Dear all,
Well here we are, heading into our first winter in Toronto. So far it's been unseasonably mild; I'm still in a tee shirt and the windows are open. But we've been warned that properly cold weather is around the corner, including snow showers in a couple of days.
It's been a sad time and difficult to be so far away from you all. We were very shocked to hear of the sudden death of a friend back home and now we have lost Eamonn's aunt in Ireland. She was a wonderful woman who always had hilarious stories of her time growing up surrounded by mischievous brothers in the wilds of Mayo. She also loved to talk of her days teaching in a boys' primary school in Manchester. She always said she loved teaching boys as they were such fun. She was the last of her generation in Eamonn's family having lived a long life and a good life. We'll be back for the funeral but Eamonn will have to come back on his own. At least I can make sure we're ready for Christmas by the time he arrives home again.
Since the last blog we've been enjoying the late autumn - I won't say 'fall'! We had a trip over to Oakville for lunch with another Carillion family. They have 2 young children; it's been a long time since I've been around children but it was fun. I can see that living over there would give me a lot more company but it would mean a lot more driving for Eamonn every day. It's very suburban, near the lakeshore and has plenty of space for walks etc, but we'd also be much further from town which would create some feelings of isolation. So overall, we enjoy the convenience of town living and being less dependent on the car.  |
| Oakville Ravine |
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| Fill 'em up! |
Newcomers activities continue and I really enjoyed a day trip to Niagara region for a trip to a winery and then lunch in Niagara-on-the-Lake. There were about 20 of us on a coach enjoying nibbles and then tasting 3 types of wine at 11.30 in the morning! We had a good lunch to soak up the wine and I enjoyed meeting some really nice women. The other trip I've been on was a guided walk around Queen's Park, the university district of town. The colleges are definitely inspired architecturally by the British originals. It's quite a small area but while you're there you feel that the sprawl of Toronto is a long way away. I even managed to take a few photos which weren't spoilt by the Toronto skyline! The walk started outside the Royal Ontario Museum, which has an extremely modern frontage that people either love or hate. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind. I think it loses some of its dramatic effect because it needs to be seen from a distance rather than being shoe-horned onto a shopping street. This new extension is attached to the original 1912 building.
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| Hamlet window, Trinity College |
We went to a pub quiz one Saturday, organised by a Brit Meetup group. Considering there were only 4 of us we did well, coming 9th. Being a quiz night it meant that we didn't get to meet the other Brits as we all stayed sitting all evening but it was good to be surrounded by familiar British tones. We won some Yorkshire tea bags and Digestives! 
We didn't get involved in Hallowe'en but we did see people in fancy dress all over the weekend. It just seems to be an excuse to dress up, not necessarily in 'spooky' outfits. Those with families take their children around to their neighbours, many of whom are looking out for them on the doorstep, ready with sweets. The shops sell special mini packs of sweets designed for giving out. Even Eamonn's office took part.
Not many people cycle in Toronto, there really is no political drive for it, in fact the Mayor is totally pro-car and anti cycling so there are almost no cycle lanes. However, you do see cycling in the student districts particularly and I have noticed that very few of them think it's important to be seen. They often wear the Toronto Black on a dark coloured bike, wearing no reflective material at all and often no helmet. There doesn't seem to be any legal requirements on them. Crazy.
Many people were told before they came here that it was cheap to live here but those with children have found it much more difficult than they expected. It's made worse by the fact that some wives will have given up jobs at home to move here. There is pressure to join the many after-school activities which have to be paid for. I was surprised to realise that it's very common for primary schools to be as big as 4 or 5 entry which sounds overwhelming to me. Children are expected to be compliant and behave well so that children with difficulties can be left to struggle. There is much less use of classroom assistants here.
Being of mature years, our doctor here suggested we have a colon check so we went to see a specialist to discuss it. As soon as I saw him all I could think about was how he reminded me of Woody Allen! Same specs and tiny frame and a dry sense of humour. He suggested we could prepare for it by watching Billy Connolly's sketch about having a colonoscopy on Youtube! We decided to book it in the New Year, something to look forward to.
As the days have been drawing in, I've noticed people living in the condo building opposite ours as their lights go on. When I stand in our kitchen looking out I can see the woman opposite in her kitchen doing the same kinds of things as me, and then I can see the woman who lives immediately above her also doing the same things. The more I think about this the more it starts to freak me out as it is all multiplied so many times over because there are so many apartments around here. So then it's time to close the blinds and the curtains. Phew!
One of our recent walks took us to Humber Bay Park where we saw some buffleheads, cute black and white water birds, on the lakes.In the park was this memorial to those who died in the Air India Disaster of June 1985. We had little memory of this, I suppose because we were busy new parents then. Flight 182 blew up at 31,000 feet over the Atlantic in Irish air space. The memorial faces the direction of Ireland where 329 people died. Most were Canadians with 27 British and 22 Indians. The flight from Montreal to Delhi was planned to stopover at Heathrow. There was an earlier explosion at Nagita airport in India when a bag exploded, killing 6 ground staff. The bag was meant for a flight to Bangkok. Evidence from this explosion showed that Sikh militants, living in Canada, had attempted to blow up 2 flights simultaneously. The Commission of Enquiry finally released its report last year, concluding that a 'cascade of errors' by the Government of Canada, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Services had allowed the attack to take place. Lockerbie happened 3 years later.
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| The humble female house sparrow |
We had a lovely weekend away from town last weekend. Through a contact at home we were invited to stay at Tom's house, a 3 hour drive north of here. He has a lovely home surrounded by 10 acres containing a large pond and many trees. He showed us great hospitality and waited on us, hand and foot! He is a retired film editor so had many interesting things to tell us about his career, first with the BBC and then here in Canada. We are hoping to go back in the New Year to practice our snow shoeing!
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| Tom's back garden! |
I have one more outing with the Newcomers club, a tour of the Ontario Legislature and afternoon tea, with entertainment (!).
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| Meaford on Georgian Bay |
For the last few days we have been making arrangements to come home. I had planned to come in early December anyway but now we're both coming back next week for Auntie Mary's funeral. Then Eamonn will have to come back for a month on his own. I don't think we've ever been apart more than a week! He's already arranging indoor golf sessions and Christmas parties so he'll be fine and I will miss the first snow I hope.
I am so looking forward to being home for a while and catching up with you all.
With love to you all,
from
Mary and Eamonn
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