1 Manager, 2 Hostels, 3 Interviews and Too Many Taxis

Friday, June 13th

An early rise for interview preparation, outfit coordination, makeup and hairstyling. That took a little longer than expected so our friend the TAXI made sure we were on time for our 11:30. More forms and interviews ensued. Jen was off to another at 2pm, mine was at 2:30p.m. and Shane was up for his at 3:30p.m.

Aoife arrived and she was covertly installed in our room. She was really tired and went straight to bed. Dinner this evening was in BB-Ques, three chicken burgers and wedges and we were done. Realising how tired we were too we retired to our room. A walk was out of the question when a huge thunder storm began over the whole city. The sky was lit up for over an hour as huge bolts of lightening and cracking thunder followed. Friday was done!

Thursday, June 12th

Over to the University of Toronto at 9a.m., we tried out the McDonald's breakfast menu. The student accommodation that we really wanted was booked out, so we settled for booking the one we has toured the night before - not the best but it would do until Sunday. We went back to our hostel, TAXI back to UofT with our luggage.

We took the street car or TTC downtown and visited the landlady to confirm we wanted to rent her house! We went to a Fresh Food Market near our new home and had lunch there, walked around down town including a visit to the base of the CN Tower. We then went back to UofT to check in.

On arrival at UofT we were kindly informed that our credit card confirmed booking meant nothing. All rooms were booked and there was no room at the inn. Having been told nothing was confirmed, the three of us were not taking no for an answer and the accommodation office manager soon "found" rooms for us. A broken lift, an ignorant porter, an unmade room and an hour of complaining to management later we had the accommodation manager personally carry our 75kg of luggage to the 4th floor. In the midst of all this the three of us had been interviewed by AltisHR on the phone and arranged interviews.

A quick trip to the supermarket and we were WRECKED again.

Wednesday, June 11th

It was up "early" again, just in time for our 11 o'clock TAXI to Trinity Street for an apartment viewing. The landlady was a mad woman but is really nice. The house is gorgeous and we loved it. Heading back into town, we grabbed a smoothie and decided it was time to begin the intensive job hunt. We called all of the recruitment agencies and started the long walk up to staffworks at 1235 Bay Street and had interview number 1.

Following that we walked around the University of Toronto looking for accommodation. We found out who we had to call and made plans for the next morning as this was our final night in our first hostel. It was another early night for the three of us.

Tuesday, June 10th

Our first morning in Toronto and it was time for the orientation meeting from our working holiday company, SWAP. Still wrecked a lie in was necessary and therefore a TAXI to our meeting at 11a.m. in the SWAP office on King St. West. Three hours of information we knew already was greatly appreciated and we decided it was time to eat.

Gabby's was the location of choice as we wandered the streets amazed by the tall buildings and sights of our new home. Of course our waiter was Irish and was more than happy to sit with us and tell us all about living in Toronto and to point out the different hot spots on our map. Drinks on the house, our meal was delicious - not a bad choice at all.

The banks and mobile phone companies seem to be a little behind in terms of charges and rates compared to Ireland; this made our decision here a little harder. On the advice of SWAP we opened free student accounts with TD Canada Trust. This account gives us a maximum of 25 transactions per month before they charge us for EVERYTHING. However we did get our ATM/Laser card immediately. They were ultra-friendly.

Getting our mobile phones was slightly more of an ordeal as we entered the main shopping centre in the downtown area, the Eaton Centre on Yonge St. One sales man praised our accents, looks and even our shoes in a bid to sell us his "special" deal. But the cheapest option was to be found with Rogers, at $75 including $50 credit for the Nokia 6080. Luckily we were offered $10 to complete a survey after we bought the phones which took the sting out of being told we will be paying an arm and a leg to make, receive and think about calls.

We stopped off for some chicken wings at the beer garden of Pogue Mahones Irish bar. Sleep ensued.

Monday, June 9th

We landed at Pearson International at around 3p.m., made our way through passport control and declared our intentions at immigration. Each of us being asked different questions and getting different answers. Eventually our work permits were securely fastened to our passport pages, stamped and we were ready to go.

It was 36 degrees when we landed but the weather decided to take a turn and began to rain once we exited the terminal. Our coach arrived and brought us to the city centre, an IKEA and a few industrial parks later. We lugged our bags from the coach into a TAXI and headed to Sherbourne Street.

Installed in our basement apartment, we had two double beds, a kitchenette and en suite. We walked down town to the thick of the action, decided to celebrate our arrival in the Hard Rock Café at Dundas Sq. on Yonge St. (a very important street in Toronto navigation), the Canadian version of Time Square. Too tired to think and now in another rain shower it was a TAXI back to the hostel for a well deserved sleep.