30 June - my first Canadian day

I had a few things i needed to do on day one. well, one thing. I had a bank appointment at HSBC at 2 o'clock. So i thought that i'd have a look how to get there nice and early, and make sure i wasnt late when the appointed hour came.

By late on 29th, it was apparent that i had a second thing to do - my hair clippers werent working - just not enough voltage around here - so i needed to yield to my vain streak and go looking asap. So 9am, i got up, showered, dressed and wandered off to the concierge to ask where i might be able to buy some hair clippers. "Isnt your hair short enough already?" asked Renee, somewhat perplexed. Touchee. Still, her suggestion was the Eaton Centre, which at least gave me the chance to try out the underground and also get acquainted with the shopping centre. This place is big - Jase suggested one of the biggest in N America. Its definitely big, much bigger than Queensgate or the Bull Ring, although i am not convinced it is as large as Centro in Oberhausen, and well, more to the point, unlike centro in Oberhausen, and the Metro centre in Newcastle for that matter, there is no evidence of a funfair. (Bri and I are still wanted in Oberhausen for coin frauds...)

So having had a first go on the subway, i arrived into the Eaton Centre. It was about 1030am. The first person walking towards me asked - can you tell me where the subway is? Having established that he didnt in fact want the food hall and did want the train, i pointed him in the direction i thought i had just come from "you go down there, through the doors, and use the elevator to get to the subway level" (Yes i did use elevator, its just simpler that way!)
The guy listened to the instructions and then said "are you from London?" Now, this is day one, and a good opportunity to establish some ground rules. If it were a primary classroom, you would be making sure the kids understood their boundaries straight away.. "Yeah, i come from an hour away" In the UK i would NEVER talk of myself as being a londoner (to be fair, they'd never claim me as one either!) but these people are commuting an hour and a half a day just to get here. Thats longer than my GNER ride from Pboro. Oh well. For the next 6 months then, i am Matt, and I come from just outside London. B*ll*cks.

I managed at the 3rd time of asking to find Personal Edge, which furnished me with hair clippers and a kettle. "do they sell black tea here, or an English tea, i couldnt find one in the shops last night.." Janet reached out into the back and found me a range of tea bags, about 8 in all from 3 different packets, and popped them in with the kettle. "the square ones are the orange ones and the round are english ones..." Just like home. The kettle takes 10 min to boil. its like being back in Germany again. Oh well. Fruit tea it may have to be. Or coffee...

2pm i had my appointment at the bank that had been arranged a couple of weeks ago via email. I was in the lift going up to the 6th floor when a girl spotted my Ajax top "ABN Amro - thats a bank right? Are you from Holland?" She apparently worked pre HSBC for ABN for some time over there. When the lift opened, she helpfully pointed me in the direction of Winsome's office, where a cheque card and various bits and pieces were waiting for me. By 4pm i was depositing cash in my new account, and wandering back home.

Having cooked for myself for the 2nd evening out of 2, I went for a late night stroll. Got back on the underground and wandered up Yonge St, the longest st in the world apparently. There are statistics to back this up, but apparently it runs north west all the way to the US border. One of you can surf and tell me just how far that is. It was 10 at night. This city is so peaceful. There was a spanish band playing in the Yonge/Dundas square (www.ydsquare.ca i think if you want to have a look at it) and all kinds of people were there, from ex alcoholics, 40-75,000 of which, depending on who you believe, are knocking about here this weekend, to mums with strollers (thats local speak for prams) all just sitting in the dusk air (about 23 degrees at 2230) having a drink, kids playing in the fountains, and all listening to the spanish music. all v cool. a very relaxed and positive place all round really.

wandering up Yonge st you find all kind of music stores, food stores, pubs, cafes, clothes shops, poster stores, internet cafes (one of which i am now in..) The sports clothes stores have baseball and hockey and NFL tops of course, but i did find one with some proper football tops. Liverpool, Manchester United, Germany, Argentina, and (somewhat concerningly) a green number with blue trim that I can only assume is the Oldham Athletic goalkeepers top. Christ knows how that got here. But I am not bringing it back, no matter how many spare dollars i have in 6 months time.

Day 1 was great. i really enjoyed the smiles of people. The people on the underground, in public, and so on are every bit as reserved as we are. I didnt really expect any different. However, they all seem to exude positive, smily energy. MAybe this was the effect of the Canada day holiday weekend, and maybe it really reflects how people are. who knows. But it'll be fun finding out.