little coat, which will likely match the color of his or her owner's coat/purse/shoes/scarf. What cute pairs these dogs and owners make, walking down the wintry streets of Toronto!

Back in Toronto

After a more than brief sabbatical, I am back in Toronto and ready to write!


So I haven't written since November of last year. Yes, that is a long time. BUT, I have an excuse. Last year was hard. I mean really hard. Hard as in "write 5 twenty-page term papers in a month" type hard. BUT, I got through it and recovered (after hiding out for four months in New York City). Anyways, I am going to attempt once again to start this thing up and to add some new adventures for you all to read.

This year I am hoping to experience more of Toronto. I think I've got most of the little cultural differences down, but I've honestly seen very little of the city. As some of you may know, the Centre for Comparative Literature (where I study) is in jeopardy. By the end of the fall I should know if the Centre will continue to exist as its own entity or if it will be subsumed into a big school of Languages and Literatures as a collaborative, non-degree-granting program. If the unfortunate latter option comes into fruition, I may be moving on from Toronto. Thus, this is potentially one of my last chances to experience the great things Toronto has to offer!

Since I have just returned to Canada and haven't had much time for adventuring, I'll give you all a lesson in Canadian vocabulary:

Bathroom = washroom
Rubber band = elastic (band)
1 dollar coin = loonie
2 dollar coin = toonie
Letter "z" = zed
Faucet = tap
South of the border = U.S

I'm sure there are more that I am forgetting... I always thought that "washroom" is a much nicer sounding word for bathroom. And I really get a kick out of "loonies" and "toonies" and it makes me wish Americans had silly nicknames for their currency. Also, I always feel strange when I hear the U.S referred to as "south of the border." In my mind I get a strange image of the U.S and Mexico blended into a Mexi-merica type place.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Why Americans need Thanksgiving in November: A min-thesis on the Holiday Season in Canada and the U.S.

I have been experiencing quite a seasonal shock these past 10 days. It has come in the form of wreathes, bows, bells, twinkly lights... yes, it is Christmas in Toronto or at least the retailers think it is. How did this all arise???

Well lets start at the beginning. On November 1st at approximately 11:15 am Rich and I began the search for that wonderful post-Halloween phenomenon that is half-priced Halloween candy. After scrounging through several pharmacies we were disheartened to find that they hadn't had time to mark down the candy. So the candy was still marked at full price. However, they did have time to put out their Christmas decorations and merchandise!!! I felt a sudden wave of holiday confusion washing over me. How is this possible? My mind was still celebrating Halloween and indeed I am sure that my stomach hadn't finished digesting the Pumpkin Ale or the Halloween treats from the night before, yet here I was faced with "Jingle Bells" and Santa Clause.

All of this mix up led me to a new thesis (since graduate life seems to be all about forming theses). The American tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving serves a much more important purpose than we perhaps realize. Suddenly faced with a world where Thanksgiving falls in October and not in November during that nice spot in between Halloween and Christmas, I realized that Thanksgiving is the perfect transition into Christmas. Thanksgiving maintains the lovely autumnal themes that I love but replaces the spooky with the more merry and familial which is blends nicely into the Christmas spirit. There is no dissonance between the eerie atmosphere of ghosts and blood and the cheery ambiance of snow and holly. Instead of stuffing our faces with candy we move towards the tradition of stuffing our faces with more substantial things like turkey and potatoes which we continue to do during Christmastime.

The other benefit of Thanksgiving is having a delimitation on the Christmas shopping season. While I agree that less than a month is a bit of a crunch in some cases to fit in all the caroling, gifting, and baking, two months of Christmas shopping is insane and unnecessary. Who wants two months of pressure to find that perfect gift? Dad always said, "work expands to the amount of time allotted" and I think this maxim is definitely applicable here. Eventually in your Christmas shopping when you have 2 out of the 25 days left you just say, forget it my aunt's best friend's sister doesn't actually need a gift. And that is probably all for the better because I bet your aunt's best friend's sister doesn't really want whatever gift you might've thought up to give her.

Beyond the retail anxiety caused by two months of Christmas shopping opportunities, my Canadian friends have shed light on another downside of not having Thanksgiving in November: depression. From several different Canadians on several different occasions I have heard that November is the worst month of the year. One friend told me that she always worries about Seasonal Affective Disorder in November. At first I didn't really understand. I love November and I think of it as a nice finish to the fall. When I thought about this more I realized why no one in Toronto likes November. The days are longer, snow is looming in the forecast, and instead of Thanksgiving there is only commercialized, pseud0-Christmas. Psychologically it is nice to have a holiday based all around good food and family during this growingly dark and cold month and the Canadians' November blues attest to this fact.

I would like to note, though, that there is one reason why I would imagine the early appearance of Christmas decorations in Toronto to be pragmatic. As I was walking down one of the restaurant-lined streets in my neighborhood this week wondering why everyone was putting out wreaths and lights, it occurred to me that many of the outdoor decorations would have to be put up before it gets cold and snowy or else Christmas decorating would turn into a much more hazardous ordeal. But besides this practical point, I still see no reason to inflate the giant Santa Clause blow-up thing any time before November 27.

Maybe all this is just me clinging to my American upbringing and my love for tradition, but I genuinely think that Canadian citizens would benefit from a mid-November Thanksgiving to help ease the pain of the onslaught of winter and to act as a good buffer between Halloween and Christmas. One thing is for sure, even if I am restricted to being within the Canadian borders for Turkey Day, I am not going to be giving up my mashed potatoes and gravy any time soon!

Numbers

Now everyone knows that Canada does numbers differently than we do in the U.S. It seems like not a big deal but recently I've run into a big shock that has motivated me to discuss the "numbers" here in Canada.

Every morning when I flip on the radio it is obvious. I am definitely in a different country. Is it the funny accent you ask? Is it that they play strange music? Nope. None of the above. The answer is the weather. As you probably know, temperature is done in Celsius here. Every morning when I hear the weather for the day I find myself thinking "hmm 6 degrees Celsius, what is that?" As long as it is between -5 and 10 degrees Celsius I have a generally good idea of how cold/warm it is since that was the usual temperature range I encountered in Russia. Fortunately, my computer has a nice littler temperature converter too that I take advantage of when I am not sure.

Then there are the other Metric system measurements. I have to forget oz and pounds and miles, throw them away. Poor things. Here we all think in litres (yes spelled "litRE') and kilograms and kilometers. I know, it makes more sense and all but I still have a hard time figuring out just how far away something when given to me in kilometers.

Finally, the big shock for me this week came in class. My first french paper was returned to me on Thursday and right in the middle in red pen was a big 78. I was pretty much devastated as this class is an undergraduate class and I spent a fair amount of time on the paper. I really began to panic and the string of usual doubts surrounding graduate school came threading through my thoughts: "maybe I'm not good enough, maybe this is too hard, maybe I should've taken some time off..." While talking with Rich about my disappointment, he thought to look up the grading scale for the University. To my surprise a 78 in Canada is actually a B+! The Canadian grading scale is completely different than the U.S grading scale. 100-80 is an A, 79-60 is a B, etc. So while I now have to adjust to the way I think about grades and numbers, I am very relieved!

Grocery shopping

I love to grocery shop. I actually just love grocery stores. Admittedly, I sometimes do wander around grocery stores just for fun.

I've always found when moving to a new place that the grocery stores are vastly different wherever you go. Of course one would expect to find an aisle of pickled beets, cabbage, eggs, and so on in Russia and crispy baguettes and brie in France, but what was I to expect moving to Canada?

After scouting out the grocery scene for a month or so here I've come to report on some of the things I've found.

Where I shop:

I do my grocery duty at a nice little establishment called "No Frills." And believe me it really is no frills. This is most definitely the cheapest place to get your basic kitchen needs. Sometimes they don't have celery, sometimes they don't have chicken breast, but always they have low prices. As you probably know, being a student isn't living in the lap of luxury and therefore this budget-friendly place around the corner is my grocery of choice.

Other (fancy) places:

Of course we have the Whole Foods here on Bloor (our big glitzy shopping street) but we also have a couple of nice places near me just in case I have to have the organic bok choy or my fall favorite, the elusive butternut squash soup. For these things, the grocer "Pusateris" is really nice and usually has any odd organic, vegetarian, vegan thing that I could think to want. If I am feeling meaty-er then there is an amazing-looking butcher next door that I have yet to try. Rich and I went in a couple weeks ago and were amazed at the variety of nice marinades and fancy selections they had. We've already agreed that some day we'll have a special dinner that includes something from this place. And finally, a very nice shop which is also adjacent to the butcher is the cheese shop. No, it does not smell! Or at least not too much. The people behind the counter here are extremely friendly and very knowledgeable about cheese. (Who ever knew cheese was so complicated?) Another bonus is the free cheese samples all over.

A couple differences I have noticed here in the grocery stores (mostly in the dairy aisle):

• Milk. Milk is sold in cartons as we see in the States but also in bags. I am not sure how these work actually. I always eye these things and wonder how these rolly-polly bags of milk could ever get from the grocery store back home without popping and making a huge mess. And then there is the whole challenge of what to do once you've gotten it home. How do you drink milk out of a bag?
• Dairy prices in general. Dairy is unfortunately not subsidized by the government here and it always ends up being the most expensive thing I buy. 2 liters of milk (approx. 1/2 gallon), for example, costs me $4.50. Wow!
• New brands. Wonderful brands such as "No Name" and "President's Choice" are usually my off-brand favorites. I was a little perturbed today when buying pumpkin puree to find that the trusted "Libby's" brand was nowhere to be seen. Oh well... guess I gotta cut loose some time and try something new!
• Eggs. I always found it strange in Russia that you could buy eggs that weren't refrigerated. You could also buy eggs in a plastic bag which I thought was even stranger. But here in Canada I've come across the same non-refrigerated egg scenario. Maybe it is just a habit that I formed growing up in the U.S but for some reason non-refrigerated eggs seems like a bad idea to me. Fortunately, Canada is all about choice which means that I can choose between the non-refrigerated and refrigerated varieties of eggs.
• Grocery bags. Grocery bags cost extra here. Actually, all shopping bags do. It seems that it is a Canadian law the all stores must charge 5 cents for each bag. I actually really like this law. It is of course environmentally friendly and I get to show off my cool reusable bags from H.E.B and West Side Market (Rich's awesome grocery store) .

Alright, enough distraction for now. Back to the books! I hope everyone is doing well. Grandma, I hope you are recovering alright after the surgery. I am thinking about you!