First Impressions of Canada

I entered Canada just over two weeks ago. My first trip out of Europe, my first long-haul flight. The day of departure I got up at 4am to walk to the bus for Edinburgh airport. 16 hours later, with a stop in London Gatwick, I was circling above Toronto.

As I looked down on this new land I was struck by the vastness of the country and the enormous stretches of empty land between cities. I also noticed how straight and deliberately placed the roads seemed to be, not like in the UK where they wind all over the place.

As we descended further, we had to pass through a huge bank of clouds and the weather down below looked miserable. Having just left a beautiful day behind in both Edinburgh and London, I wondered why people always complained about British weather. Now closing in on Toronto airport I was amazed by the sheer spread of the city and the endless cars. Never before had I seen such enormous car parks chock-a-block with vehicles and eight-lane motor ways seething with commuters. Never before had I flown over a city so large that it was impossible to see the edge in any direction.

We came into land, timing as expected, and I felt excited to be on a new continent.

After a very slow queue for customs (during which I engaged in conversation with a lovely girl from Kent University who was on her way to visit her Grandmother), I was issued with a two year work permit and I was set to go! Next task: find the youth hostel!

Stepping out of the train station in central Toronto was everything I had imagined it to be and more. Skyscrapers like I had only seen on TV; the enormity of this place was really dawning on me. Flashy blocks of reflective glass towered above and crowds of people swarmed the city streets, artists flogging their work at street corners and beautiful statues and works of art in every space available.

Looking at these photos, the weather had cleared up and you have to forgive me for assuming it would be a lovely, sunny evening. Not a bit of it. As I decided to make a venture across the street from the youth hostel to check out the local park (wearing shorts and a t-shirt), the clouds moved in and the heavens opened. That's when I learnt the next thing about Canada: storms tend to be more frequent and more extreme than in Europe. The rain came pelting down and I ran for cover where I was soon joined by a number of others. In fact I was only across the street from the hostel I was staying in but even that short distance seemed too much to brave! Instead I sheltered for a good fifteen minutes until the rain calmed to a "normal" level and I found the motivation to dash across the road.

So those were a few of my thoughts from day one in Canada. Hope you found it interesting and maybe you experienced some of these things too if you've every visited North America? More to come soon of my Canadian adventure so stay tuned!

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