This is a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the late 1940s, you could go to the Bank of Nova Scotia on the northeast corner of Spadina and Bloor, and then cross the street to buy some candy. In 2012, you can do the same thing!

Don’t agree? How many times have you heard ‘I’ve got a class at Con Hall’, only to hear it be answered with a collective groan?

Bring up ’Med Sci‘ to a Life Sci student, and chances are they will remember the Macleod Auditorium.

Someone says ‘I’m going to be at Robarts‘, and you know that they’re in (literally) for the long run.

Mentions of Hart House brings about tender feelings of good food, a slight fear of gargoyles, and that creepy picture in the basement – at least for me.

All Vic students know Old Vic, and I would venture to guess that they remember it fondly. The rest of us recall it enviously, because it’s not every day we can say that our college is a pink castle.

And you’ve got to admit that the light-up bubble classrooms inside the Pharmacy Building are hella cool.

But I digress.

There are buildings on campus that we can’t help but notice and learn about, simply because we already hear about them all the time. But there are some places that we don’t know about that can be just as interesting. A good chunk of us have discovered little pockets of architectural treasure. Take blogUT photographer Jimmy‘s gorgeous interpretation of Knox College, for example. In the summer, the courtyard is probably one of the few places at U of T where it is peaceful. If you ever go into the Great Hall of Hart House, take the time to look at all the coats of arms on its walls, and the verses linings the banister above. Of course, these are all just landmarks. Notables. Places we may (now) know and (will maybe) frequent.

I don’t think that U of T only has these noticeable notables, though. I mean, when I checked my schedule for this semester, I saw a building code I didn’t recognize: BI. I did a quick search on the U of T Map, and found out that it was named after Federick Banting, best known for his research on insulin with Charles Best (whose namesake building is right beside it). Just like that, I felt this sense of history. I’m going to be walking into history! I bet we all know that we’re stepping into a piece of history the moment we walk into U of T, but to be just two doors down from discoveries of the past? Yeah. That’s pretty awesome. And I bet, with a bit of searching, I’m not the only one who feels that way.

So here is my lesson to you, UTian: Make good use of our online map, not just to find your buildings, but also to learn more about our campus. Even if it doesn’t initially peak your curiosity, it will definitely give you something to think about as you sit in class staring at the wall. Not that I’m saying we do that. Nope. Not at all.

She has all the forward thinking-ness of the Terrence Donnelley Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (the glass tower attached to MedSci) but without the near childish use of colour. Where Donnelley slaps you in the face with a curved red wall and random blocks of colour throughout its glass facade, Pharmacy gently implies monochrome maturity and refinement. Save for the suburban style front lawn, the Pharmacy Building proclaims to the public that it is U of T territory. We should be glad that our southeastern sentinel is so beautiful.

The Donnely Building on the left has a near childish use of colour. Pharmacy to the right is more mature.

To be fair, Pharmaceutical Studies students pay hefty tuition and no small reason for that is to pay off the debt for such a magnificent structure. Although glib, the tower instills a sense of professional pride in pharmacy far more than its former home, the current Anthropology building - a 60’s stone block hidden away from public view.

The former Pharmacy Building, hidden away from the public hardly instills a sense of professional pride (no offense Anthro

The building elevates the professional image of Pharmacy and may be playing a part in the huge increase of applicants in recent years. One can argue that Pharmacy is an exceedingly economic pursuit, as there’s big money to be made in selling colourful pills to treat what ails us. The building reflects this: the Apotex student atrium and lecture halls, the WalMart Canada professional practice lab, the Rexall PharmaPlus Conference Room, the Pfizer tenth floor custodian’s closet, and the GlaxoSmithKline men’s basement urinal.

Professionals in the practice of blabbing about urban design love mentioning how the Pharmacy Building has a ‘relationship’ with the Ontario Power Generation Building south of College and the Tanz Neuroscience Building just to the north. Pharmacy uses a similar architectural style to Ontario Power, a reflective glass block atop mighty concrete support columns, while Pharmacy’s exposed concrete supports are the same height as Tanz, showing much appreciated respect to the antique nature of Tanz. After all, science depends on the countless hours of work done by those who came before.

The Pharmacy Building forms a seamless urban fabric by using a similar style to the Ontario Power Generation Building to the south. It shows RESPECT to the Tanz Building to the North by way of its exposed concrete columns.

The building’s interior is just as rewarding as its exterior. The same mature ambiance permeates every facet of its construction: cool coloured floor tiles, black leather chairs, simple geometric tables, and exposed concrete walls. The donut-style superstructure of the tower allows sunlight to shower down from the ceiling, reaching the first floor and the anemic lab rats performing research.

Scenes from Pharmacy: Top Left: Entering the Apotex Student Study Zone. Top Right: A mature public space to share notes and lunch. Bottom Left: Looking down on the Study Zone and trying not to break out in a cold sweat of height-inducing fear. Bottom Right: Sweet Joy! Even the banal utility corridors have sunlight!

However, I, along with many other Pharmacy Building users have one complaint: the elevators are slow! It shouldn’t take ten seconds for the doors to open and close. There’s a reason why we’re in them - it’s supposed to be faster than taking the stairs. At least there’s an excellent view of who paid for much of its construction:

The Canadian national Exhibition (also known as the CNE and The Ex) is an annual event in Toronto. Although ticket prices tend to rise a bit each year, it’s something that I’ve enjoyed since childhood, and has become a tradition in my family. Since The Ex always takes place just before school starts, it’s a great way to mark the end of the summer holidays. Everyone should make an effort to go, whether it’s just once (to say that you’ve had the experience), or every year.

When is the Ex happening this year?

August 19th to September 5th.

What is there to do at The Ex?

There’s tons of stuff to see and do at the CNE, including:

• A variety of shows featuring cowboy trick riding, figure skating, and cultural song and dance
• The World Market, which features booths that showcase cool stuff from all around the world
• The Home Living Market – you can buy a sauna!
• The Arts and Crafts Market – browse (and buy!) cool jewellery, dips and jams, wind chimes, and tons of unique trinkets
• Carnival rides
• Carnival food – the usual corn dogs, cotton candy, and Tiny Tom doughnuts are always available (but why not try a Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger instead?)
• A kids playcentre
• A horticultural contest and gardening market – look at some spectacular blooms and gardens, and check out the annual flower competition
• Parades
• Last, but not least, the Labour Day air show!

Where can I get tickets to The Ex?

You can get tickets at the door but, if you want to avoid the lines and save a little money, some retailers such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws usually have discounted tickets. You can also buy discounted tickets online before opening day here.

How do I get to the The Ex via public transit?

Take the 509 Exhibition streetcar from Bathurst or Union Station and it will take you right to the entrance of the Ex. Or, you can take the GO train to Exhibition station.

Let’s go to the Ex!

Toronto is a city full of history and interesting stories. So, to both longtime residents of our lovely city and newcomers that have come to study at U of T, did you know that:

• Front Street got its name because that’s where the waterfront used to be. The shoreline got moved down to Queen’s Quay because we filled the inner harbour for industrial development purposes.

• Yorkville wasn’t always the posh, high-end neighbourhood it is now. In fact, it used to be the place for hippies to hang out. A lot of artists got their start in Yorkville, and the first line in Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” (‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot’) refers to a spot in Yorkville. That particular parking lot has since been transformed into the Village of Yorkville Park (the ‘park’ with the giant artificial rocks).

• The King Edward Hotel at King and Yonge is supposedly the most haunted building in Toronto, since it was built on a hanging yard.

• In the past, you could discern a person’s social class by the way they said, ‘Spadina’. If someone said ‘Spa-dee-nah’, they were of the upper class, while people of the lower class said, ‘Spa-die-nah’. Since there were more people in the lower class than the upper class, the latter pronunciation is the one used today.

• When the ROM’s crystal was in its final stages of construction, staff members signed one of the beams that forms the structure, immortalizing themselves forever within the museum. And yes, Daniel Libeskind designed the crystal on a napkin which is now in one of a ROM’s storage facility.

• The glass facade of the AGO is supposed to looked like a tipped canoe. Why Frank Gehry chose such an inauspicious symbol is beyond me.
• Chinatown used to be a little bit east of where it is now. Streets like Elizabeth Street and Chestnut Street used to be part of Chinatown. The Lee Benevolent Association at Dundas and Chestnut is a vestige of Chinatown’s previous location.
• Even though it’s one of the official languages of Canada, French is only the 12th most spoken language in Toronto.
• The Distillery District features some of most well-preserved examples of Victorian industrial architecture in North America.
• The CN Tower no longer holds the record for being the highest free-standing building in the world, but it still holds the record for having the world’s highest wine cellar.

Feel free to add these tidbits to your Repository of Completely Useless Information (aka ROCUI, which is a lot more fun than ROSI).

Or would they? Another problem with the Med Sci building is that it lacks windows. You know, those glass portals that allow sunlight in and make you happy? If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself on the upper floors where the research labs are, you will be bathed in artificial fluorescent light. The hallways are confusing with many twists and turns. With no windows, you have no idea which direction you’re headed. I guess in the 60s people didn’t have to get to class on time so they could afford to spend ten minutes lost in a painted white cinderblock labyrinth.

Back to the exterior – it’s awful. Since there’s plenty of wasted open space on the outside, Med Sci is a magnet for smokers. Does anyone else see the irony in this?

The interior is barren and feels like a high school (complete with orange lockers and a feeling of hopelessness). One day I was walking to an office on the fourth floor and a some professors were having a conversation in the hallway. There were four of them and they occupied the entire width of the corridor. Now, there’s nothing wrong with professors talking to each other and I’m not complaining about the width of the hallways. What I find deplorable is that they had to converse in the hallway. In Med Sci, there are no lounges, no casual conference rooms, and there’s no free space. Everything is locked behind a door, out of the public realm. Every space has a rigidly defined purpose and must be booked ahead of time to be used. This leaves nowhere for impromptu conversations or places to eat lunch. Life in Med Sci is lonely and oppressive – certainly not the environment to promote creative thinking or forge interdisciplinary projects.

Thankfully, there are alternatives. The Terrence Donnelley Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research is a perfect example of how a research institute should be designed (it’s the new tower which is attached to Med Sci and has a main entrance that faces College). There, the exterior walls are completely glass! There’s plenty of communal space with plant life to spur the creative juices. I bet the researchers in the Donnelley building would report that they have a higher quality of life than those in Med Sci.

Med Sci can be saved. To bring it into the twenty first century, tear down walls. Literally make open spaces for people to have lunch. Drill holes into the ceiling and allow sunlight to filter into its cavernous depths.

That, or tear the whole building down and start fresh. Perhaps a glass and steel phoenix will rise from the concrete and rebar mess.

City Hall

The experience of living in Toronto is not complete until you’ve skated at least once at Nathan Phillips Square. The lights at City Hall turn on at 6:00PM and it’s absolutely beautiful. I suggest going during a weekday and non-peak hours because the rink can get pretty crowded. As in really, really crowded. Skates can be rented for $10 for 2 hours. You will need a piece of government issued I.D. (such as a driver’s license) so that the skate rentals can ensure that you will return their skates.

Harbourfront Centre

The Natrel Pond at Harbourfront turns into an ice skating rink in the winter. There are skate rentals and adult rentals are $7. A driver’s licence, credit card, passport, birth certificate or citizenship card is required to rent skates and/or helmets.

Toronto Parks

If there’s a park nearby with an outdoor rink, you can skate there for most of the winter! The downside is that there probably aren’t any skate rentals and they’re open for specific hours for free skating (other time is set aside for hockey) but these rinks tend to be less crowded. For their hours of operation, search for your local park at the Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation site.

Evergreen Brick Works

The final renovations for Evergreen Brickworks have been completed and the winter has come, so they have opened their skating trail. This is probably one of the newest outdoor rinks in the city and it sounds absolutely fantastic. There are no skate rentals but the rink is extremely environmentally friendly: heat from the refrigeration system warms the Café building next door! Isn’t that cool!? Click here for hours of operation and more information.

Varsity Arena

Varsity Arena on campus (you might have written an exam here before) is an Olympic-sized rink that will be open to the public once term restarts on January 3rd and it will remain open until April 8th. The rink is open for recreational skating in the times listed here.

Happy skating!

First of all, do research. Think about what kind of courses you want to take abroad. Do the Woodsworth College Summer Abroad program suit your credit needs (you don’t need to be a Woodsworth College student to do their programs)? If so, please take a look at their application process on their website. The advantage of a Woodsworth program is that you travel with a group and there’s little paperwork to be done to get your transfer credits.

None of the courses at the Woodsworth program interest me. Does that mean I can’t go on an exchange?

No, you just have to do a little more research and paperwork but it’s all worth it.

How to proceed:

Step 1: Find a U of T exchange partner institution with programs and courses that interest you. You can do this through the ISXO website. If you’re unsure, try contacting your professors and see if they can suggest a few universities where you could study.

Step 2: Join the StudyAbroad portal group so you can get regular updates on deadlines, funding opportunities and other information.

Step 3: Get a nomination from the ISXO to study abroad. This is absolutely mandatory. You will NOT get credits from the institution if you are not nominated by the ISXO. To get a nomination, you will need 2 letters of reference (1 if you’re doing a summer exchange), a statement of interest, a resume and you will need to fill in a checklist and an online application on the ISXO website.

Just wondering, what do are they looking for in my statement of interest?

The statement of interest is just a way to find out what you want to study, why you want to study abroad and how that would complement your education. You should also show that you’re either a seasoned traveler and/or that you’re responsible and mature enough to go abroad alone. So any other experiences abroad should be mentioned here.

Step 4: Hand in your application to the ISXO. Please check the website to see which deadline applies to you.

Step 5: Wait for your application to process. You may or may not get called to do an interview.

If you’re accepted…

Step 6: You will have to register and participate in 2 mandatory meetings: a pre-departure meeting and a transfer credit info session. The ISXO will also inform you about the bit of paperwork you’re going to have to do to earn your credit during these sessions.

Enjoy studying abroad!

For more information, try going to the study abroad fair on Wednesday, November 10 from noon to 5PM at the Cumberland Room, 33 St. George St.

For people interested in going to East Asia, the East Asian Studies Student Union is holding an information session on studying in Asia on November 30th from 1PM to 4:30PM in the Cumberland Room in the Cumberland House at 33 St. George St. Drop in and out as you please. Light refreshments and snacks will be served.

So, first things first, why should you go abroad?

• If you’re learning the history of a country or doing area studies, going abroad will add a new dimension to your studies. The person who came to one of my classes to talk about studying abroad studied in France and she said that she never fully understood why the peasants were so angry at the nobility during the period of the French Revolution until she saw the extravagance of the Versailles Palace.
• Learning a language? There is no better way of doing than by going abroad.
• You can learn from famous professors or institutions during your stay abroad! Thinking about a university as a potential grad school? Why not try a course at the institution for a summer or a semester?
• You can immerse yourself in a new academic environment, which can be refreshing if you’re in need of a change.
• All courses done abroad through the ISXO are pass/fail courses on your U of T transcript, so if you want, you can do a relaxing year abroad. However, be warned that if you’re applying to grad school, they will want ALL your transcripts.
• If you do well at the institution abroad, you can get reference letters from professors of other universities for grad school.
• It sounds corny, but you gain lifelong friendships and contacts from all over the world.
• Being able to survive alone in another country is a sign that you’re mature and responsible. As a result, it looks good on a resume.
• The ISXO (International Student Exchange Office) is super nice and very helpful so planning an exchange by yourself isn’t as hard as you think it would be!

Do I have the qualifications to go abroad?

The ISXO has to nominate you to the institution of your choice before you can go on an exchange where you can get credits.

Basic requirements for nomination by the ISXO (Be reminded that the institution that you choose reserves a right to decline your exchange request.):

• Minimum 2.25 GPA
• Any students from the Faculty of Arts and Science, Engineering, Physical Education and Health, Law, Music and the School of Graduate Studies, UTM, UTSc.
• Completion of at least 4.0 credits.

Other things to consider:

• You will need to be responsible and adaptable to a new environment and culture.
• You will need to be organized because in order to earn a credit, you need to keep your syllabi and do some paperwork.
• Going abroad can be expensive. You might have to do a bit more work (ie, filling out applications, looking for scholarship opportunities) if you want financial support, but it’s worth it.

What will it be like if I go abroad?

I can’t speak for everyone, but from my experiences, there are a few things that I’m sure many people have experienced.

• Culture shock, homesickness and whatever else it can be called. Going abroad can be fun but after the first two weeks, you start missing something back home. For me, I was really missing a lot of my friends.
• Unfamiliar customs. When you attend a mandatory pre-departure meeting at the ISXO, you’ll have to go through a few scenarios where you’ll learn that the smallest things can have very different meanings in a foreign country.
• Frustration from studying. You’ve just spent a lot of money and time to get to this new country and what are you doing? Studying in your room. Studying abroad is several times more frustrating because there’s so much to experience out there and you’re stuck studying. This often happens when you’re doing a short exchange.
• If you want to know a bit more about what it’s like, abroad, I wrote a blog while I was studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong this summer. There’s an entry for almost everyday and it could give you an insight of an experience abroad.

I hope this was helpful. Please stay tuned for Part II!

After being away for a month, I’ve got to say, Toronto is a great city. Sure, we’ll make fun of it and the rest of the country can hate us but if you came to U of T, you might as well explore this place. It’s rather upsetting to hear from graduating students who aren’t from Toronto that they have never been on the islands or they’ve never really set foot outside of campus during their 4 year residency here. In any case, here’s a list of places and things to do while you’re stuck here:

Buy a CityPASS

If you have tons of time and you want to get into some of the city’s main attractions, the CityPASS is something that can be purchased online or at any of the attractions it offers admission for. (CN Tower, Casa Loma, the ROM, the Ontario Science Centre and the Toronto Zoo) The cost of the City Pass is $57.82 USD but it will give you general admission to all the attractions listed above, which is a rather good deal seeing that adult general admission to the ROM is approximately half that price. However, you have to use up the booklet in 9 days, so plan carefully.

CityPASS Attractions

So, what’s to do at these places? Well, you can be a total tourist and tell your friends and family that you went up what was once the tallest free-standing building in the world. Go complain and rant about the tumour growing out of the side of the Royal Ontario Museum but go in and enjoy the Bat Cave and the mummies inside. Unleash your inner child and spend a day playing with science-related things at the Ontario Science Centre and get soaked while taking a stroll in the rain forest. Get some exercise while walking around the Toronto Zoo (it’s huge) and watch Canadian geese and tigers coexist with one another. While you’re there, make sure you aren’t eaten by Komodo dragons. As for you ghost lovers out there? Go on a safe and legal ghost hunt on a haunted tour of Casa Loma when Halloween rolls around.

Other attractions not included in the pass

The Art Gallery of Ontario has cool specials exhibitions from time to time while the Bata Shoe Museum is worth a stroll. The AGO is free Wednesdays from 6PM to 8:30PM while the admission every Thursday evening between 5 and 8 pm at the Shoe Museum is Pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $5.

St. Lawrence Market

Grab the only thing that might be remotely considered as Canadian or Torontonian food, a peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery in St. Lawrence Market. (A bagel from St. Urbain’s or an eggplant with chicken breast sandwich are other delicious offerings if peameal bacon isn’t your thing.) I would also suggest that you wake up early on a Saturday to go to the farmer’s market. The taste fresh Ontario concord grapes, peaches and apples in the fall is one of the highlights of the year. If you mistake Sunday for Saturday, fear not, all the farmer’s stalls disappear on Sunday and in their place are antiques for the Sunday antique market.

Toronto Islands

Take pictures of the iconic view of Toronto by going to the Toronto Islands. However, I think the best way to enjoy the Islands is by bike. Bring your own bike or rent one and enjoy mostly vehicle-free paths and gorgeous views. If you’re in Toronto during the summer, be sure to come to the islands and cheer for your fellow U of T students at the Dragon Boat races in June or enjoy multicultural entertainment at the annual Chin Picnic.

Harbourfront

Don’t forget to stop by Harbourfront on your way to the Islands. There’s usually a festival going on during the weekend but if there isn’t, there’s always the artist studio and free galleries (such as the Power Plant) to stroll through. If you’re lucky, there might be a few old men playing around with their remote controlled boats that shoot water at you. However, if you’re there in the winter, the Natrel Pond becomes a skating rink. Bring your own skates or rent them there.

High Park

Speaking of picnics, a lovely spot to set your picnic blanket would be High Park. It’s huge, there’s a zoo and in the spring, we can imitate the Japanese and their hana-mi picnics because the city of Tokyo gave the city of Toronto tons of cherry trees as an act of friendship. The result? Gorgeous cherry blossoms every spring, or more precisely, mid-April to mid-May.

The Beaches

Yes, Vancouverites, I’m sure your beaches are nicer and whatnot but there are cool restaurants and cute boutiques, which are half the fun of The Beaches. However, a stroll on the boardwalk or a game of volleyball is also fun. If you’re daring, go take a dip or a swim in Lake Ontario and pray that you won’t grow an extra leg or finger the next day.

Pacific Mall

Revel in the sketchiness of the biggest Asian mall in North America and bootleg capital of Canada! Enjoy cheaper all you can eat sushi and get your game console modified so you can play cheap bootleg games on it! (Warning: If you want the real copy of the game, you have to ask for it specially.)

The PATH

I’m sure the Eaton Centre won’t need any advertising seeing that it’s the place you’ll head to for clothes and whatnot, but what you might not know is that the Eaton Centre has multiple entry points into the PATH, an underground shopping area! Go get lost in it and find yourself somewhere else downtown when you emerge from it! (Don’t worry, you’re most likely going to end up near a subway stop.)

Kensington Market

Go to Toronto’s hippy central and enjoy organic/vegetarian/vegan food and buy vintage or second-hand clothing. During the late summer and early fall, go during Pedestrian Sunday and enjoy the outdoor poetry readings, performers and music!

The Distillery District

I could talk about how wonderful the Distillery is and what to do there, but I think this article by my fellow blogger, Julia, covers all the essentials and then some.

Queen St. W

The mecca for art, indie culture and goth/lolita/other esoteric genres of fashion. Also the place where horomone-crazed and hysterical teenagers go to scream at Justin Bieber and RPat since the MuchMusic building is there. Again, this fabulous article by Julia explains it all.

City Hall

City Hall isn’t just a place to get your marriage license in Toronto. On Wednesdays, there is a farmer’s market and during the winter, the water fountain in Nathan Philips Square in front of City Hall turns into a public ice skating rink! Bring your own skates or rent them there (you’ll need a piece of government issued I.D. and 10 bucks) but be warned that there aren’t lockers anymore so don’t bring your giant backpack along. That or rent a locker at the Eaton Centre. The Square also hosts one of the biggest New Year’s parties in the city and is host to various events around the year like the outdoor art festival in the summer.

Of course, you have to eat food from all around the world now that you’re in the most multicultural city in the world. There’s also tons annual festivals like the TIFF, Luminato, Summer and Winterlicious and Nuit Blanche to enjoy. This article can go on and on but I or some of my fellow bloggers will probably be offering tons of information on sights and sounds in the city. So stay tuned!

Photos by Jess, Julia or from here, here, here, here, here, here and here.