Life’s good February 25, 2008

Yesterday morning, while I was taking the streetcar to Queens Park, it hit me. I was looking at the charming area of Little Italy through the window, marveling at the variety of restaurants on College Street, smiling at the hustle and bustle of people getting on with their daily routines on the busy streets -and I felt so happy. It was not anything particular, nothing specific that made me feel like that, but the overall feeling of happiness just filled me suddenly. It’s not like I haven’t been happy here before. Because I have. The last two months have been the best months in my life.

That’s exactly what it is, though. I love my life here, every day brings something new and exciting, I’m meeting new people all the time, experiencing awesome things every moment. The freedom I have here is amazing, I don’t have to stress about anything, I just enjoy every second of my life, and try not to worry about a thing like in Finland. I have tried to be more spontaneous here, and that has definitely accounted for the feeling of freedom, also. It is just like my friend, who’s also on exchange, told me: your life in Finland is good, or great, even. But when you’re on exchange, you’re actually living your life. And I fully agree. Things couldn’t be better.

I already regret about leaving. At the moment, I don’t want to go back home. It’s a good thing I still have 4 months left, otherwise I would flip.

Rent, rent, rent February 22, 2008

Seeing Rent on Broadway was a long time dream come true. It still feels surreal, like I wasn’t actually there. But in reality, I was. I was there in the Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street, watching and listening to a musical for 3 hours. It was incredible!

The cast was amazing with Declan Bennett as Roger, former American Idol contestant Tamyra Gray as Mimi, and Justin Johnston as Angel and Harley Jay as Mark. Everything just clicked, and the rest was pure magic. I think I wrote the same words about the Phantom of the Opera that I saw in London almost a year ago, but there’s nothing less I can say. That is the thing, musicals are my thing, my life, and I can breathe and eat and see hundreds of musicals, and I’m still not fed up with them!

I am glad I chose Rent, though. The contemporary plot-line and the young people enabled the audience to get really “in” the musical. The set was pretty bare, with only a few chairs, tables, stairs and brick walls, and the band only consisted of a quartet. No fancy symphony orchestras like in the Phantom. But that just made it more real, more touching, more unique. And it was great seeing a totally different kind of production for a change.

The best part about the experience was the music, of course. The singers were amazing. Really belting it out, singing their hearts out with feeling and compassion. My favourites were Bennet’s “One Song Glory” and his duet “Light my Candle” with Mimi, as well as “Seasons of Love”, “La Vie Boheme”, and “Without You”. Of course the most interesting song was “Take Me or Leave Me”, the song that I sang in my concert last December. It was really awesome seeing the girls sing it, and also to see what it looks like on stage. And imagining myself on the stage…

If you ever go to New York, I highly recommend checking it out. And speaking of Rent, I just got not-so-great news from back home. My landlords gave me 6 months notice to leave my apartment in Helsinki, because they want it for themselves. So that means I’m pretty much homeless when I come back. After the news, I don’t feel like coming back at all. I hate to stress about finding myself a nice, affordable, and comfy crib -and trying to do it from Toronto isn’t the easiest thing, either. Oh well, it is what it is. If you hear about anything, let me know.

New York, New York… February 17, 2008

My long time dream became true this past week. My friend and I took the Greyhound bus to New York City and spent amazing 4 days in the city!! My God, I was actually there in the middle of everything!!!

The pleasant 10-hour bus drive in itself was quite an experience. The bus stopped at Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Syracuse before stopping at New York. Oh, and the customs. We had to get off the bus with all of our luggage and explain why we were going to the States and for how long and what we were bringing with us and where we were staying, and numerous other things. Then they also searched our bags (for alcohol and drugs??), and finally we were on our way to New York City. It was a night bus, but I hardly got any sleep, because of all the stops and the noise and the cold and the uncomfortable seats. Oh well, but we were heading to NYC nevertheless!

When we arrived in New York, I was amazed. The bus was driving towards the city in the morning sunrise (which made the sky red), and far ahead in the horizon you could see the skyline stretching all around you. Manhattan was in front of us, and it looked surreal. It’s something you always see on TV, but this time around I was actually there! The bus stopped at the Port Authority bus terminal, which was literally steps away from Times Square. The city was alive and busy already at 8 am, and we walked in the lights of NY with our mouths open and eyes gazing up at the incredibly high buildings. Now I’ve been to Piccadilly Circus in London and thought it was pretty amazing. But compared to Times Square…it’s really small…

Our hostel was on 7th and 45th, less than a 100 metres from Times Square… not bad. I slept well, although throughout the night there was noise from the streets. The city seems never to sleep, and it is one of those cities where you cannot really find peace and quiet easily. The traffic, the people, the noises -it was all very loud.

For the first few days the weather wasn’t the best: the first day it snowed, and the second day it was really raining, or pouring down cats and dogs. Nevertheless, we walked outside and I got myself a pair of rainboots (yes, it seemed that everyone had them in New York), and was good to go. Felt like a little kid again, with my awesome boots… Nevertheless, we managed to see and do a lot in 4 days. We walked around Times Square a lot, trying to take in all the sights and smells of the famous area, then walked in midtown Manhattan and did some shopping at Macy’s and some other stores. We also visited the Metropolitan Museum and the Modern Art Museum (to which we got FREE tickets from a nicely-dressed man!!), and took a quick look at the Museum of the American Indian in lower Manhattan. We rode the subway a couple of times, checked out the UN building and walked past Central Park (which, in February, was pretty harsh and dissapointing). One day we took the subway to lower Manhattan and checked out the Statue of Liberty from afar, and then walked all the way back to our hostel in midtown through Wall Street, the WTC ruins, Soho, and so on. It was quite a nice walk, indeed. We got to see a lot of the city, those charming little apartment buildings and different kinds of neighbourhoods.

The best thing, at least for me, was Broadway. We went to see Rent, a musical about young people in New York. Although it was so different from the Phantom of the Opera in London, I loved it!! The singers were breathtakingly good, and the show was energetic and fun. I might write a separate entry about the show itself, but WOW, it was awesome!!

Besides all of this, the food was pretty good, too. I fell in love with all the delis in every corner of every street. Cheap sandwiches, salads, and what have you all day long… All in all, the trip was great. I definitely loved the city, but I wouldn’t recommend visiting it in February. I look forward to my visit there in June, because then it should be easier walking around and just enjoying the street life etc. Although New York City is HUGE, I was amazed to see how easy it was getting from one place to another by foot. The streets are numbered (a rather simplistic, but good system) and the city is really constructed in a square-sort of style. Everything works pretty well, although the size of the city is big and the amount of people in it is amazing. Can’t wait to get back.

Coming home felt good, though. Toronto feels small compared to NYC, but it is MY home nevertheless. Living in a city with less than 10 million people suits me better than a city with a lot more…

This is where I live February 9, 2008

It was surreal picking up my friend from the airport the other day. Going to the airport to pick someone up here in Toronto isn’t what I’m used to doing. I usually go there to leave the country, not to have a visitor come from back home. Nevertheless, it was all good. Seeing a familiar face was great.

I guess having a friend over also makes you realize that this is your home now. I felt utterly excited about showing her around “my city”, and was amazed at how well I actually knew my way around downtown Toronto. I didn’t have my map, and was just walking on the streets like I’d always lived here. For the first time, I didn’t feel like a tourist, and really enjoyed the time we spent exploring my home city’s streets. Taking the subway to St.Patrick, walking through the business district, going into stores at Queen St. and hanging out at the Eaton Centre and later walking from there to Spadina and Chinatown felt so …”homey”. I’m really finding my place here and it feels like home already.

Besides all of the exploring and walking around, we bought ourselves Greyhound tickets to New York for next week…and I’m sizzling with excitement! That is a dream come true, and I cannot believe it’s actually happening!!!

So all is well. I LOVE my life right now.

I’m getting old February 5, 2008

Yeah, it’s my birthday today. As always, I don’t really feel any different. Nor does the fact that it’s my special day today, make me jump up and down with enthusiasm. I guess that’s just due to the fact that I am getting older, and getting older at my age isn’t that fancy or great anymore. It’s just one step closer to being 30 (which, in itself, is SCARY!)

My 24th birthday party here in Toronto, though, was a night to remember. I had a great time with my new friends! A month ago I wondered if I would do anything to celebrate my day or have anyone to share it with. On Saturday I had more than 15 people to celebrate it with. Pretty amazing. I’m so incredibly happy about each and everyone of my new people -they are the greatest people out there!

We started our night off at a lovely, charming little bar/restaurant at the Annex called the Greenroom. Then we went to a friends’ place, and from there to another great club, to which we, yet again, got in for free! At the bar, I got 3 free drinks from men I didn’t even know and a rose from a mystery someone… that never happens back home! The music was good, and we ended up dancing and having fun till the wee hours of the night.

What made me happiest today was to open up my email this morning, and see so many messages from friends and family. Thank you all for your birthday wishes! Knowing that I have so many amazing friends back home waiting for me, is the best birthday gift I could have. I miss you all!