03 June, 2012

OK fine.

Toronto isn't an easy city to live in. There is extreme weather, massively inflated house prices, and people are quite competitive in all spheres. There is a lot of social pressure to succeed, rather than to have a peaceful and happy life. Consumerism dominates, advertising is everywhere, and there's a dearth of social consciousness. There's a lot of violence, and everyone seems to want to take advantage of everyone else in one way or another. There is a lot of opportunity to succeed in general, but the amount of sacrifices needed to succeed are considerable. This however could describe many cities in North America. And I'm focusing mainly on the negative aspects right now, because I just got laid off after working my butt off for 7 months. So I'm bitter -- it's normal I suppose. I'm still not completely used to living over here. For now I notice the contrasts between the EU and NA, and the changes that I see in Toronto are more salient because I hadn't lived here for about 20 years and thus can perceive them more distinctly and immediately. But I really love Toronto in the summertime. The trees really make this city what it is.