Archive pour la catégorie ‘Canada (EN)’

After one week in Toronto

Mardi 1 septembre 2009

toronto-church-building

That’s it ! I just spent the step of my first week here ! And I must say that everything is going pretty well, as I’ve said earlier, I move tomorrow in a good neighborhood of the city and since yesterday (Sunday), I got a job! I will work as a waiter/seller in a French pastry, so it’s pretty cool, although I will continue my search for a bilingual job. Everything has happened quite quickly and as I had hoped in my inital plan ! I notice that even when it is still less difficult to « do » things here with nothing, just a working holidayvisa  for me and I also still don’t have bank account and number of social insurance.

So, I will proceed to the step of roommate live and work, and leave the little cocoon that is the hostel, it is a big step forward. The only black point is the cost of living in Toronto, which is rather high, especially regarding housing, transportation, food and minimum wage (which I’ll get with the 1st job) is rather low. It is $ 9.50, which is about 6 €, and I mean in gross. It will be necessary for me to find a job as supplementary, like teach French, or find another job part-time  to live comfortably. We will see in the next few weeks! I would get well !

Well, I discover little by little the town with the discovery of Kensington Market, Toronto Islands, St Lawrence market … I think there are still many things to see here. I’m going to try to see up to this city before winter shows its face !

I’m arrived on the Canadian territory

Lundi 24 août 2009

Little message to tell you that I am well arrived in Toronto.  After a journey quite long but pleasant as Air France offers a good service on board, I arrived after 6000 km across the North Atlantic to the Toronto International Airport around from 13:30 local hour, this makes 19h30 in France (6 hours more). Then, a very laborious transition to Canadian immigration to get my work visa, after that I took the bus to downtown and going quite exhausting (near of 50kg to carry) to the hostel …

The hostel seems really nice and there was a french girl at the reception so it was practical after all this transport, I
give you a most developed opinion within a week. Then, to avoid sleeping and waking in the middle of the night, eat and walk in the city !

It is currently 8pm here, almost 2am in France and is time to go to bed to face a big day of paperwork tomorrow.

Departure August 23rd : Direction Toronto

Vendredi 21 août 2009

Toronto

So a bit of concrete on this exciting departure in Toronto!

Firstly how can I go to Canada and be able to work there ? Thanks to the WHP, ie the Working Holiday Program, agreement between the Canadian and French State that give you a visa to stay 1 year in Canada and to be able to work or travel, note that must be 18 to 35 years. If you want more information about this visa you can look at this french website PVTistes.

So I go, but for how long ? It is expected that I go about 8/9 months and I come back and France around April / May in order to finish my studies. This is the theory, so we will see next year !

My destination ? This is Toronto, the largest city in the Canadian territory ! I chose this city for several reasons. Located in the English-speaking part of Canada, it is best to improve my English, then because it’s a big city, which involves diverse activities, jobs, opportunities … Thanks to its situation in the south of Canada, Toronto is close to the USA (1 hour) and benefits from a milder climate than other parts of the country and of course allows to facilitate travel. Finally I could say I have a kind of attraction for this city when I read things, look at pictures … I will do an article on the city soon!

Note that I’m leaving on Sunday 23rd in the morning with the french national airline Air France! It means in less than 2 days, I must say that I do not realize yet !

New projects and new Blog

Jeudi 20 août 2009

As I said earlier, I officially launch this new blog, which takes over the former: « Erasmus Bratislava ». All articles about this time in Slovakia and my travels are available on this blog (in french), it would have been stupid to remove all !

The purpose of this blog is to talk about my travels and experiences abroad. I always enjoyed reading blogs of people traveling and discovering new countries, so why not me! In addition, it is an easy way to give news being far from home.

So, after nearly 5 months in Slovakia and have discovered a big part of Eastern Europe, now I’m going to North America! In fact, I decided to live for at least 8 months in Canada, especially in Toronto. Of course being on another continent lead to new opportunities to travel, including in my case the United States!

New : This blog is now bilingual ! I mean I will translate my articles in English. 2 main reasons, firstly make this blog understandable by the people who do not speak french and then simply to write in English and improve my writing. For now the translations are below the french part but then I will do something better with a part of the blog only in English.

Let’s go !