In the Big-ish City

So it's been a busy two weeks since my last post. I had two fabulous weeks at CBC Radio in Ottawa... there's something about sitting in the newsroom seeing your heroes on a regular basis: Rosemary Barton leaving for the Oliphant trial as I head in for work; Keith Boag talking about Jamaica at the morning meeting; Don Newman winking at me as I come back from lunch with a huge Laura Secord ice cream cone.

When I wasn't staring in wide-eyed wonder, I even learned a bit about current affairs radio programming. And managed to land a big interview for last week's show as well. So I was able to leave on a high note... yes, still a lowly intern, but I'm the little intern who could!

Trying to pack and say goodbye to everyone made everything pretty hectic... but I somehow managed to get everything packed and make it to my train yesterday evening. And while I know I'm going to miss Ottawa in the summer— the canal, the Market, the jogging paths— I was welcomed to Toronto with a gorgeous penthouse loft apartment in the Village by one of my fabulous roommates, vegan chocolate cake and a big, comfy bed. So maybe the Big Smoke won't be so bad after all?

... Of course, I had doubts when this morning I awoke to the fire alarm. With the roomie gone, I dazedly grabbed the keys and my bag. Suddenly, the penthouse didn't seem so glamorous as I made my way down the stairs...

Then the announcement: false alarm. Go back to your lives, citizens... Which would have been great had my keycard worked.

First morning in Toronto: locked out of my apartment in my PJs. And, of course they're the pink pajama bottoms that say "one tough cookie" and have angry-looking chocolate chip cookies on them.

Down to the rental office— it seems that my messy hair, pajama bottoms and sleepy look convinced them I wasn't trying to break in— and I got my new keycard. People on the street looked at me like I was a hobo. A hobo in really cool pants... I hope.

Tomorrow I start internship #2... and I get full-on radio software training! This should be an improvement over my yelling at Dalet when it wouldn't do what I wanted until Chris, the tech guy, got annoyed by my expletives and came to fix it for me.