Carried away May 31, 2008

In anticipation of the Sex and the City -movie premier, I’ve been glamorously doing things in this glamorous city of Toronto for the past few days. From the Niagara Falls daytrip to the actual movie, everything has been phenomenal this week.

Niagara Falls themselves, driving in the lush and fertile Southern Ontario aboard a creamy-coloured PT-Cruiser, stopping at several vineyards for wine-tasting, eating delicious sorbet at Niagara-On-The-Lake, or walking hand-in-hand to the shore of turquoise Lake Ontario and watching the wind blow our hair -felt like a dream. Or a movie. But since we were kind of living the Sex and the City -life there for a while, dream-like days or fairytale-endings are more than welcome and accepted.

Besides roadtripping in style, my best of best friends and I have been shopping accessories and clothes, drinking semi-dry riesling and dry rose, marvelling at the sunset that cast over TO skyline from a friend’s balcony, and getting ready to hit the night scene of this city with brand-new clothes.

The actual movie-night was good stuff, although we didn’t have the greatest seats in the house, due to the fact that people had been lining up to get good seats for hours before the movie… but, it all turned out to be a true Sex and the City -style of night nevertheless. The movie was phenomenal, and it felt great watching a movie all dressed up and beautified. Afterwards, we hit the hotdog stand in the corner of Queen Street, had Martinis in a lounge bar, and ran home screaming in our high-heels because of the sudden thunderstorm.

This city is definitely a place to experience the all-glamorous and sexy life that Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha live in the dream-world of theirs. I don’t complain at all, though. It’s great to experience something like this for a change.

“I’m like a bird…” May 23, 2008

“…I could fly away. I don’t know where my home is…”

Final countdown: 5 weeks left. And I want to stay. When a dear friend from Finland came over a week ago for the rest of the time, I was excited and pumped about her coming, and still am! At the same time, though, I realized my time here was coming to an end. Her coming remarked the end of Toronto-life as I used to know it: walking on the streets by myself, spending nights in Little Italy, taking the 196 to York U, staying in bed the whole day, or spending the entire day on skype with her, and other people… Not that I miss these things so much, but I understand now that this is the beginning of the end, kind of.

These last five weeks will be phenomenal, I’m sure, but different than the first 5 months. I catch myself thinking of “this might be the last time I do this” and “I wonder how many times I’ll see this person”. I’m not really thinking about Finland, even. I’m just not ready to leave yet. I kind of wish I could turn back time, or get an extension to my time here. I find myself trying to think of ways in which I could possibly stay for longer, or indefinitely. I know I can’t stay, but I know I can come back. I’m thinking of possible internships here, or I don’t even know. It’s just that I love this city, I love this life, and I wish this life could be REAL. Sometimes everything feels so unreal. Like I know I’m here and life is brilliant, but I want it to be MINE for keeps, you know?

Maybe I’m just a bit messed up? Or have mixed-up emotions or something. Who knows. I don’t really know where my home is, but I wish it was here, in TO, in the Annex, in the arms of that someone, in the warm, humid, summer nights of the beautiful multicultural metropolis.

Hellos and goodbyes. And baseball. May 4, 2008

The last 10 days have been a strange mixture of happiness and grief, excitement and confusion. My parents came for a visit, and I was genuinely happy and glad to see them. Although we’ve been sending emails on a daily basis and talking on skype every now and then, it was great seeing them and catching up with them. I enjoyed showing them around the city, letting them in on my favourite things and places in Toronto. We had a good time, although the weather was crappy. We managed to see a lot and even the TTC strike couldn’t get on our way.

I also had the chance to visit my old home town Sault Ste. Marie. It was really nostalgic, although the city itself wasn’t that charming. We visited a lot of the places we used to go to when we lived there, and spending two nights in our old house was pretty nice. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted a couple of posters on the walls that I had bought ten years ago. The familiar furniture reminded me of the good ol’ days in the Soo, those were really good times. But I was really glad to get back home to Toronto. I love this city and I couldn’t imagine living in a small city like the Soo after falling in love with the hectic Toronto life.

On another front, the last 10 days have been really confusing and tough emotionally. A lot of goodbyes. Some of the dearest and closest friends have left Toronto, and I’ve been to multiple goodbye parties in the last few days. Although I know I will see these people some time in the future, it is hard saying goodbye, especially because it is then when you realize that the time here is coming to an end. I still have a good two months left, but life won’t be like it used to be since all those people are gone. From now on, it’s just going to be different, but I’m still happy I’m here. I love my life and look forward to all the days and weeks to come in this amazing country.

And on to something totally different – I have to mention that Toronto and some Canucks have turned me into a sports fan: tomorrow I’m going to the Toronto Blue Jays’ baseball game, and I’ll be sporting a brand new Jays’ hat to cheer the team…pretty crazy, eh? Or then I’m just turning into a Canuck myself.