overheard at downtown hamilton

a woman walks out of a building, pushing a baby, crying, saying "I can't believe i spent all my money"

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a man walks by yelling on his phone that he's going to smack her [the girl on the phone] if she doesn't listen to him. He proceeds to say that she never listens and always whines

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19 people asked strangers for a cigarette and got one along with a light.

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a woman yells out that she hates christmas

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two teenage girls walk by, yelling profanities about their father who had just yelled at them this close to their face [puts palm right near face]

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This all happened in a matter of 20 minutes as I was waiting for the bus to go home.

I originally thought 'oh dear.. hamilton... it's always like this'. But then i thought, what if I just dont' pay attention to these kinds of things in Toronto?

Someone on the bus last week was talking about how there's so many crazies in Toronto. He was from some small town and he was talking about how the TTC's full of homeless people. I thought to myself, 'dude.. have you REALLY been on the TTC? sounds like you haven't. At least we don't have crazies like Hamilton'.

And then I thought about it more... we do have crazies.

I only notice them once in a while, but is that just because I don't pay attention?
Why is it that when I'm not in a city that's my own, I look around more at the people?
Why is it that when I'm in a city that has a reputation for being ghetto, I get all shifty and suspiscious?


Fact to consider: I've heard more people say thank you on the Hamilton bus than in Toronto.

hamilton - a midterm review

old man: can i ask you something?
friend: uh... sure? *is prepared to say she has no change*
old man: wanna hook up?
friend: NO! runs away

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on the bus. looks up in light of commotion at the front of the bus
passenger: are you gonna slap me!??
bus driver: No, i'm not going to slap you, but get off my bus.
passenger: are you going to slap me?!?!?!?!
bus driver: GET OFF MY BUS!

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on the bus
passenger/old man: giggles maniacally the whole time i'm on the bus while rocking back and forth

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waiting for the GO Bus
standing next to a perfectly normally looking man
man: perks up and says in a high pitched voice
HAMILTON DOESNT NEED MORE POLITICIANS, WE NEED MORE CRIMINALS!
man goes back to "normal"
guy in front of me texts: yo the people here are messed up

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on the bus
there's a lady bug on a boy's jacket. He screams.
mother: it's just a lady bug. Shut up. you're so stupid - it's not going to hurt you

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Famous for its blue collar society and low income families, it's no wonder people think that Hamilton is so ghetto. It seems like everywhere you go, you'll find obesity to the point where people move with electric wheelchairs/mobile chairs. Every other person you meet on the street is smoking something and half the mothers, you can't really tell if it was their first choice or not to be mothers. I did a little research and Hamilton is consistently lower in literacy, reading skills of students, higher in hospitalization of children due to accidents, and higher in teen pregnancy.

Closer to mac, however, you see none of these problems. People look a lot more educated, you rarely see smokers, no young mothers - basically it truly is a student town over in that area.

It's pretty amazing yet disturbing to see how there can be such a distinct line (in this case, highway 403) between the wealthy and the poor. I know we all say that we're students and we're poor, but I realize so much more, now, that even being able to go to school and have enough money to pay for rent, tuition, the works - it's a blessing.

I really want to see if there's this distinct of a divide in Toronto.

beautiful life.

Where to start? I apologize for the lack of blogging.
I tried to blog during my trip - failed and will never try again.
I tried to blog right after my trip - failed.
I am determined to blog when i get all my photos onto my external - expect in the next month.

Fear not, however, as there are many other stories to tell!

I dreaded Hamilton - as in cried after I moved in because I had nothing to really do, and thought I'd die of boredom and loneliness. Who knew that within two days, I'd be extremely excited to live here because of my landlord!

Cherie (pronounced Sherry) is my extremely carefree, hilarious landlord who has done a fair bit of traveling, partying (still does), and looks a whole lot younger than 40 (which she turned just a couple days ago). Not only is this laid back woman one of the most hospitable people I've met (she'll bring random friends home to cook for them), she's also one of the most opinionated yet encouraging people I've met.

Yesterday, she brought home a guy friend who was planning on spending his birthday alone. Ribs fed my stomach that night while we got to talk to Graham about what he does, etc. He's a boatbuilder - he says he can make a simple boat in 8 hours - and does the odd carpentry job these days as his job. Although, people think he does everything since he's a boatbuilder to which he replied once, "How many roof tiles do you see on a boat? I don't do roofs."

Along with political perspectives on gambling and government sponsorship, the most comfortable sandals in the world, the best martinis, as well as where to find the most beautiful gay men in the world, we talked a ton about his travels as well as Cherie's.

Oh. Em. Gee

How I would love to travel as much as either of them. From Indonesia to Korea to Mongolia to Iraq to Kenya to South Africa to pretty much anywhere in Holland, the States, or South America, I felt so.... what's the opposite of cultured? I felt so naiive and ignorant of how big and diverse the world is. For hours I couldn't get enough of the stories!

He told us a story of how he had found a meadow in Scotland and thought he was thrown into a Lord of the Rings setting only to find that it was a buffalo mating field and was chased out of the field. He was stopped by Palestinians during the war with Israel because he had wanted to tell a group of kids who were following him and asking for money to f*** off. He thought to ask them what each of the two words meant but after asking if they knew what the first one meant, he was met with the answer, "Yea, he will!"

Even after retelling his stories I feel embarrassed. What does God think about traveling? Does He think it's something to do after you establish your career and when you can afford it? Does He think that there are more important things that "experiencing" the world? Does He see it as a worldly desire?

After last night, I want to experience life so much more. I want to see the world a million times more. I'm not scared that I won't get into med school because there's so much more to life and it's not like right after undergrad, your future needs to be set in stone.

Am I thinking a little too liberally?

i heart productivity

Accomplishing things on your list = productivity.

Accomplishing things NOT on your list for the day PLUS the things that were on your list

= being uber productive.

Found a house in Hamilton

So before I tell you this story, I should let you know. About a month ago, I had a house. It was literally 3 minutes from my work and in a house with a nice old lady. Last Thursday, I called and found out that she gave it away since I didn't leave her a deposit (which I was going to pay on thursday). Thus, I was homeless.

Today, I went to see 3 houses.

House 1: smelly, sketchy, small, and dark. Not a great first impression of Hamilton to my mother.

House 2: creepy sums it up. The listing said it was a family home and asked for a girl. I went and sure, I get the whole top floor with kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and bathroom for 300, but the main floor has a creepy old man who has no family. Something just creeped me out.

House 3: loved it. The lady who owns the house is super super nice and I get the following for 450/month

• big room with a high ceiling
• Cable + Internet
• utilities
• a HUGE (larger than my parents') bathroom with a huge tub and a TV!!
• backyard with lounge chairs, garden, and bbq
• a really really nice laundry room with my dream laundry machines (LG)

Got tickets for attractions for our vacation

• San Francisco: Bedouin at the Wharf, Aquarium at the Wharf, tour to Alcatraz, Golden Gate Garden
• LA: Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Blvd
• Vegas: Hoover Dam, Bellagio Hotel, Fremont Street Experience, Vegas Strip, Cirque du Soleil 'O'
• Grand Canyon: South Rim, Skywalk, Yaki Point
• Hawaii: Pearl Harbour Memorial, Whale Watching, surfing lessons, deep sea fishing, luau, volcano tour, parasailing, snorkeling

Watched the Time Traveler's Wife

New Theory: either watch the movie or read the book; don't do both. I felt like the movie ruined the book. They made Henry into too good of a guy and Clare into a less of an understanding person. The characters lacked depth and it was kind of disappointing. But it was still pretty okay.

Cut my hair

Yes, my long luscious hair is gone. Sniff. I now have a bob. maybe sometimes later I will edit this post and add a photo, but it's quite late and I realized I have to do pastoral prayer tomorrow, so i'm going to not go and look for a camera. And yes, Dolly, I saved the hair and will donate it on Monday morning :) It feels good :)