My first concert in Toronto

Wow, what can I say.  First I begin with a great show.  The Killers were fantastic.  The group was so into it, played their hearts out and it was just amazing.

The downside:

Being surrounded by 20 000 people from Ontario.  Scary.  The dancing, the fashion, the english.

It's too much for me, it's too English here, too white.  The dancing was horrific, it's like watching epileptic attacks, seizures, lots of jumping and random arm throwing.  So much beer...

Jason and I were talking before and after the show, noticing how little Arabs are in Toronto.  We miss Arabs.  Anyone from Quebec will say the community is there, but pourquoi pas ici?  Je me souviens.

I am 5 months in here, they say it takes 1 year to adjust.  Somedays are worse than others and the other days are so so.  Some say you need to become like your environment.  I refuse, i refuse to change, so I choose to adapt.  I'll let you know how that goes, in my opinion it's harder to adapt, that is the road i will choose.  To give in, is to loose my soul.  I refuse.

I still need to blog about the TTC, it's coming.

Take care,

Nan aka je me souviens xoxox 

Two months later

Two months have passed since my last post.  Has a lot happened you ask?  Not really.  

What have you been up to you ask?

Not much.

I have been working some crazy hours lately and my discovering the city has been put on hold.

The hotel is still wonderful.  I absolutely love every minute I spend there.  I noticed that the people I adore the most are not born here.  Please note that to some of my peeps from Toronto who were born and raised you are excluded.  Most of my anger and hate arises from riding the metro and the people in my building.  Back to work, once again I drift to the things that anger me the most i.e. how rude people can be.  The more time I spend with other departments, the more I find some peeps who like to laugh and have a good time.  I had a drink with a peep once after work, but thats about it, still trying to find desperately someone to hang with.  

This week was a traumatizing week for me.  This week I felt at my most alone here.  I left my sweet cat on Monday morning unable to walk, completely crippled in her basket at 7am - as I closed the door and left for work.  I had a huge Pharma taking over the hotel and had to be in.  It hit me hard this week, I had no back up, no family or friends to lean on.  Jason left at 5am for a three week business trip and I am at home with the crippled cat.  This was a week that I realized that I can fend for myself.  I found a vets office to bring Monkey and called a cab, took the bus and fended for myself.  I was quite impressed, I tend to lean on Jason alot for everything.  As independent as I am, I am also quite useless.  How is Monkey you ask?  Crippled but doing well, I may need to google a Toronto Therapist to deal with the abandonment I did on Monday.  Not a proud moment for me.

This morning I am on my way to work, walking quietly trying not to get aggressive and this clown from a car is yelling at me thank you, thank you, thank you, I try and ignore it but my aggressive Montrealer comes out and I run my fingers across my throat.  He yells I wish my wife looked like you, I must say, as nice as it is to get complimented, I have no patience, I really am average.  I look at him, slowly approach his car and say, if I was your wife, I wouldn't bother either.  Of course his response is not very polite, he tried to speed away but the a!!hole has his all seasons tire.  It did answer a question for me though, which is the following.  Why do people get stabbed in Toronto?  Maybe it's the Montrealers here doing the stabbing.   I have been tempted on more than one occasion to make a shank out of my keys but I controlled myself.  I am quite resilient and patient.  I feel I may crack soon.  

I adore and miss all my friends and peeps and my city, but I am doing well.

xoxox  

 

Adventures in visiting Hotels in Toronto

Unless you're into Hotels, you may not find this post very interesting.  BUT, if you are, you can get a sneak peak of what's hot and not in Toronto Hotels.  My goal by the end of the year is to visit as many hotels here as I can.  Why you ask?  For work you ask?  Nope, for my own pleasure!  I love to check out and see what else is out there.  I went to visit Le Quatre Saison, and in my hotel snob nose in the air terms, I refer to it as a Une Saison if you know what I mean.  It is a pretty nutty place.  The rooms are tired and done on the cheap and I also found out during my visit that some Saudi Prince know it all owns 45% and Bill Gates 45% and 10% to the family and creator of the Quatre Saison.  Bille Gates?? WTF???  Again, this may not be interesting, but I wowed and ahhhh when i was told.  That's pretty neat.  The ballrooms are retarded, nice in a f**ked up way, they have a ballroom that is bright turquoise....your wowed at first and then I dreamt about it all night and woke up hating it.  I just had to share.  If your Jean Paul Gauthier and/or slightly touched in the head, it may be your cup of crazy tea.  They also had this room with Toile walls, really just nuts, all the walls were textured.  Une chance they are building a new one in 2 years or so cause this one - not so much.

I'll update when I think it's worth mentioning, again, when in town, let me know so I can hook you up.

Sometimes it feels just like home

So, after almost 2 months here, I had a Montreal experience.  It really felt like I was back.  I left work, which we do by exiting through the back then across a parking lot.  As I am leaving the lot, a woman and her child are coming towards me, the woman then tells her son, Look at me and not at the prostitute.  I think, Oh neat, there's a prost behind me.  I turn around to look and well there's no one there but moi, little ol me.  You ask, why the hell does this make you think of Montreal?  Well on several occasions I have been mistaken for a prostitute.  Which, if you know me, I am hardly the tramp in personality and in clothing.  I smiled and thought how wonderful!  Just like home!  

My other experience a la Montreal is that I have a Timmy's coffee everyday and it spills on me everyday, which happened to me as well in Montreal, so when i burn myself and walk like a tard with my hand sticking out all the way so I don't get dirty, it just feels like home pour moi.

More upcoming topics

TTC, I haven't forgotten, still not ready.

The fun stuff I have been up to in Toronto.

My neighbourhood.

Holding doors or lack there of

No one holds a door for you here, the folks know you are behind them and yet they don't swing it open.  The folks here slide it open just enough to fit through.  I love it when the folks here look behind, see me and still slither through the door.

I swore to the sky, the ground, the hell and earth and heavens while waiving my fists in the air to towards the floor, to the left and to the right and I promised to never not become oblivious.  As much as I really don't feel the need to hold a door for someone I do it.  I refuse to slither like a snake and squeeze through a small opening when it takes the same amount of energy to just swing it. 

I hope my actions will pay it forward.

 

Cell Phones

When I walk out of work with the thousands of other Zombies, I find myself catching up on my personal phone calls.  So my first call is always Jason just to say I am on my way home and see if he's still at work and so on and so forth.  Second call is Tom where I pretend he is my big closing deal and I am the person still working after I walked out and logged off.  I may also do that with Jason (when I can't reach Tom), where I pretend to close a huge deal as well and we squeeze where I am and when I will be home.  I do this everyday and I still think it's hilarious.  

Well, everyday I have no network or can't call lout for about 5 minutes.  I am technology challenged so I thought at first it was me.  I can't dial, I blame the phone as I have been since I bought the damn thing, then I walk and I watch.  I see all the Torontonians on their cells, working hard.  I create these pretend conversations, i.e. "gotta close that deal, going to check my blackberry emails and send that contract or written consent to you to close the deal and make tons of money.  I like Money.  I like to work and work hard all the time even after I left work. Money money money, gotta make the money."  

I came to the conclusion that too many people are clogging up the network. (nevermind my terms for whatever happens.)  Too many people still working and calling at the same time.  So while I may have an emergency or just want to shout out to my peeps, I can't because they continue to work.  I am not making this shit up.  I ease drop and listen.  

The suits and the cells and the people just walk and don't appreciate the surroundings.  Regardless of the same street and door I walked out of everyday for three years in Montreal, when I walked out I would smell the air, walk around the same unfixed broken sidewalk and appreciated the store windows, if they were changed, updated, laugh or love the clothes, watch people, see what they were drinking and talking about.  Alot of that doesn't happen here, everyone stays in their own world, the bubble as I call it.  So I watch, I listen and I will continue to enjoy the same street, same stores and all the little things.  You can learn alot about a city just by watching.