So, I’ve completed my first year in Canada – without a whimper. Happy first anniversary to me! And now without further ado, here’s a customary list of only a few of many, many things that I’ve come to see, like, love and dislike in this great country. Please note that this is a very incomplete list, and I may add, retract, revise or improve on any item – for of course, I take the liberty of a dumb newbie, as always.

In the Greater Toronto Area – or the GTA as it is called – where I live, the suburban city-town of Mississauga is a sprawling sister-neighbourhood of Toronto, richly deserving the respect of being called a large city. Or does it?

As my Canadian experience grows with each passing day, I am becoming more and more aware of how expensive things here really are – in Ontario at least, where I live.

I was waiting for a bus and saw this across the street:

Two Indian-looking guys (both 30ish, real South Asian “Indian“, not “native” Indians) were standing outside an apartment building, with their backs to the Lobby. A white (40ish, ‘visible majority’) guy accompanied by a woman, came out of the lobby, sneaked up behind them, and yelled at the top of his lungs, over their heads: “Shoo!”. This startled the hell out of the two guys.