Toronto: My favourite Canadian city.

When I decided to go to Canada for my year abroad, I chose Toronto as my starting point.

Mostly because it was cheaper then flying into Vancouver.

I’m not saying that I dislike Vancouver. In fact, I could imagine living. But I like Toronto just a little more:)

And yes, the TTC subway system isn’t really up to scale, but I’m going to leave this aside.

I like streetcars more in anyway. You just can’t see the odd beauty of the city underground.

When I first set foot on Torontonian soil, I was tired from a long day of flying and waiting in line. But me and my friends started exploring pretty much right away.

It was mostly because we were hungry, and the hostel bar had already closed, but we ended up walking around downtown for hours.

It was great.

We spend the next few days exploring the city even more, checking off the mayor tourist attractions, like CN Tower and the Hockey Hall of Fame.

We also visited the islands, Chinatown and the Kensington Market neighbourhood.

After spending a few days at Niagara Falls, we parted our ways.

Me opting to stay in Toronto for just a little while longer. In the end, it was almost a month.

Of course I tried to find a job there. Toronto eats your money like nothing. I even had to activate overdraft on my debit card. Because my money from home took a while to arrive.

At the time I had secured one, it was already to late, as I had accepted a farming job in Lambton Shores just the day prior.

It was clear though that I would return to volunteer for the 2014 Toronto International Filmfestival. I had also made my hostel reservations for that in advance.

And boy (or girl), I had the time of my life doing so. I enjoyed it so much, that would definitely do it again.

And I’m a ‘volunteer in good standing with TIFF’, so there’s really not much between me and the festival.

Except maybe the distance. And university. And money. Flying is getting cheaper though, so there’s hope.

I met so many people there. Some I still consider friends. I really just had a good time there.

And: You’re ‘paid’ with free movie coupons. I used my last ones in April 2015. Did I tell you that I really love movies? I even had my own in the planning, but struggled to find actors. That’s a different story though.

And for the pesky transportation situation: during the Filmfestival, I only used the subway once. Pretty much anything is in walking distance.