“English summer eating up the atmosphere Day-time bathers sleep in the shade Clouds crawl over dampening our attitudes People run for shelter from the pouring rain” - ‘English Summer’, by The MoonsWell, we did it. Mild or not, our first winter here in Toronto has come to pass, and we're in one piece! With one final flurry of tests, I’ve wrapped up midterm season, too. It’s a peculiar feeling - one on hand, having so many evaluations has made time pass by awfully slowly. On the flip side, it feels like freshman year has passed me by entirely too quickly.
Students On The Hunt: Off-Campus Housing
“Beautiful 1 bedroom, perfect for a tidy, respectful young couple”
This was the title of the Craigslist ad I responded to last April with high hopes.
Two weeks later I was out of $1300, apartment-less and feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. I had become a victim of the “I’m a [insert very respectful job that only a wonderful person does here] and I am out of the country with my family to work in Europe for the next five years and I need someone really great who will take over my second apartment” scam.
The thing with people who scam for a living is that like most people who are career crime-sters, they are really good at it. If you are unsuspecting (which I completely was) or even worse, a Toronto newbie who has never rented before (hey, I was both) your scammer comes off as a really nice person who is willing to phone you at 3am “England time” to explain to you in great detail about how to money transfer your first and last month of rent. Your scammer will do almost anything to make it easier for you to hand over your money — but once that money has been removed from your bank account, your really nice doctor/engineer/teacher family-man landlord gives you literally nothing but radio silence. When I say nothing I am definitely implying that yes; you for sure are not getting that “Beautiful 1 bedroom, perfect for a tidy, respectful young couple”.
Que the tears and the calls to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
The best way to avoid being scammed is to be realistic about the rental places you find on the internet. Websites like Craigslist, Kijiji, Apartmint, Padmapper, etc can be great resources for a student on the hunt BUT it’s so important to keep in mind the old adage: “if it’s seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Absolutely no one is going to rent out their 1000 square foot, fully furnished King West loft for seven hundred dollars a month. If you do decide to use these websites, here are some things to keep in mind:
It’s Still Reading Week…Right?
With the passing of reading week, somewhat begrudgingly, this past Monday marked the restart of classes. While the break definitely provided a much-needed period of rest, trying to get back into a school mindset the past couple of days has been quite the challenge. When we were in high school, spring break was the closest equivalent, but the difficulty levels of the courses puts the re-adjustment period on a level of its own.
Tackling My First Reading Week
Reading week is a great time to take a breather after a flurry of midterms in the weeks prior. I’ve heard from friends who joined one of the multiple organized trips to Montréal, and even those who flew back home for the week. For the laz — er, I mean, studious members of the community, staying around may have been the more appealing choice. At the end of the day, for whatever reasons may have come about, we’re still in downtown Toronto, so we might as well make the most of it...right?
Discover #JoyAtUofT in the Little Things
“It's such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) And it's got me down, but I'll get right back up, as long as its spins around Hello cold world” - ‘Hello Cold World’, by Paramore The winter blahs are still…
Showroom: A Trip to the New Exhibition at the Newly Re-named U of T Art Museum
Ever since my trip to the University of Toronto Art Centre last semester, I've fallen in love with the space. I don't find many things more relaxing than a trip to an art gallery, and having one on campus, and a beautifully curated one as well, has been wonderful.
My #TryItUofT Experience
Last week I wrote about some personal strides I’ve been hoping to make academically. Another thing I want to do this semester, though, is to become more involved in the U of T community. Seeing as how it is still #TryItUofT month, I thought now would be a perfect time to change things up.
New Year, New Me!
“Woke up this morning I was laid out flat on the dark side With the moon and the room on the wrong side I took a needle, sewed myself right back at the seams I saw my universal gleam” - 'Flick of the Finger', by Beady EyeLiam Gallagher might not have the same vocals he did back in Oasis’ heyday, but his last effort to bring back the glory days with his (now disbanded) Beady Eye did bring back some of the open lyrical interpretation the band was known for instigating - but I digress. Nevertheless, it makes for a great quote that can relate to the idea of starting the new year with resolutions. It’s a time of year when - for whatever reason - you can see your errors more clearly, and when you decide to pick up the metaphorical needle and attempt to sew yourself back together again. I’m not typically one to fall into the societal norm of setting resolutions specifically to ring in the new year - but given that this will be my first full year as a university student, I decided to give it a shot.
Battle of the Bands: U of T Style
Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending the Winterfest 2016: Battle of the Bands, which took place at the Annex venue, Lee’s Palace. The Battle of the Bands event is a competition for U of T bands to win a prize of five hundred dollars and a set at Fireball 2016! If you haven’t heard about this totally epic musical battle sesh you should...
- Consider creating a Facebook account, if only to keep up with the never ending stream of FB invites to UofT affiliated events (that are actually fun to go to).
- Continue reading, because I am about to give you a recap.
One Down, One to Go
Crazy as it may seem, this semester’s almost over! Classes ended this week, and finals season has finally arrived. If it weren’t for my impending doom, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that it’d already been four months since I first touched down in Toronto. Amidst all the hapless cramm — I mean, conscientious studying, in a bout of productive procrastination I thought I’d take a look back at my first semester here at U of T.