A Moveable Feast (of Books)

Tomorrow I am taking my major field exam. It is an 8-hour exam, open note and open book. My task will be to answer 2 out of 6 essay questions created for me by my committee members. If I pass the written portion, a week later I will have an oral defense of what I've written in front of my committee. I've been preparing for this exam for the past two months (thus the lack of blog posts) and as you can imagine I'm pretty nervious for it!  Above is the suitcase of books I plan to bring to the exam with me and some ramen in the background (hehe).

Wish me luck!

And Happy Easter everyone!

February Freeze

Brrr... it is cold out there! Today was one of a few sunny days we've had all month and so I decided to walk down to Nathan Phillips Square where city hall is.

Tomorrow is Family Day here and

a bank holiday so the streets 

were busier than usual for Sunday.

Old City Hall  is right next to...

New City Hall! 

In front of City Hall is a little skating rink. My

Canadian friends have been trying to get me to go

skating, but I'm balking. I imagine they'll skate

the whole time and I'll fall the whole time! 

My favorite mode of transportation in Toronto! 

That is all for now. This week is "reading week" at University of Toronto. Essentially reading week is the equivalent of spring break, but not as fun. Most students will take short trips to see family or a mini vacation elsewhere and then do work the rest of the week. I'm going to be working away enjoying the time to get caught up on work this week. We are now halfway through the semester! I am counting the days to big field exam in April. 43 days of preparation left!

Have a restful Sunday night and a great week everyone!

My World in Snow

The East Coast was not the only place to get hit with a snow storm this week. In Toronto we got almost a foot of snow. The way Toronto reacted, you'd think we were a city in balmy Texas, not freezing cold Canada! All events were cancelled for most of the day and everything but the U of T library was closed. Thank goodness the library was open. In grad school snow days don't count and I had work to do!

On Saturday I took a sloshy walk around campus and got some pictures of the snowfall before it all melted away (as it is currently doing today and tomorrow).

Amazingly, there are people who are actually

still riding their bikes around town even in

the below freezing weather. 

The streets have been pretty

messy for the past few days

even with lots of salt and plowing.

One of my favorite places

in Toronto: Queen's Park

More Queen's Park. 

Snow-capped Northrop Frye (an important 

Canadian literary theorist and critic).

 

Another favorite place on campus: Hart House! 

Good thing I have some sturdy

snow boots! Walking in this snow

can be quite messy. 

I hope everyone is keeping safe and warm wherever you are and however you were affected (or not) by the recent winter weather!

 

 

Christmastime is Here

Christmas has now come and gone! I hope that everyone had a fantastic Christmas. Rich and I had a hectic few days trying to squeeze as many Christmas traditions in as possible. I arrived in New York on Saturday night and we spent some time enjoying the season here in the city. On Monday we headed to New Jersey to celebrate with Rich and his family and now we're back in New York for a few days to get some work done before the new year!

 Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to take 

pictures around Toronto because I was so busy 

marking exams, but I got this one shot. Toronto 

loves to get dressed up for the holidays just as 

much as New York! 

 Traditionally, each year Rich and I take a walk down

5th Ave. to look at all the lights and decorations.

Although the windows as Macy's are the most famous...

 Rich and I prefer the opulence of 

the windows at... 

Bergdorf Goodman's on 5th Ave. They do a wonderful

job of highlighting both the artistry of window dressing

and the clothing and accessories they sell. 

Busy 5th Ave. is an amazing sight during the holidays--

The streets are full of sparkling light shows, 

people from all over the world, and vendors 

selling savory and sweet treats to the passersby;

And of course the famous 

Rockefeller tree!

Even the Empire State Building gets decked out 

for the holidays. 

Against our better judgement, Rich and I stopped 

in Macy's. Fortunately, it was not as 

crowded as we expected (most likely 

because we visited at 10:30 pm).

Back in New Jersey, Christmas 

trimmings and tidings were 

a little more tranquil.

This year Rich gave me one of the most thoughtful

gifts I've ever received: an original fixture from 

the Swarovski crystal chandeliers at the Metropolitian

Opera, one of my favorite places in the city.

To top off a great Christmas day, we had a 

wonderful Christmas dinner full of 

good food and laughter (and 

tasty meatballs!). 

That is all for now. Rich and I will be busy for a few days, getting in some work before we head off to spend New Years with some college friends. I wish everyone a peaceful and happy end to this year and a wonderful beginning to the new year!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This past month has been quite hectic with the end of the semester! I still have a week left, which will be full of grading exams. I hope to make some time for baking cookies and watching Christmas movies, though.

Tea Advent Calendar: A local Toronto tea shop makes these

wonderful tea-filled Advent calendars that have a new

tea for each day of December leading up to Christmas! 

I've now put up my (few) Christmas 

decorations including this teddy bear 

stocking, which I believe was my first 

stocking as a child (right, mom and dad?) 

Unfortunately only half of this string of lights worked.

It looks like I'll be investing in some new Christmas 

lights for next year! 

 

 Not even a kitchen with miniscule counter space

can deter me from making the traditional

Christmas sugar cookies! 

It doesn't feel like Christmas with out this 

Syvarth family tradition! 

I hope everyone's preparations for Christmas are going smoothly. I can't wait to celebrate the holidays with Rich in New York and New Jersey this year. I'm counting the days!

Fall leaves

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I was very sad not be in the States for Thanksgiving this year, but on Sunday I had a small turkey dinner for myself and my Canadian friend Christine. Now that we are officially moving away from Autumn and into the holiday season I thought I'd share with you some last remnants of fall: Toronto's fall leaves!

By now most of the leaves have fallen off the trees. We've even seen some snow flurries here in Toronto! So it is time to say farewell to fall and get ready for the winter holidays!

New Orleans

The trip I had been anticipating all fall has finally come to an end now. I had a wonderful stay in New Orleans and a good first experience at the Association for Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies conference. I was so glad to have mom and dad come down to visit. New Orleans is one of those cities better experienced with other people.

The Natchez Riverboat 

Mom, dad, and I took a wonderful cruise

up the Mississippi on this boat! 

Jackson Square and St. Louis Church in the heart

of the French Quarter 

New Orleans is all decked out with

fleur-de-lis and Christmas decorations.

Pirates Alley in the French Quarter:

Beware! 

The colorful and beautifully adorned streets of

the French Quarter. 

The exquisite, hand-crafted masks were one of my favorite

things found in the shops of New Orleans.

In a city known for its mysticism,

palm readers, fortune tellers, and

other diviners were all vying for 

tourist business. 

Also abundant in New Orleans 

are the famous jazz musicians! 

The (in)famous Bourbon Street, which

was raucous every night Thurs-Sun during

my visit. 

At the back of St. Louis Church many local

artisans sold their works. 

St. Louis #1 Cemetery 

Visitors left small gifts as the food of 

the tomb of supposed voodoo 

priestesses in the hopes of having 

a wish granted from the grave. 

Mom and dad in the French Quarter 

To top off our visit we took a leisurely stroll through

the Oak Alley plantation outside of NOLA, followed by

a rowdy viewing of the Saints v. Raiders game at

dad's local Fox and the Hound. 

All in all it was a great trip full of tasty Cajun cooking, great music, and fascinating history as well as some very engaging discussions at the conference. I'm a bit sad to be returning to the colder climes of Toronto, but I'm looking forward to the start of the holiday season soon!