Long time no see, dear readers!!
I must, first, profusely apologize for not updating this blog in over a month. I went on a little hibernation called "moving-to-a-new-city-starting-a-new-job-and-not-having-any-inspiration." So, An Albertan in Toronto is now, at least for a few months, An Albertan in Ottawa. I am working in our nation's capital this summer as a policy intern for the Government of Canada and loving every minute of it. I love this city, I love my job, I love the people I work with, and I just love it here!
I think my lack of writing also has something to do with my level of contentment. In Toronto, I'm just basically there to do my degree and get out. Toronto is a great city, don't get me wrong. I just probably prefer visiting it rather than actually living there. In Ottawa, while I am just here to do my internship and get out, I can definitely see myself moving here, whether it be right after I graduate, or a few years down the road. I have friends who say it takes at least a year/year and a half to get acquainted with a city and to actually make somewhere feel like home. I know some people would also argue that the difference I'm experiencing is one of work-life v. school/student life. I also know some would say that I spent winter in Toronto, which is dark and grey and slushy. Yes, those are valid points, but let me refute them.
First, it didn't take a year for me to get acquainted with Ottawa and to make it feel like home. I felt more at home in Ottawa in my first week here than I did in my eight months in Toronto.
Second, while work-life and student-life are two very different things, I love both of those types of living. I LOVE school. I would go to school for the rest of my life if I could afford it. I also love working, especially in jobs like I've had with the two governments I've worked for.
Third, I love winter, so the fact that my time in Toronto was spent during Canada's longest season is not applicable to me... Although, to be fair, Toronto's winter sucks on the scale of winter-awesomeness. I enjoy snow. Clean white snow that stays snow and doesn't melt into a ridiculous slushy-type substance packed with salt. I also enjoy sand and not salt on the roads because salt ruins my boots and leave white crap everywhere once it dries. I also enjoy long, cold winters, not short, warm winters. I like perpetual -20 to -30. I like my winters to last from October to April (or May, or June ;) I didn't wear my winter jacket once in Toronto after February.
So, Ottawa is definitely winning the competition for my heart.
But, even with all this, I have been neglecting this blog and I will do so no longer. I'm making the commitment to go back to blogging at least once a week on various topics in my life, or in the news. We'll be short on sports talk this summer as I really only care about the NHL, but the draft is coming up so look for a post on that, and then there's free agency! I won't be talking about any issues that pertain to my job as I imagine there may be some issues of confidentiality/conflict of interest/public service etiquette, but I'll talk about other stuff.
So, until next week,
Cait
