Film School Begins

While it's been nearly 3 weeks here, things are still a bit slow school-wise. I've spent a lot of time getting acclimated. I don't think I have it down yet, but it's getting there.

The night before orientation, I was told by the friendly cashier at the 7-11 that I should take the #17 bus to Downtown. While there I bought a transportation map and a city map to try and figure things out. Sure, I could take the 17, but I wasn't sure where to go from there. I opted to figure it out in the morning after dropping Melissa off for her early bus ride to Seattle. I have to say, I left plenty early for the orientation at Tinseltown Theaters, but I got a little turned around looking for it. Oh well, extra walking didn't hurt, it just made me right on time for the start! The good news was, I hadn't had time for breakfast (but I'd brought a pop tart) and they had pastries and beverages there. Mmmmm chocolate danishes! That helped me get through what was essentially a VFS pep rally as they talked more about the school. I felt that was unnecessary, but oh well. We did get pictures taken for student ID's (that was handy...you know after getting up early, barely having sleep, and wandering around in the rain looking for the building...yeah, I looked Stellar!). Then we were asked to attend a vendor event where we could sign up for cell phones and bank accounts. Again, handy, but jeez, so many decisions for one day. I hate comparing phone companies, and the ones in Canada are weird. I wish my darn Sprint phone had a better International plan...or wait, even worked at ALL here, but eh...whaddaya gonna do? I think my phone plan is ok, but I still need phone cards to call the States. The add-on plans the company had still averaged out to like 5 or 10 cents a minute, and then it's every month. Their sales reps even recommended the phone cards which are more like 1 or 2 cents a minute. Score.

I did spend so much time comparing phone plans that I had to actually walk to the bank later for an account since the reps had left. Oh well. After getting an account at the bank, I went back to my little apartment with the blankets-for-a-bed and crashed. I was sooo exhausted! The next day was for International students and so I had to go back for that. They talked about the money here and how some cultures might not understand phrase like "Shut up!", so we should be considerate of everyone (Shut up! Not everyone gets that usually means excitement? hee hee..it's ok. I blame the Princess Diaries. I didn't start using that phrase for excitement until Princess Mia did it).

Canadian money...well, it's in dollars like US, but they don't have dollar bills. They have $1 and $2 coins which are called...get ready...Loonies and Toonies. Huh? Did Warner Bros. found Canada or something and make them name money after the Luney Tunes? No, not quite. I guess good 'ol Canada used to have paper 1's and 2's but decided to go to sturdier coins. Much like the European Union and England. The $1 coin came first and it has a picture of a Lune on it...national bird I guess? So they were nicknamed Loonies. When the $2 coin came out, they just went with Toonie as a nickname despite the fact that it has a picture of a polar bear on it. It's funny, I don't mind using the coins, but I have a really hard time calling them Loonies and Toonies with a straight face. i can't help it! The rest of their money is just plain colorful (I mean the bills). The other coins are pretty normal. (compared to US) I do like that they are starting to release special quarters just like the US. Their quarters though are going to have Winter Olympic sports on them and be released until the 2010 games here. I have the first one which came out in February...it's for Curling. I love that they picked Curling (weird sport) to come out even before the Hockey coin. Strange Canadians. i'm going to try and collect as many as I can. Sure, it means I can't spend them, but the dumb Washer and Dryer in my apartment building only take Loonies (snicker) anyway.

Now, on that second day with the International orientation, i met a few people. Mostly because the Student Services lady reminded the people there that the Sound Design folks (that's me!) should be their new best friends because we have to partner with people like Game Design and Animation to help them add sound to their projects. So a bunch of Game Designer guys came up and asked for my phone number. i was loving that...not so much because I was surrounded by guys (oh, some of them are SO much younger than me!!)...but because I didn't have to work so hard to make friends! Five of us ended up going to see Ghost Rider right after that (oh, we got lunch at Denny's first to introduce the Malaysian guy to very Western food). yay a movie!! Granted, movies are crazy expensive here. Like $12. I don't understand that. if the exchange rate from US to Canada is in MY favor, shouldn't things feel slightly cheaper? Maybe it's totally out of whack due to city prices. Sigh...there is a theater or two that offers $6 shows on Tuesdays. I'll have to find that one. And some have cheaper matinees. This will be crucial once things like Harry Potter and Spider-Man come out this summer. I have to go!

After the movie, I ended up hanging out with the two American guys, and later would be really good friends with the guy from Chicago. It's nice to hang with someone from the Midwest and who is actually older than me (the 20-yr-olds were making me all self-concious..dumb, I know). But yeah, we've become good friends. Probably because he let me watch the Oscars at his place when i didn't have cable, and I have been able to drive him places for shopping since I have a car. And we can both complain about the little annoying things in Canada together. ... Such as Kellog's Corn Pops NOT being like Corn Pops in the US! I bought a single serving of Pops to eat during those first couple mornings, and yup, they are like some mutant from space. Our Pops are light and fluffy...sweet, but not too sugary...and in an oblong shape. Canadian Pops are like...well, like Vanilla Cocoa Puffs! They are spheres covered in tons of sugar! Um, what gives? they're ok to eat, but yeah, definitely not the Pops I was craving. David (Chicago guy) had bought a huge king size box before he realized the error. He couldn't eat them though, so I took them off his hands. I don't love them, but I don't hate them. couldn't let them go to waste. At any rate, as much as I have always loved Canada, I think I now understand the song, "Blame Canada!"...hee hee..if your food tastes weird here, Blame Canada!

More about the food...yup, some things do taste differently. Ketchup is a little sweeter. Coke tastes weird depending on how you get it. If it's in a can or a liter bottle...it's sweet, like Pepsi. Fountain soda and small bottles of soda taste fine though. And those little bottles? The plastic caps are molded in the shape of real bottle caps. What purpose does that serve? Funny looking top is all I guess. Any American food chain that is here, they are sure to put the Canadian maple leaf in the logo. Usually in the apostrophe. Like in Wendy's or McDonald's or Denny's. No apostrophe...just a maple leaf. Just so you don't forget you're in Canada. And what is Canadian food? I don't even know. If you order Canadian bacon on your pizza, they just stare at you (as do many US pizza places), so you might as well just call it ham. And most blocks have multiple sushi places on it. There is a huge Asian population. My TV even has channels in French (ok that's expected since Quebec is french speaking) and in Mandarin or Cantonese (I can't tell which). total switch from having Spanish channels while in Florida!!

I'm sure I'll go more into the food later. but one surprise...Domino's pizza actually tastes VERY good here! there's one right by my place with a great walk-in special, so I've been there twice already.

Back to school..sort of. So that first week, I only had the two orientation things. The rest of the week I spent shopping and getting used to the buses (it's fine, just stand on the right side of the street, and don't try to board one with it's trolley thingies down. Yup, they're electric and look like a combination between a trolley and a bus with their overhead electrical setup). Anyway, I would explore, shop for things I needed, and then end up at "temporary home" with no bed and no TV. That sucked. I felt SO out of the loop! I hooked up my computer though and survived by watching my "Scrubs" Season 2 DVD's. that's the only season I have, but I clearly need more! That's the best don't-think-of-how-alone-you-are TV show ever! And there was no overhead lighting in the place, so I just had this tiny sad lamp, and the kitchen light. The stove didn't work and I didn't have a microwave, so I just bought fast food, or used my toaster oven. And I kept remembering my keys everywhere I went so I didn't get locked out just using the separate bathroom! oh, and the shower in the bathroom? It wasn't a tub, just a stall, so don't bang your elbows in the wall...and don't use it when someone else is using their shower. The hot and cold goes ALL out of whack then! Luckily, these issues are solved with my "permanent" apartment. I guess it was like camping for 10 days. And you know how much I "love" camping. Sigh... after a while, it really wasn't so bad. I'd bought a mattress pad at IKEA and that really helped the pile of blankets on the floor. And of course, the kitties were chilly too, so they snuggled against me and we were all cozy together. it was an experience. At least I got to know my neighbor who has two cats too. Maybe she and i can hang out some time.

i think that's enough for now. You should have a good idea of how things started out here. Aside from the bus, I would walk nearly everywhere. Just blocks and blocks to find groceries and food. There are tons of little shops nearby (and chains like US fast food, or Staples), but they tend to be pricey. Tiny grocery stores with expensive groceries and some home goods...and then you have to carry it back to your place, so no 'big' shopping trips. With my car I've been able to get to bigger places that are closer to a Wal-Mart, but they are still pricey. It's just a juggling act here. At least one little market about 10 blocks from me has cheap produce. The apples are delicious and i got some strawberries today. Yum!

Enjoy the long posts...I think they'll get shorter once I'm caught up on my day-to-day activities. of course, who knows, I could always go into a long discussion on how many counting the number of people with iPod headphones on the bus or something. But you like that, right?