No Sleep 'Till Tokyo

The Lost Weekend: Yamagata (Day 1)

2010-06-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Awakening of Spring in Japan....FINALLY.

2010-06-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

So we're into the first week of June and Akita is only JUST getting to be an acceptably spring-like temperature. FML. Although the seven months of an overcast, dreary winter period can be taxing on the mind, body and soul....the eventual melting of the ice and snow brings out the very best in Akita!

Tokyo Drink

2010-05-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

Weekend de Gaga

2010-05-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga @ Yokohama Arena, JAPAN 9/17 and 9/18 2010

via Tokyofashion.com

dance dance dance!!!

2010-03-04T06:01:00.001-08:00

With the smell of spring ripe in the air, one can't help but choreograph a super cheesy dance in a tiny tiny room!
Let's enjoy Japanese DANCE!

Helloooooo Kitty

2009-12-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

via Tokyo Mango

I can see your insides

YES WE CAN

2009-11-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

It was all over the news. His star status was confirmed when shots of fanclubs from all over Japan made the trek to Tokyo to greet the new American President. While China and South Korea were certainly priority stops on his trip to Asia, what they didn`t have...was an actual CITY called Obama, Japan. Obama Japan...Obama fever!

Malaysia 2009

2009-10-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Travel Tips

2009-10-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Bag snatching....it can happen to you, too!

Helpful Hints:

*copies of your passport in different bags
*don't keep all your money in one place
*have a list of contacts and their numbers: embassy, friends, boss, family
*bring a creditcard because it's easy to issue a new one
*your flight itinerary information and copies of it

Safe travels!

Cool Biz

2009-09-06T05:58:00.000-07:00

Another brilliantly useless Japanese invention!

Famicom Commerical

2009-08-11T07:24:00.001-07:00

One day in Yamagata....

2009-08-03T01:03:00.000-07:00

I often forget about how lucky I am to be living in such a beautiful country. Although I'm stuck in the northern hickish slightly-off part of Japan, we can run away to volcanic crater lakes and temples nestled in the mountains for the weekend. Like, woah! If I've learned anything since coming to Japan..it's this: do and see as many things as possible. I refuse to sit on my ass and waste my days away! NO REGRETS!

Lisa and Lindsay in Japan 09'

2009-07-28T22:17:00.001-07:00

A compilation of all the short videos we took in Japan. My personal fave....the translation of Full House. I think it's your best work, Lisa.

sun is shining

2009-07-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Japanese bananas for bananas

2009-07-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! While I’m not a fan of the 6 months of bitter winter cold, it makes the next 4 or so months of summer all the more joyous. People start to come out from hibernation, flowers are in bloom, beach parties and BBQs all make for an amazing summer in Japan. But this season also marks the beginning of one of the most quintessentially Japanese crazes I’ve yet to experience…the price of fruits. People here are willing to throw down 100 bones for a watermelon. Peaches for $5, cherries for $10…the madness!
But rather than being able to buy any fruit at the lowest price possible, you really start to appreciate produce through the seasons. Persimmons in fall, oranges in winter, cherries in summer and apples in spring!

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

2009-07-01T00:51:00.001-07:00

The controversy, the dance, the glove, the allegations, the music.....THE MAN.

Wombmate in Japan

2009-05-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like kickin' the shit with your bestie in one of the coolest places in the world. Welcome to Japan, Lisa!

We <3 Shimokitazawa!

My Japanese Apartment

2009-04-23T06:59:00.001-07:00

Come with me as I give a tour of my Japanese apartment! Don't mind the messy mess...

オオカミとブタ。Stop motion with wolf and pig.

2009-04-22T20:48:00.001-07:00

Stop motion animation from Japan. It's amazing. It can't believe how long this must have taken them to make this! My new favourtie at the moment!

Autumn and Winter in Akita

2009-04-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Elementary School Visits

One of the more enjoyable parts of our jobs as English teachers in Japan are the elementary school visits. In my particular case, I have one Junior High School that I visit on the regular with additional elementary school visits here and there. Other ALTs have 2 JHS’s as well as elementary schools…but I much prefer having one school because I get to know my kids and they get a chance to get to know me, as well.
Elementary school teachers usually fax us their lesson plans a few days in advance. It usually goes down as something like this :

1) Self Introduction
2) Warm up Song: Hello Song/ Sing a Rainbow Song/ Days of the Week Song
3) Pronunciation of Vocabulary
4) Game –Fruit Basket, Bingo etc.
5) Goodbyes!

So, as you can see…it’s pretty difficult not to have a good time at an elementary school. Since the kids don’t have a regular ALT that they see everyday, the ALT visit s are fun, new and exciting! It’s always nice to feel like a celebrity now and again. But it’s an on going joke that…when the Japanese kids are expecting to see a “foreigner” and see me walk into the classroom, I ALWAYS get 「えー？えーえ～？　先生日本人じゃない？先生ハーフ?」or “Huh? Eh? Aren’t you Japanese? Are you half Japanese?”
They simply cannpt fathom that Japanese people live anywhere other than Japan. 

Fall Break- Trip to Sendai

While the rest of my school was getting excited for the “fall break”……in actuality, it’s only the weekend extended by two more days. But, who am I kidding…. I’ll gladly take the long weekend!  But, instead of the usual Akita city drinking as per ,usual…a few of us decided to venture outside the prefecture. The most fitting first trip to the outside world would have to have been somewhere exciting and worthy of our ‘first’. But, the question remains…….where to?! SENDAI, it is! Yes, we made the 3 hour bus ride to the beautiful Miyagi prefecture known for its exotic cuisine like grilled beef tongue and fish cakes shaped like,…err…fish. It turned out to be a really last minute trip but it ended up being really great! Here’s why:

*Another thing I should point out from the trip was the fact that I had become the unofficial travel planner for the next 3 days. Those who know me from back in the day, might be a little baffled and somewhat stunned because of I’m notoriously scatter brained beyond belief.

The bus lets you off in the middle of the city, a city that none of us have ever been to. We just decided to go with the flow and follow the crowd. This proved to be a success because it led us straight to Sendai Station. Here, is where we were able to find our hostel, (￥3000 a night, ￥1000　to rent a bike for the day….sweet deal!)
Since it was our first official trip outside of the prefecture, we wanted to christen it by going out for a well deserved celebratory drink! And where better than a city 3 times the size of our quaint little Akita City…we’d have to struggle to pick one because there would be be rows and rows of establishments to choose from....right?
It turned out to be most painful 3 hours of our lives. And to make matters worse, we only realised that we had rented bikes for the night 2 hours after we had initially decided to go out.
Our second day in Sendai turned out to be jam packed full of activities. We were there for two nights, but we basically had 1 day to see the sights. As official trip planning nazi, I had organized a preliminary plan to which we would use as a guide. First order of business was trying to find a killer breakfast spot. On our way to the hostel, we had seen a cute little independent bakery close by, but since it was a national holiday it was closed that morning. But, we also saw another one closer to the area where we were let off the bus
Matsushima was really a fluke. We hadn’t really planned for anything, but thankfully, the tourist information booth at Sendai station was more than helpful. Matsushima Bay also happened to be one of the three views of Japan. We really lucked out with the weather, as well. We ate some good seafood and mingled with the other Japanese tourists. In the evening we headed off to Sendai castle. Little did we know that the actual castle was burned down or bombed during the war….so it was actually the SITE of the former casle. Kind of another flop…but we made up for it by finding a really good Chinese restaurant for dinner.
All in all…a good first trip. We learned that we need to plan ahead WELL IN ADVANCE in order to maximize our time….

Family Trip to Japan

The month of December was a hectic one. The grading of tests and assignemtns a plenty as well as the beginning of the bonenkai season. But with the chaos also came the assurance of knowing that in only a few weeks time, I would be reunited with my family once more!
I decided to try my luck with the cheaper option of getting down to Tokyo: the night bus! It actually wasn’t so bad. I was able to get some sleep and most of the people were relatively quiet for most of the ride there.
After I met my family at Tokyo Station, we made our way to Satte, Saitama. The sleepy town where my mom grew up was a reminder of the realities of suburban living as well as the recent economic downturn in Japan. The stores that my brother and I came to know as kids had shut down, a lot of the local specialty stores had disappeared and all of our childhood friends from the area had moved away to the big city. Similarly to Akita, it was the kind of place where you grow up and grow old.
But what hadn’t changed was my Japanese family. There to greet us with smiles and lot’s of Asahi beer! My aunt Shizue came ready with all of our favourite childhood foods like Sapporo ichiban, yakisoba, korokke and somen noodles.
Run off of what we did while they were here:
Okinawa : Chiraumi Aquarium, Battlegrounds from the Battle of Okinawa, Okinawan food like champuru
Tazawako Onsens, Harajuku shopping!!! <3

Trip to Thailand and Cambodia

Our trip to Thailand and Cambodia started off a bit rocky. Mark and Ryan had to sell their souls for the ‘final standing room only’ tickets on the shinkansen, and while I’m ever so grateful that we could even have a way to get down to Tokyo…standing for 4 hours sucks balls. But we made up for that by being able to see the Gibli museum in the Mitaka region of Tokyo. The Japanese equivalent of a Disneyland, this Mecca for Japanese kids was quite a site to see. Hayao Miyazaki films are known for its kooky characters, mystical lands and his attention to detail. Walking through the halls of the museum felt like you were stepping into one of his films. From the detailing on the wall displays, stainglass doors to the height of the doorways, it stayed true to the Miyazaki spirit of the child.
During our JET seminars and conferences, many ALTs had said that the easiest and cheapest way to stay over for an early flight from Narita was to sleep in the airport. It seemed like a great idea at the time. Narita Airport: a huge international hub that connects the world to the far east would surely be able to accommodate any traveller who needed a few hours of shut eye before resuming a long and gruelling trip……right? IT CLOSED AT 9 pm. That’s right. We got there in the evening hoping to grab a bite to eat…but the world had closed down for the evening.
Since I have been to Thailand once before, I was semi ready for the crazy circus show that was waiting for us. It is pretty much as I remembered it. Thick smoggy heavy air, smells of all sorts, baby elephants being paraded in the night markets for tourists and ladyboy ping pong shows. It was great. Our accommodation was far from perfect, however. When I was travelling in Europe, the Hostelling International brand was the only ones that I would use and they were always clean, safe and located in a convenient location. While our hostel was clean and convenient, it was also small and cramped. But they washed and folded our laundry, we had air conditioning in the room and they had hot showers!
While Thailand seems to be the go-to destination for 20 somethings looking to slum it up with the ethnics for one “last adventure before we complete our masters in philosophy” I was a HUGE fan of Cambodia. It was definitely my favourite lag of the trip. The people are friendlier, they were more attractive, the environment is still kind of untouched from the tourist shit and its not as freak showy as Thailand. We got to see Angkor Wat. It was really a site to see. Not only the amazing temples, but the fact that the whole world had travelled and landed right in Cambodia. Walking down the main road towards Angkor Wat, you could hear 5 or 6 different languages. Oh God, but there were so many crunchy granola heads all over the place.
Here’s a rundown of what we did:

- Fish foot massage (where they eat the dead skin cells off your feet) ewwwww
- Body massage (where a friend of mine got paid SPECIAL attention…he was THOROUGH)
- Night Market
- Cambodian Arts and Crafts Studio
- Cambodian Sakkar dancing
- Tuk tuk riding

So, all in all it was a great trip. I only wished that we could have had more time. One week is definitely not enough to feel like you’re doing all the tourist things that you need to do as well as feeling like you’re actually on vacation. I could have gone for one more week of doing absolutely nothing.
Next stop: S. Korea, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka!

u kids Akita City, Japan

2009-03-22T08:37:00.001-07:00

Hip hop dance lives in Akita! ....and this is a performance we did at ALVE in Akita City.

Yuuki's class [u-kids] performing at "Graduation 2009" in Akita City, Akita Prefecture in Japan.
March 21, 2009

Songs:
DJ Khaled ft Nas- I'm On
Kat Deluna - Calling You

Toronto Stories trailer

2008-12-10T22:40:00.001-08:00

Not really related to Japan...but definitely related to a city that I love and adore. My bestie posted it on my facebook wall and wrote:

"this will make you homesick"

....and it definitely does. Miss you!

Family Rules

2008-10-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

A little excerpt from the grade 9 textbook:

I asked my host father about time-outs. He said that time-outs are used when small children behave badly or get too excited. The children are taken away from the activity and put somewhere in the house alone.
In Japan, many parents used to lock their children outside the house for discipline.

Autumn in Akita

2008-10-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been really insane. School started almost a month ago and, MY GOD…it felt so weird to have to follow a set school schedule again! For the past four years, I’ve been getting used to the mid-week sleep-ins, late classes and three day weekends. But…the rest of the adult working world has been getting up early and coming home late aaaaaaand I’ve officially become a part of that world. It’s still really mind boggling….when the question, “Occupation?” comes up on any kind of official form…I’ve gotten so used to saying, “student”. The early mornings were pretty hard to get used to (my bus, which is also the only one that goes to my school and the last one to run during rush hour…leaves at 7:28 am). I know, right?! How am I dealing, right now. Coffee is my saving grace…that and my insanely loud alarm clock. But since it’s been a while since I’ve updated this thing…I’ll try to give a break down of some of the major events that took place.
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Omagari Hanabi Festival

The weekend before we started teaching was our trip to the Omagari Fireworks Festival. While most would wonder why the Japanese would travel, literally, thousands of miles to see fireworks, it is supposedly the biggest of its kind in Japan. Upon our arrival to the sleepy town of Omagari (which is normally pretty boring throughout the year), I didn’t really see what the big fuss was about. It was only when we made our way to the fireworks viewing area that I realized how big a deal it was. THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THERE. It seemed as if all of Japan up and left their homes and landed right in Omagari. And they weren’t kidding around. They brought trailors, hibachi BBQs, tarps, umbrellas, chairs, tents and other weird Japanesey items you could think of. There was even an area that you could book and reserve in advance…for a price, of course.

SOOO it started shitting rain the moment we got there. There were already quite a few other JETs who had saved a spot for us, so we didn’t have to go searching for a place to sit. And what a relief, cause it didn’t look like we were going to find a spot very easily. For the first few hours….it was awful. My friend Mark and I even went as far as saying that it was the worst.day.ever. For serious. We had tarps to sit on, but the water would collect in little pockets and your entire bottom half would get soaked. Everyone was wet, freezing cold and miserable. We could only see one way to resolve our situation…..heavy drinking. The minute we started in on our beers and chuhai (Japanese mixed drink coolers) ..the night got infinitely more fun and exciting. But then, it got awful again, because we had to wait in line for the train for 1 hour and then another hour standing on the way home. An event that attracts 600,000 people a year is bound to encounter logistical problems…but wouldn’t the planning committee arrange it so that there wasn’t only one train every hour or so? The waiting was excruciatingly awful.
Overall, I don’t think I would make the trip again. While the fireworks were really beautiful to watch, they almost seemed like the mediocre entertainment for a really bad party. Aaaand, as elaborate and well planned as they were, fireworks just seem to be the same everywhere you go. At least now I can say that I’ve been!
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Melting Pot JET Welcome Party
As we all settle in our own little corners of Akita Prefecture, we forget just how many JETs there are in our region of Japan. In Akita City, alone, we have 18 ALTs. The welcome party brought a lot of the new and re-contracting JETs from all over Akita Prefecture together for an evening of drunken dancing and mingling. Held at Savina (a soup curry place in the city), this get-to-know-you shindig was a successful shit show. Our fellow ALTs were on the 1’s and 2’s spinning a varied mix of electro, rock and house/techno. The only thing that would have made the party better would have been some hip hop and r'n'b! Buuut..it didn't seem to be a fave amongst the other JETs..the I danced on!
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Speech Contest
An annual part of an ALTs job is the coaching of a speech contest student. A student who’s keen to learn and speak English often takes the initiative and enrols to either recite an already set speech (speech’s like “I Have a Dream”…no joke) or an original script of their making. The girl I was coaching , Nanami, was really easy to get along with and was willing to compete in the category filled with mainly 9th graders or 三年生(she was only in 7th grade or 一年生 ). Her speech was called “Forever My Osaka Mindset” and was about her recent family trip to Osaksa. (Yeah, I know it’s a little weird and a little Engrish-y but she was really keen on the title) . It was light hearted and you could really hear her own input within the speech. In my opinion, she was the most natural and fun loving of the bunch. Despite forgetting her words half way through the speech, it looked as if she was on the road to victory. Alas, she did not place, but she didn’t compete without a fight! She was crushed, but I assured her that she did an amazing job.
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Iijima School Festival
The first few weeks at school had been dedicated to the preparation and eventual execution of the Iijima School Festival. It’s basically like a parent teacher night, only they do it on the weekend… and it’s ALL DAY. One of the amazing parts of the Japanese school system is that they really emphasize the idea of responsibility and that ‘nothing gets done if you don’t do it yourself’. From the students cleaning their own classrooms and staffroom down to the making of decorations and collecting of garbage around the food stands….it prepares the students to be mindful of their environment and their actions.
One of the more particular parts of the festival was the chorus competition. Now, back home, we have a similar tradition in the Kiwanis Music Festival, but this particular competition is particularly particular in that they make all the students compete as a class. Sooooo basically it’s a competition of kids who really don’t want to sing. But they practice everyday

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Akita City Junior High School Rookie Sports Tournament
This past weekend was a full on sports bonanza and we got the chance to experience life outside the classroom. …well, sort of. From 9 am till 5 pm, games were happening all over the city and in all different kinds of sports. Thankfully, a bunch of us live really close to one of the bigger sports complexes, so I got to see my girls volleyball team and my boys soccer team…. without waking up at an ungodly hour. The next day was the basketball semi finals and my boys actually made it to the final…despite being a school known for basketball. In the end, my school won boys volleyball, boys soccer and got 2nd in boys basketball. For a school that’s a little slower than the rest, well, in pretty much everything...it was really great to see them come out on top!

SOOOooooo that's a rough summary of what has been happeneing here for the past month or so. More to come....the adventure continues!

O2

2008-09-21T10:25:00.001-07:00

While everything about this video seems quintessentially Japanese, the song itself also happens to be the song of the moment for the school I teach at. They play it during lunch, the brass band plays it and you'll hear all the kids hum it during class and through the halls. And if I'm not mistaken, it's also the theme song for a popular kids tv show. Feast your eyes and ears on some hardcore Japanese rap/ rock goodness!

シド-夏恋

2008-09-03T00:23:00.001-07:00

BIG IN JAPAN
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My neighbour and I were talking about our students and the types of things that they were into. Names like Beyonce, Amuro Namie, EXILE and Ichiro came up...then we started to talk about the band, SID. Apparently, his basketball playing, cool group, male 9th grader is really into them. He's the prettiest girl I've ever seen.

Akita in August

2008-09-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

My leisurely vacation life in Akita has come to an end. The endless hazy summer nights of “nomihodai” or all you can drink, sightseeing around the city and shopping in monstrous department stores must cease and school must come to be in session. My first week as an assistant junior high school teacher also marked the official end to my career as a professional student/care free woman of leisure. Like the rest of the adult world, I too, must get up at a decent hour and put in my 8 hours of “work”. It was really hard to wrap my head around the fact that I no longer had to apply for courses online, set aside enough money for textbooks and generally perform all the duties of a university student. But, that mind block soon passed and I had bigger and better things to worry about….being a fucking teacher.
But first, a look at this past month in Akita, Japan:
Getting settled into my new life in the City was really easy. Before getting here, I was scared shitless that Akita was gonna be a rice field wasteland of a place and my nearest neighbour would be miles and miles away. But to my surprise, this was definitely not the case. Not only did I have 3 fellow ALTs living in my apartment building (not including the other 14 ALTs who also live in the city), but the city was also filled with lot’s to do. Department stores, cuisine from all over the world, reggae clubs, and other big city essentials like Starbucks were all to be found in my home . My fears of being deprived of my city life were to be washed away by countless bars, red light districts and shopping centres. All the talk about how Japanese apartments are bite sized dwellings fit for a hobbit were also put to rest by my encounter with my apartment. It was/is HUGE. I don’t know what to do with all the space…I guess I should buy a couch or a table or something.
Some highlights from August:
Trip to Kakunodate
Being a region that was never touched by the wars that affected the rest of Japan, a lot of the older samurai buildings and neighbourhoods had been left untouched. This particular region to the north east (I’m literally pulling that out of my ass…this is probably wrong)of Akita City is famous for its samurai villages. Walking through the streets, the homes and the buildings in this area take you back to old Japan.
Board of Education Enkai
In true Japanese tradition, our company had a welcome party in honour of its new set of JET ALTs. It started out with a round of bowling- one ALT to two Japanese BOE staffers. Then we moved on to a downtown hotel for an evening of prizes, dinner and the infamous “Nomihodai” or All you can drink. Beers were re-filled multiple times, there were more red faced drunk Asians than I could count…and we finally got to see our co-workers let loose!
Shit Show Karaoke
One of the quintessentially Japanese pastimes would have to be karaoke. In all its mystic and glory, I had yet to try my luck with it in Japan. Until…that one night. We all decided to go out to celebrate the end of the Japanese intensive course for ALTs. There were about, 20 of us, and we knew that we weren’t gonna be able to fit into a bar…so we decided to split up and meet at the karaoke joint close to the station. Five of us headed to a local nomihodai joint and drank our asses off.
The way it works is that you pay a fixed price and usually you have either 2 or 3 hours to drink as much as you want. So, seeing as we were healthy and energetic twenty somethings, we went out HARD.
So…..upon the completion of our nomihodai time slot, we drunkenly ran over to the Karaoke place to meet up with the rest of the JET ALTs. But, only now do I realize, that we were the only ones who were completely hammered. When we first got there, people were casually sipping their glasses of beer and singing in decently and on key…but we went on to take over the room, pick absurdly ridiculous sing along songs and were generally belligerent.
Soooo…that was a sneak peak quickie of my August in Akita. Lot’s has happened and it’s hard to remember everything..but, all in all….it was a great month!

2008-08-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm finally here!! After a grueling 3 days of a jet lagged Tokyo Orientation at the wonderful and marvelous Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, I've arrived at my final destination.....Akita City in Akita Prefecture. Some highlights from the orientation included: french fries at the breakfast buffet, smoking INSIDE an izakaya and getting kicked out of the Canadian Embassy. Actually. The humidity was hellish but being so close to the core of Tokyo was enough to get us all out of our AC'd sanctuary. While I wasn't able to venture too far out, one of the more memorable moments was when two friends and I decided to brave a local restaurant without the flashy gajin wax figured foods and English translations. Although it was scary, we pushed through and had some really amazing food and drink.
The orientation, itself, was a something else. Although all the JET forums that I visited warned us about the bore that was Tokyo orientation seminars, I didn't quite fully understand until I got there. On top of the 12.5 hour difference between Toronto and Tokyo, our day began and 8:30 am and went to as late as 8:00 pm. PLUS, we had to put on our best business suits and pretend to be adults. But we got to meet some really great people and meet the folks who'd be in our prefectures.
But now I'm in sunny Akita City, home to 300 000 and known for the best sake, rice and most beautiful women in Japan aka Akita Bijin. More stories to come from the first week in my new home!

Woman of Leisure

2008-07-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, my days of working in dingy Italian eateries, stuffy Catholic institutions and low-paying-do-nothing-for-4-hour jobs are of the past. Since graduating with a shiny new Hon. BA, I've managed to grow up (a little) and upgrade to become.......... a 'woman of leisure'.

A term coined by my father, he started to notice that I would hang around the house and call him for no apparent reason in the middle of the day. With my increasingly incessant visits and pleas for grocery money, he finally called me out on my 'lack of things to do' syndrome. It's true. I sit at home, go on facebook, hang out with friends and walk around Toronto looking for kitschy Canadian paraphernalia to bring to Japan. And this has been my life for the past week or so.

Since finding out I have but 3 more weeks until my departure for Japan with the JET Programme as an Assistant Language Teacher, I've tried to clear out my work schedule so I could focus on getting last minute shit done. Last visits to the doctor, last hang outs and last trips to the island...that sort of thing.
I can hardly believe the day is almost here. With nothing but cash money, a few outlet mall purchases from Niagara Falls NY and the clothes on my back, my leisurely Toronto life is going to be turned upside down!