Good day all!

Terribly sorry for not updating my blog regularly as I had promised before I left Singapore. Life is like a roller coaster ride, full of unexpected ups and downs. And we just have to learn to deal it along the way. Time had certainly passed so fast. December is coming in two days' time, and that also marks the 3rd month that I had been here in Canada. With only two weeks of school left, as well as a month to the end of the finals, many thoughts had dawned on me to write down a list of things that I had learnt from my exchange here in Toronto so far.

1. You don't exactly need English to survive here
If you happened to be proficient in Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese, you're definitely good to survive here even without English. If you're a Korean, same applies to you as well. Surprised? I was definitely very surprised. To be honest, I came to Toronto not knowing anything much. Assuming Canada, in North America, an English-speaking country, friends and I thought that I will not be able to have the taste of Asian food or speak the language much. Turns out that we are so wrong.  Chinatown here is huge and almost every shop (even banks) you walk into have staff who are ethnically Chinese. I remembered the first time I walked into TD Bank in Chinatown, everyone working there was speaking in Cantonese to one another, and the same applies to Korea Town. Just for your information, Toronto has 2 Korea Towns - Christie (old) and North York, Finch (new). Toronto is indeed a very multicultural and diversified city - Chinese (includes Hong Kong and Taiwan), Koreans, Iranians, Indians, Brazilians, Vietnamese, Japanese and etc. No doubt, you can find someone who speak your home country's language here pretty easily.

2. Public toilet doors have huge gaps
This may sound absurd or weird to some of you, but I must say I just thought this was one of the first things I realised that was different from Asia. In Asia, or Singapore to be specific, our toilet doors do not usually have these huge gaps at the bottom of the doors. They are usually a tiny gap between the floor and bottom of the door but over here, the gaps are so huge that your feet and 'undressed' bottoms are very visible if they fall to the ground. This might just be a personal opinion but I did feel a lack of privacy when it comes to public toilets here.

3. Tips and Taxes
Well, taxes are common everywhere, even in Asia. The difference lies in that the prices you see here, are typically exclusive of the taxes. When you are in restaurants or even in cabs, you have to pay for the 'service' that is also what we mostly know as - tips. As an Asian who had grown up in Asia most of my life, this was definitely something I am not used to. It took me some time to get used to the system, and to calculate my bills whenever I had one. For all you newcomers to such 'tips and taxes' system, just an advice to you - taxes are usually added after you request for your bill; not the tips. Tips typically starts from 10%. In Montreal, taxes and tips are 15% respectively.  Always check your bill carefully because some restaurants may had also included the tips into your bill. Such restaurants include 'All you can eat' Japanese or Korean BBQ buffets. I had once experienced a Korean BBQ restaurant that charged a total of 28% of taxes and tips altogether. I won't say their service is bad, neither were they super good. Felt kinda rip-off whenever I think about that... T.T

4. No signals or service in subways

5. You don't need an umbrella on rainy days
Toronto is known for its strong winds during the rainy or winter season. I had learnt that even with an umbrella, you are most likely to get drenched anyhow. To clarify, the rains here aren't especially huge but they are more like drizzles or passing showers. I'm not saying you don't need an umbrella entirely because there are days when it pours heavily. But most of the time, you would see locals just walking around without an umbrella in drizzles or light showers because the wind may essentially blow your umbrella inside-out. Henceforth, I had learnt to walk in the rain or light showers with my hoodie on. :)

6. Megabus and Greyhound
If you're looking to travel around N.America within a budget, this two coach services will definitely be your best sites to check out. I had learnt that you could take a bus from Toronto to New York City with Megabus or Greyhound at less than $100. A friend of mine booked a round-trip to NYC at $60. Another friend managed to book a round-trip to Chicago at $30 and a trip to Ottawa at $1!! For long distance trips (more than 3 hours I supposed), you get WiFi on the bus too. Oh, and not forgetting the plugs to charge your phone or iPad. For double-deck Megabus, the plugs are hidden in between the seats at the bottom. Thanks to my friend who had spotted it and informed me about it. I was literally searching for it high and low for the plugs when I was on-board the bus. The ones in greyhound are found at the sides, which are much easier to spot. I had also learnt to book your tickets way in advance, and you could really get tickets at amazingly low prices. For those in Toronto looking for a cheap and good budget airline to fly to the nearby states in the US, Porter Airlines will be a good choice for you :)

7. Sales and Discounts
Coincidentally, it is Black Friday Sales today. Toronto's Eaton Centre is opened from 6AM to 9PM for this special massive sale. I had done my shopping earlier yesterday because sales here in Toronto started early and stretched over the weekend to combat the crazy sales all on one day. I figured that it's a good choice, lest there would be endless queues and stampedes around. Plus, I learnt that drugstores have periodical sale items at really low prices too. When I first arrived, I bought both my DOVE Shampoo and Body Wash at only $2.99 each from Shoppers Drug Mart. Besides, if you are a student with a valid student ID card or an ISIC card, make full use of it in shops that allow discounts! Topshop in Hudsons Bay grants a 10% discount to all students, even with clothes that are already on sale. Do some research before your purchase,  you never know what unexpected discounts could you get :)

8. Price-reduction refunds
This is something I absolutely love about here, and something I don't find back in Asia. I learnt that if you happened to buy an item which goes on sale a few days later, you could actually bring the original receipt back to the store and ask for a price-reduction refund. Two days ago, I got a pair of new tall boots from Call it Spring boutique. It was priced at $90. Yesterday, the price was reduced to $65 due to Black Friday Sales. Got my receipt with me at then, showed it to the sales associate and had the adjusted amount refunded back to me! Certainly felt super great, as if I had 'earned' some money from my purchase. So, always keep your receipts people!

9. Do not take TTC for granted
As a commuter to school, I take the subway everyday. It's a 30-40 min journey from my place to downtown. TTC commuters would probably agree with me that more often than not, trains get delayed due to passengers alarms activation, construction or routes detour, etc. Had experienced being in the subway for an hour before arriving in downtown. I always gave myself a time leeway by leaving the house an hour before my appointment time, even though it only takes less than an hour for me to arrive my destination. As expected, TTC is somehow delayed for 5-15 min in between certain stations most of the time. So, I had learnt to not take TTC for granted and always prep for spare time.

10. When in doubt, just ask 
This may sound stupid (or duh..) to some of you, but I think as silly as it may sound, it is one of the biggest lessons I had learnt from my exchange here so far. Canadians are known to be friendly, and I personally vouch for it. As a girl with poor sense of directions, I have to admit that I could never really get my NSEW directions right. I learnt to be less egoistic, and 'just ask.' And when I meant asking, choose the right person to ask. Asking a random stranger may not be as effective, since they are also bypassing the place, or may end up giving you unfamiliar direction routes. For me, these are the people that I always ask around for directions - bus drivers, shop owners, bank employees/security guards or hotel staff. I find them most credible, because they belong to the service industry, whose duties are to serve the customers, and may know their surrounding better. Henceforth, they are highly likely to know where is the closest subway station or bus stop of the area you are inquiring (from my experience).

--
I'm sorry if I had bored anyone off with this long post. Just penning down these thoughts that I had.

Hope it's helpful to anyone who is coming to Toronto or Canada for exchange :)

Till then,

irenesiah