life in ottawa

So I'm finally here. Yes, I'm still alive. Apologies for not writing as I said so confidently that I would. Life has been leisurely but not entirely free.

It's been exactly one month since I've moved to Ottawa and I'd like to think that I've adjusted quite well. There has been many accomplishments, I feel that I've grown in some ways but also falling behind in the prime of my life. Let's see what I can share today:

1. Ottawa: small city, big animals.
Ottawa is rather small and bland compared to Toronto. Cleaner, greener, but bland. Malls here are overwhelmingly small--there are multiple "malls" a fraction of the size of Hillcrest if you'd believe me! For example, the "mall" where Loblaws is down the street has only one relevant fasion store: Fairweather. Reitmans is there too if you want to count that. [As a side note, I've made multiple purchases from fairweather. Very possibly due to lack of choices, but some of their stuff is quite nice!] Ottawa is low density on the world scale but top 10 in Canada, which is a sad point. In a way the world seems smaller now. I never really given much thought to how un-populated Canada is outside of Toronto, the center of the universe. Just to be fair, please keep in mind that I'm not living in the downtown core. There's not as much to see but the semi-suburban feel here is very comfortable. One thing that I love about this city though, is its abundance of big animals. Not hippos and tigers, but bigger than your average T.O. squirrel and pigeon. Outside my work there are groundhog burrows, families of giant brown guinea pig looking creatures can easily be spotted on a warm sunny day. *sigh* =) VERY cute.

2. The Bus Challenge
So the spoiled overgrown little girl finally had to take the bus. As expected, I've messed up a couple times, shocked by the percieved unreliability of the bus system. With time comes knowledge, no matter how stupid you are, and the bus system seems to make a little more sense. Still I am restricted to the few bus routes I'm familiar with, too reserved to go exploring. And somehow I tend to find myself waiting the longest time possible for a bus, when I've looked up the schedules and planned my time. Is it my luck, my clock, or just me? The good news is I haven't been lost yet.

3. Culinary skills
Since I live the life of a loner here in Ottawa, and live a very modest walking distance to a small Loblaws, I've had the opportunity to expand my culinary horizons. Some of my newest achievements include "sour plum soup", papaya "snow ear" tong sui, cabbage rolls, and stew. Most of the time my food turn out great, but sometimes not so great. This pork that I bought this week for instance, is not cool at all.

4. All by Myself... don't wanna be, ALL BY MYSELLLLF! OHHHH!!!
Yes, yes. The Bridget Jones theme song indeed! I'm living the wonderful summer of my 21st year and look, I've got no family and no friends by my side. Mind you friends are hard to make, especially when you haven't got one single buddy to begin with. Deprived of warm, in-person human contact, social entertainment, and who knows what else I'm missing out on! Sometimes it does get lonely, I won't lie about it. On the other hand, all this solitary time playing solitare solitarily has granted me a much needed break from the everyday toil and stress of university life. [No, I don't play solitaire solitarily. I just felt like saying something stupid.] Having so little worries is surprisingly refreshing, as though I've forgotten how it feels to be relaxed! Having complete control of my life is also quite wonderful. Still, I'm always a little tense while I'm here, or anywhere away from home. My friend Mark once told me that a big part of growing up is learning to be by yourself. When you think about it, it's true isn't it? All my life I've had someone to cling to, to live with or just to follow around on a bus. Now that I haven't these resources I've been forced to learn to be much more independent. It's not a bad thing, as much as I dislike growing up.

It's been a long, long entry. In the end I guess I just want to tell you that quite often I'd find myself happy for no reason at all. Sometimes I'd have keep myself from bursting into laughter in public, when I think of something funny. Many of us are having our mid-life crisis too early. Here's my message to you: It's all good.