Archive pour la catégorie ‘Toronto (EN)’

One week after moving in

Mercredi 9 septembre 2009

It’s almost a week since I moved into my new home and a over 2 weeks that I am in Toronto. I write from my apartment ! And yes I managed to capture a free wifi hotspot for now ! Otherwise, we are still trying to have internet on our own, but it looks quite difficult here …

It has changed a bit since the last article, I made my first days at the patisserie, it’s pretty great, plus there are tips, which can better swallow the pill of $ 9.50 per hour. And the good plan is that I can get some products for free that remind me sweet French tastes ! Otherwise I passed the interview to give French lessons, I already had my training session, and now I am able to start helping Canadian children from next week, with a pay much more attractive this time.

Hoping that this wireless stays like that I would try to post some pictures of Toronto shortly !

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Without fix internet

Jeudi 3 septembre 2009

I moved last Tuesday in an apartment that I share with 2 Australian and one Hungarian girl ! Everything is going pretty well, I have a bed, desk, a wardrobe and there is everything you need in the apartment. Except Internet! ahah of course … So for now I’ll leech 1 hours/day the wi-fi from my previous hostel hostel just to keep contact with the world. So, actually we’ll try to take the Internet with neighbors to reduce costs.

Well, I finally opened a bank account, I have my Social Insurance Number and had an interview to teach French to Canadian children ! We’ll see the result.

Today is my first day of work in this famous patisserie, I have to start earning money !

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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 !

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First days in Toronto

Vendredi 28 août 2009

west-street

I have been fairly quiet since my arrival, because I did not have so much time to write here.

2 main objectives: finding a room and start looking  for a job ! Besides that, I have begun to explore the city, take care of some paperwork stuff, meet people …

For the job, I finally get to 2 final resume, 1 for small jobs and one for a bilingual job, everything here is different from the French resume so it takes time and you need help/advices from people knowing how it work here. I will begin  to give my CV for small job today (Friday) and contiue to work for bilingual jobs.

For the accomodation, it is really fresh, from a few hours! I’ve just found a roommate in downtown of Toronto with cool Australian guys. I am going to speak about it more later, but move in on September 1st ! Normally …

Toronto is a quite expensive city, especially for transport or food but it is a vibrant city with a lot of different neighborhoods. I think there are a lot of opportunities for entertainment, and every people I have met so far are generally cool. Even if I have spoken with English, Brazilian, Australian, French, German in the hostel than with true Canadian!

The rest soon.

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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.

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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 !

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