Tell My Momma That I´m A Traveller

Have I ever mentioned that I love this university? The last couple of weeks were rather stressful. I was behind with all my readings, there were exams every week and work was constantly piling up. I needed a break! Thankfully, this university is very concerned about its student´s mental health. I receive regular emails telling me to reduce stress, take a break and try to look after myself. If that does not help there are many counsellors on campus helping out for free.

One day I rushed back home after a lecture to continue working on an assignment that was due the next day when I received a message inviting me to an event hosted by the Department of Mental Health: Dog Cuddling! I could not believe it, this was exactly what I needed right now! Every now and again the Department of Mental Health invites trained therapy dogs to come and visit YorkU to spend time with students that are in desperate need for immediate stress-relief. Just like me! It was amazing what effect those dogs had. That week the library was packed to the brim with students studying for midterms. As soon as the dogs were led into the building people would stop clicking away on their laptops, drop their pens and a broad grin would appear on their faces. Naturally, everyone wanted to cuddle the dogs. It might sound funny but it was a completely different atmosphere in that library with the dogs present. In my opinion every office/ work place/ university should have dogs! I talked to one of the owners and she explained that the dogs had to be examined to become a therapy dog. Rufus, her dog, just passed his exam the other week and his visit to YorkU was his first official duty. Even with all the commotion and literally hundreds of people stroking the dogs, Rufus did really really well! The dogs were ever so patient and friendly, they just loved it.

When I got back to working on the assignment I was definitely in a better mood and more relaxed after seeing those furry friends. The self-experiment has proven: dogs are the best medicine!

As I earlier mentioned, there is always something going on at York. This week it was Red & White Day, celebrating the York pride. On this day, everyone wears their YorkU clothes and there are several events across campus including a residence-lobby decorating competition, an Alumni breakfast, button making and lots of food trucks. Unfortunately, I was still very busy catching up with all the work. Therefore, I did not have a chance to get overly involved in the festivities.

Thankfully I finished all my midterms that week and was free to do whatever I wanted to on the weekend. We started the weekend off by going shopping, vintage to be precise! All the vintage shops downtown took part in an annual “vintage crawl” where all the shops are open until late. We started our journey near Chinatown and made our way to Kensington market where most vintage shops are located. Whatever one was looking for, it literally was vintage clothes heaven! Fur coats, designer dresses, funky satin blouses, shrilly skirts, baggy jeans, everything! When we were looking at some clothes in a tiny little shop the shopkeeper obviously figured that we were not from Canada. She asked us where we were from and all of a sudden we engaged in a deep conversation. The lady, who was called Avril, was lovely and really funny! She told us all about Canada, Toronto, Kensington Market, politics, where she grew up, what she loved about being Canadian, why she hated the Americans and so on. Before we knew it we had spent over an hour talking. When it was time for us to leave Avril gave us all a hug, told us that she was really impressed of us girls going on a journey like this and that she would welcome us if we decided to stay in Canada and become Canadian citizens. I don´t think that anyone has ever told me that they wished I was part of their nation… I felt quite honoured!

On Saturday we went to the countryside. As I already said, the Canadians have a thing for pumpkins. Not only do they love pumpkin spiced cookies, coffees and beer, they also have entire pumpkin farms people can go to. So being that we are trying to mingle and integrate to the local culture we had to see one of these farms for ourselves. There is a farm on the outskirts of town called Whittamore´s which is really well-known for its massive pumpkin fields and a hotspot for all the local Instagrammers. When we arrived at the farm it did not look at all like those beautiful pictures on Instagram though. It was a rainy day and it was freezing cold. There were only a handful of pumpkins left in the field, the kid´s playgrounds were soaking ringing wet and the corn maize was trodden down and no fun at all. Nevertheless, we went for a walk around the fields and raced some rubber ducks in a little water stream. When we were wet and cold to the bones we went to the onsite farm shop that sold fabulous vegetables, jams and ciders. We each got a piece of raspberry strudel and a hot apple cider to warm us up. I spent the rest of the day in bed, cuddled up with a hot water bottle and only leaving this cozy place in the evening to go to a Halloween party.

A few days after, Parov Stelar, a band that does electro swing, was in town. I have been listening to their music for years now, which is why I was really surprised when I found out that they were actually playing in Toronto on Halloween! A few of the other internationals had tickets, too. The club that hosted the event was obviously well-known for it´s electro swing events. Every now and again there are different bands playing. I don´t know whether people dressed up because it was Halloween or whether it is part of these kinds of events but people were dressed up in traditional 20s fashion. The guys wore suits and the ladies wore long sleeved gloves, a headband and flapper dresses. Not only was the music better than expected, it was also an amazing and authentic location. It was real good fun and a great night out!