Twinkle, Twinkle

Now, that there were only a few more weeks of lectures left, I had a little break from assignments and exams. The workload at York University is definitely higher than at home and so far I rarely had a week without any exams or assignments due. Therefore, I was more than happy to have some free-time on my hands.

I did not realize that I have quite a lot of family here in Canada. I already visited Lily and Julie in Ottawa who are relatives from my granny´s side of the family (the English side). There are even some family members living in Western Canada. Also, there are Ian and Vera who live in Guelph which is only two hours from Toronto. Ian is my granddad´s brother (the English one) who moved to Canada during major strikes in Britain. Obviously, him and his family stayed and made themselves at home here, in Ontario. When Ian found out that I was going to live in Toronto he immediately invited me over. Unfortunately, I was so busy and caught up in work all the time that I never got the chance to visit. I decided that now was the time to do it. Ian told me that he would pick me up at Timmy´s.

When I first came to Canada people would tell me to meet up at Timmy´s. I kept wondering who Tim was. Tim Horton was a hockey player who started up a coffee shop with a friend. Unfortunately, Tim died early in life due to a car accident. Still, the legacy of Tim Horton goes on. Nowadays, Tim Hortons is a multi-billion franchise and an institution in Canada. Everyone loves Timmy´s for their bagels, donuts, Timbits and coffee. I was told that where there are pubs on every street corner in Britain, in Canada there are Timmy´s. And it´s true! These shops are everywhere.

Anyway, Ian got us both a cup of coffee and we hit the road. The drive to Guelph was ever so pleasant. We chit chatted along and it started snowing a little. As I said, Guelph is not far from Toronto, it´s in the Niagara region. So, it did not take long until we arrived at our destination. Vera greeted me warmly. She offered me some crackers and cheese and we had a cup of tea while spending some time chatting. It was absolutely lovely to get to know these two. They told me about how they got to Canada and about their experiences of when they arrived in Canada, their lives here and their family. It was nice to go down memory lane and hear all about the stories and anecdotes of their lives that at some point were connected to my family. In the evening Ian and Vera took me to a Chinese restaurant that had a massive buffet with all kinds of food (not just Chinese). We kept walking off to get more food and taking a little bit of everything. It was sooo nice to get proper food and not just some greasy takeaway from York Lanes. They even had Yorkshire Puddings and smoked Salmon! Later that day the whole family came to Ian and Vera´s to meet me. Their two sons Kevin and Warren brought their wives and children, so there was a whole bunch of new people to get to know. It was lovely of them to take the time to meet up and it was really enthralling to learn about that part of the family. So I was a bit sad, when I had to go back home to Toronto the next day. Hopefully I will meet Ian, Vera and their family again soon, now that we have met. After all, the fortune cookie I was given at the Chinese restaurant said "You are deeply connected to your family". Funny, eh?

Back in Toronto, people were getting in a festive mood. On Saturday there was an event downtown called “Cavalcade of Lights”. This event was all about live music, revealing Toronto´s official Christmas tree and fireworks. The student house I live in hosts several group activities every now and then and because the Cavalcade seems to be quite a big deal for Toronto this was one of them. Fortunately, this included free transportation! A handful of people who lived in Tatham Hall and me travelled downtown as soon as it was dark outside. Nathan Philips Square is a big square located in front of City Hall. It was literally packed with people. Therefore, it did not take me long to lose the group I came with. Still, I got a very nice spot overlooking the whole square. There were a couple of stages with bands playing country and festive music, dance acts and fire artists. Most people came to see the fireworks though. I was quite impressed by the show, with City Hall in the background, the ice rink on the right-hand side and the neon Toronto sign on the left. It was nicely set up, but still the fireworks only lasted a couple of minutes. Afterwards, I went and watched people skating on the ice rink, while eating nice hot churros. Although it was only November I felt rather festive, with Christmas carols playing in the backgrounds and fairly lights creating a Christmassy feeling. After standing at the side of the ice rink for a while I got really cold which is why I soon left to go home. Funny enough, I met the Tatham Hall group at the subway station. So at least we all went home together.

I was incredibly busy for the next few days. I still had exams to prepare for. So, I spent hours studying in Secondcup, which is my favourite coffeeshop here on campus. You know how in famous soaps like Emmerdale there is always this one restaurant or café that is the hotspot for drama, meet-ups and social life in general? Well, this is how I feel about Secondcup. Because we all live on campus there are always people who come walking by and then having a cup of tea and a chat with me. Also, I discovered that the people working in Secondcup not only know how I take my coffee but they know my name now, too. This is kind of embarrassing taking into account that there are more than 50.000 people on campus…

I was so busy studying that I barely noticed the days flying by. Still, it was my birthday on Tuesday. To be honest, it did not really feel like a birthday because I had an exam that day. Therefore, I spent most day revising my notes. Nevertheless, Alex, Christina and me met up later that evening to spend some time at the Christmas market which was located at the Distillery District. The Distillery District is a very nice but rather touristy area downtown with lots of brick and old factory buildings. Little stalls were set up all around the buildings and twinkly lights illuminated the market. There were handmade Christmas decorations on sale, free samples of Campbells soup, and of course lots of sweets. We walked around the market for a bit, admiring all the handmade stuff and trying all the free food samples until we all were in the Christmas spirit.

The last days of lectures went by far to quickly. Normally, I am glad when lectures are over and I can´t wait for the holiday break. But somehow it felt really weird that Uni was to be over soon. It was especially hard saying goodbye to the people from my Swahili class. Although I thought I was a bit out of place to start with I made quite a lot of friends there. I even got invited to one girl´s home and her mum cooked a traditional styled East-African dish. It´s funny how certain flavours and smells can revoke certain memories. Also, it was really good fun talking Swahili again and experiencing the East African “mentality”. Speaking of which, I received a truly heart-warming reference letter from the Swahili professor praising me in the kindest words possible. Literally, the Professor said in his letter that it was an honour to him to have me in his class. I felt so sentimental when I read this letter, taking into account that I felt he did not really approve of me auditing his class at the beginning of the term. Also, I asked him a few weeks ago whether there are any novels in Swahili I could read to practice my Swahili skills. The professor sent me an email back saying he would give me a couple of books as a present. All I had to do was pick them up at the University of Toronto. Isn´t that nice? This is what I miss about East Africa! I felt truly special and somewhat proud walking into the U of T to pick up my new books. Although I am really sad that my time at YorkU is now finally over, I really learned a lot and I made unique experiences I will treasure.