Decisions, Decisions...

I'm just about to round off 20 months here in Canada. Sweet mother of the devine, it has flown by. With so little time left, I've been thinking hard about what to do next and have had many suggestions thrown at me. My options include:

1. Looking into visa options to stay here longer. It is possible, and I know it would keep the Plummers happy but I get a feeling I might be done with Canada (possibly just Toronto). It is too cold in winter, too warm in summer, milk comes in bags, sugar comes in cartons, motorists can turn right on a red light, you can only buy alcohol in government run shops, too many hipsters, too expensive. Not to say I have not enjoyed my time here, that would be crazy as I have loved just about every second of it but I think it's time to move on.
2. Australia/New Zealand. Definitely on the list but I'm putting myself under enough pressure as it is to get the money to travel more in Canada before I leave, if I want to save money to start myself a new life down under, I would need to work every hour of the day right up until the day I leave. Oz and Nz aren't going anywhere.
3. Going home... Well, the decision has pretty much already been made. Despite my best intentions and best laid plans, I was not able to save enough money to do what I want. Still, the more I think about it, the more I think I'm ready to go home. Being here in Toronto has been an emotional rollercoaster in itself, although sometimes I feel like it was all caused by weather related mood swings. I've been home twice since coming away and had no idea I would miss it as much as I have.

The long and short of it is, I'm going home. Gonna work my ass off for the next few months and enjoy the rest of my time here, travel out west and fly back from Vancouver in December. Anybody going to be travelling between Toronto and Vancouver in November, let me know. Those of you still in Ireland, see you all for Christmas - it's gonna be a good one!

Moral of the Story - in the immortal words of my good friend Dorothy 'There's no place like home'. I don't have red shoes to click though. Can't afford proper shoes in Toronto ;)

Life's Too Short To Sleep Alone

What greets you as you check in......

That is the slogan of Global Village Backpackers, stated very plainly on the information board at reception. What a motto to live and work by! It definitely describes the hostel perfectly ;). Now, you could go down the dirty route (as I know most of you will, you filthy minded creatures! As Ian pointed out 'if my mind didn't live in the gutter, it would be homeless') and assume that we are encouraging promiscuous activity but we certainly don't. Not that we are judgemental if there are some innocent hook ups but before you embark on any wild passionate love affairs in a hostel, make sure to read the following guide....

Anyway, I had been applying for lots of different types of positions, as per my previous blog post on Job Hunting in Canada, and when I applied for the Front Desk Agent position here, it was on a bit of a whim, with a lot of encouragement from Gillian. Once I had posted on Facebook where I was going to be working, I got a wonderful reaction from people telling me how perfect they thought the job would be for me. And how right they were. I work with a great bunch of people and get to meet new people all the time, which can be both a good and a bad thing! There is also a bar on site, the wonderful Departure Lounge, which will undoubtedly finish the job that Fitzgeralds started in terms of my liver failure.

I would take you through a typical day but there is no such thing as a typical day at GVB. I think the best way to express what it's like working in the hostel is to describe a few of the more entertaining guests (by entertaining, I mean mental obviously), my colleagues and a few of the stand-out moments that have occurred in my 2 and a half months here so far......

• In terms of the guests.....generally, they're pretty great. A few of the more memorable ones include the woman who carried a pile of washing out the door and across the street because she saw a limo pull up at the traffic lights and assumed 'there must be someone interesting in there'; knocked on the car window to talk to the driver and got annoyed when it pulled away. There was the man who passed out in the toilets and then tried to accuse us of stealing money from him.....while he was locked in the toilet cubicle. The staff are talented but we're not ninjas. The man who asked one too many times about why the internet connection wasn't working......and was killed (not really, he was moved to another, more internet receptive room). Let's not forget creepy condo guy.He never actually stayed here, he just frequents the bar and tried to lure people to his condo for 'parties'.
• Where do I start with my colleagues? Great bunch of people altogether. We've got 5 Irish, 3 Germans, 3 Australians, 1 English and 1 Cornish. There's a couple of Canadians as well, so we're not prejudiced! Quite a mix but we manage to get along pretty well. Karaoke on Friday nights can be quite a spectacle when we all get involved. Many of these colleagues feature in my Top 5 GVB moments so far.....

1. The night we shaved Tom's head - so Tom decided that he wanted to try having his head shaved as he'd never done it before and always wondered what it would look like. I was on shift til 11 and had asked that they wait until I was finished before they did it so that I could watch. They went one better and got Shaun to agree to let them do it in the bar. We all took turns taking snips at his floppy English locks until Andy went hell for leather with the razor.....
2. Karaoke Friday Nights - it's really hard to pick just one stand out moment from karaoke, there have been so many epic performances. Tom and Andy with their Jason Beaver tributes; Gillian, Kate and Nic doing Journey proud,; Craig doing Mustang Sally after bitching that he wouldn't sing EVER. I think the winner has to be both renditions of Fairytale of New York that we kicked out over Christmas.
3. New Year's Eve - not generally the biggest fan of New Years as traditionally, it's a massive let down. I was even more apprehensive being away from home but that didn't matter. Everyone who was there was in the same boat pretty much, the music was great and I drank way too much. And there was no Auld Lang Syne. Perfect.
4. The night I threw the pint over Alan - this was possibly the great turning point in my time here. We'd been at our staff party and everyone was very merry with a lot of fizzy drinks having been taken on board. After the session in the party room at Sally & Shaun's condo, we all headed over to the hostel bar for more drinks (as if we needed them). A few of us were out on the patio and Alan decided it might be funny if he leaned over and poured some beer down my top. Through my shock, I reacted on instinct......and launched my entire pint over his head. Dear reader, I cannot express how tense those few seconds immediately following that were. As soon as the beer was leaving the glass, my first thought was 'bollox. I've taken this way too far'. There was pure silence from everyone else (probably some tumbleweed blowing) as we all waited for his reaction. He raised his head, beer dripping from his glasses, looked at me....and started laughing. The he high-fived me, gave me a hug and said that it was well deserved. Boom.
5. The kidnapping saga - this incident is very recent and will require an entire blog post all of it's own but let's just say that my dearest friend Henry Brontasaurus was kidnapped by a dreadful Scouse Gangster and it was touch and go as to whether I would ever see him again. An elaborate Facebook creation, a ransom note and a Dinosaur Abduction Awareness Organisation hosting a Silent Auction later and it has all been resolved.

Me outside GVB (this was actually before I started working)

Moral of the Story - if you want to take a year out and are lucky enough not to be saddled with a mortgage/kids/other grown up responsibilities; work in a hostel. You may not make a lot of money, but you'll have some craic. And sure, isn't that what it's all about at the end of the day? ;) 

Finding the new Fitzgeralds

I've drank in many bars in my time. In fact, some people would even say that I may have been in a few too many bars and consumed more than my fair share of fizzy drinks. You would be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't be of the opinion that I spent far too much time in one bar. No one ever said that to Cliff or Norm and they spent a lot more time in their bar than I did in mine.....

Fitzgeralds was the place that I could walk into anytime and be guaranteed to know at least one other person at the bar, as well as the staff. Comfortable. Friendly. Inviting. I could have a pint on my own and read the paper or end up having the craic with some random people and end up heading to the Czech Inn for some ridiculous dancing. And let's not forget the infamous Friday night sessions. Rare was the Friday that I didn't scarper from my office next door with a fierce thirst on me and eager to while away the evening with a few 'civilised drinks'. Until, lo and behold, a mere few hours later I'm weaving drunkenly on my chair with whoever I managed to drag from the office with me waiting for Totally Wired to start. Inevitably, despite many protestations that we would leave after the next pint, all of a sudden, we'd realise that one staff member was mopping around us while the other was vaguely encouraging us to drink up and go but not really forcing us out the door. Good times.

Obviously, when I got to Canada, one of the first things that I was keen to accomplish (apart from the very obvious finding employment and accommodation) was finding my replacement bar. I am quite easily pleased and like to think that my expectations are not too high but Fitzgeralds had set the bar very high. Below are some of the bars I tested out and my verdict on each of them....

• Elephant & Castle - no, they did not have chicken wings (well they probably did but I was unwilling to order them and shatter the illusion). I did try the curry chips and they were pretty good. The beer was an alright price (so long as you stuck to the local brews) and the staff were friendly enough. They went to great lengths to try to find the Irish Euro 2012 Qualifier match for me on TV. I haven't been back since but would still give it 3/5.
• Fynn's of Temple Bar - being a huge fan of the Temple Bar Bar, I was hoping for something vaguely similar but I really didn't find it here. The staff seemed friendly enough but I didn't feel enough of a pull to visit there more than 3 times in the last 10 weeks. Their food is pretty good though. 3/5
• Pogue Mahone - now this one, I had to go into just to see what the bleeding story was. After having a chat with the bartender, he confirmed that the name was an attempt at wittiness. Good attempt There was no atmosphere there, the staff were surly enough to a point (although I did manage to get one of them to have a bit of banter with me eventually). Not likely to go back 1/5
• McVeighs - everyone said to me, if you want a taste of home, get yourself to Mc Veighs. I decided to pop along on a Sunday afternoon to have a nose. It was dark, there weren't many people there, there were a few others on their own and the bartender was having the banter with a couple of lads at the end of the bar. Somehow though, it just didn't work for me. After a while, there was a group at the end of the bar, all Irish, gossiping about the night before in some other pub when this person had done this that and the other, and he'd kissed her and she'd punched him. And I realised that it seemed like just another small town in Ireland. And I didn't actually want to be a part of that. 3/5
• The Bier Markt - here's one I wasn't expecting to like, it seemed a little bit pretentious at first glance but they had a lot of international beers on tap so we figured we'd give it a go. Not only do they have a lot of different beers but they will allow you to have little tasters of different ones to help you make up your mind about which one you want. The first night we were there, I tried a few different ones, as did my friend Viv. The following week when we went in, the same bartenders were there and they remembered everything we had tasted and which ones we liked and didn't like. Either we were very memorable or they were very good at their jobs! Been there a few times now and the staff are always lovely, the music sounds like a playlist from my own MP3 Player and their Poutine is delish. 4/5
• The Foggy Dew - again, based on the name, I was hoping for something even vaguely similar to the dear old Dublin Foggy Dew. My first day there, I made friends with some locals and the bartender. This looked promising. Been back a few times since and even when I brought in the guys visiting from Ireland, the lovely Jeremy didn't even charge them for their tea and soft drinks which I thought was pretty decent. My only criticism is that their chips are not crispy enough. Otherwise though 5/5
• And then we come to the closest thing I've found so far. The dear old Departure Lounge at Global Village. I know the staff, I'm getting to know the regulars, I get good deals on drinks. Couple of slight bonuses over Fitzgeralds - crazy drinks specials every night and karaoke on Fridays. However, Fitzgeralds still wins over slightly....although, ask me again in about 8 months time. 5/5

Moral of the Story - I will continue my search for a substitute bar and will ensure to keep you all updated. Don't worry too much Lennie; you're a hard one to replace. 

Likes and Dislikes in Canada so far....

I would like to preface this one by saying that I understand that these points may not necessarily apply to the whole of Canada but you can take that up with someone who gives a rats ass.....

• Like.... the public transport system. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), as far as I'm concerned provides an excellent service, particularly when coming from the likes of Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. The subway and streetcar schedules are super frequent, I'm rarely waiting too long for one (except in the middle of the night, when you could be waiting half an hour.....when it's -15 out. Not that pleasant). My favourite thing has to be the drivers though. Maybe it's a public transport driver trait across the world to have an amazingly sarcastic sense of humour. Case in point; on a streetcar one evening and a woman got on talking on her mobile phone. Well, she was shouting and she had the other person on speaker phone so it was a very annoying conversation to have to listen to. Next thing, the driver gets on the intercom 'Excuse me lady, no one wants to hear your conversation. Please either hang up the phone, or get off the streetcar. Thank you'. I nearly wet myself. No one else seemed to think it was that funny though......
• Dislike..... milk. At home we've got full fat, low fat, slimline, whatever. They've the same stuff over here but they also have 'percentages'. As in 2%, 1%. That's not milk, it's a percentage, as Tracy would say. Also, it comes in bags as well as in cartons. Plastic bags of milk feel so weird. I can't even describe it if you've never felt one. Everyone seems to have these special plastic jugs that they use for them. You cut a wee corner out of the bag and plop it in there. Why you don't just empty the milk from the bag into the jug, I do not know. Strange.....
• Like.....the Plummers. I've had a few issues with the odd crazy Canadian since I got here, and haven't met a huge amount that I would be able to admit that I was overly fond of. Apart from the Plummer family. I don't think that there could be a more welcoming or easy going family within the entire North American continent. They should be on the Canadian Tourism Boards advertisements for reasons to come to Canada.
• Dislike.....HST. Harmonized Sales Tax in other words. Nothing, NOTHING that you buy is actually the price that is listed. You get to the counter and realise that the exact change that you've scoured your wallet for is no use to you as you forgot to consider the taxes. According to Wikipedia (the bible of completely accurate information), when they were introducing the HST in Ontario in 2010 was opposed by 74% of the population. Nice to know it matters what the public think!
• Like.....my job. Not many people get to say that these days but I thoroughly enjoy my job. Not that I don't have my off days and I have met some crazy people (not the good kind either) but working at Global Village has been an extremely welcome break from the office work of the last 3 years. I've met some great people, there's a bar on the premises and a smoking patio. And, although I complain about it sometimes, I've learned that I really enjoy folding sheets!
• Dislike.....lack of chicken fillet or breakfast roll availability. Snack food is very different here. It's all pizza slices and pizza slices and more pizza slices. They don't have the same kind of deli vibe that I'm used to where you can get an ol ham and cheese sandwich made up (or the legendary chicken fillet roll). Some of the convenience stores do have counters with samosas, meat pies, imitation cornish pasties, sausage rolls, etc. Even they're not the same. The only sausage rolls I've been able to find are beef ones, not even pork ones!
• Like.....poutine. Yes, I do love poutine. Let me explain it for anyone who may not know about it. It's basically gravy chips with cheese curds but the Canadians consider it very precious and unique to them. Before I tasted it for the first time, I was advised that I had to be very careful where I tried it to ensure that I was tasting high quality poutine. Apparently, the cheese curds have to be really squeaky, the gravy should be chicken or turkey (with a hint of pepper), and the chips should be thin cut and crispy on the outside. I tasted it in the BierMarkt and was very happy with it!
• Dislike.....LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). The LCBO and the Beer Store are the only places that you can buy alcohol in the province of Ontario apart from licensed premises like bars and restaurants (where you can't get take out). If the opening hours don't suit you or you don't have one too near to your house, it can be very awkward. Which I found out to my detriment last Sunday when I discovered that most of them close by 6pm at the latest. Shocking.
• Like..... Steamwhistle Brewery. I've mentioned them in a couple of blogs before but I cannot get enough of these guys. Not only is the Brewery a great attraction and good fun, the beer is really tasty and has been made in the most efficient and green ways. As their motto goes 'Do One Thing Really, Really Well'. Too true, too true. 
• Dislike.... there's no Fitzgeralds. It's been really hard to find a bar here that I can call home. I have searched high and low (which is really tough here considering how expensive it is to drink over here). Lennie and co have pretty much ruined me for any other bar. The closest thing I am likely to find is the bar at Global Village; I know the staff, I know the regulars, I get good prices on the beer. If I could get Totally Wired over to play there, it would actually be perfect.....

Moral of the Story - Moving to a new place is exciting....but sometimes it's just fun to make a pros and cons list!
 

Christmas in Canada

On Christmas Eve, I posted on Facebook about not feeling very Christmassy. Because I just didn't. There were decorations up, people walking around with Santa hats, 12 Pubs of Christmas crawls going on. It was the little differences. There were Christmas songs being played, but I didn't hear Slade, Wizzard or Fairytale of New York ONCE! Except for when we did it at karaoke in the hostel after many many fizzy drinks. I miss the lights on Grafton Street. I miss the stalls on Henry Street, with the shrill cries of "wrappin paper, 5 sheets for a euro". I missed the 12 Pubs of Christmas with the girls. I missed doing Kris Kindle with the family and then all of us just swapping around anyway to get who we had a gift idea for.

Working Christmas Eve also wasn't the greatest way to get myself in the spirit. I tried playing some Christmas tunes. No. I wrote my cards out for the Plummer Family. No. I Facebook creeped my friends to see what they were up to. That just made me sad. Then I found my saviour on the RTE iPlayer. "The Toy Show Unwrapped" gave the history of the toy show and showed lots of old clips. I could not help but get into the spirit. As much as people sneer, I do love the Toy Show. Dara O'Briain's explanation that the Toy Show is the reason for the recession because it showed us all the things that we could have but would never be able to afford!

Thankfully, the Plummer family had agreed to take me in over Christmas. I only had Christmas Day off so it was a bit of a flying visit but it was nice to be with a family, even if they weren't my own. My family had sent some packages over for me too, so I was looking forward to opening them on Christmas morning while Skyping with them. The Plummers also made sure that I had several presents of my own to open with them, including this very fetching stocking filled with an array of handy gifts!

There is very little that differs with Canadian Christmas to an Irish one. Time spent with family eating too much food, watching shite on TV and basically just hanging around, being together. St Stephens Day - now that was a different matter. I know at home a lot of pubs close early and what not but the city was like a ghost town! Thankfully, the hostel bar was open so I went there and spent some time with my new friends, lamenting my homesickness and getting over it by drinking $10 pitchers of Moosehead. That is definitely a good way to forget that one is homesick. That's how the rest of my festive period was spent actually, working and drinking with a whole bunch of other people who were also far away from home. In my opinion, New Years is always a let down but this year, I actually had more fun that I remember having most New Years. Champagne at midnight, great music, a bunch of strangers and new friends. It was pretty great.

Moral of the Story - Christmas is about surrounding yourself with your family the people you love. When that's not possible, the next best thing is to get yourself a sweet Canadian family around and a hostel full of drunk backpackers. Just make sure you show up for work on time New Years Day......

A Great Canadian Weekend

It was time for me to attend my first SWAP Social. Having gate crashed many of the reciprocal Work In Ireland Socials back in Ireland (the infamous trip to Galway where I managed to turn it into a fake hen party for myself was particularly enjoyable), I had an idea of what to expect. Lots of foreigners getting together, partaking in local activities and usually a few civilised fizzy drinks. Before any of this happened, I was used for slave labour in the Plummer household to assist them in readying their garden for the winter and their Christmas decorations. I say slave labour, I actually quite enjoyed it. Not sure I would like to have to do it every winter but it was interesting enough. Really helped me to work up an appetite for the game and the few pints too!

We started off with a traditional Canadian past-time of a hockey game; Toronto Marlies vs Rochester Americans at Ricoh Coliseum. As the Marlies are in the AHL and not the NHL like the Maple Leafs, the tickets are much cheaper and they don't fight as often as the professional teams but you could still get the idea. It was pretty exciting, kind of like hurling but played on ice. Very fast paced; considering I can rarely walk without tripping, adding ice to the equation is a scary concept for me. There was such a varied crowd. sitting right behind us was a group of young boys who were a little too vocal throughout the game. It would have been annoying if they weren't so damn cute. There was a stag party with one of the members in a blue Morph suit. Why do these Morph suits appear so often when I'm around?? As with any sporting event, drink was too expensive to enjoy properly and for once, the long and frequent gaps during the game did not make me as angry as usual as we had plenty of time for bathroom breaks and to queue at the bar. Will definitely be attending more games while I'm here! We then did the usual and went for a few drinks, to an Irish bar obviously. The Brazen Head is a nice enough bar and they had good deals on the pitchers but it lacked a certain 'je ne sais quoi'. Got to meet some nice people though, always good to build up your contacts network in a new place!

That Sunday saw me stalking Santa Claus at the annual Santa Claus Parade. I did take issue with the fact that the parade was being held on the 20th of November, they Christmas hype just starts earlier and earlier every year. While the parade took a long time to get going and I did feel somewhat out of place without a child with me to justify me standing there, I managed to enjoy it. There was something quite magical when Santa was going by and the kids all around were so excited. Oh to be young and innocent again! I decided to head for a pint afterwards and hit McVeighs Pub, which was where Gillian had advised me would be the closest thing that I would find to Fitzgeralds at home. I had already given up on finding a replacement but a close imitation would do me! It wasn't bad and I reckon when the homesickness really hits, it will be a good place to visit!

Moral of the Story - take advantage of local Canadian activities. It may surprise you how much fun they can be!

Job Hunting in Canada

A lot of people say that it's easier to get a job when you have job. Therefore, having upped sticks and travelled halfway across the world with just a visa and a smile, technically I was probably at a slight disadvantage. At the same time, I had heard that the job market was relatively healthy in Canada. In all fairness, I had been advising people of that very same thing for 3 years while working at USIT so I hoped that what I had been telling people was as true as I proclaimed it to be!

Preliminary searches before I left Ireland indicated that there was plenty of jobs over there. I sent off a couple of applications (including my updated 'resume' that had been Canadianised) for various positions mainly along the line of the marketing/office style work I had been doing up to that point. Just before leaving, I decided that I would most likely end up working in a pub or restaurant and decided to complete the Smart Serve course so that I would be able to serve alcohol responsibly (I am a complete retard at 'knowing the one that's one too many'; as if I'd be able to make a decent decision regarding other people drinking responsibly). After 2 days, I realised that everyone I know here works office hours. Do I really want to work the complete opposite shifts to them?

I decided to put my focus back into the office side of things. I set up some meetings with recruitment agents and sent off roughly 30 resumes a day for various positions, including the following;

• Communications/Social Media Coordinator for a charity
• Production Team Member at Tim Hortons
• Office Administrator in a lawyers office
• Special Events Organiser at a college
• Administrator for an Immigration firm that specialises in advising internationals who want to move to Canada and Canadians who wish to move abroad
• Executive Director (aim high right?) for the Irish Canadian Immigration Centre. 

Anyone who knows what I've been doing for the last few years will immediately see that the last 2 jobs should have been mine in all fairness. How could they not want me? Waited for them to call, still sending off other applications but knowing that there could be no other positions as perfect for me as these two. Then the phone rang.....oh joy! It was.....Tim Hortons. Was I free for a quick chat about the position available? Fair enough, I'll play along for now. The usual questions follow; what's my availability, why did I come to Canada, why do I want to work for Tim Hortons, would I mind a bit of baking. I answered in my best possible phone voice and she invited me to come in the next day to meet the manager of the store. I turned up all suited and booted, ready to convince them that I 'really wanted to be part of the Tim Hortons team' (this was a phrase I did actually utter and immediately afterward wanted to punch myself in the face). The manager, God bless her, was 45 minutes late for my interview. I am not a particularly impatient woman but I must say, after 30 minutes and 3 free coffees, I did consider whether I was actually bothered to work there. 

I stuck it out obviously (desperation was taking hold at this stage that I would be unemployed forever) and the interview went quite well I thought. She asked me what my availability was, why did I come to Canada, why did I want to work for Tims, she didn't ask me about the baking though. I hadn't left the place an hour when she rang me and asked me to come back the next day to meet the owner. Good sign. The owner was not late, thankfully. First thing he says is 'I haven't read your resume. I want you to tell me about yourself.' Being the shy wallflower that I am, this was quite hard for me.....but I managed. Then he asked me my availability, why I had come to Canada and why I wanted to work for Tims (this was the point where I talked about the Tim Hortons team and how much I wanted to be a part of it. Loser) and said that he would let me know early the next week. I still haven't heard anything and that was 17 days ago. Deduce from that what you will. 

Then of course, dear Gillian, my shining light and saviour, came out to me last week and said that the hostel down the block was looking for front desk staff. I'd work in the hostel, meet new people, live the backpacker lifestyle. This could work! I emailed the name Gillian had given me and tried not to make my cover letter sound too desperate (this is very hard to do). I heard back within an hour to arrange an interview for a few days later. Not one to count my chickens, I made sure to keep applying for other jobs in the meantime. I was very nervous before the interview but the manager, Sally, seemed really nice, very friendly and was also from Cornwall so I knew she couldn't be a bad egg! I thought the interview went well but I was really weary to get my hopes up as I knew how much I wanted this job.

Obviously, I'm on my way to a job interview 2 days later when she emails me to offer me the position. I actually did a little jump in the middle of the street and laughed out loud with complete and utter delight. It was arranged that I wouldn't be starting until the following week, meaning that I would be free for the weekend while I had friends visiting from the homeland, it all seemed to be working out fairly well! Over the next few days, as I mentioned at the start of my little piece how much easier it was to get a job when you already have a job, I was contacted by 7 other employers that I had sent applications to in the 3 weeks since I'd arrived, all offering me interviews and seeing if I was still available to work. I did begin to wonder if maybe I should see what else was out there. I could tell somewhere in my gut though that this would be perfect for me.

Moral of the Story - while you should not always take the first thing that is offered to you, it usually pays off to follow your gut instincts. We'll see how it pays off in the long run though.....

My Birthday in Toronto

I wake up, yawn and stretch and realise 3 things in quick succession.

1. It's my birthday! I'm 26 now, better get my shit together and become a responsible adult.
2. My arm is asleep. I reach up to scratch my face and poke myself in the eye. Not nice.
3. Where the f#@k am I?

I was confused for about 12 solid minutes. I looked around and I spotted my suitcase on the floor and pictures of Gillian's twin on the walls. Oh right, I'm in Toronto in the Plummer family home with my one year working holiday visa to live and work in Canada for the year. But all of that serious stuff later. Let's get on with the birthday first! I had one card already from dear Helena and Brian (the new Mr & Mrs Byrne!) who had given me a card when I met them in New York. How sweet; on their honeymoon, they remembered to get ME a frickin birthday card. Super special people (in a good way, obviously).

I made my way to downtown Toronto to meet Gillian from her office before we headed off to St. Lawrence Market for lunch. There is so much there, my head was practically spinning. Gillian kept asking me what I wanted; I'm terribly indecisive when it comes to food choices, especially when there were so many delicious things to choose from! I ended up getting a veal sandwich (I think, I just ordered the same thing as Gillian). Looking forward to going back again and spending some time there and maybe actually buying some stuff for home cooking next time!

After that, we took a stroll through Union Station and over to the Steam Whistle Brewery to take a tour. Can you think of many things that I would enjoy more than going to a brewery for my birthday? The tour was great, short enough so you don't get bored and the story of how the brewery started is really interesting. The brewery was started by 3 guys who were fired from their jobs working at another microbrewery in Ontario. They were initially going to call the company '3 Fired Guys' but later decided that this was not an ideal marketing tool. They went with the name 'Steam Whistle' as an homage to the 1950's when the blowing of a steamwhistle at 5pm signalled the end of the work day and meant that it was time for a nice cold beer. They still have the logo '3FG' on all of their bottles though! I could go on and on about the virtues of this amazing beer and the company's innovative green initiatives but you should check out the website for yourselves. Or better yet, just fly on over here and visit - I'd have no problem going again!
Because it was my birthday, they gave me a free bottle of delicious Steam Whistle beer (not that I needed it with the copious amounts of free samples that we were getting!) Invited the nice Scottish guy that we met and his Brazilian girlfriend along for dinner. He was all for it, she didn't seem so eager though. He argued with her about the fact that she wanted to go home and get changed first and said that they would meet us later. They seemed like good fun - unfortunately, the Brazilian chick must have won the argument as they never made an appearance :(

We went for dinner in Earls Restaurant with Gillian's twin Kate and a friend of theirs Amy (another Irish girl, surprise surprise). There was obviously only one thing that I was going to order - fillet steak with pepper sauce. Mmmmm. Cooked to perfection, served with crispy shoestring fries. I was happy. Henry was particularly happy when the sticky toffee pudding came out and Kate let him have some of it!

Moral of the Story - birthdays are fun in an international setting, especially when they're not fake birthdays (only had one or two of them in my life). Also, Steam Whistle beer = delicious!

Canada, eh?

My time in New York was at an end, which meant that it was time to embark on my new life in Canada. Getting up to go to the airport was tough enough. Having slightly over-indulged the night before, I was very bleary eyed when trying to ensure that I packed my last bits and pieces before I left the hostel. As of right now, I haven't discovered that I am missing anything important but time will tell! I made my way to Port Authority Bus Terminal at 7am, hoping that the new backpack I'd bought held enough to ensure that my suitcase wasn't overweight again. Arrived at the airport way too early but hadn't been able to predict how long it would take but I'd rather be early than late! Suitcase wasn't overweight, thank feck and I had no issues getting through security.

When I was eventually permitted to board the plane, I found it was one of those smaller aircraft. Only 12 rows, 4 seats deep. For someone who is not generally that comfortable with flying, it was not the nicest sight for me to behold. Once we got in the air however, I was enthralled by the view out the window of New York and New Jersey. The pilot did claim at one stage that we were flying over Niagara Falls. I couldn't see anything but I might have been looking out the wrong side....

And so we touched down in Toronto. My eyes were nearly falling out of my head I was so tired. But I knew I still had to get through Immigration so I was hoping I didn't look as out of it as I felt. If Tracy hadn't been lying about putting notes about me being a terrorist on my booking then I knew I would need all my wits about me. Obviously, if I had been thinking clearly, I would have realised that any indications that I was a terrorist would have been picked up by the US Border Patrol people. I got through the first the customs section easy enough. I even managed to elicit a bit of a giggle from the officer, I had an email that Gillian had sent me with her address on it in case they asked me where I was going to be staying in Canada. Gillian had written it all out and then added at the end 'Make sure to give them the full address. you can't just say Gillian's house. There are a lot more people in Canada than in Ireland'. Then it was on to the Immigration Officer to be issued with my work permit, which went off without a hitch. The lovely man even left out all restrictions on my permit so I could study full time if I want to, work in the medical industry, work with children or the elderly. Endless possibilities!!

I got my suitcase and headed through to the arrivals lounge. I was very disappointed that Gillian was not waiting with balloons and a sign with my name on it. However, Delta Airlines had managed to get me to Toronto 45 minutes earlier than planned so I had about 20 minutes of awkward standing around, trying to bring my bags out for a cigarette. When I spotted Gillian, it was like long lost relatives being reunited. You'd never know that it had only been 6 months since we'd seen each other, and we had probably been speaking every day since she had left Ireland. It was so nice to catch up face to face though! Her mother, dear Rosalind Plummer, was arriving in from Vancouver also so we waited for her. I was a little nervous; I'd never met her before and was going to be staying in her house while I got myself sorted out. I needn't have been, obviously. She's as sweet and welcoming as Gillian is.

They brought me back to the family home (which is LOVELY), where I got to meet her dog, Mac. Most of you know how I feel about animals but this one has a bit of a special place in my heart. He looks just like Shadow from Homeward Bound and isn't an overeager puppy that slobbers on you or humps your leg. I was showed to my room and around a beautiful house that has what looks like a library in almost every room. What's the first book I go for to read? 'Rachel's Holiday' by Marian Keyes......still fantastic so don't feel guilty. Her father, David, then arrived home from work with her twin sister Kate and all of a sudden, I am swept up as part of this family, having dinner and a few glasses of wine. I barely had time to realise that I wasn't in Ireland or even New York anymore.

Moral of the Story - if you're coming to Canada, make sure to stay with Gillian and her family. You won't regret it, I'm probably never going to leave.......

Leaving on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go....if you don't know the rest of the words, just check it out here -
John Denver's infamous song.......

So, the big day is finally here. Time for me to spread my wings, broaden my horizons, expand my mind, etc. etc. blah blah blah. I'm sure all of those things apply to me also but the real reason I'm going? Boredom. Everything was at a bit of a standstill. My friends are getting engaged/married/having babies/buying houses/heading off on their own travels. I was just working away Monday to Friday, spending too much money in Fitzgeralds (not that I didn't enjoy it!) and just generally stuck in a Groundhog Day style situation. Only problem was, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing differently in order to make things 'right'.

I had always loosely planned to take a major trip around the world. As per the aforementioned overspending in my favourite bar, I did not quite get the money together for that kind of trip. Instead, I decided that I should get a work visa and head somewhere that I knew a little bit about, had some friends over there already, spoke the same language as me.....where better than the very same country that I had been working for 2 and a half years sending people to?? Plus, I figured somewhere like Toronto would offer a good springboard to visit other places in the US as well, which also really appealed to me. Unlike most of my peers, the Australia thing doesn't grab me the same way, although the recent promotions we ran in work made me think that I'd made a massive mistake in terms of choosing my destination. Plenty of time in the future for that though!!

First, I head to New York for 5 days. Hopefully I will actually get to do some of the tourist activities that I missed out on the last time, the hostel I'm staying at seems to organise some great tours. Plus I'll get to visit my friends in New Jersey which will be amazing. AND Helena & Brian will be arriving in from the Mexican honeymoon for one night that I will be there so that will be great craic. Then it's off to Toronto. I've been taking little bets with myself as to when I'll remember that I'm not on a holiday. I know that Gillian will help to get me settled as soon as possible, as well as being her Tourist Nazi self and making sure I see everything amazing (as well some boring nerdy stuff) that there is to see in her hometown, which I'm very grateful for ;)

I am sad to be leaving my family and friends, as well as a little bit terrified, but I'm looking forward to it at the same time. Besides, I won't be gone for too long. Back in July for another wedding and then we'll see how I'm fixed for staying a second year...or heading to Oz or NZ or having enough money to extend my travels a little further afield.

Moral of the Story - For this one, I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from one of the wisest men I've ever met and advice which I intend to adhere to while travelling. 'Be good, be kind, be truthful, be free....and don't forget to bring your own toilet paper on the plane.