Day 77

Today in my "But Why is it Art?" class, my teacher showed us this image entitled The Lovers:


Couple Marina Abramquic and Ulay ended their relationship in 1988 by walking towards one another from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China. They each walked 2000 km (90 days) to meet up halfway. When they finally united, they kissed good-bye to mark their seperation from then on.

There is something so romantic about this endeavour which is ironic considering they were meeting up to say good-bye. How easy life would be if saying goodbye to a loved one was filled with this much passion, commitment and civility.

University! Day 74

Despite my lack of dedication (please read: time) to upload anything in a month, I hope my lovely followers are still dedicated to following.

Today's topic: University. Ah, yes. University. The things that have defined my first three weeks:

-No sleep (I've gone to bed at 4am on numerous occasions, scrambling to get assignments done due the next day at 9am).

-Lots of reading (I’ve probably done the amount of reading I do during a summer in the last three weeks).

-Perogies (what my diet consists of).

-Meeting so many people from all over the world (my next door neighbour is from Malaysia, my roommate is from Shanghai, another friend a few houses down is from Tanzania and beside him lives a girl from Spain whose name is ALSO Alexandra!)

My first two weeks were completely overwhelming. From day one, I was thrown into this completely new situation. So many things were happening around me. It was terrifying, exciting, inspiring and FUN. Week three (last week) was more manageable and I'm really starting to get a handle on things (the 4ams are dying down).

I’ve written two articles for the UofT newspaper, handed in two assignments, made a contemporary art piece out of bread tags, joined a lyrical jazz class (dancing again was quite an experience, I forgot just how much I’ve missed it), procrastinated to the extreme & had many adventures. This semester I am taking Intro to Journalism (what I’m specializing in), Intro to the Study of Studio (my minor is going to be art/photography), But Why is it Art? (my many trips to all those British galleries have come in quite handy already) and Women’s Studies (I am in love with this course-it has addressed ideas about our world that I had never considered before but can relate to quite a bit).

I love living with Pona and our lovely roommate Lilly. Our fourth roommate “Margarita” (we envision a Spanish chica, castanets clacking in hand whenever she is mentioned) has not arrived, but it is quite nice just the three of us because we all get along so well.

The campus is so beautiful. It is small which is nice and our house is in a forest (chipmunks and squirrels frolick in the bushes all day long) and because all the houses are so close together, it feels very much like a community. Everything we need is in walking distance which is so great! I feel so lukcy to be in residence, it has changed my university experience already. Our house is located in "Birch Hall" and there are about thirty of us (we're called The Birch Bees). We have regular get togethers & have house cheers as well. Everyone in each hall is very close with their members. It's a lot like Harry Potter and I'm loving every moment (well, not the 4ams) of it.

Below are photos from move-in day.

Changes, Day 46

As I sit here at 12:13 am after a twelve hour shift at aerie (and my eyes a little blurry) it slowly begins hitting me: today (or yesterday I suppose) was the last day of summer.

And while I enjoyed the hot humid nights, my almost running-every-night-attempts, taking walks to my neighbourhood starbucks, I can't believe that the majority of my summer days were spent here:


AND YET, I began to feel slightly sad as I walked out of the aerie doors tonight as the realization hit me that it will no longer be the place I spend the majority of my time. And THEN, a burst of excitment: my new home will be at UTSC, in a house on university campus. It's so funny to think of my ten-year-old self imagining the day I leave for university and it being a reality, ready to happen tomorrow.

Life happens quickly- we grow up, change happens. And even though I am secretly having a minor nervous heart attack at this very moment, I am so ready & so, so excited for what's yet to come.

Love Makes it all Worthwhile, Day 36

Love is in the AIR! My parents are off celebrating their twenty-second wedding anniversary and coincidentally enough, we spent our last summer holiday together at Christian Island where my parents had their honeymoon twenty two years ago.

There were tons of blackberry bushes around the island (my mother decided that blackberry picking was her new favourite pastime) and as a result we consumed blackberries for breakfast, lunch and dinner:

My sister and I enjoyed two days of body surfing in the tsunami-esque waves. I felt twelve again.

We spotted a beautiful owl (!),

Did lots of walking to beautiful, empty beaches around the island,

Black-berry picked some more,

And swam under the setting sun.

I move into university in a week and four days.....I'm getting really excited/nervous/still have a million trillion things to do. The fact that I still have to learn how to cook is a bit of an issue. My good friend Pona who came to London for a month to travel is living in the same house as me and our rooms are right beside each other. The fact that we're living together is a HUGE relief and I'm so excited that I get to spend the year living under the same roof as her!

I'm also so excited to start learning again, especially about something I'm really passionate about. It's weird to think that my life will take on another new chapter in just a week.

Thunder Beach! Day 20

We had a beautiful week at Thunder Beach, my favourite place in the world.

We literally sat on the beach all week, ate lots of yummy food, read books, swan in the crystal clear water and suntanned. I really can't complain.