Today I'm a little sad. It is minus 27 degrees in Swift Current; minus 35 with the wind chill. (1 degree in KW; no wind chill.) Yesterday I went to CAA and got maps and travel insurance. Today my car came back from the shop in 'ready to go' condition - (albeit without a block heater; I have to get one put in next fall.) It's sinking in; I'm really leaving.
I got an email from Aunt Cathy with her and Uncle Andrew's love and support (Thanks guys!) but it reminded me that I will be missing Andrea's shower and possibly her wedding. My friends are buying concert tickets. They are going to see the Hip and No Doubt. Tom Cochrane & Red Rider are touring this summer. None of them are coming to Saskatchewan. I'm going to miss summer concert season at the centre of the universe - the greater Toronto area, for the uninitiated. I look forward to summer concert season the way small children anticipate Christmas.
Last week I was told that the first Pizza Pizza west of Ontario is opening up in Swift Current. They just got their first Shopper's Drug Mart. Their malls close at 6pm every night except Friday. Their libraries are not open every day of the week.
In comparison, I am coming from a place where you can get just about everything at just about anytime. In Ontario we are a place to live and a place to grow, oh Ontari-ari-ario, but we are also an over-crowded place to rush around like the world is on fire. We want it all, right now and we want you to get it for us.
So if I get out of a mall containing every store imaginable at 9pm, I can still party until 3am. Then I can get pizza and visit an all night Shopper's. Sleep? Who needs sleep? We have 24 hour arcades and bowling and movies until 3am. And coffee. Boy do we love our lattes out here! The closest Starbucks to me is 1 hour and 45 mins away out there. There are only 15 in the whole province. 15! In Toronto, there are four Starbucks and two Second Cups at the Eaton's Centre alone. Regina - a two and a half hour drive from me - has the province's only two Second Cups. (There are more than 50 Second Cups and 322 Starbucks in the land of plenty, aka Ontario, in case you were wondering.)
I'm leaving my home and my family for someplace completely foreign. Yes, it's the same country, but in this sense, it may as well be Mars. It's cold, it's flat, it doesn't have lattes and I need special equipment installed in my shuttle to live there. And that's just for starters!
I was told to expect some culture shock. I don't think I really understood what that meant. Maybe I still don't. I guess I've been spoiled, but I'm sure going to miss this place. *sighs*
Showing posts with label Ontario. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ontario. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
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