Hello! Hope this finds you well.
Our Canadian adventure has been fun so far, though I’m (Craig) happy to be home in Stirling for a visit over Christmas and New Year. The transition from Wick to Toronto hasn’t been easy, adjusting to how busy it is, to the noise and the impersonal nature of the big city, but it has its good points too. There’s such a lot on offer, something for everyone. Our first few weeks in Canada were spent house and dog-sitting for friends.
Hamish was right back to work on-site at The Strategic Coach where he’s been working for 17 years (14 of them from Scotland). My job was to hunt for a new home. Which wasn’t too difficult; there were lots of places available. So when our friends got back from holiday we had a few days together before moving into our new flat (or condominium to be exact, a weird concept to me, but they’re all the rage in Toronto).
Our friends’ house where we stayed for the first few weeks.
Hamish’s cartoon of us walking Fogle, the wee doggie we were looking after.
Our place is central, on two floors, has two bedrooms and a study area, with the living/dining/kitchen all open-plan. There are wrap-around windows on the first floor with a view out to high-rise buildings and the CN Tower.
We saw a great fireworks display at the CN Tower from the comfort of our living room at the end of the Pan-American Games which were happening in July and August. It was like Glasgow 2014 all over again: the place was buzzing with a sporty-party atmosphere.
Our condo building; we’re on the bottom two floors, on the right, with a ginkgo tree on the terrace.
The view from our condo.
Some of the Pan-American Games festivities.
The next period was spent furnishing the flat. We didn’t bring any furniture from Scotland and at first all we had was our two suitcases. We borrowed plastic patio plates, cutlery and other essentials from friends until our own things arrived in our shipment from Scotland (which arrived earlier than expected in mid September). Several trips to IKEA and other furniture places later and we had most of the main items we needed and started to feel like we had a home again.
The arrival of our own things was a big step in feeling more at home, but it’s an ongoing process and there are still bits and pieces we’ll need to pick up over time.
While it’s great to be in the condo just now we’ll probably stay there for about a year. The plan is to move out of the city centre so we’ll have a bit more space and, hopefully, be able to get something a bit more reasonable. The condo is costing us £1,200 a month!
It’s good to be central right now though and to get a feel for the city. And Hamish has a neat 20 minute walk to work.
I got my Canadian Permanent Residency in August. That was a relief as we thought it might take a lot longer. It entitles me to work in Canada, to register for health insurance, get a driver’s licence and such like. I had to leave the country and re-enter Canada to validate my paperwork. So we had a day down at Niagara Falls and crossed over the Rainbow Bridge into the US, walked round the American flag in New York State and promptly left the US again to re-enter Canada. All to the tune of “Some Enchanted Evening”, which the bridge’s bell tower was playing as we crossed. Surreal. We were prepared for a long wait at the border, but it took just 15 minutes! So we had the rest of the day in the theme park that is Niagara Falls.
Getting ready to go on the Hornblower at Niagara Falls after getting my Permanent Residency.
As I say, Niagara Falls is like one big theme park:
Hamish about to climb on to the moose. What you can’t see is the sign to the right saying ‘Do not climb on the moose’!
Work-wise things have not been so straightforward for me. And they’re still a bit up in the air. The Canadian Speech and Language Therapy qualification is very different to the UK’s and there is no guarantee they’ll allow me to practice here. There’s a long (and costly) process to have qualifications verified and compared to the Canadian system. My 9 years of work in the NHS won’t count for anything unfortunately. The process of verification can take about a year and at the end of that they may say, ‘No, you can’t practice here’ or ‘Okay, you can practice if you do X course and sit Y exam.’
In the meantime I’ve signed up with temping agencies. I had one interesting job working for Elections Canada during the general election, which handily introduced me to the Canadian system of Government. It was tricky to get anything else though, as my plan was always to be back in Scotland for a month from mid-December to mid-January.
When I get back to Toronto I’m aiming to find something to see me through to next summer (when we’ll be home for my brother Gregor’s wedding on 2nd July ).
The rest of our time has been spent exploring the city, entertaining visitors (5 sets so far) and reconnecting with friends and family in the area.
Hamish’s nephew Andrew is in Toronto. We’ve seen a fair bit of him and his girlfriend Diane.
My cousin Brad and his family are also in Toronto and it’s been good spending time with them. Brad took us all out sailing on Lake Ontario in September which was great fun. I also have an Aunt and Uncle in Orillia an hour or so north of Toronto and three cousins with all of their families. We’ve been up to visit them a couple of times, including a lovely weekend spent at their cottage in Algonquin National Park.
Hamish’s brother Ian, sister-in-law Ellen, nephew Andrew and his girlfriend Diane when Ian and Ellen visited from the Yukon in October.
Brad, his wife Tomomi and their son Thomas on the day we went sailing on Lake Ontario.
Hamish taking in the view.
Shabu-shabu (a wonderful Japanese dish) at Brad and Tomomi’s place.
Visiting my aunt and uncle, June and Hap, in Orillia.
At the cottage in Algonquin Park with my aunt and some of my cousins — another delicious meal!
The view from the cottage in the morning with the mist rising up from the lake.
Hamish’s mum visited in November and we took a trip out to the Toronto Islands.
Hamish has a bunch of friends from work and from living in Toronto for 10 years until 14 years ago when he moved to Scotland. And I have friends I met in Japan who now live in Toronto. We’ve also been attending a weekly evening class and have met a nice bunch of folk through that.
In September we had a lovely 10 days visiting Hamish’s folks in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Hamish, Joan and Bryson in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Out for Lobster Supper which has become an annual tradition.
Some bits and pieces: Maybe it’s just a big city thing, but folk don’t really make eye contact or look at each other in Toronto. Is it the Canadian politeness thing? They are certainly polite. In our building no one says hello in passing: if I say hi they look at me like I’m an alien and mutter something back, surprised. Folk have been very friendly once we’ve got to know them though!
Everyone seems to have a little dog, even though most of them live in flats. When we were house-hunting we’d be standing at the lift (elevator) with the estate agent (realtor), and when the doors opened someone with a small dog would emerge. So much so that Hamish asked one agent, ‘Does every condo come with a dog?!’
Snapped from our window — one of the many dog-walkers taking city-workers’ pets out for their morning walk.
There is an amazing variety of food and any niche foods are readily available. Toronto has a Little Italy, Korea Town, Chinatown, Greek Town, Little Ethiopia and many more. There’s every type of food you can imagine (though come to think of it I haven’t spotted a Scottish restaurant yet:)
We’ve been having green breakfast smoothies since getting a new blender and Hamish has decided to eat vegan. It’s not a problem in Toronto — there are vegan restaurants and vegan sections in grocery stores galore.
There is a lack of open space: the city is very built up and there are only a few parks here and there. Where there are parks, though, there are free outdoor swimming pools in summer and ice rinks in winter: fab!
The Toronto Islands are the nicest part of the city in my opinion. Very green. And looking back over Lake Ontario to the city is my favourite view of the place. I also love the main city square outside Toronto City Hall.
Taken in October from Toronto Islands when our friend Philip from Edinburgh was visiting. The autumn (fall) colours were wonderful.
Toronto City Hall (a really cool building in my opinion, with its flying saucer-esque chamber in the centre) and the square in front with the big Toronto sign. The pond is now an ice rink over winter.
The cold weather hasn’t materialised yet for my first Toronto winter, even though I invested in a pair of warm winter boots following the strong advice of friends. The temperature was still around 10-15 celsius when I left on the 16th December! I’m sure it will catch up with us sooner or later though.
The transit system is both fun and infuriating. The streetcars are cute, but can be incredibly slow and are frequently overcrowded. Walking is possible downtown, but the distance from one major street to another is deceptive. You can end up walking miles and miles without realising it. We’ve walked more here than we ever did in Wick!
We’ve joined a couple of car-sharing schemes. They’re practical for occasional car use, like a trip to IKEA or getting across town quickly. Or getting home late at night.
Everything costs more than you think. Sales taxes are charged on top of the purchase price at the point of sale. So you never really know how much you’re going to have to pay: a calculation is done at the till to come up with the final amount. Expect it to be anything from 5-20% higher than the marked price. Grrr:
And talking of extra charges, banks in Canada charge a fee to run your account. And there’s a charge to withdraw cash from another bank’s cash machines. We don’t know how good we’ve got it in Scotland!
The place runs on coffee. It’s the must-have item to carry while walking down the street. You don’t belong until you have a take-away coffee cup in hand. Add to that a loud mobile phone conversation on hands-free (with a headset) in which you don’t mind what other people passing hear and you’re a true Torontonian!
Fire engines, which have an incredibly loud, blasting horn on top of their siren, pass our condo on average seven times a day. I’ve counted! And the bin lorries come to empty our building’s recycling at a hideous 7am on Thursday mornings. The crushing and engine noises sound like the end times have come. I do miss the peace and quiet of Argyle Square!
Thanksgiving isn’t as big a deal as I thought it would be. Hallowe’en, on the other hand, is a big thing here. The lengths folk go to to decorate their homes is amazing. We went trick-or-treating with friends and their kids and then went to a fancy dress party.
Some of the loot the kids got from Trick-or-Treating. Even Folgle the dog was dressed up!
Hamish’s Hallowe’en get-up — hipster zombie.
So there’s the good, the bad and the ugly, a quick summary of our first 5-6 months in Canada. Reading through the above, it sounds like I don’t like Toronto very much, but it’s growing on me and moving from Caithness to Ontario was never going to be straightforward.
Speaking of Caithness, recently we gathered together some of the memorabilia we have in the flat: Ah, we have very fond memories of Caithness!
The other day Hamish sent me a photo of the Old Pulteney on the shelves of a liquor store in Charlottetown with the subject line *sigh*.
Have a lovely festive season and I hope to see some of you while I’m back on this visit, and both of us when we’re back in the summer. We enjoy having visitors, so please do come and see us if you can. Our spare room is available!
Love, Craig and Hamish