I have noticed a trend that on Fridays my body is a bit stiffer than normal.  My legs are a tad bit bruised and my knees skinned up a bit.  I have a near-blister on the top of my right foot from wearing crappy, beach flip flops that I don’t mind destroying.  This week (because of the rain, I’m guessing) I found one bug bite on my left leg.  Walking bare foot in the sand, I also must have touched something weird because I have an irritated splotch of skin on my right, inner heel.  At lunch today, I found tiny bruises scattered across both my inner forearms arms (like big, blue freckles) and a small irritation turned bruise on my left, inner forearm arm.  Why do I share all these details with you, you’re wondering?  The details that don’t include hangovers or enlarged livers like the rest of my team from all the beers that get downed post-game before we close up the bar?   The details from this week only, skipping on the series of bike incidents last week that included me hitting a moving car?   Because of dedication, that’s why.  Dedication to beach volleyball.  That’s right, beach volleyball.  I just joined a team that my second-cousin captains and, though we’re only 3/10ths of the way through the season, the fun and stories from Thursday nights are only just beginning…

Despite only living in Toronto for just over a month now, I have become quite an expert on the city and its many neighborhoods.  Much like my interests in the past, my knowledge and curiosity seems to be motivated by food–with an emphasis on sweets (e.g. La Bamboche, Miss Cora’s Kitchen, Suckers).  That’s not to say that public art or festivals or water in any way, shape, or form doesn’t pique my interest, but searching for a place to eat or a new market always gets me going.

Through my wanderings, I have found “the place” that I go to for all my regular shopping needs.  There’s “the place” in Kensington Market with the cheap, fresh produce and the one with all the bulk foods I could ever dream of needing, and “the place” in Chinatown that’s always packed with people that I go to for soy milk and mushrooms.  I find it to be great fun discovering “the place” that I will endorse when someone is looking for such-and-such items.  I end up going to the markets several times a week (though I am not sure that practice will continue in the fall), shopping based on freshness and what I am craving.  To some, this might be a burden, but I enjoy the luxury; you never know what you’re going to find.

Surprisingly enough, people who live in the area or even in Toronto proper, did not know about these places until I pointed them out.  It has become this phenomenon where me, the new girl, knows the city better than the residents.  I find myself pointing out all “the places” I frequent and what I like to purchase there.  I have developed my own insider’s guide and love sharing it with other people–especially the ones who are supposed to know the area well.  It seems that I have become an excellent tour guide for the city I just moved to.  When my family visited this past weekend for Fourth of July (which, as a reminder, is just like any other day in Canada; no fireworks or vacation days), they, too, were surprised by how many places I knew about and that, despite visiting the city a number of times before, they were all new to them.

My exploration has kept me happy and excited about the city.  I have plans to maintain this attitude, even through the highly-anticipated winter.  As one of the characters in Up! is known to say (quoting her hero), “Adventure is out there!” and I think I subscribe to that belief full-heartedly.

I am glowing.  So much so that I bet you could see it from another country—like the US.  That’s right, I’m abroad again and re-kindling my intentions to maintain this blog.  I should really be saying that I am “abroad” because my move to Toronto at the beginning of the month is not quite the same as having an ocean of distance away from the world I know.

But, why am I glowing?  Because life is unbelievably good—and it has been for months.  I cannot explain why so many wonderful things have happened to me, but for once in my life, I am not going to question it.  Just when I think things couldn’t be more wonderful, another opportunity or beautiful, little moment meets me and all I can do is glow.

I graduated from Penn with a bang.  Academically, this year was my strongest of my undergraduate career and I made the Dean’s List (3.7 or higher, over both semesters) for my very first time.  After a rocky start my freshman and sophomore years, I set the goal of graduating Cum Laude–which I achieved.  I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Spanish language certification and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer and Cognitive Science with a minor in Mathematics.  As you know, I even managed to study abroad and be active in a bunch of fun, extracurricular activities.  Getting into all my top graduate schools with generous funding packages was a huge surprise, as I wasn’t even sure I would get accepted to a program at application submission time.

Deciding which school to attend was a very difficult process for me, but I am pleased to report that I am will be attending the University of Toronto in the fall.  Despite having to follow-through on all my commitments as a second-semester senior at Penn, my mind has been focused on graduate school and Toronto for months.  I was so excited to start that within two weeks of graduation, I moved to Toronto to begin research and discovering the city of Toronto.

With this momentum, I set extremely high expectations for Toronto and my new life here as a computer science (well, to be more specific, “human-computer interaction”) graduate  student.    As a grad student, I am looking forward to research, teaching and mentoring, collaborations and international travel (yes, that does not mean just to the US).   I love that I am becoming a member of community of people who share the same passions as I do (i.e. the study of people and applications of technology for our daily, personal health needs).  For years I have been searching for an outlet to do this kind of work, but not until a few months ago did I know this community even existed!

And, even after such a short period of time, I am thrilled to report that all my expectations have been met, if not exceeded.  I love the food/restaurant scene, the Canadian mentality and lifestyle, the bustling cultural diversity (more than 50% of the city is not Canadian, compared to ~30% of NYC), my advisor and academic colleagues, and even relishing Canadian accents.  Public transit, curling, museums, funky stores, specialty shops, Broadway shows and concerts abound.  Sure, I have to deal with the Canadian obsession with hockey and the blurbs of French on all the labels, as well as the annoying logistics of securing a bank account and credit card, student visa, new cell phone plan and the annoyance of dealing with two currencies.  But it’s all worth it to me, so far.  Being a quick train ride away from home is a luxury I will certainly take advantage of.  I do love it here so much.

I lose myself in every moment.  I rarely look at my watch; time flies.  I feel like I am living a dream—but this is better because it’s real.  Can you sense my glow across the border yet?