At the end of June,
I said goodbye to Sydney and moved to Toronto. It felt harder leaving
than usual, the amount of luggage I had hinting at a bigger trip than
I usually take. After a few days in Hawaii, lapping up the sunshine
and having some real good times with V, I landed on a muggy afternoon
in Toronto. The first few days were surreal, suspended in jetlag and
frustration with bureaucracy. The newly found companionship of friend
#1 and swimming gently to the sunrise were the only saviours during
this haranguing time.
Soon I moved to my
own apartment, at first a barren space that I could do cartwheels in.
I borrowed some things from #1 and went on massive shopping sprees at
Walmart & Ikea on a scale I had never undertaken. Before long I
had filled it with furniture and “things”, and now my little
abode feels like a cosy home. Humans are always looking for
familiarities from home, even if it is something tiny like the
Ethiopian scarf that used to cover my accordion, now resting over the
violin table.
Work started and I
was reminded of how human beings adapt to new environments. There is
an acute sense of unease whenever one is thrust into unfamiliarity.
The initial days, especially the first few disasters and challenging
situations, were really difficult. My first intubation was
unexpectedly complicated, and no-one understood me when I asked for a
Guedel. I struggled with the ethics and politics of the Canadian
health system. But little by little, just as I knew I would even at
the near-despair of the beginning, I began to settle in. Strangers
turned into familiar faces, and I started to feel happier and lighter
at work.
The flurry of
moving, furnishing, settling in, paperwork, redtape, finally ended in
mid-July. Then I could really take a big breath and look all around
me in this new exciting city. I met friend #2 on a post call day when
I went to a downtown walking meetup. We were naturally drawn to each
other given we were both Chinese and of similar age and temperament.
The day after that, on a whim, I went to a piano meetup and met
friend #3. The piano meetup was interesting – we drew numbers out
of a hat and played whatever we wanted on a warm toned Yamaha grand.
She asked me at intermission whether I could sightread, but before we
could continue the conversation we lost each other. Quite out of
character for me, I messaged her through the meetup app and was happy
that we got in touch again. And so, there it is, the story of how
friends #1,2,3 came about. How lucky I am to chance upon these three
wonderful women in Toronto.
Food is never far
from my thoughts, and moving to a new country brought so many new
excitements. Canadia doesn’t really have its own food, but I love
the snacks like poutine – crispy fries doused with gravy and topped
with squeaky chewy curds and beavertails – who doesn’t like fried
dough? Toronto is so multicultural and we can get pretty much every
type of ethnic food – from Ethiopian to Lankan to Chongqing
noodles. We enjoyed fancy summerlicious meals at Auberge du Pommier
and Momofuku Daisho. Also lots of cheap and cheerful meals like the
wonderful black garlic ramen at Sansotei.
The weather was
glorious for all of summer. Torontonians complained about the heat
and humidity, but I loved every moment of it. I went for long walks
exploring various corners of the city. I invited myself to #1’s
civic day long weekend in Ottawa and spent the entire time
sunbathing, swimming and kayaking (and chasing Canadian geese with
the kids!) Some work people invited me along to their outings and I
gladly went with them tubing in Elora, caving at Warsaw and canoeing.
One day I had planned to go kayaking on the Humber river with #3 but
she was sick, so a friendly Italian guy showed me around the
waterways instead. Everywhere I turned, the scenery was utterly
gorgeous and I fell in love with the water activities. Outdoors and
summer go together so wonderfully, and I cherished every moment of
it.
Before long it was
time to head back to Sydney for a brief sojourn at E’s wedding. P
came to visit for a few weeks in September and that time passed by
just like a blur. We went for a long drive around Ontario, first
heading up to the Bruce peninsula where we saw some amazing clear
water and climbed down to a secret cave at the Grotto to chill. Then
we had a rocky moment at the French River provincial park, a stunning
river with ancient trees all around, though a scene that we could not
fully appreciate. We camped for a night at Sturgeon Bay and watched
the stars by the campfire. A rainy day drive took us all the way to
Ottawa where we hunted for poutine. Finally we had a couple of
romantic days at the cute cabin in Golden Lake, relishing the
beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and the wonderfully clear warm lake.
We went to Algonquin and looked unsuccessfully for beavers (never
mind, there was a cute stuffed beaver at the cottage). And on our
last night, we managed to order takeaway from the wrong Golden Lake
Chinese restaurant – who knew it would be in Missisauga!
Another weekend we
went to Niagara falls and pretended we were on our honeymoon as our
second date. We gaped in awe at the amazing falls every time we saw
it and giggled at all the silly tourists. We went to America for
breakfast and found everything closed except Starbucks. We went to
the game arcade and collected silly tickets to swap for a blue
plastic penguin. I loved this trip and was so glad I went with P -
the kitsch could only be enjoyed with a loved one.
Then he was gone and
with him, the last warmth of the summer. We had still been swimming
in Golden Lake the 3rd week of September, but quickly the
nights got chilly and the leaves started to turn. The summer was
over.
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