Here begins my blog and my grand effort to elucidate the experiences of a born and bred Toronto girl who has found herself smack dab in the middle of Canada (WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, to be precise) for reasons she has to remind herself of on a minute to minute basis. Reason number 1: I am about to embark on a graduate degree in Family Couselling at U of W, Reason number 2: I don't know this reason or any of the reasons that are to follow but I am operating on the principle of fate and therefore will outline these reasons as they make they begin to make themeselves apparent...and that they will, right?.....

Being new to a place allows a person to make all sorts of rash, likely innacurate but seemingly very valid observations about it. I have been making exactly these kinds of observations at a rapid fire speed, although I have only been here a total 5 days, I have countless assertions and speculations to make about this strange, little/big prairie city...below I will share some of these with you fine friends and family of mine.

1. There is a distinct ghost town feel to this city. A feeling I attribute to the fact that it is very large in geography but very small in population. Also many of it's extremely beautiful and old buildings are empty. There is something sad about this to me...how do other Winnipegers feel about it, I wonder?

2. The bars here are carpeted and have large T.V.'s turned to sports channels.

3. There is a toughness in the air here. Men travell in groups or maybe I should say gangs. They swagger, their big and they look like they are heading somewhere but I have a feeling it might just be the Tim Horten's parking lot near my house.

4. People take great pride in what they call the 'anarchist spirit' of the city. I am not sure if they are referring to a commitment to an anti-authority, non-hierarchical, equality based politic or if they mean that people are free to light fires in thier front yards for burning thier mail and other items (something I have now witnessed twice).

5. Bunny rabbits hop around on the streets. For real.

6. Trucks seemed to be the preferred vehicle. Very buff and attractive men drive in them and carry all sorts of manly things in the back, i.e. Whole Trees.

7. The cute coffee shop type business has not quite caught on here yet. I deeply miss Ella's Uncle or Manic Coffee. I think that this might just be one of the harder adjustments for me.

8. Chrisitian Hippie cults run what coffee shops there are. They serve great food (home made cheese and bread sandwiches) and excellent coffee but they are very intent on having me come to one of thier 'celebrations'. Today I went to Tim Hortons to avoid telling them I'm Jewish.

9. The air is noticebly cleaner. It is also a lot dryer. Not to mention the fact it is already quite cold, tonight I wore long johns.

10. There is very little supervision of children. In fact a group of kids hangs out in the alley by my house all day long and I have yet to identify a single parent. And yesterday I saw a separate group of kids jumping off the roof of a 2 story house. My responsibility complex is in high gear but as of yet I have only lectured once about watching for cars and not swinging sticks at eye level.

And so there you have my first 10 observations! Likely innacurate and likely to be modified as my time here continues. I miss my life in T.O. and my friends and family dearly but here goes trying something NEW. Wish me luck and stay tuned for more Prairie Toad stories.

Peace Out!