We had three wonderful days in Ottawa with friends Guy and Mike in their lovely house. They were grand hosts, driving us here and there to sightsee, have lunch, meet their friends, etc. We saw Parliament Hill (and the cat hotel there), stood under the giant spider outside the National Gallery, and relaxed in the lobby of the old and rich hotel Chateau Laurier. We liked the larger-than-life bronzes of five middle-aged women who challenged laws that said women were not full "persons." The Rideau Canal (the longest skating rink in the world) was very impressive, especially realizing how far above the river level the boats are lifted by a series of locks. We walked on the frozen canal, mingling with ice skaters of all ages, saw a bed race, and enjoyed "beaver tails," a fried-dough confection unique to Ottawa's Winterlude festival. The ice sculptures were ambitious, but a little tumbledown in their second weekend.
On Sunday we all visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which features numerous detailed replicas of houses, stores, streets, etc. from Canada's past to walk around in. Good lessons for us new Canadians! We were sorry to say goodbye to Mike and Guy, and to Ottawa. (In this picture you can see Parliament Hill from the CMC across the river in Quebec. Click to enlarge. I'll post more pictures soon on another site; stay tuned for the URL.)
There are some very cold days here in Toronto, but most days are not so cold. We've gotten used to bundling up and carrying an extra sweater and socks when we go out. It's the amount of snow that makes life difficult at times -- and we don't even have to shovel! In Ottawa (and on the train going up), we were surrounded by white, rounded mounds of snow covering everything. Fumiko has never seen so much snow in all her life. Streets in Ottawa were plowed, and Mike and Guy drove without apparent difficulty, but we were still amazed by the constant surrounding whiteness. Back in Toronto, it had snowed a lot, and then snowed some more. Homeowners have to shovel several times a day when that happens (although many don't, so walking means pushing through 4-6 inches of snowfall in places). I don't want to exaggerate it; it's more like Boston, I think, than Alaska. Compared to New York, it's a question of frequency rather than degree. New York has big snows, but not often, and they don't last long.
Fumiko is working hard at her English class, but getting impatient to find a job and start working. I have been keeping my eye on apartment ads, going to see one now and then (we have to leave this apartment by May at the latest), and using the Internet to research various problems of Toronto life: where to buy good challah bread; how much is postage; how to get a Canadian driver's license (woops! licence), and so forth. I'm finally sending out New Year's cards, slowly; I just couldn't fit them in in December or January.
I realized that when I went to New York and returned, my passport was never stamped. I can think of advantages and disadvantages to this state of affairs, but I wonder if it's policy or oversight. I sent an email to the U.S. border agency, but they replied that it may take them a month or two to answer me!
As a linguist, I notice usages that are new to me:
• "the 905-belt": I looked for a highway 905, but found none. Finally, Wikipedia tells me it's a telephone area code, which at one time distinguished Toronto proper (416) from the surrounding suburbs (905).
• political terms (they use the British parliamentary system here): "riding" (election district); "stand for election."
• "ratepayer" = taxpayer
• in sports reporting: "Chargers are in tough" "Tigers in tough against strong" And in a non-sports story: "Residents are in tough" (My sports-savvy son assures me that he's never seen this before.)
• funny spelling: "tonnes of people"
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