Pinch me, i'm dreaming...

"On the way to work, the CN Tower should always be ahead of you. On the way home, it should always be behind you."

One of Canada's - no, scrap that, the WORLD's - most recognisable landmarks is 20mins walk away from where i'm staying! I see it as soon as i leave the house! But this is just one of the many things i love about Toronto. Among the rest:

• The incredible diversity of cuisine available - Friday night, sushi; saturday night, Indian; Monday night, Korean. And it's very good. And it's cheap. And it's all close-by. Somehow i can't imagine finding this combination in London or in Dublin!
• Cafes on every corner - caramel macchiato on Saturday; vanilla latte on Monday :)
• The people - they are sooooo friendly and polite!
• The air - it's fresh, it's clean (and yes, i'm still enjoying autumn, despite the drastic drop in temperature!)

On Sunday I had the chance to live one of my dreams - to see the Niagara Falls! So powerful, so graceful, so unstoppable. Breathtaking. It was worth the 2-hour drive, it was worth getting extremely wet and cold. Earlier in the day we had stood for 2hrs to watch the 'Santa Claus Parade'. Yes, i know it's still November. I reminded people of this several times, they couldn't explain it either... A fascinating look into what one could call 'family entertainment culture' of the country :) Afterwards we went to an amazing chocolate 'cafe', called "Soma" (those of you who have read Huxley's "Brave New World" will i'm sure be smiling...) There we all enoyed a delicious hot drink of chocolate mixed with milk, ginger, chilli and other spices. The endorphins were racing after that :) Oh, and most of the products in the shop were made from Venezuelan cocoa - i couldn't help smiling to myself, the possibilities for metaphor are numerous... :)

On Saturday i was invited to attend a meeting of AIESEC in Canada's 'Steering Team', which is currently finalising its recommendations for a 3-year plan for the organisation. Really interesting way to gain insights into the reality of the country, and also to observe how people interact and communicate. In true AIESEC style, i was thrown into this meeting the next morning after arriving in the country (16hrs, to be exact!) I was also invited to attend an International Wine Fair in the evening, but instead i chose to go for a drink with a certain Brodie Boland. Those of you who know him will i'm sure agree that i made a smart choice :)

Strangest moment of the day - while reading a political blog on the BBC News wesbite i was confronted again by the inexplicable attitudes of my compatriots towards European integration and the EU. I used to feel compelled to write about this, i would plan what i could do to ensure an alternative perspective can be offered to the tabloid-fed masses. But today i asked myself - do i really care anymore? On Friday i found this article in "The Independent" extremely interesting. I was sharing it this evening with some Canadians (or, depending who you talk to, 2 Canadians and 1 Quebecoise...) and they asked me: "So why do so many people leave the UK each year...?" I think my reply included the health, education and transport systems, which are all behind most EU-15 countries; the high cost of living; the frequently poor standard of rented accommodation; and the awful weather.

So maybe i really am past caring what the 'average Briton' thinks about Europe. Maybe I don't really care what the electorate decides to do or not do on a particular issue. Because i've learnt during the past 3 years that I really can feel 'at home' in many places. So why should i worry?
Isn't life too short...?