The Start of the Flat Search.

We've mostly been doing a lot of work to start our lives here, but I've seen a lot in the process. I take my camera whenever I leave the hostel so I can photograph cool things [mostly planning related - they'll be posted next week when we have our own place, I hope.]. Yesterday, we saw a bunch of areas in SE: Vauxhall, Elephant + Castle, Oval and Brixton. Vauxhall had a farm. There were horses, llamas and goats and tall buildings on the horizon. Elephant + Castle is somewhat of a ghetto. Oval is plain. It's kind of like Bloor / Ossington. There are things there, but nothing
overly exciting - only a large stadium and mobile phone theft. Brixton was fine. Initially it seemed really trendy like the Annex, but the retail area was very small.

Last night we wanted to check out the club scene. Apparently Sundays are a bad night to go out, even though it's a bank holiday today! We got to chatting with these people in line, who were happy to know we were Canadian as opposed to American - "Canadians have class." One of them frequented Toronto [Richmond Hill]. I let him know that's NOT Toronto. He seemed shocked. We laughed.

Today, we went to the docklands where Bren + I want to live. It's accessed by the DLR, which I like so much better than the tube because I don't have to duck when I get on. It's remincent of the distillery district in Toronto, but it's further long in its development with lots of housing stock of varied ages and conditions and shops and cafes inserted in various places. It was really nice. The British seem to think the east end is trashy. It's so beautiful and trendy and it's along the river. It's where we want to live [and we can afford it]! Unfortunately, our tour was cut short when it started hailing!

We are doing our best to have a home this week. One cold shower was one too many. Locking our valuables is kind of annoying, especially when Bren locked his both his key and extra inside the locker. We borrowed a lock cutter from the hostel and SHOCKINGLY, Bren knew how to use it. Those crazy farm boys. Fortunately, we've had our 4-punter hostel room to ourselves since Sunday morning! We contacted various housing agencies today via an email form on a popular website. The problem is that today is a bank holiday, so we cannot get anything accomplished. It's hard enough to find a working bank machine, let alone start a life!

Here is this week's schedule:

Tuesday:
9:30 - meeting with BBT [employment agency]
10:30 to 3:30 - hoping to view flats
4:30 - meeting with Bluetec [employment agency]

Wednesday:
10:30 - SWAP orientation
12:00 to 5:00 - hoping to view flats.

Thursday:
Going to Oxford to get Brennon's additional 30kg of luggage.

Friday:
Potentially moving out of the hostel, if we secure a flat.

We might reserve more time at the hostel if we can't get our flat in time. But believe me, that is our number one priority at the moment and we will do anything to get a home! Sadly, I do not have a phone or a bank account and I won't for a while.

I can't believe there's a TTC strike!

We arrived in London...

"We arrived in late May and London was cold! We stayed in the internet cafe, on Charing Cross Road. The guys all had jackets in line at the bar. In our tshirts we were Canadian, and had come very far..."

I have arrived in London. My flight was delayed, the gate numberwas changed, my name was wrong and then the luggage was delayed in London due to 'technical difficulties'. I have been awake since 9am on Friday, tonight I actually get to sleep so I am quite excited. On the bright side, I feel like the UK is the easiest country in the world to enter... but maybe that's because I have a visa.

We took the Stansted Express from the airport, except that when we tried to find it, we ended up at the back of a rental car parking lot where the vast green fields began. We finally found the train and Brennon thought that we had to buy tickets on the train, but then he read we had to get them elsewhere. He suggested I wait while he bought the ticket. I suggested that we BOTH get off the train, which proved to be the better idea when the train pulled away one minute after we stepped off.

We got off the train at Liverpool Station and got on the tube. It was PACKED and we had about 50 kg of luggage with us. The tube is not at all what I expected. It's very similar to the LRT in Scarborough. It's small, round, with a low ceiling. The platforms are small. The halls are narrow. There aren't enough exits from the platforms. The stations are DEEP underground. All the escalators remind me of the 'longest escalator in the world' at the rear entrance to Lawrence Station in Toronto. There were so many people in this tiny space. And it was HOT. Fortunately, both times we had to climb stairs, someone offered us a hand.

For those of you who are visiting us or moving to Berlin in one week, TAKE A TAXI FROM LIVERPOOL STATION. I have no idea how much it will cost, but I'm sure that preventing the massive headache of carrying luggage on public transit will be worth the fare.

Our hostel has character. Our room is at the very end of a long hall. It's the only room between two sets of fire doors so it's fairly private and quiet, but there are two other beds in the room and one guy staying there right now who we haven't met because Brennon pulled a Medusa on him and he took off. Anyway, our hostel has inspired us to get a flat ASAP. The search starts tomorrow.

We had our first dinner at a pizza / pasta buffet that was reasonably priced at 6.45.

That's about all I got.

Back in Civilisation!

I'm back in Toronto temporarily until I fly to London [with a Capital 'L'] Friday evening. So if anyone wants to get together one last time, book your appointment now. But please... no drinking. I had a rough weekend, but I had a LOT of quality time with good friends, which was much needed. Knowing that everything is changing, being back in Toronto is a lot more emotionally taxing than I had expected.

On Friday, Chris, Anna, Jeff, Audrey, Dawn and I went to Green Room for one last Hoorah. It was nice, fairly low-key and surprisinglingly packed despite the category 7 hurricane outside. According to Shannen Doherty, that's what happens when two category 5s collide. Man, we're funny. And Mom, you'll be excited to know that Dawn is now a writer for Canadian Idol!

For most of Saturday, Chris and I met up with Ronnie and Laurence to brainstorm, debate and argue rather loudly on the sales floor of Zara, what we believed would be a really thoughtful, special birthday / going away gift for Steve. We thought we nailed it. I hope we were right. As a result, I reluctantly ditched Lia and a BBQ at my thesis supervisor's house in The Beach. Later in the evening, the four of us plus Julio + Rob collectively decided it would be best to go out clubbing at our beloved Buddies. Naturally, it was an AMAZING time because so many other cool people were there including John, Trevor, El Salvador and Jeff. It was nice to see so many friends in one night. After much dancing upon stages, talking with strangers, a 'Minority Report' incident, obligatory street meat and alledged pickle disaster, I had a really good 3 am talk with Chris about the sources of all my stress right now. Well, he did most of the talking.

On Sunday, I spent some time hanging out with Gerg, the former roommate and we drank a bit on SKYLAB's balcony while we aborbed the BEST view of Toronto from a residential building. We chatted about all of the changes that have been made to the apartment: new lights, new light switches, a spice rack with spices no one has ever heard of, a lime green hallway, a bedroom swap and new furniture! The place looks fantastic and I really want to live here again!

On Monday, I definitely owed Lia some quality time so we had a PLANNERS breakfast with Laurence. We went to China Town for some Vietnamese food. In the spirit of new beginnings, I tried Bun and Pho for the first time. Laurence tried to kill Lia with some cream in her coffee [she's allergic to dairy]. Then again, Laurence always tries to kill people through allergic reactions [kidding.. kinda :) ]. Afterwards, we had an adventure suited for a Magistrate of the Environment... or a Waterloo undergrad! We went for a stroll to The Beach, checked out some local parks, walked along the boardwalk and ran to the water to touch Lake Ontario one last time. The beach itself was surprisingly busy with volleyball players, kites, BBQs, joggers, walkers and cyclists. At 10 degrees and cloudy, we ARE Canadian! We selected a row of adorable Corktown houses that we will one day gentrify and occupy with other planning friends.



Next, we explored the Distillery District where we saw the crazy cube house. Lia was telling us all the facts behind it. She finished talking, looked at me staring at the house and quickly snapped 'What are you doing!? Let's go!' in a sharp, strict, motherly tone I've never heard from her. We enjoyed some free samples of beer and admired the juxtoposition of new construction with the original buildings. We walked through the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood and lamented over the loss of planning leglisation that so successfully afforded mixing market housing and social housing together in the same building. Around dinner time, I had to leave them to meet Dad, Arlene + Byron for dinner at Milestones and then I was back dowtown for beer with Archi-friends Choi, Kate and Tina. We had a great chat about Europe and all the places they suggest I visit.

Needless to say, I need a weekend to recover from this long weekend.

Suburbia: A Dangerous Place To Raise A Family.

Over the past few weeks, I have complained about the social isolation, car dependency, illogical public transportation and pavement obssesions that accompany living in london, Ontario, but today I read about a bigger problem [in the Free Press from May 15].

"Drugs, sex assaults feared as youths meet in woodlot"

This infamous woodlot is a few hundred metres behind my mom's house! It's shocking because there's a 'stigma' of safety and security associated with suburban life. I disagree. I have always disagreed. When I'm walking home from a night out in london, Ontario, at 5 in the morning [I mean 1 in the morning, Hi Mom + Dad!], I'm actually a little scared walking down completely deserted streets, listening to the echo of my steps, without any signs of life whatsoever. There's no sense of security where there's no street life 24 hours/day! Furthermore, this is a 'nice area' where houses range in value from $200,000 - $400,000 [That's a lot for this town!]. I would have never expected the activity that goes on in the woodlot.

I was extremely shocked by a number of quotes in the article:

"Neighbours have had homes pelted by eggs, paintballs and even dog feces."

"One woman was forced back inside her home when a youth ripped a sign from the ground and charged at her..."

"City staff didn't respond until rumous of a second sexual assault surfaced in the spring, this time involving a 13-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man."

"Two youths lived in the woodlot for some time, making an eight-metre lean-to with pool covers and siphoning gas from vehicles to fuel a fire."

"Neighbours later found taped-over plastic bottles they believe are leftovers from cooking crystal meth."

And the one that blew my mind:

"As dusk approaches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, neighbours see pricey cars stop next to the park, drawing youths to their windows... they seem to attract girls who appear to be 12 or 13 years old."

WHAT?!?

The woman featured in the article is the head of neighbourhood watch and she lives around the corner. I almost wish I was here longer now to suggest solutions. It would be such an interesting project to undertake! It would be amazing 'to take back the park!' I think that part of the solution is to make this a useable public space, especially at night. Perhaps large-scale neighbourhood potluck BBQs, sports nights [there are 2 soccer fields and 3 tennis courts] or yard sales, with plenty of lighting provided by the City. Activities could occur on Friday and/or Saturday nights when families can stay up a little later. If the park were more of a destination, a place where people gathered and stayed for a while, these stupid kids would stop coming around so much. Presently, they are the ones feeling safe and secluded within the confines of the trees. Naturally, this would require a new sense of community cohesion and the elminination of this stupid individualism [remember the seven-foot tall fence?] that has plagued this neighbourhood for a number of years.

Also, searching for precedents would be useful. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened in the history of the planet. Searching for previous soultions applied by SMARTER municpalities could in turn lead to a local solution.

The City's current solution is to thin out the already heavily fragmented woodlot to increase visibility. Soon it may resemble my barren, barren thesis project site! Bravo london...

Stiles does it Suburbia-style.

The drive to London, Ontario was a real treat because all of Toronto's highways were closed on the day that every single motorist in the GTA decided to take their cars for a spin.



A few hours later, we finally arrived at mom's 2400 square foot, 4-bedroom house in the north end of London. Her house is just a little bigger than my beloved SKYLAB. In my room during my first night, I decided to go to bed hungry as opposed to fixing a snack. SKYLAB's kitchen was a mere 10 paces from my room. In this house however, the bedroom-kitchen distance is much, much greater.



Fortunately, a larger living space comes with larger closets! I donated 5 or 6 bags of clothes to charity and the clothes that I actually wear fit in nicely into this standard 6' x 2' closet.



While exploring my transitional accommodation, I came across this fence that's actually taller than I am. The neighbours erected the fence a few years ago, ignoring my Mother's concerns about its monumental height. Its massive scale evokes a couple of questions: 'What are you hiding from?' or 'What are you hiding?'



This photo answers the first question. While I almost understand the suburban mind's desire for complete and total privacy to the point of isolation, the only glazing on this side of Mom's house appears as a garage window and a laundry room door window. Now, as comfortable and as lavishly appointed as these two rooms are, there are nicer rooms to enjoy in the house. Now I know what the planners are wondering, and yes, surprisingly this fence does comply with the city's bylaws and yes, I have a LOT of free time on my hands right now. Clearly, the neighbours are hiding something. Perhaps I will use the next three weeks to get to the bottom of this mystery.