Spring in Toronto

Snapshot: Weather

2008-03-30T21:11:00.003-04:00

The weather in Toronto is rather cold, although the city is situated more in the south than e.g. Prague. The weekend I arrived there was a huge snow storm. Actually it just stopped snowing the day before I arrived, so even though I didn't see any snow falling nor my plane was delayed, there was a good deal of snow in streets.
You can have a look at some photos in the previous post.

Me and Cindy (VPOGX in @ Toronto) in their campus
(the picture was taken during my second day in Toronto)

Czech flashback
I have to admit I was originally a little bit worried about the weather when preparing myself for the trip. The weather forecast indicated temperatures around -10°C. The first week was quite tough, especially when getting lost in the city centre at around midnight (temperatures fall down to ca. -15°C) and not having my hat (I forgot it in Jablonec), not even a map (I thought I wouldn't need it:)) - these were moments that made me just swear aloud not caring about other pedestrians:)

However, I got used to it and let myself enjoy the good old winter. Everything around just resembled the winter I'd known from Prague or Jablonec around 3 years ago. Since then we didn't have a decent winter there and I'm not sure how it would be in the future.

Weather can be tricky sometimes:)

Is it spring?
I asked local people how do they recognize that a spring is coming. It is the same as in the Czech Republic - birds start to sing. And it actually happened few days ago. During the last week, the temperatures considerably increased, too. For example right now it is +12°C (usually it is around +5°C these days). Which means the spring has come! Check the current weather conditions below:

Czech corner
Pocasi si tu vazne uzivam, az na par extremnich pripadu se to tu pohybuje v prumeru okolo nuly (prvni tydny lehce (a nekdy i tezce) pod, ted zase lehce (a nekdy i tezce) nad. Predevsim v te prvni polovine meho pobytu hral stezejni roli maly radiator, ktery mam ve svem pokoji a ktery jede neustale na 100% vykonu. Hned prvni den jsem ho presunul od okna tesne vedle stolku a jeste k tomu nosil svetr i mikinu zaroven. Predevcirem jsem poprve spal v kratekm rukavu a dokonce jsem i nechal vetrat pres noc (kaminka ale stale topila, zapomnel jsem je vypnout... coz bylo zrovna pikantni, protoze ten den probihala Earth Hour:))
Trend je myslim zrejmy, zacina opet stredoevropska nuda:)

Vsiml jsem si tady jeste jedne zajimavosti. Jak jsem uvedl vyse, nechal jsem si v Jablonci cepici a chystal jsem se tu proto nejakou poridit. Ale to neni jen tak... mistni lide cepice zasadne nenosi a v kramech uz jsou jarni kolekce. Nakonec jsem tedy nakup presouval a presouval az prislo jaro a nejak se to vyresilo, resp. to nejak vysumelo.

Cepice beru, tu v Praze vetsinou taky nenosim, ale oni tu chodi i bez saly! Ne tedy vsichni jako v pripade cepice, ale neni vubec zadny problem mijet v hlubokych mrazech kolemjdouci vsech ras a pohlavi s vyrazne odhalenymi dekolty. Vsak oni na to jednou doplati:)

Niagara Falls

2008-03-28T15:15:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday I went to see the Niagara Falls. I was lucky on the weather again - it was sunny, just slightly freezing, you could feel spring coming. For those who are interested I provide little information on the falls in general:

- the Niagara Falls represent a set of well-known waterfalls on the Niagara river, the
- the Niagara river designate the state border between Canada and the United States
- the two major waterfalls are the American Falls (US) and the Horseshoe Falls (Canada)
- the whole site is quite commercial (outlook towers, casinos, excursions (e.g. like this one), boat trips, the cage "beyond the water" attraction and many more)
- the average water-course is 5500 l/s (equals to emptying out 11 luggage compartment of Audi A8 in 1s!)
- it is said that the waterfalls are "nicer" in summer and from Canadian side (yes!:)), but since I cannot wait until summer, let's see some winter pictures instead:

The Falls... nature & business

American Falls, Rainbow bridge and a real rainbow

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe falls and me:)

Drizzle coming from the falls creates nice ornaments.

Czech corner
Puvodne jsem myslel, ze na vodopadech pobudu tak hodku a zase pojedu domu, jelikoz jsem dostal echo, ze pres zimu je vetsina atrakci zavrena (jako treba koupani atd. - ne, to jen zertuji, konkretne na tohle si davaji pozor, protoze jim tam cas od casu nekdo utone a nemaji z toho dobrou reklamu, ale jsou tam vyhlidkove plosiny, lode a tak). Prestoze tyhle veci skutecne k dispozici nebyly, pobyl jsem tam celkem tak 5 hodin. Podstatny vliv na tento casovy udaj melo zejmena hezke pocasi, ktere primo vybizelo k nafoceni 250 snimku (brzy je pridam na FB!) a taktez ohromny obchod se suvenyry, kde jsem nasel i takove ptakoviny, jako oblecky na plysaky a "plysovaci stroje", ktere pak umoznily plysaka "vypustit" a prevleknout do nejakeho fancy ohozu.

Jeste mozna muzu kratce popsat samotnou cestu, ktera zacala poradnou fraskou. Jak jinak, i zde hraly roly kulturni specifika. Kdyz jsem si byl kupovat listek, tak jsem se ptal prodavace jaky je rozdil mezi spoji "Niagara Falls New York Express" a "Niagara Falls Casino Express". Prodavac me utrel, ze ten druhy preci jede primo do kasina a ne k vodopadum... Dobra, kupuji tedy ten prvni listek. Oba spoje vsak odjizdely ve stejny cas (10:15) ze sousedicich nastupist (1-muj, 2-casino). Chetl jsem pockat ve vestibulu a v klidu snist svuj snidanovy sendvic, ale rychle se tvorici fronta me prinutila jit ven jiz v 9:50. Brzy (asi po minute) me, jakozto alergika a motoristu:), zacal tocit ridic autobusu na nastupisti c.2 (casino), ktery neustale turoval motor a v odjezdove hale bylo takrka nedychatelno. Pak jsem zjistil, ze ridic neni ten, ale ta - ostentativne americky zvykajici babca maleho vrustu, jejiz rozpeti rukou se rovnalo prumeru volantu. "Hlavne klid, pripada si dulezita, dnesek je jeji den" uklidnil jsem se. Za chvili preci musi prijet muj autobus a bude po problemu. Chyba lavky... babca zaparkovala tak nesikovne, ze blokovala prijezd naseho autobusu. Bylo tedy jasne, ze nabereme zpozdeni minimalne o dobu nastupu, ale to uz bylo jedno.

Vsichni trpelive vyckali do 10:15, kdy se hazardu chtivi cetujici na lince "Niagara Falls Casino Express" konecne dali do pohybu. Muj autobus jel hned v zapeti, ovsem tesne nez mohl otevrit dvere (bylo tam zabradli, jak jinak) tak se na nastupiste priritila skupinka asi 10 Asiatu, kteri zacali panackovat pred "casino" busem v domeni, ze jim prave ujizdi jejich spoj v 10:15. Nez se to cele vyresilo, tak tam prubezne vytekaly nervy lidem ve fronte a bylo zajimave sledovat ruzne pristupy k veci:)

NBA: Toronto Raptors vs. Denver Nuggets

2008-03-26T10:39:00.004-04:00

Originally I wanted to experience an atmosphere of an NHL match, but as soon as I got to know the prices of tickets, I realized that I am actually not such a fan of ice-hockey:) (Go, Jablonecti vlci, go!:)) What a surprise when I found out, that NBA matches are much cheaper! Luckily Gecko recommended me really a great match, about which you may read in this post. Let me just make a small promotion for Gecko's blog and especially his multiball website in return:)

Toronto Raptors
The Raptors, local NBA team, have unbelievably strong reputation and support of their local audience. This time they are playing against Denver Nuggets and are expected to win a difficult match:) Their home arena is Air Canada Centre, which they share with local NHL team, Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tickets
There are many price categories available ranging from 12 CAD to 1600 CAD (check all the categories in the picture). The Air Canada Centre is of the similar size as Sazka Arena in Prague (18,000 people), so I could have imagined the seating conditions and needn't have worried about not seeing the court even from the last row. Unfortunately the cheapest tickets were for places outside the arena and those a little bit more expensive were sold out, so I ended up with a ticket for affordable 30 bucks. Luckily I didn't buy it online (as my credit card didn't work), because it would have cost extra 14 CAD due to various "convenience fees" as I discovered later.

NBA
At first I admired the overall organization, because sometimes I didn't even notice the difference between playing time and time out. There is always many people in the court... either players, or security guys, or cheer leaders, or rappers, or contestants from the audience, or mascots etc.
I guess typically for NBA, during each time out there was a "show" prepared. So besides basketball, I also enjoyed acrobatic performance, 60 seconds of madness (throwing some promotion items to the audience), races on stilts (chůdy), quizzes and much more.

The match
It was truly thrilling match! I definitely didn't intend to write a review, I just tried to capture the key moments in the game: During the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter Raptors are always ahead for 1-20 points. The turning point comes in the 4th quarter, when Nuggets take the lead. 4 minutes before the end, the Raptors balance the score 92:92. Then the Nuggets strike and increase to 92:94. Now it comes, the Raptors score 3 points with well-aimed shot that makes the audience go furious! Everything turns raptor-style - red lights, banners, Raptors' music, guys with R-A-P-T-O-R-S flags run all around the court (it's time out) and everyone believes (even me) that the time has come for Raptors to win the match!
One minute before the end, the Nuggets lead with 98:103 and literally hundreds of fans start to leave the arena:)
The Raptors lost 100:109! Shit happens:) Despite that, I enjoyed the match a lot!

Czech corner
Zapas jak ma byt, k tomu neni co dadat! Pro nezasvecence jako jsem ja jen pridavam, ze od mistnich jsem se dozvedel, ze zatimco bezne se vysledky zapasu toci okolo stovky, Raptori nemaji v urcitych zapasech potize jit i pres 150, coz ma udajne dokreslovat dravost jejich tymu.

Premyslel jsem, co bych tu zminil jako prihodu ze zakulisi, moc toho neni... snad jen ze mi prislo vtipne, ze po cele arene byli nastrceni roztleskavaci Raptoru, kteri velmi koordinovane povzbuzovali divaky. A aby to meli jednodussi, tak pomerne casto rozhazovali do publika male antistresove basketbalove micky, po kterych pubicka mladez v mem okolo doslova silela. Prestoze jsem zadny micek nechtel, protoze jich mam jeste spoustu z lonskych a predlonskych Career Days (ani na tech letosnich uz jsem si radsi zadne nebral), doslova mi jeden spadnul do kapsy. Vymenil jsem ho pak s raptorskym fanouskem za listky do loterie o 4000 dolaru. Mel jsem sice svoje vlastni listky (ani nevim proc, asi jsem se nechal zlakat nazvem loterie 50:50 v domeni ze pravdepodobnost vyhry = 0,5... jak naivni... misto toho slo o to, ze se losovalo ze vsech listku a pulka trzeb sla na vyhru a pulka na charitu), ale chtel si to pojistit - cash pred Asii by prisel vhod.
No, nevyhral jsem... nevadi, snad priste...:)

Jo a jeste par detailu:
- ty roztleskavacky maji nauceny jeden set tanecnich kroku a tancujou to na vsechnu hudbu... podvod!:)
- vzdy kdyz byl mic za 3b, objevila se reklama McDonalds na sendvic s trojtym masem... vtipne:)
- casto byli divaci vybizeni, aby fotili fotky a pomoci svych BlackBerry je primo uploadovali na Facebook... zajimave:)

Traveling in Canada

2008-03-24T17:21:00.008-04:00

Travelling in Canada is first of all expensive and secondly time demanding:)

Problem #1: time
They do not measure distances in kilometres... they do in hours:
Toronto - Montreal: 6hrs by bus / 4hrs by train
Toronto - Quebec: 9hrs by bus / 6hrs by train
Toronto - New York: 21hrs by bus / 1,5hrs by plane
Toronto - Vancouver: 5hrs by plane

Problem #2: money
It is fairly expensive to travel in Canada, e.g. you pay 170 CAD (ca. 120€) to get from Toronto to Montreal. Although it is cheaper than TGV (but almost 4x slower), it doesn't let me travel to Quebec, as 4000 CZK (+ 18hrs in bus) is not the money I would be willing to spend (just) on transportation:)

It is similar with Vancouver, where I originally wanted to go, too... almost 9000 CZK (ca. 500 CAD) is quite out of my budget (especially before the Fatal trip). What I found interesting is that the distance from Toronto to Vancouver is the same as from Prague to Moscow and back plus from Prague to Istanbul and back. A demanding travelling:)

My schedule
Despite both handicaps, I'd like to see as much as possible during my 5 weeks here.

Weekend 1: 8th-9th March
- Czech lunch with my family
- arrival in Toronto
- exploring the neighbourhoods of MC house, getting to know China town and Japanese cuisine

Weekend 2: 15th-16th March
- sightseeing in Toronto (read more in the previous post)

Weekend 3 - just passed: 22nd-23rd March
- working during Easter holidays on Friday:)
- Niagara Falls on Saturday
- NBA match yesterday

Niagara falls (post coming soon); the Rainbow bridge behind me connects Canada and the United States

Weekend 4: 29th-30th March
- trip to Montreal

Weekend 5: 5th-6th April
- CN tower (read more in the previous post)
- getting to know outskirts of Toronto
- possibly attending an NHL match, if I get cheap tickets (which seems improbable)
- writing 2 essays

Weekend 6: 12th-13th April
- arriving in Jablonec on Saturday afternoon
- getting ready for my Monday presentation at school

... as you can see, all destinations are situated in the provinces Ontario and Quebec, although there are a few more:

Canadian provinces
As written on Wikipedia "Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into regions. It makes up the world's second largest country in total area." Have a look at this map (opens in a new window).

From what I've got to know from the people, very brief descriptions of all Canadian provinces (starting in the West) would be following:

British Columbia: influence of California, known for nice nature, low density of people
Alberta: strong petroleum industry, low density of people
Saskatchewan, Manitoba: almost no one lives there:)
Ontario: one third of the entire Canadian population live here; there are the famous Great lakes on the borders with the United States; Toronto (the largest city in Canada) and Ottawa (the capital of Canada) are situated in the South of Ontario
Quebec: the largest Canadian province by area; the only province where French is a dominating language; the English minority is concentrated mostly around Montreal
Newfoundland and Labrador: had a significant role in the history of the North America, however almost no one lives there today; some minor political struggles going on
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island: small (in area as well as in population) provinces on the Atlantic coast

In the North, there are 3 territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Just snow & ice and ice & snow.

Czech corner
K dnesnimu cestovatelsky ladenemu postu se pokusim sepsat i cestovatelsky ladene ceske okenko. Bude zaroven i trochu kulturni, protoze pujde o kratke recenze 2 filmu, ktere jsem v posledni dobe videl v ramci spontanne organizovanych "movie nights" v nasem dome. Oba filmy me zaujaly predevsim s ohledem na blizici se Fatal trip a vrele doporucuji si nasledujici radky precist uz jen jako zajimave kulturni tipy.

The Darjeeling Limited
Zajimavy snimek:) Nektera devcata ho sice oznacily za nudny, ale ja jsem se stridave dobre babil (sem tam vtipna/rozpacita glosa/situace) a stridave rozsiroval obzory o indicke a tibetske kulture. Ano, film je zasazen prevazne do prostredi soudobe Indie a pojednava o 3 mladych muzich, kteri se vydavaji na "spiritualni cestu". Nekdy jsem si vazne pripadal jakobych jejich spiritualne fatalni cestu jel s nimi:)
Trailer (v novem okne)

(ted davam kratsi pauzu, jelikoz druhy snimek bude ze zcela odlisne kategorie, urcite tedy ne komedie)

Into the wild
Pravdepodobne nekteri znate, uz jsem to take drive registroval v mediich. Nekdo mozna cetl knihu. At tak ci tak, verim, za nase dojmy budou podobne:)

Kdyz jsem o filmu pozdeji premyslel, hned me napadlo zname souslovi "challenging worldview". Myslim, ze to celkem odpovida, pac alespon me urcite worldview trochu challengoval. Jedna se o, dle meho nazoru, velmi silny pribeh 23 leteho mladika, ktery se z danych duvodu vydava na osudovou cestu na Aljasku.

Srovanavat film s Fatal tripem by bylo vzhledem k jeho znacne myslenkove siri nemistne, ale z urciteho (povrchniho) uhlu pohledu tam paralela jednoznacne existuje. Musim priznat, ze v prubehu prvni hodiny jsem mel pocity lehce rozpacite, ale nakonec az do samotneho konce nikdo z 5 divaku temer ani nehlesl a film "travil" po celou dobu titulku:)

Promitali jsme na stenu, takze az na tristni ozvuceni muzeme hovorit o zazitku srovnatelnym z kina, ale domnivam se, ze i na notebooku divak oceni uzasnou kameru, velmi precizni vypravu, citlivou hudbu a spickovy strih.

Snimek je rated "R", ale nelekejte se, nejsou tam zadne lacine vrazdy... i zivot je nekdy tvrdy. Film je inspirovan skutecnou udalosti!

Vzdavam respekt reziserovi a hlavnimu protagonistovi a kulturni ceske okenko zakoncuji citatem z filmu: "I read somewhere, how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions."

Trailer | Music video (oboji v novem okne)
Z traileru mam pocit, ze se jedna o americky velkofilm plny vycpavky a klise, trochu rizly stredoskolskou tematikou a letmou akci, a proto budete-li mit o 3min vice casu, vrele doporucuji shlednout alespon Music video, ktere je o poznani verohodnjesi.

Toronto #2: downtown mix

2008-03-20T23:14:00.005-04:00

In this post you may find pictures from my sightseeing around the downtown of Toronto (see the map in the previous post) that I took last weekend. It was warm (+3°C) and sunny, nothing to complain about:)

CN Tower (read more in the previous post)
Traffic in downtown
There are also few calm places

Courageous pigeon
Hockey Hall of Fame
One of many rock clubs (BTW have you also noticed?;-))
Skaters performing tricks and shooting on two semi-professional 3CCD cameras!
Eaton Centre, huge shopping mall (see it "frozen")
Czech corner
S celou prohlidkou jsem byl maximalne spokojeny, pocasi jak delane na vychazku (nemrzlo, nesnezilo a nefoukalo - narozdil od celeho predchoziho tydne). Za oba dny jsem prochodil jak samotne centrum Toronta, tak jsem zabrousil i do okrajovych casti (resp. okrajovych casti centra) jako je napr. Little Italy ci jakasi klubova a muzejni ctvrt. To uz ale bylo v nedeli odpoledne a to mrznout zase zacalo a nejak to neustaly baterky ve fotaku:)

Musim se take priznat, ze jsem podlehl nekompromisnimu tlaku absolutne vsudypritomnych provozoven Starbucks a porusil sve predsevzeti, ze tam nevkrocim, dokud k tomu nebudu mit skutecne velmi padny duvod (pri posledni navsteve Francie me Starbucks zcela jednoznacne zklamal velmi slabou nabidkou pisingru a vyse uvedene predsevzeti melo akcentovat nadhodnocene vnimani znacky spotrebiteli). Rozhodl jsem se, ze budu velkorysy a dam jeste jednu sanci (a taky jsem mel chut na poradny kafe). Prijemne prekvapeni bylo, ze za cca 3€ jsem dostal poctivy pohar kavy s malinovym syrupem, vcetne kolace. Neprijemne prekvapeni bylo, ze prestoze kava hezky vonela, pit se nedala! Skutecne, to neslo, cca ctvrtina teto "malinovky" skoncila v poulicnim snehu. Nemluve o tom, ze na ten kelimek dali nejakou papirovou salu, ktera vadila pri piti... Uznavam, ze ta bucha byla dobra, ale zase nejaky cas me tu neuvidi.

Vecer jsem se v mailu dozvedel, ze dalsi domluveny mitink se presouva do Starbucks... whatever :s

Toronto #1: getting lost

2008-03-18T22:12:00.004-04:00

In case you are interested please see the city map below, where I marked some significant places and areas (e.g. my house, universities at which I work, city centre etc.)
This link will take you to the Google maps and show where Toronto is situated on the globe.

I guess there is nothing special about getting lost in a new place shortly after arrival, because everyone expects it. The difference is that I didn't expect it:) After being lucky and not getting lost in many cities (not only) in western Europe during last summer, and after "exploring" the neighbourhood of the MC house in Toronto during my first day when going shopping with my hosts, I didn't expect any difficulties as all streets seemed to be so right-angled, squared and anyhow else regular. I even made comments on that:)

Moreover, I've noticed extremely specific building to be situated near our house - as I've got informed, it is the Mental institute (see the picture). And, of course, there is the 553 m high CN tower in the city, isn't it? (see the previous post)

Despite all these significant landmarks, I got lost so many times! Let me pick some interesting walks:

Mental institute
Instructions are clear: get off the university campus, turn right and go until I see the Mental institute. Then I know the way. It should take about 5 minutes. Because of drizzly weather, I was looking to the ground and missed the institute (as I found out later, it is not just by the sidewalk, but a little bit sunken, which I didn't expect). After 20 minutes, still walking on the same street, I realized something went wrong. Shit! I didn't have any map, forgot my cell phone in the house and it was getting darker:) Naturally, the only option I had was to locate the Mental institute... I enjoyed some fun with that:)
"Excuse me Sir, do you happen to know where the Mental institute is?"
"What?... Mental institute? No, I'm sorry."
... good:)
"Excuse me [to a young lady], is there any mental institute nearby?"
"Hmm... I have no clue."
... perfect:)
"Excuse me, how can I get to the Mental Institute of Toronto?"
"Ah, the Mental institute you say... follow this street [and so on]"
It took me another more than half an hour to actually find it.

What is AIESEC?
That time, I thought it taught me a lesson and I'd always be extremely careful about directions and Mental institute, of course. Two days after I was supposed to have a meeting at Ryerson university in the very centre of Toronto. 30 minutes should be fain. Well, I have no map (but at least I know names of streets), so let's take 1 hour just in case... No way! I was 1 hour late, out of which 45 minutes were spent in the university building while searching for the AIESEC office. There is about 100 students clubs and no one could tell me the door number.

I went to the main reception desk:
"AIESEC? How do you spell that?"
"A-I-E-S-E-C"
"Is it a major?"
"No, it is a student organization"
"Hmm... OK, let me check... [working on computer]... [browsing some folders]... [calling few people]...there is no AIESEC, I'm sorry."
"Actually I've been here yesterday with my friend from AIESEC and I recognize the building, but today I go alone and am not sure where exactly it is."
"Aha... OK... hmm... [staring at me]... [me staring at her]... I may try calling someone else."
"Yes, please, they may know. ... It is the biggest student organization in the world."
"Oh! It's international! [with relief in her eyes] You must go to the department of International Affairs then!"
... they didn't know anything over there either, but after few phone calls they at least figured out I need to go to the 9th floor of Business faculty. Great!:)

And it happened many times again and again in various situations. Simply getting lost in Toronto during my first days here brought so many different (often frustrating, but also ridiculous) moments I may hardly forget:)

After just few days my orientation skills got considerably better and even before my first sightseeing weekend I knew the centre pretty much well!

Czech corner
Jak jsem naznacil, tento post jiz vlastne dnes neni aktualni, protoze s orientaci uz zadne problemy nejsou:), nicmene musel jsem ho zaradit na zacatek, abych dal celemu sightseeingu nejaky patricny uvod, ktery skutecne stal za to... koneckoncu nasly by se i dalsi prihody:)

No a abych teda nepsal o necem co bylo pred tydnem, zaradim do ceskeho okenka prurez dnesnim dnem (utery druheho tydne pobytu), ktery byl skutecne mezinarodni:
Rano jsem si prispal skoro do deviti a jinak bylo ryze pracovni, tak trochu ceske. Dokonce jsem si udelal i tu samou snidani co obvykle v Praze (pecivo s jemne slehanym tvarohem a platkovym syrem). No a pak to zacalo. Ve 14h jsem mel mitink s mistni VPOGX, coz je Cinanka narozena ve Vancouvru. Pak se k nam pripojil Rusky mladik, ktery v Torontu studuje a chysta se podat prihlasku na univerzitu v Londyne. Tak jsme trochu podrbali (v neutralnim duchu) uroven britskeho a kanadskeho skolstvi a relevanci AIESEC praxi pro svetovy mir.
Pak jsem sel nakupovat. Zasel jsem tedy do oblibeneho cinskeho obchodu,kde si vzdy kupuju jen 4 pomerance za ferovou cenu 1 dolar. Prestoze je obchod velky asi jako Albert na Spojovaci, vzhledem ke znacnemu zapachu si troufam jen na ty pomerance, ktere jsou pekne venku (na mraze:)) Potreboval jsem ale i rajcata a ty zde meli pouze svetle ruzove a o velikosti grepu, a byl jsem proto nucen vyhledat provozovnu evropskeho stylu. Tam na me cekaly rajcata ze Spanelska a k nakupu jsem se nechal presvedcit i dobre vypadajici exportni blumou z Italie.
Nejak jsem se po ceste ochomytl okolo turecke pekarny a neslo neodolat vyborne vonici baklavou, kterou jsem si tolik oblibil v Jordansku. Bohuzel jsem jednal rychleji nez bylo zahodno a az u pokladny zjistil, ze nenakupuji za jordanske ceny:) Na lehkou veceri jsem zasel na japonske sushi, ktere bylo zrovna ve sleve.
A jedeme dal. Vecer bylo male organizovane posezeni, na ktere dorazila i skupinka 4 studentu: norsky LCP, holandska dvojcata (mimo AIESEC) a polo-AIESECarka z Ekvadoru. Jak se pozdeji ukazalo, vsichni spolu chodili na stredni skolu v Ghane a nyni nekteri z nich jen tak cestuji, jini se chystaji na konferenci v Mexiku a Torontem jen "projizdeji". Ano, priznejme si, toto byla hodne random skupinka:) Ale velmi prijemne straveny vecer, resp. cely den .. inu jako na Global Village:)

The CN tower | La tour CN

2008-03-15T18:32:00.007-04:00

We may discuss whether Toronto is the most cosmopolitan city or not (see the previous post), but anyone may hardly argue that the CN tower is currently the second tallest "free-standing structure on land" in the world:)

I haven't been on the top yet, still waiting for a perfect weather to see the Europe:)

Few interesting facts
- the CN tower is 553m high
- the construction was finished in 1976
- until 12th Sep 2007 it was the tallest structure in the world... then a sky scraper Burj Dubai (still in construction) took the lead:)

A "panorama picture" made from 4 photos. Following the darker break, you may see what I was able to fit within the bottom photo:)

At night it is always illuminated. As I've observed so far, the colors change from time to time. Here you can see a greenish shade, but I've already seen red and white too.

Czech corner
Protoze tento post se nevaze k zadne udalosti, jen jsem vybral nejake doposud posbirane fotky, tak bude toto ceske okenko velmi kratke. Alespon se tak vykompenzuji ta dlouha:)

Meeting new people

2008-03-12T23:20:00.003-04:00

I'll write about what I am doing here later on, when I get to know current reality better. For now it is sufficient to say that I am closely cooperating especially with AIESEC local committees in Toronto. Till now I've met with representatives of AIESEC Toronto (the University of Toronto; 63,000 students) and AIESEC Ryerson (the Ryerson university; 24,000 students).

In this post I'd like to briefly share my impressions from LC Ryerson, where I've spent the most of time so far. I like these guys!:) They seem to be very passionate and enjoying their participation. They have around 40 active members who visit the office (something like AIESEC Praha). It is rather big office (like the one of AIESEC Brno) situated in one of university buildings* - faculty of Business.
* Good to mention that local image of university campus is a little bit different than in the Czech Republic (and even more different than at the University of Economics in Prague in particular, where there are all departments in 1 building only). The Ryerson university has more than 30 buildings spread in the downtown of Toronto (check the map).

The atmosphere at the office is very relaxed, people go here between classes to chat, read books, eat, browse the web, and of course work too. I've been to the office for around five times so far and I always meet certain people there, whereas some are always new. It is interesting to look around and watch a pace of the office.

Pub night
Tonight there was a Pub night organized by LC Ryerson, a gathering of members and trainees. Unfortunately not many people showed up, but since I didn't know almost anyone before, it was still very pleasant evening. Moreover I tried my first beer in Canada! It was good:)

Looking forward to get to know other LCs!

Czech corner
Dnes tedy o LC Ryerson. Spravni typci, porad mam tendenci to porovnavat k ceskym pobockam... mozna bych rekl tak trochu Karvina, hm, kdo vi:) Kdyz jsem poprve prisel na ofis, vsichni se otocili od monitoru (maji asi 5 kompu) a ani nepipli. U vedlejsiho stolu se postavil od nablyskaneho notebooku me oblibene znacky relativne vysoky Asiat, podal mi ruku, predstvil se a pronesl "Uz jsme na tebe cekali". Huh, trochu Matrix, znejistel jsem. Ale zbytek lidi na ofisu ocividne zjistel, coz bylo dobre znameni. Pak uz to slo raz na raz. Nekdo se chtel seznamit, nekdo ne... nejprve jsem moc netlacil na pilu, ale kdyz jsem za 2 hodiny odchazel, uz jsme byli jako rodina:)

Druhy kulturni stret me cekal v hospode, teda byl to spis lepsi lokal. Vzhledem k tomu, ze se tu nesmi nikde kourit, je srovnani s nasimi prazskymi hospodami docela obtizne. Mozna bych to prirovnal k Potrefene huse na Chodove (ano, taky je to uvnitr obchodaku). No ale hlavni sok byl, kdyz jsme si objednavali...
"vodu"
"vodu"
"vodu"
"jake mate prosim tmava piva?"
... neni tezke odhadnout, co jsem si dal ja:)
Figl je v tom, ze tu do AIESEC lidi chodi uz i treba v 16 letech, takze kolega co prave dokoncuje svoji 2,5 letou drahu je tesne na prahu 19 (plnoletost) a ukazalo se, ze si tedy na zadne predchozi konferenci nikdy nedali ani pripitek!
Cestou zpet domu jsem zase zabloudil, ale o tom az priste. Spojim to do postu o poznavani mesta:)

The most cosmopolitan city in the world

2008-03-11T19:22:00.007-04:00

...is it London, Miami, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Mumbai, Bogota? I've made a small research and according to some sources (see this, this, this, this, this or this or search for more) and it seems to be Toronto!:) OK, I admit it's hard to measure, but let me at least use a part of the article I found:

"According to the influential business magazine Fortune, Toronto is "the best city in the world in which to live and do business". As well, the United Nations has designated Toronto as "the world's most cosmopolitan city". With over 4,000 restaurants, spectacular shopping, more art galleries than Chicago and Los Angeles combined, and one of the safest public transportation systems in the world, there are lots of things to see and do. As the third most active theatre centre in the world (after New York and London), Toronto hosts from 50 to 75 productions each month in over 70 venues."

The question is how much of these I will actually manage to see in upcoming 5 weeks:)

Although I've been here for only 3 days, I must honestly agree that Toronto is by far the most cosmopolitan city I have seen so far. I believe my impression is so strong after such short period thanks to the fact that my place (MC house) is situated in a Chinese town, which makes the whole experience much more intense.

Cuisine
I talked to some people about local cuisine. They described delicious meals of Japanese cuisine, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Arabic, Mexican... I see it will be hard to find a local speciality:)
Anyway, I guess it's too early to draw conclusions now, let's wait what the first "get-to-know" weekend brings.

Czech corner:
Dneska to bude trochu delsi, ale zato kulturni, jak se na zazitky z cest slusi a patri.
Jak uz jsem predeslal, bydlim v cinske ctvrti. Jeste hned v den priletu jsme byli spolecne nakupovat, a jak jinak nez prave v cinskych obchodech. Reknu vam, docela prekvapeni. Ne ze bych videl poprve v zivote cinstinu, ale jeste se mi nestalo, abych nebyl schopen rozeznat cokoladovy krem od sojove omacky (a je docela mozne (skoro urcite), ze to bylo neco uplne jineho). Tak jsem alespon nakoupil nejake pecivo. Je sice takove bile, moucne, nekdy tvrde, nekdy vazke, s ruznymi naplnemi, ale zde jsem byl experimentu otevrenejsi:)

V pondeli jsem byl dopoledne sam doma a rozhodl jsem, ze si zajdu na obed. Jak jinak, nez stylove k Cinanovi. To ze jsem se stihl na 5 minutove ceste ztratit ted nebudu rozmazavat (k tomu bude jeste prostor pozdeji) ale co se spise hodi do tohoto kosmopolitniho postu je skutecnost, ze kdyz jsem se dostal do cinskeho epicentra, trochu mi spadnul hrebinek:) Ocekaval jsem neco na zpusob "Krupave a krehke kure" jako si davam v Harmonii nad ekonomkou na Zizkove anebo "Kure zvlastni chuti", specialita Cinana na Veletrzni u Roosveltky. Navic jsem byl pripraven blysknout se na vcerejsim sushi oprasenymi dovednostmi pouzivani drevenych hulek.

Misto toho se na me z obrazku smali ruzni neduveryhodne vypadajici (patrne morsti) zivocichove a restaurace bez "obrazku" byly neduveryhodne samy o sobe. Nezoufal jsem, thajska, vietnamska, japonska a jina kuchyne to jisti - staci zabocit 2x doprava (opet nebudu rozvadet jake melo toto nahodne odbocovani nasledky pro muj bezproblemovy navrat). Jenze to je tezke... bud je to moc drahe, nebo je to sice levne, ale bud je to zase restaurace kombinovana s pradelnou, nebo je interier prosycen vuni syroveho masa, anebo tam neni ani slovo anglicky :S

Tak jsem si koupil v Subweji Texasky kureci narez ve footlong verzi a s bagetou o prurezu stehna jsem se jal hledat cestu zpet domu... Trochu se jen bojim, ze 5 tydnu neni dostatecna doba, ktera by me prinutila vice experimentovat, nicmene v ramci priprav na Fatal trip se pokusim chodit do ryzi cinske ctvrti otuzovat casteji:)

Here we go!

2008-03-09T23:24:00.005-04:00

Last week passed quickly, but I managed to arrange everything that was necessary. On Friday afternoon I went back home to Jablonec to spend at least one day with my family, since I had to stay in Prague for 2 more busy weeks than intended.

It is Sunday 9th March, the D day:
3:00 waking up
7:00 flying to Paris
9:00 being worried about missing my connection as having only 50min may be tricky at Charles de Gaulle airport:)
10:00 CET flying to Toronto
14:00 EST explaining to an immigration officer that 5 weeks is just the right time I need for visiting all my friends in Toronto
14:05 meeting Emily and Isabel from Canadian MC
16:00 arriving in MC house
19:00 eating out, my first sushi, a mild version for the beginning:)
22:00 going to bed so as to balance my sleeping patterns - I have never realized before I may have some:)

As you may see in the pictures below, local people are enjoying a real winter! And so am I! Of course, I'll write more about weather, people, the city and last but not least my work in next posts!

Me, Emily (MCP-elect), Isabel (MCVPX)

Czech corner
Dnes nabizim takovy vhled do me nalady: Letani nemam moc rad, ty stresy okolo toho, kontroly, anonymita, levne se tvarici obchody, praskliny v kridlech a vubec... navic po 2h spanku pred odletem doprovazene nutnosti maximalni koncentrace a ostrazitosti na letistich cloveka dost vycerpa a byl jsem zralej si tak akorat dat slofika. To se mi vicemene podarilo (dokonce jsem zaspal vzlet zaoceanskeho stroje), ale preryvany spanek, rev motoru a krucici zaludek (rozdavani snidane jsem zaspal taky) mi na nalade nepridaly. Jak me vsak potesila skupinka kanadskych duchodcu, kteri se zovialne bavili o svych (nepritomnych) manzelkach a za jejich smich by se zdaleka nemusel stydet ani pravy Krakonos*:)
* Paralela s Krakonosovym smichem patrne nebude nekterym ctenarum znama, za cez se omlouvam.

Going to Canada

2008-02-27T18:17:00.004-05:00

Actually I've been already considering this opportunity at the end of January, but decided not to go for it that time, mainly because of my commitment towards the Fatal trip, school duties and my job. Last but not least I was also considering my AIESEC engagement in general. Currently I'm finalizing the AI Tempus project and supporting the Czech national committee on IT field... these were supposed to be my last activities before going on exchange.

Well, but somehow it happened that this Monday Lukas from the Czech MC called me and proposed this opportunity once more.
Are you asking which opportunity am I writing about? It is a CEED* in Canada:)
* For non-AIESECers, let me shortly explain the abbreviation CEED. It stands for a Cultural Envoy for Exchange Development and in fact represents an internal AIESEC exchange program - members do not go on internships to companies, but to other AIESEC committees abroad.

If I've learned few things in AIESEC, a saying about regretting an opportunity that was not taken would be one of them... After a short negotiation about the time span and considering all related aspects I decided not to let it slip!

Today I got to know that I was selected. The CEED starts next Sunday (9th March) and there is many things to get done, e.g. reorganizing school assignments and negotiating with teachers and teammates about my absence, finishing projects at my job, getting acquainted with legislative requirements on entering Canada, and many other usual activities associated with any travel.

At this rush time I've also revealed a new personal characteristic. Not only that I prefer to multitask and get busy to enjoy doing nothing, but it also kind of motivates me. Good to know:)

Czech corner
Jak jsem jiz uvedl drive, ke kazdemu postu se pokusim neco pripsat i cesky, aby byl jakoze vice mezinarodni. A taky abych tu mohl psat o Naganu, protoze to bych si tu jinak pekne nabehl:)
Ted ani nevim co bych k tomuto postu jeste pridal cesky... snad jen, ze jsem minuly vikend na LCC trochu podcenil Borovicku a cely minuly tyden zapasil s nejakou virozou. No, asi to neni moc zajimavy - i kdyz prijet do -11°C s anginou by byla docela frajerinka. Ted uz jsem zdravy jako ripa a aspon jsem necim zacal ceske okenko:)