Toronto delivers

Toronto was a perfect place for a long waited reunion. The days we spend there were filled with good food, beer and most of all the best possible company. The airbnb place we rented turned out to be great with an amazing view and a perfect location. We also made some new Finnish friends with whom we will catch up with later in NYC again. 

On our last day before heading to Guelph we took a tour at the Steam Whistle brewery. We got the taste beer coming straight from the line that was bottled only few minutes before. The tour was great and we ended up leaving with t-shirts and a six-pack of steam whistle.

Thanks Toronto!

My People

Thanks for everyone in this picture (plus Steve and Brooke). Last night and this morning were filled with goodbyes but it was all gonna be better tonight when my boyfriend was supposed to arrive. Well, here I am alone in Toronto in the apartment that we paid and he is still in Finland. Damn you Iceland Air and your flight cancellations. Maybe it was meant to be that I need one night just for myself here in between. Although I am so exited about tomorrow I'm not sure if I can even sleep tonight.

Last week at the U of G

My time at the University of Guelph has soon come to an end and I realized there are so many cool things I haven't shared with you guys about the campus and the school spirit here. I only have one exam left on Thursday and I know I should be studying for that right now but I need a break. So here some of my favorite things about the U of G:

 There is a cool statue of the school mascot Gryphon where the campus starts. Seeing the Gryphon always makes me smile. Also there is a belief that if you rub the beak at the beginning of the semester it brings you luck. Even though it is the end of the semester now I was rubbing it hard yesterday to give my luck for the final exam.

Probably my ultimate favorite thing are the puppies that are been trained to be guide dogs. They are all over the campus. It makes a boring lecture so much nicer when there is a puppy with big eyes staring at you on the floor next to you. This picture sucks and it's from the winter but it is the only one I've got to prove it. Also how cute are those shoes that protect their paws from the salt!

The people in the business program here take the course presentations very seriously. The guys really suit up! Overall the Canadian dress very casually so it was nice to see the hoodies changed into suits. 

I just think every single university should have a campus pub. The one in Guelph is located upstairs at the UC. It's most busy on Tuesday nights when they host a Trivia night which we tried to attend so many times but never made it.

 There are so many cool spots for lunch no matter if you buy something or bring your own food with you. In general the whole campus is a nice place to hang out even after your lectures. That is something I could not see myself doing in Finland.

This is Bob. He has had a hot dog stand at the university for more than ten years and he is always there all day everyday no matter how cold it is. I went there twice and always got a special price with a smile. What an awesome guy! I

 This is the cannon. Whoever wants to has a chance to paint it during the night and guard it until the morning so no one else can ruin your art. At winter I didn't see it changing that much but now it has been looking different every single day.

During the exam weeks the whole staff of the U of G have been extra friendly. Even the bus driver wished me good luck today when I got off the bus at the University Centre. Also there are smiling people walking around and giving out candy and other nice things to cheer people up. In the library they had these stress buster coloring activities to take the mind off the textbooks for a while. The stress of the exams in here is real but people also help each other and try to make it less painful to get through this time. 

 It has been so nice out this week. I have tried to enjoy the sunshine as much as I can and walk everywhere when possible. It's kind of sad to leave this place soon when it's finally starting to wake up after the coldest winter of my life. Thanks U of G!

Waterfalls & Cute doors

I spend the easter weekend in Dundas, Ontario with my roommate Sara. What a cute little town with beautiful waterfalls and little downtown. Toronto definitely has a special place in my heart but I'm so glad to experience these little towns too. Dundas just felt like a town where everyone lives a happy life and everyone probably knows each other. 

 Just when we thought the spring had arrived for good it was snowing again. But we didn't care, it was actually beautiful to see the view and the falls with a sugar coating.

Saturday night Sara was suffering from a nasty stomach bug and I decided to take a walk to the convenience store by myself to get some snacks for us. On my way there I saw a deer family of six and watched them totally amazed for more than ten minutes before they ran away. 

Hopefully everyone else had a nice and relaxing break too! This week I will dedicate my time for studying since I will write my first finals Thursday and Friday.

Montreal

Bonjour! It was about time for me to see some of the French part of Canada already so last weekend me and two other girls took a long weekend trip to Montreal. The train ride was more than six hours but it was worth it because it actually felt like we arrived in a different country.

 There was definitely a different kind of vibe there compared to Ontario. Would have helped to know some more French than "Bonjour" since most the locals didn't seem to know English that well.

 This weekend was all about eating well, drinking well, seeing what we could in just few days and getting a deserved break before we hit the final exams next week. My favorite part of the weekend was a jazz club that we found and ended up spending two night in a row there.

 Oh and all these crepes we had… sweet ones, salty ones then sweet again… haha

We went to the Montreal museum of fine arts and saw some cool Andy Warhol's and Picasso's there.

 Who cares about the rest of the painting when there is a dog this cute on the corner?

 Our hostel was nice too. It was an old building and we were told it used to be a night club only few years back.

I can't believe that after tomorrow I will be done with classes and only have the finals left. In two weeks my favorite person of the world will be here, one week from that we will go together to Nyc to meet some of my other favorite people and ten days from that I will go home and see my family <3 Sounds like pretty good times ahead if you ask me.