Uno, Dos, Tres, 14.

Now it’s time for me to say goodbye.

I remember my first day at ELS. I was so excited about Toronto that seemed to me an example of how different things could be in my own country. It’s really difficult to describe the last thirty days, maybe I should count since January when I knew that I would be going to Canada.Actually I had no idea of what expect.

Today I feel happy and sad at the same time. First, happy because I’ve had an amazing experience abroad, the thing that you could never forget. Second, sad as a result of this all experience which gave me a new view of the world.

One month… I can’t say that it was little or much time. I would say little, nevertheless I did so many things, and I enjoyed so much. At the same time, now, looks like the time run so fast. I already miss Toronto, my new friends, my "house" and all the tiny stuff that reminds me that life can be marvelous.

Thank you, i'll never leave these memories...

Por Enquanto
Cássia Eller

Composição: Renato Russo

Mudaram as estações, nada mudou
Mas eu sei que alguma coisa aconteceu
Está tudo assim tão diferente...

Se lembra quando a gente chegou um dia a acreditar
Que tudo era pra sempre, sem saber, que o pra sempre
Sempre acaba...

Mas nada vai conseguir mudar o que ficou
Quando penso em alguém só penso em você
E aí, então, estamos bem...

Mesmo com tantos motivos pra deixar tudo como está
Nem desistir, nem tentar agora tanto faz
Estamos indo de volta pra casa...

Mesmo com tantos motivos pra deixar tudo como está
Nem desistir, nem tentar agora tanto faz
Estamos indo de volta pra casa...

@ Starbucks

I talked with a woman called Sarah. She was from Chichester, England. It was pretty easy to notice that she wasn’t Canadian because of her strong accent. Enjoying the Holiday in Canada, she said that she hasn’t been in many places in Toronto yet; but she has heard about the CN Tower, mostly. As the questions were coming up she told me her preference for Starbucks, not Tim Hurtons; and also mentioned Canadian bacon. I asked if she would like to visit another country after, then her answer was India due to its exotic culture. She agreed with the fact that Toronto is an expensive city, nevertheless is less expensive than London, England. Another point was made relative to the England culture, like music, literature and specially historical places. The all interview was supposed to be with respect to Canadian and Toronto’s culture, however I had to change the original questions into others as the interviewee was not from Canada.

First it was a little bit challenging because not only was the interview supposed to be in other language but also we had to deal with the difficulty that is to interview someone unknown. At the end for sure it was a great experience; we could test our skills as we had to interact with an English native speaker. If I had to do it again I would change the place, since most people who goes there (at Starbucks) is looking for a quick coffee, express service, after that they usually leave or stay busy with their own things.

An activity that promotes interaction between students and real English native speakers is good and should be done frequently. The best way to be more confident depends on how much a person interacts with the others.

That's it for today.

Peanut butter cookies

As the title suggest today i'm going to talk about cookies. Not only about cookies but also Canadian food. I'm definitely not familiar with canadian food; perhaps because i don't even know what is their proper food.

I asked my hostmother if she could teach me how to make a really good canadian food. Actually it came before, my first idea was to learn how to make cookies, chocolate ones. Then she told me that she didn't have any chocolate chips nevertheless we could bake something easier like with peanut butter.

So that's the all history about those cookies. Not all, maybe. I also had the idea inspired on those little and delicious looking cookies that i've seen in grocery stores.

Another thing is...

starbucks' frappuccino is AMAZING.

(i tried the coffee one)

Memô, my friendly moose.

First of all let me introduce you my new friend Memo (and he's a moose, of course). Today i was searching for suvenirs at Eaton Centre, somethings that i would like to bring to Brazil. I went in three different stores. One of them had those beautiful cute, tiny and expensive objects. Actually none of all three was really cheap. Similar to Memo were others "toys" like a black bear and a white bear... also squirrels. The thing is that a moose seems to represent Canada more than the others i think, so i bought the moose one.

Besides Memo i bought a Maple Syrup bottle in form of leaf (which is cool), a beautiful Canadian T-shirt that i'm going to travel wearing it. For today was just it. :)

Now i have to enjoy my last week in T'rono.

(so saaad)

Interchange

Living in Toronto is one of the best things that have ever happened to me in the last few years. I’ve made some friends of different parts of the world (Korea, Poland, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Switzerland, France etc.) and it is absolute amazing because when you’re focused on you own culture you actually can’t see the others with the right eyes. The experience of meeting people and living their culture is definitely unforgettable.

I should talk a little more about the Canadians. It is really interesting because before I came here I had no idea in terms of food, people, music, sports, specific words and all these things. I think the reason is like we know about American (U.S.) people on TV, movies, blá, blá. On the other hand, Canadians, well, they speak English but could you distinguish Canadians and U.S. people just by hearing them speaking in English. Before, I would say “Oh, ‘gringo’ maybe from U.S.” If the accent were strong they probably were from England and so on.

On my second day here I tried their Maple Syrup and it’s like a candy, honey, but extracted from Maple tree. A Maple tree is that one with a cute leaf that is on Canada’s flag. It has a delicious taste when you put on toasted bread, also toasted bread with peanut butter (commonly seen in movies). Peanut Butter is not as sweet as I thought. As the description goes around food, perhaps we have in Brazil, but I didn’t experiment before, the tomato juice is really good! Water in restaurants is for free… the reason may be on the fact that you can get (for drink) water in your own sink.

I was able to tell you guys more. Now i've seen that is too much for one day, so i'll come with others things later...

Days

Finally, it's friday! For the first time i'm not so excited about it and the reason is because as the time runs my journey is coming to an end.

Toronto is an amazing city. I may be too enchanted since i don't live in a "real big city". But there are some things that can't be denied about Toronto. People here are very kind and when they discover that you are not a citizen of Toronto they try to help you. I could list all the good and bad things that separates the two cities: where i'm living now and where i actually live.

Now i have to do my presentation for tomorrow, so...

Toronto, Dundas square.

I was supposed to write here everyday (about how is going in Toronto) but i don't have time and patience to do it. So i'll leave you with a picture:

Less than two days

Um pouco de ansiedade, um pouco de medo, um pouco de tudo. Afinal, estou me aventurando em país estrangeiro e ainda por cima sozinha. Creio que ao final de tudo vou querer repetir a dose, então, o ideal mesmo é tentar aproveitar todo e cada momento. Se der a doida vai que eu fico de vez por lá, né? (Brincadeira, claro.)

"Something is about to give
I can feel it coming
I think I know what it is
I'm not afraid to die
I'm not afraid to live
And when I'm flat on my back
I hope to feel like I did"

Kite, U2