I forgot how big and diverse the city of Toronto can be. And, because I've lived in smaller cities for most of the past seven years, I feel like a country bumpkin. Here are a few things I've noticed in the past few days ...
Apartment etiquette
If you are in an apartment lobby and you are trying to get into the apartment, ideally, you should have the main door key. If not, is it expected that a person in the apartment lobby should open the door for you (even if the person does not live in the apartment)? Well, this scenario popped up twice in the place I will be moving into in November. Personally, I think no one should open the door for another person unless they know they live in the apartment. There are cases when people have come in when they don't live there ... and that person could be looking for something to steal. My sister's condo had signs up about a person caught on camera ... as an intruder who broke in and entered into one of the apartments. Anyhow, these two people who thought I should have let them into the apartment were incredibly and needlessly rude when I didn't let them in. Maybe I had an invisible sign on my head that read "doorperson" or something. Please slap me if I ever get that rude!
Crazy Traffic Toronto
As part of the family vacation, usually I end up being the navigator (by default). This can be quite stressful - especially when the driver doesn't quite hear the directions correctly. For example, I instructed my father to drive past Sheppard and then he would find the 401 West exit. Instead, he turned right onto Sheppard. Sigh. Anyhow, we usually didn't get too lost ... we didn't end up in some strange state! It was advantageous to be the navigator as I was exposed to the street names. Hence, when looking for places to live, I recognized some of the streets and realized I wouldn't want to live that far out in the boonies (i.e. Kingston and Meadowvale ... which is located nearly in Scarborough!)
Cheap Outlet Shopping Malls
I don't mind this part of living in bigger cities. However, it is still a trek to get to these outlet malls. The one my parents and I went to today was ... still pretty far out there. However, I scored a couple of good deals: a jacket for $15 (normally $60) and a cute bag for $3 (normally $30) for my sister.
I must admit, there are some really friendly people here in Toronto too, thankfully. So, I guess things balance out in some weird way. It's kinda strange moving back to Toronto because, although I did used to live here four years, that was seven years ago. So much has changed. But I guess it's better than starting from scratch.
Wednesday, October 25
Monday, October 23
Finally... convocation!
Well, Friday, October 20, 2006 will go down in history ... for as the MLIS convocation. Here is my family (pictured above). We're smiling because we're relieved the ceremony is over. Or maybe we're satisfied with the yummy cake we've been fed by the alumni association.
The weather was overcast, cold and rainy. It was good seeing most of the classmates. One thing they don't tell you about completing your degree ... the final test ... learning how to hold your hood properly, walking on stage the at the right speed, order and manner, and kneeling properly in order to get hooded. It was enough information overload to make us a bit nervous crossing the stage. Thankfully everyone made it safely across the stage.
Afterwards, we went over to our family friend's place to pick up some of (about half) of my stuff to move to Toronto. The next day, the family friend dropped off the rest of the stuff (as he had to go to Toronto to pick up his wife from the airport).
Moving ... and other random thoughts
This is the most disjointed move I've ever made anywhere. The good news is that I have found a place to live in a good area with reasonable rent and good location. It's located right near the subway line so I don't have to spend hours commuting to work, thankfully. I hope to learn when I can move into this new place by tomorrow. It's been a while since I've had my own private space.
As for the other two interviews, one was filled internally while the other one was filled with someone who had more experience. So, things did work out in the end.
The weather was overcast, cold and rainy. It was good seeing most of the classmates. One thing they don't tell you about completing your degree ... the final test ... learning how to hold your hood properly, walking on stage the at the right speed, order and manner, and kneeling properly in order to get hooded. It was enough information overload to make us a bit nervous crossing the stage. Thankfully everyone made it safely across the stage.
Afterwards, we went over to our family friend's place to pick up some of (about half) of my stuff to move to Toronto. The next day, the family friend dropped off the rest of the stuff (as he had to go to Toronto to pick up his wife from the airport).
Moving ... and other random thoughts
This is the most disjointed move I've ever made anywhere. The good news is that I have found a place to live in a good area with reasonable rent and good location. It's located right near the subway line so I don't have to spend hours commuting to work, thankfully. I hope to learn when I can move into this new place by tomorrow. It's been a while since I've had my own private space.
As for the other two interviews, one was filled internally while the other one was filled with someone who had more experience. So, things did work out in the end.
Friday, October 13
CBC temporary contract
It seems CBC Toronto is offering me a contract position with them til March 2007 as a media librarian (visual resources). Very cool. Just got the phone call at noon PST while I was in the middle of eating lunch. I'm still waiting to hear back from CBC Regina and CBC Calgary. Hopefully I'll hear something back by Monday before I need to give CBC Toronto an answer. I had nearly given up hope that I'd get any offers. Apparently the full-time permanent position in Toronto was filled internally and the full-time one-year contract position was filled by someone with more experience. And there was this new position that just came up ... so I think that's cool they still wanted to offer me this temp position although I don't have a lot of (er, translation, almost none) experience. However, they were very interested in my education background :D I'd love to work with CBC Toronto ... even if it only goes for a short while.
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