I’m currently in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the university for a little over a month. As I’m…3000km away from Toronto, things are slightly different here.
- There are a lot of mosquitos…and they come out in the early afternoon. They’re also mutants and leave bigger-than-average marks on you.
- Everything is so dry. The air is dry. The ground is dry. There is dust everywhere. Wearing contact lenses has become a dangerous game.
- Street sweepers do not seem to exist in this magical city. Nor does the notion of “sidewalk repair.”
“Meh, good enough.”
- The sun rises at about 4:30am. I forget what sleep feels like.
- Lots of bikes here. Great. Lots of bikes on sidewalks and I have only seen one person use a bell. Not so great.
- There are so few bars in this city, everyone knows them all. This is convenient, unless you’re trying to avoid some guy you saw last week and accidentally tell him some vague description of where you’re going.
Plenty of places to watch the Leafs lose during game 7 when they’re up 4-1 with just minutes to go. Let’s just not talk about that.
- The Ukrainian residence we’re living in has lovely meals that remind me of what my grandmother would have cooked if she wasn’t too emotionally unstable to leave the house and go grocery shopping. The cafeteria ladies will also make you a plate and put your name on it if you plan to miss dinner. Awww.
I really like Saskatoon. It’s beautiful here. I was picturing some flat, GTA-like wasteland (yeah, Ajax/Pickering, looking at you), but there is this picturesque river that runs straight through the city and a quaint downtown area.
LOOK, NON-DEAD TREES GROWING BY SIDEWALKS. HOW DO THEY DO IT?
From the first day of an accidental 5am wake-up. That was painful.
and churches, because pourquoi pas?
No one is debating for the millionth time about subways vs. LRTs, and I don’t even know who the mayor is but I’m pretty sure he’s not on crack. (and yes that is a link to the google search because this story gets worse by the hour).
There are also unlimited cookies in the cafeteria for us. CAN’T STOP ME.
What a nice city, and a well-needed break from various frustrating Toronto things.
