I have been back in Canada for 6 months now and the experience has been positive. For me Toronto is a good sized
city with 4.5 million people, it has every sub type of person, plenty of parks and a thriving cultural scene. Like most major cities the majority of people
aren’t from here. The cosmopolitan essence of the city draws people to it. On
the negative, like other major cities, there is some pretty serious competition
for decent places to live and good jobs. That’s the price you pay though living
in a city where people want to be, it’s the same in Sydney, London,
Copenhagen...
Toronto is the kind of city that if you look at a place and want to take an hour to think about taking it you're going to lose it. Luckily for me I timed my return with an opening in the house that I use to live in 4 years ago. So I was able to immediately sort out objective number one – a good place to live. Our brick house is on the outskirts of the Annex, which is the bohemian/ artistic area of town near to the University of Toronto. We have plenty of room for four people to live and even have a huge, by Toronto standards, back yard. There are loads of cool pubs/ bars, used book stores, art shops and off the beaten path video shops and cafes nearby. To anyone visiting Toronto a walk through the Annex on a warm day is a must – always so many characters if you’re a people watcher. You might even see Margret Atwood – the famous Canadian writer of “The Handsmaid Tale” and “The Robber Bride” - one of the areas residents strolling around. I’ve always liked Annex life... it’s been nice to see as well, after riding bikes for years in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, how many people are starting to ride them here too. The cars still rule the roads, and it can be scary getting passed inches away from your back tire, but there are lots of bike paths sprouting up like flowers in our back garden.
Since being back, I have had a mixture of old
and new friends. That’s just how I like it – some continuation from my past combined with some new connections. There are my two old roommates
from years back, but we also have a new one from Germany. There are also my old
friends - my base – starting with a guy I knew from traveling in Australia ten years previous. Knowing them
brings back old memories and nostalgia's that I mix with the present incarnation of me. My return hasn’t all been perfect.
Recently, I decided to part ways with an old friend from here after realizing
that our core values were not compatible anymore. That was a tough call, as
generally I see difference in people as a way for me to learn and grow as a
person, but in this case the difference in ideology and more importantly
scruples had became too great. A good person will reach down a thousand times
to help their friends, but when people have become duplicitous there’s also
strength in knowing when to cut your losses. In his place though new friends have
sprouted up who represent the current me. All in all, I am very happy to have
such a nice mixture of old and new. Four or five times already I have had
visits from international friends. Nothing I like more than showing people the
city, introducing them to locals, and getting to see Toronto through foreign eyes.
Each time it has made me feel lucky that I live here.
Others aspects of
life are coming together a little more slowly. I’m doing some casual waiting
work for a catering company. Certainly it’s not my dream, but at the same time
it’s something to tide my over till other opportunities present themselves.
Also, it’s a pretty good way to meet diverse people too. In a city with this
much theatre, film and other media going on I believe, without irony, that in
time something will come my way. Otherwise, Toronto is a great city to just “be”
in. What I have always liked about here is that when the sun appears people’s best selves come out too. That’s the beauty of countries that have real winters; people enjoy the summer so much more. Something else I like too are some anti mainstream values I’ve
noticed springing up. For the first time
I’m living without mainstream television. We have a television set, but we only
use Netflix and download movies... and don't have any cable. Lots of people in Toronto, many of the
people I know, are doing the same thing and escaping the homogenized messages
of mainstream media and more importantly the sea of dull commercials that
patronize us with their incomplete assessments of who we are and what they think we want. It’s
refreshing stepping off the grid in this way and I might write more about it
later.
For now and in to
the future Toronto is home. So everyone who reads
this – come for a visit soon.
