BJD

If you're wondering what BJD stands for, look on my friend Warren's biceps, as I was told he has those initials tattooed on both arms. Bridget Jones' Diary. What can this post possibly be aboooot?? Well on Saturday, my friend Kristen and I went to this Green Living Show, an expo where tons of companies have booths selling green, eco-friendly products. I had a free pass from my internship, and she had to recycle a cell phone to get in free..pretty good deal. Actually, the website gave a list of electronics that you could recycle to get in free, and I figured that most people would bring small electronics to carry on public transit. We walked outside, and there were huge bins with dozens of computers and TVs sticking out that people apparently lugged to this show. Hardly anything is free nowadays, so these people scrambled to take advantage I guess. BUT, we went there partly to see......wait for it.....COLIN FIRTH. I know, amazing right??? How jealous are you all right now! Well he was great. He was receiving an award, and there was a speech and then questions afterward. He not only is hilarious, but he also is very smart and practical. The perfect British man. Which leads splendidly to the next topic: the British man in my life, Paul! Who, by the way, disagreed with me when I said that Colin Firth was the perfect British man.

I wasn't sure what my next post would be, until I was talking with my great friend Vanessa and she was saying how my posts always have this elephant in the room because I never mention Paul, and yet he is a part of my Canadian life. (Side note: She didn't mean to say Paul was big like an elephant, which my g-ma so nicely asked when I first mentioned him back home. I think her words were, "hopefully he's not critically obese or anything"). Anyways, he was about a quarter of the reason I moved up to the big north. We met on the last leg of my Canadian trip, he was my great friend Helena's roommate. She actually told me she thought I would like one of her roommates before I came, but I was pretty indifferent not really caring about meeting guys. So, ice skating at 2am on the Rideau canal the first night we met sort of set the bar. I never considered doing long distance, but after meeting him, I changed my tune. We talked about every night for the 2 months since I last saw him (thanks family for putting up with that!). AND, come tomorrow, he will be visiting me for a couple of days in Toronto on his way back home from school!!! He lives 3-4 hrs away from Toronto, but we're aiming for the weekends to see each other. Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind. I saw him for 2 and a half weeks, left to California for a month and a half, and then moved to Toronto. So, I hope Vanessa's happy, although she'll tell me I left out a lot, and I'm pretty happy too. That's the part of my story that was left out, and now you know. Hope it wasn't too mushy or romantic, but if it was, DEAL WITH IT.

Spring!

Toronto wasted no time in its transition to Spring while I was gone. I live in a really cute residential area, and walk by a park and amazingly green trees every time. Even if it's not that warm out, just having the sun out and the trees green makes such a difference in my disposition. I can't help but smile! So this post is vastly different from the rant I did on my last post, but that's the beauty of this, there's variation. You would get annoyed if I was constantly cheery, or get fed up if I was constantly ranting. You know it, and I know it.

I had my first day of internship on Tuesday, and although I was a little saddened by the fact that my duties might be EXACTLY the same as my last UNPAID internship...I will keep doing it and see if something great can't come out of it. Plus, the lesbian women that run it are very nice, and there's a lot of leeway when it comes to days and hours worked. I mean, I'm doing free labor so there should be, right?

Tonight I'm going out for the second time since I got here, with my fried Kristen and in order to get alcohol, I have to make it to the store before 9pm when it closes!! An early start, but that's how Torontonians roll I guess. I will leave you with some nice pictures of my new neighborhood...enjoy!!

Torontonian

According to random fliers across the city, Torontonian is the correct name for the inhabitants of Toronto. I arrived on Wednesday and have honestly not had time to write since then. I thought I could get a bank account, cell phone, and an Ontario driver's license all on Thursday. The joke was on me. The Ontario driver's license was first on the list, and although the website had said it's reciprocal with my California one, I didn't realize that I'd have to give up mine up. Now, maybe I was being a bit of a baby, but I was a little irked that I couldn't keep both, as I consider my driver's license to be my piece of identity. Yes, I have a passport, but that just says I'm American, a blanket which covers more than 300,000,000 people according to the U.S. Census Bureau. BUT, my California ID puts me under a bit smaller blanket, about 30,000,000 people. And I consider that to be an extra special blanket which has amazing redwood forests in the north, and a large portion of stuck up, fake people in the south. With the exception of people I've met from San Diego (Jaz, this includes you and your family, don't worry..haha). A blanket that has enough business and grows enough agriculture to potentially sustain themselves as a separate country...I'm just saying. A blanket that may legalize marijuana and help clean up the insane deficit that our actor/governor has racked up, as well as the intense violence in Mexico from drug cartels.

Anyways, so when the lady told me they'd take my ID away and I couldn't get it back (I asked), I was kind of floored. She told me when I go back and "visit" (you mean when I go HOME, crazy lady) I'd just use my Ontario license. And she was even nice enough to give me an example! She said it's like when they (Canadians) go down to Florida, they just use their driver's license to get around. Her first obvious mistake was telling me that I'd go to "visit," like it'd just be a nice vacation in a warm place. Kind of a slap in the face that it's not my home, but now a place to just visit. Second mistake was comparing CALIFORNIA to Florida!! I'm sorry if anyone reading this has a soft spot for Florida...but come ON. Really? I must admit I've never been to Florida, so this is biased. But, I just don't see how alligator infested pools and crazy humidity could beat out California. This is a one-sided argument so I'll stop. BUT SERIOUSLY. You may be wondering, why then did I leave California if I love it so much? They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I'm an adventurer at heart. So I dabble in another country for a while, and when I go back to "visit," it'll be that much sweeter.

I ended up getting a bank account, could've been a bit more prepared with some cash, but I know that now. In Canada, most banks charge a monthly fee if you can't keep a minimum of about $2,000 in your account, and they also give you a monthly transaction limit. I was asked how many transactions I do in a month, and had no idea. Maybe I just got lucky with Wells Fargo, but I never had to pay attention to any of that. I did end up finding a bank that waives the fee for recent graduates, Bank of Montreal! Today, I go tackle the insane world of cell phones. There are too many companies and too many options..I'm sorry capitalism, this is a little much. I'm not saying I would like to pay more, but I think only two companies could still compete and have cheap plans. Plus the fine print on these phone company brochures is ridiculous. Small numbers tacked on the end of every sentence, hints at all different exceptions and time limits that you don't see until the back page, where a huge paragraph of small, light typing explains you are basically getting screwed and there is no such thing as a deal. At least every company has that though. Heaven forbid you find one that empathizes with the crap economy and a person's desire to keep in touch with loved ones. I was going to write "a person's need to keep in touch" but with the cost of a phone call nowadays, it can't really be a necessity, as feeding yourself still takes precedence.

I hope this post doesn't sound like one big whiny complaint, merely a witty take on grown-up responsibilities. OH, good news...I am now an intern at Planet in Focus. An unpaid intern, because in the Film world they know students are hard up for experience and will do free labor with a strained smile.

That's all for now, folks..stay tuned!!

The Final Countdown

As the day to leave this good old Yankee land swiftly approaches, I find myself excited for the many things ahead! There are 4 days left...and much of those will be spent with family. Partly because that's what you do before a big trip, but also because my G-ma and I's birthday is on SUNDAY. I haven't really thought about it much, except when asked what I want for my birthday...to which I reply: a job in Toronto? I guess I'm surprisingly calm about this big move. Everyone keeps saying it's a HUGE deal and aren't you scared and anxious?? The answer is no, and let me tell you why. Recently, when I was talking with my petit ami Paul, he asked that same sort of question. I remembered that when I was getting ready to go to England for the year abroad, there were big problems (like possibly missing my flight because I didn't have my student visa yet) but things worked out, so I now feel that I can handle almost anything. That and I've had a pretty non-stressful couple of months, so I think I'm just in the groove of not worrying about much.

Change of topic now, guess what email I just got from Air Canada??? A deal on their flights from California, up to 50% off!! So that deal I was waiting for...there it is. Too bad I didn't want to wait until 4 days before I leave to get a ticket. REALLY unimpressed with AC right now. BUT, on the flip side, I just read a press release from Virgin America saying they will start flights from SFO to Toronto in JUNE!!!!!!! How amazing is that. I wrote that it's as if Richard Branson (the owner of Virgin) saw my blog and was like, let's help this lady out. Thank you Mr. Branson. I'll be forever grateful if your service kicks AC's butt. I flew your planes to England and to New York and they were wonderful. Don't let me down.

Well, the bday celebrations start later today when my bro comes up and we party down! On Sunday my G-ma picks the hike she wants to do (yes, she LOVES to hike and is only turning the small 8-0) and then we have a Mexican lunch with family!(in honor of me because I complained that Canada didn't have good Mexican food). Did I mention my Great Aunt still does Triathlons too? I guess I have good genes.