01/10/08: Getting established in Toronto

Here is the fascinating saga of how, in three days, we graduated from being raw newcomers to having a toehold in Canadian society.

Monday night we acclimated ourselves to our guest house situation, and mined the Toronto Craigslist for possible apartments to see -- furnished and not too far away from public transportation. Our room is in the basement of the guest house. This is a common location for a living space in Toronto, so in retrospect it's good we had this early experience of it. We didn't like it: low ceilings (I have to keep remembering not to stretch my arms upward when I take off a t-shirt), a damp chill, noise from above, and not much daylight. (We later saw a basement apartment which was much better than this, but in general we prefer to be above ground, even for a higher price.) Despite other points of unhappiness with this room, we decided to stick it out rather than spend the better part of a day finding another and moving all our luggage.

Tuesday, our first full day in Toronto, was a day of exploration. Again, it was unseasonably warm, about 50 degrees, but with a stiff cold wind. We learned a bit about the transportation system (which is excellent -- buses and subways are frequent and frequented by all segments of the Toronto population), and bought a ten-trip discount ticket strip. We took a look at a bank account and a cell phone, retreating to do a little more research. We saw three apartments, all in the area a little north of downtown but still well within a bus and subway ride: first was a basement one-bedroom that was not only a basement but tiny, for $999 a month. The second, from the same realtor, was a second-floor "penthouse" (because it's the top floor...) that was pleasant enough but also a little small, for $1249 (this guy thinks like a discount store). The third was a basement apartment in a suburban-type house that was lighter and warmer than one would expect, but a bit small and a little too far from civilization, and the bathroom was located across a semi-public hall from the main apartment. The owner, a charming Asian woman, wanted $975 and a six-month commitment, and we said we'd get back to her. We tried to treat ourselves to a nice dinner, but either we chose poorly, or Fumiko is right that there are no decent restaurants in Toronto (compared to Tokyo -- or even New York). Home, to more Craigslist for me, and an evening of groggily watching TV and fighting off a cold for Fumiko.

On Wednesday, the temperature dropped to 40, but the wind was truly fierce. Though there were more frustrations, ultimately more progress was made. We started early, walking to a 9 a.m. appointment to see a sublet not far away. A single woman had a really lovely two floors, bedroom and den, living, dining and kitchen. She's going away for two months and leaving her apartment and her cat to someone, for $700 a month! Quite amazing. I'm not sure why we weren't more excited by it than we were. Anyway, we submitted references and awaited her decision.

We went to the mall to get a Virgin prepaid-plan cell phone. The process was not without glitches: the Wal-Mart sales girl recommended a particular Samsung phone, and then when we ordered it said it was out of stock! I was disgusted, vowing never to set foot in Wal-Mart again. Then we found an actual Virgin phone kiosk right outside the store, so we went there and succeeded (we thought) in buying a phone.

From there to another mall up the road to open a bank account at Canada Trust. They offer a practically free account for those over 60, even when the person is joint with an under-60 one. However, it took over an hour to accomplish this -- many questions, many papers, currency exchange, etc. I couldn't believe it, and was irritable and twitchy by the time we finally exited the bank with our ATM cards and checks.

On the way home, we bought another 10-trip ticket strip, this time at a senior discount, $15.00 instead of $22.50. I had found out that anyone can buy these, and when youf use them you can be "carded" for over-65 ID, but a New York driver's license is fine!

Home to check email and set up another apartment viewing. We also tried to charge the new cell phone so that we could activate it and start to use it, but the charger plug didn't seem to fit in the phone. Incredulous, I called Virgin and the salesgirl said, "Oh, you must have gotten one of the packages with the wrong charger!" I was livid. "If you know that some have non-matching chargers, why don't you at least warn us so we can check before we leave the store!!??"

So, after lunch we headed back to the mall to exchange the phone, and then on to see a two-bedroom apartment near High Park for $1500. This was more than we had planned to spend, but I am now thinking that we need a place that we are glad to come home to, that nourishes us a bit as we struggle to start a new life, and I think we can afford it. The park itself charmed us -- a largish and partially wild stretch that reminded us of Central Park. The neighborhood was also inviting, with large well-designed houses on hilly plots, and people very neighborly. This particular house is owned by a very talkative man who fixes up and furnishes apartments for weekly rentals in the summer, but lowers the price to rent them monthly during the winter. He seems to be in constant fix-up mode, with a long laundry list of things to be done. However, we loved the apartment (or what we could see of it, since it was under renovation at the moment). An odd layout, with the bath, large master bedroom, and huge kitchen all branching off the entry, then the kitchen leading to a medium-sized living room, and then a small bedroom with bunk beds beyond the living room. So someone sleeping in the small bedroom would have to go through the living room, kitchen, and entryway to reach the bathroom. But it was well heated (t-shirt weather), bright, simply but well decorated, and a little quirky. Something about it really warmed us -- not only our bodies, after two days of clouds and wind and a chilly basement, but also our spirits.

After we left there, we walked two blocks in the other direction to get the trolley on Roncesvalles Avenue and discovered a lovely shopping street with Polish butchers, used book store, a modern library, and a natural foods store selling soy sauce and tofu! The whole situation seemed marvelous and I could imagine days spent at my computer, with time out for a run in the park and/or a stroll along the shopping street or a stop at the library. Life in Toronto began to seem possible.

Fumiko kept saying she is adaptable and can live anywhere, I should decide. I don't like being in that position. Happily, we got home to find an email from the $700 landlady saying that she had chosen another applicant, who got there before us, so I didn't have to make that decision (a good place for $700 or a wonderful one for $1500 is a hard call for me...). I did one more pass on Craigslist and found a few more possibilities and sent off email. Fumiko's cold was worse and she went to bed early.

Thursday: Fumiko was feeling better today, finally. The temperature was near freezing, but we dressed warmly (feeling a little like visiting eskimos as the local people wore jackets...) and did okay. We went downtown, for the first time since we arrived, to see a large one-bedroom on the 28th floor, smack in the center of the business district (Yonge and Gerrard). The apartment was very nice, well furnished with large rooms, and only $1250. The building has sofas in the laundry room (on the second floor), and a swimming pool and saunas for tenant use. It's just REALLY urban -- like being on Times Square in New York. No nature and no neighborhood feeling. It was a test for us -- do we want an apartment without problems in the city, or one with charm and flaws in the "country"?

While pondering this, we had lunch at a not-bad Vietnamese restaurant, and went to a nearby bank to convert Fumiko's yen to about Cdn$4000, and then another bank to deposit it. Bi-cultural couple: we argued about how the ATM would handle a deposit of cash, with Fumiko right on some points, based on her experience in Japan, and me right on others, based on my experience in the U.S. So, it does take cash (in an envelope), but it doesn't count it -- humans later verify the deposit. Japanese ATMs count the cash right then and there.

Then we happened on City Hall and went in to inquire about immigration services. We applied for and received our SINs (like Social Security numbers). This means that we can now apply for a Canadian credit card, not to mention get a job!

By this time, we had pretty much decided on the High Park apartment. We took the trolley from downtown out to there, which took about 30 minutes. We continued to feel good about the neighborhood, and felt we would enjoy the apartment even with its quirks. Fumiko liked the idea of a "spare room," so people could come and visit us even in this early stage of our new life. And she began nagging the owner to fix the kitchen fan (this is something we never had in New York). On our way back to the guest house, we stopped at the library and got cards, using our new address!

So, three days after arriving, we have a bank account, a phone, an apartment, SINs, and library cards! Not bad. Tomorrow we move house!