Why I Love Hot Dogs

Hi everyone. Nice to meet you! I’m Crystal, your new summer lifeatuoft blogger. I’m pretty excited – it’s not every day you can say you’re blogging for U of T. How’s that for a unique resume? I’m planning to explore Toronto and U of T a lot more this summer, and am hoping that I can blog about it. If there’s anything you want me to find out about, or write about, let me know in the comments below and I’ll see what I can do. I’m not a native Torontonian, so anything and everything is an adventure to me.

I think I’ll start off my lifeatuoft blogging career with one of my first memories of U of T. They say that our sense of smell is keenly linked to our memories. For me, that’s always been the case. The smell certain laundry detergents remind me of my mom. A whiff of cologne can me remind of my friends back home. The smell of lemongrass always reminds me of Asia. The smell of hot dogs always reminds me of my first year at U of T.

One of my favourite memories of first year was figuring out that the trucks and stands were here to stay. I remember being completely fascinated with the concept of truck food. Did you really buy food off of trucks? That is actually a thing here in Toronto? Back where I come from (it's called Edmonton - have you heard of it?), truck food didn't exist. If I wanted a hot dog, I would have to walk across the street to the mall and get one from Orange Julius; none of that “hundreds of toppings” business. It was either a chili dog or it wasn't.

My first-year suitemates had to reassure me, “Crystal. Those trucks will still be there in the winter.”

“But it’s so cold!”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be okay,” they replied with a comforting pat on my back.

“But–”

“Shh. It’s okay…” And that was that.

There was always this one guy at the corner of College and St. George, in front of Koffler Centre, that I would always go to. I was convinced his sausages were the best – back then, he had the cheese sausages, and everyoneknows that they’re absolute heaven. He still is the nicest hot dog guy I've ever met. Many of my classes and exams happened at that end of campus, so it became a thing for me to have a “lucky hot dog” before every exam.

Since then, the smell of grilled hot dogs has been etched into my mind. Every time I walk down St. George Street, I am reminded of all the hard work and harder times I've been through since I got here. Call it a literal walk down memory lane. It wasn't not easy getting into U of T, and I daresay it’s even harder to stay in. When the going gets tough, I get going… to a hot dog stand. Its little things like a yummy piece of street meat during a study break that really helps me put things in perspective.

Overworked? Over stressed? Have a hot dog.

-Crystal

Interested in truck food? Join the Toronto truck food movement. They even came to U of T!