O Canada!

It has been exactly 3 weeks since I arrived in Toronto and I’m loving it so far!

First off, I couldn’t believe how warm it was for the first week of my arrival! I knew it wouldn’t flat out freezing when I first got here but I wasn’t expecting the warm weather and even higher humidity!

After settling in to my accommodation (which has a great view of the city), where I have met many other exchange students, I began the orientation process and the commencement of classes at Ryerson. Ryerson is very similar to UTS in many ways, especially aesthetically with a large brown tower right in the middle of the city and modern design building to its side, making me feel right at home!

As a media Arts and Production student I was ecstatic that I would have the opportunity to take part in the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year. I saw 3 great films during the festival. The theatres catered to extremely large audiences and it was so exciting to see how generally enthused and excited all the locals were to enjoy the festival and the art of film making. One of the films I attend was directed my a Canadian director (and that made the audience cheer like mad!) The pride Torontonians have for the festival has been a delight to see.

So far I have been able to complete a few touristy adventures, which due of the beautiful sunny weather has consisted of multiple trips to the Toronto Islands. To get to the Islands you catch a ferry over the Lake of Ontario and are presented with a beautiful view of the Toronto Skyline and the extremely tall CN tower.

This past weekend I also had the chance to visit Niagara Falls (a 2 hour bus trip from Toronto), with 9 other exchange students. I didn’t have high expectations for the falls but its beauty floored me. It was definitely worst the trip (and the water spray)

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So far I am loving my exchange experience, I have made some great friends and I feel really settled. I can’t wait to explore more of Canada and I am currently booking a trip to Vancouver in the uni break in a few weeks!

Indyana Taffs, 11724996, Ryerson University, Toronto.