Torontonian Iconoclast

As much as I would like to continue from my last post, I realize that my readers that is you, would have to reconsider the thesis of my blog. I originally set this blog up to post about my experiences as an expat and the short-comings it brings. Instead sometimes I flounder in and out of my own recesses of contemplation and for that I digress.

I have been in Toronto all of 3 months now, having stayed the first two in a hotel and the prior in a lavish corporate apartment. The remainder will be spent in a equally accommodating habitat one block away from the original. My story takes place on the corner of King St. and Blue Jay's Way.

Toronto is a subtle more gentler New York City. Situated on the western banks of Lake Ontario it is a contradiction to the rest of Canada, much like how New York is a contradiction to the rest of America. Many of us who have lived or been brought up in large cities always compare a counterpart whether we consciously do it or not. For example if you grew up in London, you constantly compare NY to London, or if you were brought up in Shanghai, you try to compare that to Hong Kong. Vancouver to Seattle, Prague to Budapest, so on and so forth.

Given the geographical proximity of Toronto to Buffalo, should we compare those two? Both are located directly across from each other, but I'm sorry to say Buffalo is a sad comparison and a failure in cosmopolitan citizenry. A better comparison would be Montreal. Though on the surface Montreal is in the heart of Quebecois Canada, the urbanized class of gluppies are well represented in both cities. At first glance you would like to make parallels Queen St. in Toronto to St. Catherine in Montreal, High Park in Toronto to Mont Royale in Montreal. But after some careful exploration and a telling heart, Toronto can stand on its own and be used as a benchmark for its own right. It is a classy, left winged conglomeration of beautiful parks, people, buildings and public works. On any given day you can take a stroll down King St. in the heart of downtown Toronto where I live and never exhaust yourself with a myriad of attractions.

For the outdoor enthusiast, there is the entire lakeshore road you can bike, run, walk to your hearts content, or Kayak in the mini sea that is lake ontario. What makes Toronto able to stand on its own two feet is something that only a handful of cities in the world can claim. That is character, not just any but an Iconoclastic aperture to its charm. Just because a city has shiny new buildings doesn't give it the right be ranked among the greatest of the world. We must go beneath the surface just like in life to find out about our partner and to see what dangers, subtleties and fascinating epiphanies lie in the heart of our bewilderment.

Upcoming June trip: Travel along with me as I take another intrepid journey into the heart of the American legacy. I once sat atop Mt. Signal in the Grand Tetons contemplating the fissures on the horizon, thats how doped up one can get from Terra Opulence. Give me some expensive port and a fine cigar I could probably solve the world's problems through Jeffrey Sachs' model. This time I take a journey into God's country will keep a blog so stay tuned.

Preview: So where to next after Toronto? Seoul, South Korea. That is going to be one interesting place for work and travel. Will keep you all up to date as I go.