Spring's Downs & Ups

It's been a while since I've put finger to keypad and I guess that's mainly be due to general busy-ness, both in real terms or where my head has been.

Before I begin, I want to dedicate this blog to my dear friend, Helen Greenaway (nee Cocking), who died at Bradford's Marie Curie Hospice in March. Words cannot describe how sad I was to learn that the cancer that Helen fought with such determination for over two and a half years had finally overwhelmed her. Helen brought sunshine into the lives of all those who knew her and she will be missed terribly by her husband, family and friends. In her honour, I will be taking part in the Sporting Life 10k here in Toronto on May 13. My colleagues and I are raising funds to send children with cancer to Camp Oochigeas so that they can experience a fun time this summer. If you would like to donate to show your support, please visit: http://www.ooch.org/beckynomad Thank you for your generosity.

As well as doing some training for the 10k, I undertook a short photography course in March to learn more about photographing animals. I had a super day at the Toronto Zoo and spent the entire day there from the time the gates opened until they closed. It's so huge, I still didn't get to see everything but I did enjoy the opportunity to explore and capture the animals.



I really enjoyed the opportunity to get out as I'd been a bit fed up with being cooped up inside. I had an awful bout of the flu following my return from Russia and on top of that my apartment was flooded due to a neighbour's washing machine leak. My floors and walls were damaged and had to be ripped out with huge drying machines brought in which created a large amount of dust and dry air. All has now been repaired but just those few days dealing with the fall-out of my little flood made me appreciate what my parent's went through with their whole house being flooded and reconstructed.

Life of late has had a few happy moments and, indeed, a few laughs. I spent a very amusing night out with friends seeing the Scottish comedian, Danny Bhoy, live in concert. He's very popular here and my Canadian friends were quite shocked I'd not heard of him before. I also enjoyed seeing the National Theatre's production of War Horse on stage. The puppetry was amazing.

Probably the highlight of all the entertainment I've seen recently was seeing Oprah Winfrey in person. Along with a few of my colleagues, I managed to get tickets to see Oprah's Lifeclass being filmed here in Toronto. We left work a bit early thinking we'd get there ahead of the rush and get our seats. How wrong we were! When we arrived, the line stretched for 2km already. It took us two hours before we finally got to our seats at the back of the hall. There were 8,500 people seated in front of us! Before the show was broadcast live, we listened to four short, but thought-provoking, lectures by Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant, Tony Robbins and Bishop T.D.Jakes. The theme was on forgiveness.

Eventually, the queen of chat shows came out on stage. Some of the audience were hysterical.  I mean, I like Oprah but I thought the screaming, wailing and shaking was a bit OTT. Oprah, herself, was very professional although, to be honest, from where we sitting she looked a bit like a green pea on the stage. Thank goodness for giant video screens. All in all, it was a fun experience...although I'm still wondering how come I didn't come away with a new food processor, car or trip to Australia. Oh well...I know it was only an oversight and forgive you Oprah!

Last week, I flew up to Montreal to attend a three-day work conference. I decided to stay over and managed to avoid the rioting students to enjoy a day exploring the city. It was my second trip to Montreal as I'd previously visited during the Jazz Festival a few years ago. This time I was able to to see some different areas. I walked down Mont Royal, did a bagel taste-test comparison in the Plateau, shopped on Rue St Catharine and sniffed French cheeses at Atwater Market. Montreal's a lovely city and the French-ness makes it feel like you're getting a taste of Europe while still be in North America.

So, as you can see, it's been a couple of months of ups and downs but that's life - we take the rough with the smooth and life rolls on in it's merry way. I'm doing a meditation course at the moment, which I'm finding quite...erm...challenging. However, I keep being reminded of how important it is to focus on this moment, as it is the only one we truly know we have. With that in mind, here's to living in the moment!

Winter's Full Force

Winter is not real winter without snow and ice so in the absence of much this year in Toronto, I've spent the last few weeks going in search of it elsewhere.

In January, a friend and I flew up to Quebec City for a long weekend. We had booked ourselves in for a night at the Hotel de Glace, or Ice Hotel as it's known in English. Unknowingly, we scheduled our visit to coincide with the hotel's opening night, which turned out to be great. Each year the hotel is rebuilt entirely from scratch. This year, architecture students from across Canada have assisted in the design and construction.

When we arrived, it was -27 degrees centigrade so the thought of spending a night in a giant igloo filled us with some trepidation. On arrival, we placed our suitcases in lockers and were welcomed in the Celsius building, which is not made of ice, is heated and contains the showers and toilet facilities. After a few Ice Ciders, which I can highly recommend, and canapes, we made our way outside to see a wonderful fireworks display light up the ice structure.

We were also able to stroll around the hotel, enjoy a cocktail in a glass made of ice at the Ice Bar and peak into all the rooms. We were lucky enough to have been given a suite so rather than a bare, cell-like room, ours featured carved images of native designs on the walls as well as furniture, including a bed, made from ice.

Before braving the cold for a night on an icy bed, we were given a mandatory briefing session on how to go to bed and sleep without freezing. We were told there would be a sleeping bag awaiting each of us on the bed but before we did anything, it was important we warmed our core body temperature by spending some time in the hot tubs and sauna. We then had to ensure we were completely dry before putting on our sleepwear. This had to be not too warm, completely clean and made of man-made fabrics. The reason for this was to avoid sweat or sweat residue as this could freeze and then cool the body.

We were instructed to take a clean, dry pair of socks with us and that on arrival in the bedroom, we were told to take off our boots and switch into the clean socks on the bed itself before unwrapping the sleeping bag. The next step was to get inside the inner sleeping bag and then the outer bag. We were also told to ensure we did not breathe anywhere inside the bag that was closed tightly around our necks to ensure moisture did not penetrate the fabric and then freeze.

I was particularly anxious about the potential for needing the loo in the night. We were advised that you simply did the getting into bed routine in reverse and then went through it all again when you came back having traipsed the 100 or so metres to the bathroom. This seemed like an awful lot of bother to me so I decided to stop drinking and attempted to drain my bladder as much as I could before going to bed!




I have to say, I followed all the rules but despite the guide telling us many people reported their best night's sleep ever, I found I got quite cold and by 6:30am after a number of hours of fitful sleep, nature was calling so I decided enough was enough. Sleeping in a room made of ice was certainly an experience but not one I would necessarily feel the need to repeat! However, the hotel is itself an amazing piece of art and I would highly recommend a visit if you're ever in Quebec City in the winter.

After our somewhat chilly night, we were able to warm up at the rather magnificent Chateau Frontenac Hotel where we stayed on the second night. The luxurious and warm bed was bliss!

Quebec City is a lovely town full of history and charm. We once more braved the cold to wander around and also treated ourselves to some spa treatments. I particularly enjoyed our horse-drawn carriage tour, watching the toboggans on the old toboggan run, riding on the ferry across the frozen St Lawrence River as well as the trip on the funicular railway down to the old part of town, La Petit Champlain.

We saw some crazy guys practising for the canoe races to be held as part of the Quebec Carnival the following weekend. These guys were actually canoeing a bit and then jumping out to drag their canoe across the ice bergs in the river before jumping back in again. Dangerous stuff...and they must have been so cold!

In February, as if experiencing -27 in Quebec City wasn't cold enough for me, I headed to Central Asia and the country of Kazakhstan. My trip was for work and I spent just over a week visiting four cities in the country to attend education fairs and various meetings. I had got rather concerned the week before I left when I see the temperature in Astana dip to -50 degrees centigrade. Fortunately, it was -30 by the time I got there although that does not factor in the wind-chill. Much of Kazakhstan is very, very flat and, trust me, the winds roar across those plains!

I'd like to rave about Kazakhstan, but I'm afraid I find it a very odd place. This is my second visit and although Almaty has some character to it, Astana is just a collection of very weird futuristic architecture plonked in the middle of nowhere. Atyrau and Aktau are both rather bland oil towns on the Caspian Sea with Aktau's only real redeeming features being that they no longer mine uranium there and that I saw camels in the snow.

So it was with pleasure that I moved on to Russia and its capital Moscow for a further week of work. I love walking around Moscow and so travelling between meetings was fun for me as I passed by some of its famous attractions such as Red Square, the Kremlin and various golden-domed churches. I also managed to sneak in a couple of hours to visit the Pushkin Art Gallery which houses some amazing artworks by the world's greatest artists. However, one of my favourite things, which makes it a joy to commute around Moscow, is the Moscow underground. The Metro stations really are works of art in their own right. The mosaics, chandeliers, statues and marble are incredible - one of Stalin's better decisions.



I returned to Moscow again after a quick trip to Kazan, where I'm afraid I didn't really see anything beyond the hotel and offices although I gather it it, too, has a splendid kremlin. After another day and fair in Moscow, I flew up to St. Petersburg, my last stop.

St. Petersburg is a joy of a city. The architecture is amazing and just seems to go on and on. It's more elegant than Moscow with its canals and wide boulevards. Unfortunately, I hardly had time to see anything on this trip but did squeeze in an early morning walk as the sun rose. Seeing Russia in the winter has been something I've long wanted to do. I've always been in the summer before and in my head Russia 'is' winter. It was interesting to see how the Russians cope.

I was fascinated by the way the snow is cleared - it's brushed or shoveled then loaded onto lorries and taken away. The road surfaces are plowed but then big roller brushes go over the top to churn up the icy residue. Of course, the people also bundle up well and the buildings are very warm so it's a constant battle to adjust your own body heat. The amount of fur being worn in both Kazakhstan and Russia was quite incredible. Apart from its warmth, fur is most definitely used as a sign of status.

Anyway, I'm now back in the relative warmth of Toronto - it feels almost spring-like in comparison to the wintry east!

New Year, New Post!

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe it's been two months since my last post but I guess things have been pretty busy and I've been 'outta town' for a large chunk of time.

The run up to Christmas was really very enjoyable with a number of special treats and enjoyable get togethers. I had a great night out at the theatre and sang my heart out to the tunes of Mary Poppins. My favourite bit of Disney magic was when Bert the chimney sweep tap-danced his way around the proscenium arch. If you haven't had chance to see this musical, I recommend it highly!

I also spent a lot of time experimenting on the baking front as I'd been invited to my first ever cookie exchange. Whereas in the UK mince pies are the baked treat offered at Christmas, in Canada cookies are the treat of the season. How a cookie exchange works is that each invited guest bakes a large quantity (in my case it was 6 dozen) of one type of cookie. You then take your cookies along to a party and share your cookies with others who in turn give you theirs. The nice thing is that you come away with a huge tin full of delicious and varied homemade cookies. We also shared the recipes and so next year my cookie repertoire may well be broader than it was before! I made Double Maple Walnut Cookies and they were OK but top marks went to Alicja, Visnja, Ortensia, Jesse, Liza and Tina for their tasty delights!

Mid-December I flew back to the UK and my feet had hardly touched the ground long enough to admire the renovations at my parent's house post-flood before I was off again for a quick Euro-city break to Madrid in Spain.

Five friends and I hit the Spanish capital for a few days exploring. Although we did take in some sights including the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza galleries, our exploring mainly centred around touring the many tapas bars Madrid has to offer. Booze o'clock came early and we quickly learnt the pleasures of sampling the cañas or "Kanye's", as we nicknamed the small glasses of beer, along with the various tapas bites we were offered free of charge. We never had the same tapas twice and they varied from manchego cheese to olives to cured ham to the most divine chicken cooked in pesto. Some of my favorite moments though were drinking beer in a butcher's shop, seeing Billy tackle the pint of rum and coke he was served, watching Phil experience the heaven that is 'churros y chocolate' for the first time, trying to work out the rationale behind the Christmas Goat, and being served a cocktail on the top of a bin as we walked down the street!



Although I've been to Spain many times, I'd never experienced a true Spanish night out before i.e. where the party only starts after midnight. We were lucky and had an excellent local guide in the form of Jaime, who took us on a few, true Madrileños nights out. I can now testify to the fact that there are more Madrileños on the street at 4:30am than at 4:30pm! The Spanish really do know how to have a good time.

I went back to England and promptly caught an awful cold, no doubt a result of burning the candle at both ends and lack of sleep due partly to the partying but also to the jet-lag! It was nice to have some of my mum's home-cooking though and be able to lie in and chill out over the Christmas break. Having said that it was really quite a busy time and I didn't really stop as I tried to catch up with both family and friends.



It was great to see: Mum, Dad, Charlotte, Phil, Simon, Kirsty, Billy, Granny, Bee, Edie, Fred, Helen C, Anne, Lynne, Graham Br, Lou, Jess, Nick, Sean, Richard, Chris D, Jo, Ian, Eva, Felix, Val F, Mike, Savi, Stephen, Mandy, Pat, Bill, Jack, Annie, Jon, Alex, Olly, Rose, Chris W, Kate, Christine, Helen J, Paul, Rhiannon, Simon, Sophie, Freddie, Milly, George, Bertie, Dave, Ais, Sam H, Amber, Deborah, Darren, Isaac, Lexie, Ethel, Elkan, Judith H, Helen S, Joanne, Judith G, Guy, Zoe, Mabel, Jason, Kate, Stephie, Frankie, Mark, Alex, David R, Ruth, Graham Bo, David B, Jo, Leo, Seth, Sam B, Daniel, Val S and Graham S. To everyone I wasn't able to catch up with, apologies and I hope we can meet up next time.

The weather in England was remarkably mild and I was amazed to see cherry blossom on the trees...in December! Despite the weather being grey and rainy much of the time, I had a lovely time and enjoyed a few trips to the theatre and around my home county of Yorkshire as well as the Cotswolds. The musical 'Annie' was a highlight and brought back memories of my childhood when I tormented my mother with the phrase "I love you Miss Hannigan!" I also ventured to the new Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield along with my favourite Yorkshire cafe, Bettys, in Harrogate.

Polar Bear from Nomad on Vimeo.

In my former home village of Saltaire, I checked out Salt's Mill and fell in love with the sleeping polar bear they had in the bookshop. I was also interested to see the Living Advent Calendar the village was exhibiting. Saltaire is a World Heritage Site and volunteers who live and work in the listed properties had decorated windows which gradually lit up during the advent period.

I returned to Toronto just after New Year and although winter had been very mild here up to that point was rather shocked to be faced with -27 degrees centigrade on my first day back at work. Yesterday, we had a balmy +8 degrees so it's kind of hard to predict whether it's going to be a mild or harsh winter this year. Whatever happens, I wish you all the very best for a happy and prosperous 2012!

Fall Frolics

The past few weeks have seen the temperatures start to fall and the leaves disappear as the autumn/fall weather moved us ever closer to the cold, winter months. Fortunately, Toronto tends to be crisp, dry and sunny most days so it's actually a pleasure to crunch through the fallen leaves on the pavements/sidewalks.

I got a bit of a fright in October though as, in the lead up to Halloween, I came across the living dead as they emerged from their graves and took to the streets of downtown Toronto on their annual Zombie Walk. There was even a zombie wedding and certainly lots of blood and gory scenes including the odd zombie attack.



Halloween is a much bigger occasion in North America than in Europe. Some people turn their front yards into graveyards complete with gravestones, cobwebs and the odd skeleton. Most of the kids dress up and the costumes aren't necessarily scary - there are many superhero costumes, animals and pink princesses. I even saw one little girl dressed as a cupcake. In fact, it's all about the sweets/candy and the number of 'trick or treaters' is unbelievable. I reckon I handed out sweets to around 100 callers this year!

The Day of the Dead is also increasingly celebrated here and I enjoyed partaking in the festivities as one of the local farmer's markets hosted in the old Brickworks. I'd actually been there the week earlier as well to participate in the Toronto Underground Market (TUM), which was a great night out. Pop-up restaurants set up their stalls, music played and the booze flowed creating a very enjoyable atmosphere. You line up to try taster-size samples of each dish for a few dollars and then move on to the next stall - there's everything from Mexican to Indian and popcorn to popovers (filled Yorkshire Puddings).

For me, much of the past month has seen me unpacking and sorting my belongings and furniture that finally arrived after a number of weeks at sea. It was quite exciting to venture out to the customs depot, have it all released and then see it arrive. However, despite having organized everything in labelled boxes before I left England, when it all arrived it had all been opened, repacked and mixed up so it took a long time to sort everything out and find a home for it in my small apartment, which is now looking a lot fuller than it did before. However, it's nice to have familiar things around me although I must admit I did question why I had bothered to ship certain things I found as I unpacked. Two years ago I thought I'd pruned and de-cluttered but I guess living without 'stuff' for nearly two years makes you realize how little we actually need!

I've also acquired some new neighbours this month as the Occupy Toronto protestors have moved into the park close to my apartment. The camp is now at bursting point. I admire their determination, especially as the nights get colder but I have to admit I am struggling to get my head around what the aim of the protest is...one chap was waving a banner saying 'Free Nelson Mandela' the other day!

However, I understood very clearly the cause when I attended a charity event organized by friends the other week. Two of my friends, Darlene and Giulia, volunteer for Project 417, which provides support to the city's homeless via regular cross-city sandwich runs and community dinners. Their achievements are impressive and impact the lives of those who really are living below the poverty line in a practical and supportive way. Most touching of all was to see people who formerly lived on the streets for whatever reason but who now have turned their lives around and are also giving back via the project's work.

I was also privileged to attend a wonderful environmental event, the first of four lectures, hosted by National Geographic. Mattias Klum, a wildlife photographer originally from Sweden, spoke with great humour and passion about his work whilst telling the stories behind the amazing photographs and video images he'd shot. I cannot imagine sitting up a tree in a sling for four months amid a rainforest with your body literally going moldy in order to capture a shot of a rare nocturnal badger only to have it pee on you from above as you finally see it! He also spoke about the devastation and destruction he has witnessed on his travels and how important he feels it is we protect this planet we live on.

Finally, this month has seen the culmination of a big project I've been working on come to fruition. I've loved getting my teeth into the complete rewrite and redesign of the English Language Program's website and the launch date has finally arrived. There's still work to do but I'm pleased with the initial result. As I said to my boss, I adore doing this kind of thing and I think if I'd been born 10 years later, web development may well have been my chosen career path. It all started with blogging though!

BEFORE



AFTER

Samba-ing into September

Well, this month has seen me hitting the road...or rather the skies...again.

I flew south to Brazil on a business trip to promote the English Language Program at a Canadian education fair in Sao Paulo. Although I've been to Brazil once before, it was my first visit to Sao Paulo and I couldn't get over the size of the city. It's ranked as the eighth largest city in the world by population and certainly the view from the airplane suggested it went on and on forever.

I was staying in the city centre and didn't really see far beyond the places I had to go for work but I did manage to squeeze in one treat by enjoying a meal with colleagues from other institutions at a Churrascaria.

Vento Haragano Churrascaria has been voted one of the best Brazilian steakhouses in Sao Paulo. It certainly lived up to its reputation although it wasn't cheap...but then nothing in Brazil is these days! I couldn't get over how expensive the country has become. The restaurant had huge racks of ribs rotating around a fire-pit in the window - it looked liked dinner at the Flintstone's! Inside, there was a huge salad bar and then servers dressed as gauchos circled the tables offering to carve various cuts of meat at your table. Depending on how ready you are to have more, you have a little card on the table to flip as a method of requesting more or taking a pass. I was in beef heaven but a little taken aback when one chap sliced through my beer glass as he was cutting a piece of meat off for me. I was somewhat relieved not to be at the end of that knife.

I moved on to Rio mid-week in order to attend an event for educational agents - the best way to describe it is speed-dating for agents and institutions. I saw around 50 agents for 30 minutes a piece.

Disappointingly, the weather in both Sao Paulo and Rio was not brilliant. Brazil is coming out of its winter and so although the sun did make the odd appearance and inspired me to buy a pair of new Havaianas flip flops, I was generally shivering most of the time.

I managed to pop down to Leblon beach for a five-minute stroll but other than viewing the odd glimpse of the Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer statue) from behind the cloud, I didn't manage to see much of Rio.

A highlight of the working week, which caused much excitement among the Canadian males at the event, in particular, was seeing a live samba band play. I have to say the samba dancers in Brazil, both male and female, really do wear very little and know how to shake what they have!

The Rock in Rio festival was also on at the time I was there and some of the acts were staying in the hotel. I saw Jay Kay of Jamiroquai wandering through the lobby, caught sight of Lenny Kravitz and his band heading out to their gig and ran into some of the Guns N' Roses band members as they arrived to stay at the hotel. I gather Shakira was also in the hotel but didn't catch this other booty-shaking queen.

As a bonus on this trip I managed to tack on a few days vacation. On the recommendation of my good friend and Brazil expert, Julian, I jumped on a bus and headed south to a little seaside town called Paraty on the Costa Verde. Paraty was a key port used by the Portuguese for shipping out gold and coffee. The old town is car free and made up of pretty white buildings, many of which are covered in Masonic symbols. The streets are cobbled and built on a dip so that when the high-tides come the roads turn into canals. I have to say navigating the cobbles was rather taxing sober let alone after a few drinks.

Again the weather was a bit mixed but I had a relaxing few days pottering round the town and managed to take a boat ride out to some of the beaches and bays nearby. I was staying at a gorgeous bed and breakfast, Pousada Vivenda, about 15 minutes walk from the old town. It was a delightful place to hang out in and I bonded with the owner, John, a fellow Yorkshireman who used to teach English and has lived in Brazil for nearly 25 years.



After my four days in Paraty I headed back to Toronto and then managed to squeeze in another few days away before returning to work. Canadian Thanksgiving weekend was again spent on the edge of Algonquin Park about four hours drive north of Toronto. This time I went with my friend Darlene and we hired a basic but comfortable 'cottage' (a cabin to those non-Canadians). Situated on Clear Lake, which was indeed clear, we had a spectacular couple of days with incredible, almost record-breaking, weather. The trees were amazing in their fall/autumn colours and the sun shone the entire weekend. I got sunburnt as we paddled our way round the lake in a canoe. I also temporarily adopted a chipmunk and all Canadian chipmunks are now incarnations of my furry friend, "Chippy".



As in the US, where they celebrate Thanksgiving in November, it is traditional to cook a turkey dinner. This was quite a feat in our rather basic cabin kitchen but I was very proud of my very first effort at making pumpkin pie. The results were delicious and despite our turkey only having one leg, it has kept me fed all week with turkey curry and other creations being cooked up. I now don't want to see any more turkey until Christmas thank you very much!

A Bit O' Culcha

August was a bit of a stressful month for me and my family as I had some problems with my house in Leeds. I hope things are now on their way to being sorted out but would like to start this month's blog by thanking my parents for their ongoing support and assistance as well as Chris for his sound counsel. Anne, Charlotte, Janet, Jess, Jude, Peter and Rose have also been great in offering both practical help and emotional support - thank you. It has been greatly appreciated. Note to self - being an overseas landlord is not the easiest when things don't go quite as smoothly as you'd hope. Anyway, I really hope this particular drama will be fully resolved soon although I suspect the efforts to recoup my financial losses may drag on somewhat. You would not believe what chaos can ensue all because of a little puddy cat!

Anyway, September has proven to be a better month all round. The tail end of summer appears to be petering out and the days are becoming crisper and chillier - I'm back in socks once more! Before the autumn weather descended, however, I was able to enjoy a couple of foodie treats. The first being a day at Supperworks, a kind of communal kitchen whereby you pay a fixed amount, all the ingredients and recipes are provided and you batch cook your meals for the month. I had got a coupon to try this out and had great fun cooking away knowing that I had zero cleaning up to do!

I'm not sure if the North American trend for food trucks has hit the rest of the world yet but it's the latest gastro-trend on this side of the pond. We're not talking the local chip or ice cream van parking on the corner but rather gourmet catering delivered out of the back of a truck. Many of the trucks have something of a cult following and people track the trucks' whereabouts using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. A few weeks ago the trucks decided to get together and had a foodie pow wow at the Distillery District, close to my building. The lines of people queuing up for bison burgers, cupcakes and various types of tacos were huge. I settled on a quinoa salad made with lime, avocado, black beans, tomatoes and chili - it was delicious!

Also in my local area was one of my favorite Toronto festivals, Buskerfest. Buskers from all over the world attend the event in aid of Epilepsy Toronto and perform there acts over three days. This year there were skateboarders jumping through hoops, contortionists, clowns and acrobats to entertain. For a few donated bucks, it really is a fun event...and the face painting's pretty good, too.

The Distillery District borders an area of Toronto called the Portlands, which is currently sparking something of a controversy here in Toronto due to the plans proposed by our current mayor and his brother (aka Tweedledum and Tweedledee). However, I trundled off to this part of town, currently occupied by film studios, docks and the city dump to see one of the most spectacular theatrical events I've ever seen. Cirque du Soleil is one of Canada's gifts to the world of entertainment and I was delighted to see Totem, their new production, along with two of my friends. The company combine the very best of circus performance with the most amazing sets, costumes, lighting and music. I loved every second.

Culture has been high on the agenda of late as September is the month that TIFF hits Toronto. TIFF is the Toronto International Film Festival and a highlight of many movie makers' and movie stars' year. The city goes crazy with celebrities, red carpet premieres and paparazzi everywhere. This year I decided not to volunteer due to work commitments and because I had a visitor, Jude, here. However, we saw a number of films - my favourite being Salmon Fishing in the Yemen starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas although The Lady about Aung San Suu Kyi was excellent, too.

We also managed to catch a few celebrities as they opened their various movies. I swooned over George Clooney and, for the second time in my life, found myself two feet away from one of my movie-star pin ups. I'm sure he smiled when I yelled out in a very high-pitched voice, "George, I love you!"

On that note, I shall sign off. With thoughts of Gorgeous George lingering I'm sure to have sweet dreams tonight!

Hot, hot, hot!

July is my birthday month and I had a nice celebratory evening out taking advantage of Toronto's Summerlicious event whereby local restaurants offer reduced price meals to entice diners to try their offerings. I also had an enjoyable day later that week as my department celebrated our achievements together with a day out to the Toronto Islands. The sun shone and we had a lovely Mexican barbecue at the Ward's Island Clubhouse.

My Web Marketing course also came to an end this month and culminated in an exam...my first in years! I won't know the results for a while but have thoroughly enjoyed the course learning more about Social Media and using the online environment for business. It was enjoyable being a student again and a very stimulating course.

The weather has been great over the past month and was in fact, too hot, for a few days. Some of the highest temperatures for fifty years were reached and we all melted as the humidity peaked. It was so hot that my air conditioning struggled to cope and eventually packed in! Fortunately, the heatwave has now broken and although it's still hot, it's not quite so unbearable...and my air con is now fixed.

The hot weather has, however, made for great opportunities to enjoy the summer outdoor events in the city and surrounding areas such as a picnic in High Park followed by a performance of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale in the outdoor amphitheatre.

Some friends and I also headed out of the city to a place called Grand River, about two hours west of Toronto. We ended up on the Six Nations Reserve, home to the local Native community. We had a super day watching a Pow Wow celebration with Native American dancers from all over the continent. It was such a colourful event but how they coped with their heavy costumes in the heat, I have no idea!



Last weekend was a long weekend here in Canada so given the weak US dollar, my friend and I decided to go on a roadtrip into the States. We set off before dawn and headed for the border. Ten hours driving later we arrived in Philladelphia, the city of brotherly love. We hopped on a quick sightseeing tour of the city taking in the Liberty Bell, and then decided we need sustenance in the form of cocktails and a Philly Cheesesteak. I have to say this particular local delicacy was not the most sophisticated I've had in terms of regional cuisine but it tasted pretty good!

The next day, we had a super morning at the very impressive Philladelphia Museum of Art, which had both some super collections and stunning architecture. Perhaps you might know it as it is where the steps Sylvester Stallone ran up for exercise in the movie Rocky are? There is even a statue commemorating old Sly at the base of the steps!



In the afternoon, we headed West towards the Pennsylvania Dutch country and ended up in a town called Intercourse, which amused me highly! Intercourse was actually used as a location for the film Witness, starring Harrison Ford. Being a Sunday, it was fairly quiet as the local Amish stores were all closed but we saw a large group of their youth enjoying a very wholesome volleyball competition as we entered the town. Their horses and buggies were all lined up alongside the road. We went out for a ride in the fields ourselves and learned more about the Amish way of life before enjoying a shared-table traditional Amish meal, which was very tasty. I particularly liked the Shoo-fly Pie!

Later in the evening we went from one extreme to another when we hit the town of Hershey, named after the factory located there. Hershey is dubbed 'The Sweetest Place on Earth' and is now overrun by families with kids on a sugar-high who are going crazy for the chocolate Kisses and Hershey's Chocolate World theme park located there. It was sheer insanity but pure genius in terms of mass merchandising. We were there at 9:30pm at night so goodness knows what it's like in the middle of the day!

On our last day we hit the outlet centres to take advantage of the low US dollar and then headed north through the middle of Pennsylvania and the state of New York before hitting the rather long line of traffic waiting to get back into Canada.

This weekend, I was lucky enough to get out on the water. I had a really enjoyable afternoon sailing on Lake Ontario. I feel summer is not complete unless I get at least one day's sailing in. I'd love to be out there more often. Hopefully, next year finances and time will permit this more.

Anyway, in honour of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher (aka Princess Leia), who I also saw in her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, this month: "May the force be with you!"

Summer in the City!

Earlier this month Toronto had a taste of my homeland. No, it wasn't Will and Kate - they snubbed Toronto on their recent visit to Canada but it was a slice of Yorkshire playing at a specially built theatre across the railway tracks downtown. E. Nesbit's The Railway Children, set in Yorkshire, was staged as a play and I had the pleasure of seeing this very innovative and enjoyable show. I've always loved the story of the three children forced to move 'up North' out of family shame at their father's imprisonment and their subsequent antics along the railway line. I know kids shouldn't play along railway lines but I've always enjoyed the tales of Bobby and her siblings escapades and heroism. This production was very well staged with a real railway track being used to create a moving stage. The highlight, however, was when a real steam train pulled in to theatre!

Toronto's summer festival season kicked off in style this year with the Luminato festival and I was delighted to be able to see my favourite Canadian songstress for free one gorgeous Friday evening. K.D.Lang played an excellent set including many old favourites re-worked with a new twist. However, the show-stopper was her magical performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. The guy next to me went to pieces and there was hardly a dry eye to be had around me. That girl sure can sing!

Hallelujah from Becky Smith on Vimeo.

A girl that sure can cook is Wanda Beaver - yes, that is her real name! Somewhat appropriate for a Canadian. Wanda is a pie-maker and runs a Toronto institution, Wanda's Pie in the Sky bakery and cafe. My foodie friend and Guardian.co.uk contributor, Giulia, and I went along one evening to learn Wanda's secrets to the perfect pie. Wanda showed us how to make sour cherry pie and instructed us on the need to have all the ingredients cold, to work quickly but, most importantly, to savour the results. This, we happily did, and my favourite pie of the three we sampled was the pecan and maple syrup pie...truly scrumptious!

Also this month, I had to go on another business trip. This time I jetted across the Pacific to South Korea for a week. This was my fourth visit to the Korean peninsula but the first time I've been beyond the South Korean capital, Seoul. My first few days were spent in Seoul but then I headed south the city of Jeonju in Jelloabuk-do province. My trip included various meetings with staff at the Offices of Education in Seoul and Jeonju, meetings with educational agents, a couple of university visits, presentations to prospective students and meetings with former staff and students of the English Language Program. It was a hectic week but I managed to grab an hour or so in soggy Jeonju (it's rainy season in Korea at present) to explore the traditional Hanok village behind my Korean-style Fawlty Towers hotel. This village has been preserved and houses a very ornately decorated temple as well as traditional craft museums. I enjoyed watching the traditional Hanji paper being made.



Jelloabuk-do is well known for its special food dish, bibimbap. The word means 'mixed meal'. It's basically a metal bowl filled with warm rice and topped with a multitude of vegetable ingredients, seaweed, some meat (usually ground beef), chilli paste and topped off with an egg. Just before eating you mix all the ingredients together and kind of mash it up. My mum always used to tell me off for playing with my food so I think I get a kick out of being able to do this and it being 'the done thing'! I enjoyed the various versions of the dish I sampled during my stay and was also treated to a family-style barbecue night in the countryside. This was very enjoyable apart from the dastardly mosquitoes that decided to attack me. I hate, hate, hate mosquitoes with a passion!

It's been good to escape the evil critters and get back to Toronto which is now dry and very hot. The newly developed man-made beach close to my home is now my favourite local hang-out and I suspect I shall be spending quite a bit of time at Sugar Beach (next to the Redpath sugar refinery) this summer watching the boats go by. I love this time of year in Toronto!

North American Musings and Meanderings

It feels like quite some time since I last updated my blog but I guess I've been rather busy with one thing or another!

May began with the Hot Docs documentary film festival, which I enjoyed very much. Documentary film-makers from all over the world submit their films to play before the public but also industry execs in the hope of getting picked up for wider release. This year I saw a wide range of films from one about being a single woman 'Lovable' to one about Donald Trump's golf course on the coast of Scotland, 'You've Been Trumped'. Then there was there one about the racist British National Party, 'Battle for Barking' and the gender reassignment of Chastity Bono in 'Becoming Chaz'. However, my favourite was 'Being Elmo' about the puppeteer behind Elmo from Sesame Street - it was a delightful film about a fascinating journey and it, quite simply, made you smile!

A week later I also saw Leonard Bernstein's 'Candide' as part of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Toronto is not short on film festivals. There are 55 annually.

In May, I started a new course. I'm studying Web Marketing part-time in the evenings at the University of Toronto and am finding it very interesting so far, in a nerdy kind of way. I'm now tweeting more and have launched my first Google ads campaign at work. It's also feeding in to the website re-development work I'm currently involved in so most of the things I'm learning about are being applied.

Towards the end of May, a couple of friends and I decided to take advantage of the Victoria Day long weekend and head south across the border. We embarked on a rather epic 12 hour Megabus trip to Washington DC, although the way back was longer at 15 hours due to border delays. At $80 round-trip we didn't complain too much though! We also managed to get a great deal on the very conveniently-located JW Marriott hotel and then spent three gloriously sunny and hot days exploring the US capital.

Our first, and indeed final, stop of the weekend was a hangout of many a politico, the Old Ebbitt Grill, where apparently President Obama sometimes sneaks in via the kitchens. It was certainly packed and served fare that satisfied us let alone global leaders. They were too busy hanging out on the lawn of The White House next door, and although we missed the press call, we did see Prime Minister Netanyahu's motorcade being swept under shielding marquees outside the Israeli embassy. I'm sure I also saw Marine One fly overhead to pick up the O'bamas (sic) as they embarked on their tour of Ireland. Unfortunately, Michelle wasn't to be seen tending her vegetable patch but we were impressed by her bee hives.

Our weekend was packed full of museum visits as Washington really does have a wonderful collection, many of which are free. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History was our first stop and I particularly enjoyed seeing the First Ladies' dresses, Dorothy's Red Slippers, Jacko's Hat and, of course, an original Kermit the Frog! We also enjoyed a delicious and interesting Native American meal at the Mitsitam Cafe in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. My favourite museum we visited, however, was the Newseum and we spent a good few hours here looking at all the fascinating exhibits on the Berlin Wall, photojournalism, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and historic front pages.

On the Saturday, Giulia, Darlene and myself indulged ourselves by having a delicious chocolate-themed brunch at Coco Sala - it really was a chocolate lover's delight! We felt obliged to walk off our excesses though and took a couple of excellent walking tours - one around the Washington monuments at night and another around the rather lovely Georgetown area, where we saw the homes of such notables as the Kennedy's and the cookery writer, Julia Childs. All in all, we had a super time and, yet again, the US cities have scored highly with me!



The week before last I had another trip. This time for work. I attended the NAFSA conference for international educators in Vancouver. It was a huge conference of 10,000 people from all over the world. The exhibition hall alone took me two days to walk round. Many universities from all over the world have stands and it's basically an opportunity for them to meet their partners and potential partners. I was kept busy with meetings, seminars and various evening receptions to attend. The conference was held at the new Vancouver Convention Centre, which was built for the Winter Olympics last year. It's a huge eco-friendly building with a green roof and I was very impressed by its design.

Vancouver was heaving with both conference attendees and ice hockey fans. For those of you who may not know the significance of the Stanley Cup play-offs that were taking place between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins that week, it's kind of like the World Cup is to the rest of the world, except for ice hockey. When the Canucks won the second match of the series, I thought I'd go deaf with the noise that erupted!

Mind you, I'd rather that than something worse as I so nearly encountered on my arrival in the city. As I came out of a subway station, I saw that the area was cordoned off by police and there were crowds of people looking towards a gentleman who appeared to be waving a long stick close to an abandoned bus. It turns out this was a sword and just as I turned the corner, he came running in my direction shouting "I hate you all!" The next thing I knew, I heard gun shots. I just turned and ran into the nearest building. I was quite shocked by how many people ran towards the shooting with their smartphones taking pictures! Gradually, I think people realized the seriousness and also started to retreat. A few moments later, we heard the police had got the chap. They'd tried to shoot him with rubber bullets and taser him but both methods had failed. As I emerged from the building I just saw about 20 police officers on top of him. I'm thankful no-one was hurt but it did make the evening news. A bit of a shocker all round but the Vancouver police did an excellent job.

My fright did not affect the rest of the week and I was staying on the North Vancover shore so travelled by sea bus to work everyday - it was a lovely way to commute. Vancouver is famous for its tendency to be grey and rainy but, luckily, only a couple of days were like that as the city is in a very beautiful setting. I stayed an extra day after the conference finished and had a super time sightseeing in the sunshine. I managed to see Stanley Park, the Vancouver Aquarium and its amazing beluga whales, Klahowya Village, Granville Island market, the Capilano Suspension Bridge and cliff walk plus the stunningly beautiful view from Grouse Mountain, where the grizzly bears were snoozing and the kids were still snowboarding...in June.




Summer is now here and we hit 40 degrees with humidity one day in Toronto last week. There've been a lot of storms and a few tornadoes have touched down north and west of the city but, thankfully, nothing like the devastation this season has wreaked south of the border. The view of lightening hitting the CN Tower has been quite a spectacular sight though.

Life continues to be action-packed and exciting here in North America!

Made in England

It seems spring may finally have arrived in Toronto although I keep being warned to expect one final wintry blast to hit unexpectedly. The trees are beginning to green up and I can even see some daffodils poking out in the community garden below my window. It looks like April showers may indeed lead to May flowers.

We are a bit behind the glorious blooming I saw on my recent trip back to the country of my birth where spring showing her glory in full force with blossom, greenery and flowers abound all basking in glorious sunshine. Britain was experiencing something of a heatwave and during my 10-day visit, I was lucky enough to experience almost constant sunshine and temperatures in the 20s. I even got sunburnt (with factor 30 suncream on) and ended up peeling...not even the Caribbean at Christmas did that to me!!

I had a super visit back to Leeds and stayed with my parents in their house/construction zone. As you may recall, my parent's home was flooded at Christmas and they are now emerging from four months of building and decorating work as the entire house has had to be renovated and put right. It's not quite there yet but the signs are certainly there that it is nearing completion with some rooms almost complete. Tiles and wallpaper are now going up on the walls. It's going to be great when it's all finished and I certainly loved my new guest room sleeping soundly in the new bed.

Unfortunately, my parents were both quite ill with a nasty cough/cold, probably not aided by the dust, but they were in good spirits and it was lovely to spend some quality time with them. Mum and I had a couple of good days out shopping and lunching in Leeds and Harrogate. We enjoyed our homage to Bettys Tea Rooms and spent a lovely afternoon at the Turkish baths in Harrogate Spa.

I also went along with my dad to his Photographic Society evening about China and, together, we all enjoyed a family night out at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant that has now opened in Leeds.

During the week, it was great to also catch up with various friends as we sampled the pubs, restaurants and fishy manicure parlours of Leeds and Tewkesbury. A highlight for me was spending an afternoon in the sunshine with my gorgeous godson and his family - he, along with all my friend's kids, is growing up fast! [Tip: Turn speakers on]



The main reason for heading back to England this Easter was to be there to celebrate my granny's 90th birthday. We had a really nice meal at a hotel in Ilkley, on the moor overlooking the Yorkshire countryside. The sun shone and is was nice to be able to share in this special occasion.

I headed back to Toronto with bulging suitcases, mainly due to the large quantity of clothes and shoes that I'd purchased. I got charged fifty pounds excess but I like to think I'd been doing my bit to aid the British economy!

The Brit-themed month has continued to reign large with Friday's Royal Wedding being broadcast in almost every form of media. I have to admit to rolling out of bed at 5:30am to watch the proceedings...kind of like an annoying scratch I had to itch! Here 'in the colonies', we had to go to work though - no public holiday for us, which I think is most unfair as we also pay taxes towards the royal family's upkeep. Canadians seemed to be on a par for the level of excitement (or not) about the whole event and I was amused by a colleague who turned up to work in a full wedding outfit complete with fascinator!

I used the event as an excuse to have a tongue-in-cheek Royal Aftermath Tea Party for my female friends (ladies-in-waiting). It was a lot of fun and we all ate and drank for Canada and the UK! The food was all royal themed with Coronation chicken, Welsh cakes, Prince William's chocolate biscuit cakes, red velvet cupcakes, lady's (ring) finger tiramisu, jewel salad, BuckingHAM sandwiches, Eton Mess and Duchy shortbread all on the menu. There was a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-corgi and my ladies-in-waiting were all presented with gold crowns to wear. Stella, our honorary corgi, even came with her pearls and hat on! As my friend Darlene commented, there were "more union jacks than a crumpet factory has crumpets," and, all in all, it was a right royal knees up! [Tip: Turn speakers on]