 |
| Seconday school with 3000 students |
 |
| Estonian church around the corner |
 |
| Yonge and Dundas |
 |
| Canadians love their take-away |
 |
| Billboards |
 |
| Harbourfront |
 |
| Luxurious apartments at Lake Ontario |
 |
| Lake Ontario |
 |
| Boulevard |
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Toronto by pics
O-week
Our first week in Toronto has been great. Juha is having an orientation week from his school. During the days they have lectures and info about the school and in the evenings parties :)
On Monday evening I went with Juha to a block party at school. It had a carnival theme, but nobody was actually dressed up for it. There was a barbecue, a life band and they played some drinking games. The drinks were not expensive. You could buy for 10 dollars three coupons and for one coupon you could get a beer or sangria.
On Tuesday evening we went to a dinner cruise. Most of the students had taken their boy-/girlfriends with them, so we were with quite a lot on the yacht. It was still light when we left, but quickly it was getting darker and the views from the water were astonishing. Downtown Toronto is soo beautiful at night. The quality of our pictures is really bad and don't show at all how it really looked like. The food on the cruise was very good as well and we had a good time.
Yesterday Juha went to the Niagara falls. He told me that they looked different now in the summer. Last year we were there in the spring and we were a bit disappointed. But this time Juha said it was very beautiful, because he got the chance to get on the whirlpool boat and got near the falls.
Today there will be a beach party, but I think we take a break and just hang out at home. Tomorrow however Juha has tickets to a football game and maybe I might join him as well.
Besides Juha having o-week, I have been applying like crazy on all kind of jobs, opened a bank account at the Finnish Osuuspankki and went to get my social insurance number. One big difference with Europe is that everything is quite old fashioned over here. Internet banking is quite new and you are not able to transfer money to another's account through the Internet. They still use cheques to pay for example the rent or even salary.
This weekend will be a long weekend, because it is Labour Day on Monday. There will be a lot of events around the town. Next time more about that.
Cheers!
On Monday evening I went with Juha to a block party at school. It had a carnival theme, but nobody was actually dressed up for it. There was a barbecue, a life band and they played some drinking games. The drinks were not expensive. You could buy for 10 dollars three coupons and for one coupon you could get a beer or sangria.
 |
| Flip Cup drinking game |
On Tuesday evening we went to a dinner cruise. Most of the students had taken their boy-/girlfriends with them, so we were with quite a lot on the yacht. It was still light when we left, but quickly it was getting darker and the views from the water were astonishing. Downtown Toronto is soo beautiful at night. The quality of our pictures is really bad and don't show at all how it really looked like. The food on the cruise was very good as well and we had a good time.
Yesterday Juha went to the Niagara falls. He told me that they looked different now in the summer. Last year we were there in the spring and we were a bit disappointed. But this time Juha said it was very beautiful, because he got the chance to get on the whirlpool boat and got near the falls.
Today there will be a beach party, but I think we take a break and just hang out at home. Tomorrow however Juha has tickets to a football game and maybe I might join him as well.
Besides Juha having o-week, I have been applying like crazy on all kind of jobs, opened a bank account at the Finnish Osuuspankki and went to get my social insurance number. One big difference with Europe is that everything is quite old fashioned over here. Internet banking is quite new and you are not able to transfer money to another's account through the Internet. They still use cheques to pay for example the rent or even salary.
 |
| Osuuspankki - The Finnish Credit Union |
This weekend will be a long weekend, because it is Labour Day on Monday. There will be a lot of events around the town. Next time more about that.
Cheers!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
This is it!
It is five o'clock in the morning local time and we are sitting on the couch writing this blog. We are quite not used to the time difference yet.
Anyhow, everything has been great until now. Our flight went very well and the immigration officer was really nice. The process was very quick and we were warmly welcomed into Canada.
We took a taxi to our apartment and there our landlady Elaine already waited for us enthusiastically.
She showed us the basement apartment. It is a nice sized apartment with a separate bed room. The house is on a very idyllic street, with typical Canadian houses. We already met the neighbors, who came over to introduce themselves. They told us, that there is a tight community in the neighborhood, where everyone looks after each other. Once a year they organize a garage sale, where everyone can sell their old stuff. Afterwards, there is a big barbecue party.
Elaine was supposed to be in New York this weekend, but thanks to the hurricane she was forced to stay home. This was actually a huge bonus for us, because now she had time to help us out. On Saturday we went shopping with here. She first showed Juha his new school, which is about 20 minutes away by car. We don't have a car yet, so Juha will travel by bus to his school. The bus will take about 50 minutes.
Afterwards, we did some crazy shopping at IKEA. We bought so much, that we weren't sure if it all would fit in the trunk of Elaine's car. Luckily she had an amazingly big trunk. Only the mattress needed to be delivered.
After shopping we started cleaning up the place and made ourselves feel like home. We were dead tired afterwards and awarded ourselves with a good steak and a glass (or two) of red wine. The food over here is about the same price as in Finland.
The weather has been really warm. Yesterday it was about 26 degrees. However, the humidity in Toronto area is usually quite high. For example, yesterday the humidity was 100%.
Everything has been great until so far and we are happy to be here.
Anyhow, everything has been great until now. Our flight went very well and the immigration officer was really nice. The process was very quick and we were warmly welcomed into Canada.
 |
| Downtown Toronto |
We took a taxi to our apartment and there our landlady Elaine already waited for us enthusiastically.
She showed us the basement apartment. It is a nice sized apartment with a separate bed room. The house is on a very idyllic street, with typical Canadian houses. We already met the neighbors, who came over to introduce themselves. They told us, that there is a tight community in the neighborhood, where everyone looks after each other. Once a year they organize a garage sale, where everyone can sell their old stuff. Afterwards, there is a big barbecue party.
 |
| Our street |
 |
| The house |
 |
| The garden view |
 |
| Keewatin Avenue |
 |
| Patriotic Canadians |
Elaine was supposed to be in New York this weekend, but thanks to the hurricane she was forced to stay home. This was actually a huge bonus for us, because now she had time to help us out. On Saturday we went shopping with here. She first showed Juha his new school, which is about 20 minutes away by car. We don't have a car yet, so Juha will travel by bus to his school. The bus will take about 50 minutes.
Afterwards, we did some crazy shopping at IKEA. We bought so much, that we weren't sure if it all would fit in the trunk of Elaine's car. Luckily she had an amazingly big trunk. Only the mattress needed to be delivered.
After shopping we started cleaning up the place and made ourselves feel like home. We were dead tired afterwards and awarded ourselves with a good steak and a glass (or two) of red wine. The food over here is about the same price as in Finland.
The weather has been really warm. Yesterday it was about 26 degrees. However, the humidity in Toronto area is usually quite high. For example, yesterday the humidity was 100%.
Everything has been great until so far and we are happy to be here.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
A small delay
Today, we should have been waking up in our new apartment in Toronto. We should have been wandering the streets for already a week, but unfortunately we are still in Finland. Our visa applications were provisionally approved, however a medical test still had to be done. This could only be done in Finland and therefore we had to postpone our flight. Of course we were a bit disappointed in the beginning, but actually it really doesn't matter. At least now we will have all the necessary visa documents when we fly to Toronto and we don't need to stress that anymore. In three weeks we will wake up in Toronto, that is for sure :)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Excited!
Woo time has flown by so fast. Only 2 weeks anymore until we leave Finland behind us and head to Canada.
Since the last post we have found an apartment uptown of Toronto. It is a basement apartment on a nice street close to a park. The apartment has a separate bed room and is just renovated. It is not totally furnished, but there is an IKEA and Walmart in the near. Feels nice to finally decorate our place for a bit longer time. We have been moving so much the last years, that it made no sense to buy new stuff. We agreed to rent this apartment for at least one year, but our landlady told us that the previous tenants have loved it so much, that they have been living there for the whole four years.
The first week in Toronto we have to stay in a hostel, because the previous tenant is not able to move out earlier. From our short trip to London last year we had experience in searching for hostels and this time we were again quite critical. Eventually we found a nice looking hostel downtown. Still we have to trust on the reviews other travelers have given and just hope it is clean and on a safe street.
Our last days in Finland will consist of seeing our friends and family as much as possible, packing and enjoying the Finnish summer. We still have a wedding, a family weekend and several farewell parties to look forward to.
Since the last post we have found an apartment uptown of Toronto. It is a basement apartment on a nice street close to a park. The apartment has a separate bed room and is just renovated. It is not totally furnished, but there is an IKEA and Walmart in the near. Feels nice to finally decorate our place for a bit longer time. We have been moving so much the last years, that it made no sense to buy new stuff. We agreed to rent this apartment for at least one year, but our landlady told us that the previous tenants have loved it so much, that they have been living there for the whole four years.
 |
| Weheartit.com |
 |
| Weheartit.com |
 |
| Weheartit.com |
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Only 68 days!
It is coming closer and closer. Only 68 days and we will be sitting in the plane to Toronto.
Yesterday, we booked our flight tickets and we even found a good deal.
We will be flying with Iceland air, with one pit stop in Reykjavik.
It is getting more and more real and we are also getting more and more excited.
Yesterday, we booked our flight tickets and we even found a good deal.
We will be flying with Iceland air, with one pit stop in Reykjavik.
 |
| Photo IceNews |
My husband is almost every day waking me up with this video.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Canada, but this time we are staying
We have always loved Canada, especially after we visited Toronto last year. It is a beautiful city with a lot of green parks and big lakes surrounding it. My husband had already been thinking about further studies and found the right study in Toronto. Since we liked the city and country so much, we'd decided to take the opportunity and move to Canada for a longer time.
We will move in August, but before that we still have a lot of preparation to do. We just applied for our visas, are looking for an apartment and I am searching for jobs.
This blog will be our travel diary, where you can read about how life in Toronto and Canada is.
Seuraa blogiani Bloglovinin avulla
We will move in August, but before that we still have a lot of preparation to do. We just applied for our visas, are looking for an apartment and I am searching for jobs.
This blog will be our travel diary, where you can read about how life in Toronto and Canada is.
 |
| Photo Kilroy |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)