2013/10/01: One month in Toronto

Having travelled through Canada and the United States the whole August, I spent the whole September in the Greater Toronto Area. One of four months in Toronto is already over. But I’ve seen a lot, I learned a lot, and I met a lot of people. I've seen many different neighborhoods of Toronto, parks and river valleys, cycle trails and streetcar loops. I learned the rules of Squash (which I play about once a week here on campus), the meaning of Urban Environmental Justice, the connections between Charlie Chaplin’s movie “modern times” and the Chicago School of Sociology; that it can be a big advantage to live on campus compared to commuting from downtown. I met Laura, Max, Katharina, Gunnar, Sandra, Ulrika, Salome, Franziska, Christian, Markus and all the other exchange students; faculty members and City Institute employees; undergraduate and graduate students of Environmental Studies and Geography. I’ve been to a great Italian restaurant with Chantal and Marcel, the Swiss I’ve first seen at Lake Maligne and enjoyed the sunset on a Toronto Island Ferry with them. I experienced funny (but still expensive) supermarkets, enjoyed Tim Hortons’ 1$-offers and bought books at York University bookstore, McMaster University bookstore, “the biggest bookstore in the world” and on the literature festival “Word on the street”. I have already been twice to the 2nd city theater. I liked most of the lectures and seminars and most of the texts I had to read. I love the big windows in the 7th floor of Kaneff Tower (where the City Institute is located). I enjoy my spinning course, the squash plays and our bicycle. I love Toronto, the weather, the people and York University. It was a great first month.

Some of the trips through Toronto I did last month:



Sunset seen from the Toronto Island Ferry:



Inside a liquor store:



Funny buildings along Bloor Street and Queen Street:



The Word on the Street festival:



The great hipster supermarket on College Street:



In the “gay district”: