At the time of writing, Orientation week is officially 6 days away and I am sure by the time you are reading this O-Week has possibly gone by or is in full swing. So if O-week is already over I hope you enjoyed it and that we were able to speak face to face on some level, it was pleasure meeting you. And if O-Week is in full swing… then… GET OUT THERE !!! There is life outside your apartment / rez room / house (10pts for whoever finds me during the week and gets the reference.) If O-Week hasn’t started yet then I really look forward to meeting you.

But before I end this blog I should possibly you know stop blathering endlessly… though I am not going to lie it kind of makes me feel like Paris Hilton or Ke$ha (how do you pronounce a $ anyways?). So I guess beyond being a huge NERD I also love the outdoors. Studying in and living in Toronto has made me really really sick of grey concrete slabs and towering condos and skyscrapers. So I’ve found some places to escape to and enjoy the natural beauty of nature.

One of my favourite places to bike down to and just sit on the water’s edge is the Humber Marshes Park in the West end of Toronto. It is about 40 minute bike ride from Vic. Just head down to the Lakeshore and hang a right and follow the bike paths which have just been repaved. When you get to the end you will be in the Humber Marshes Park. A the park you can climb the rocks and sit right at the water’s edge, watch the number water fowl which nest in the park and enjoy the spectacular view of the lake.

Another one of my favourite places to go to is Ashbridges Bay. This is in the opposite direction and is about 20 minutes from Vic, just follow the same trail. At Ashbridges you can enjoy one of the best beaches in Toronto. Theres plenty of really fine sand, a beautiful lake (on most days) and hundreds of volleyball nets. This is THE place to throw a beach BBQ with a few friends. If you don’t want to bike you can public transit it to Woodbine Station and take the 92 bus down.

A few other notable mentions on my list of places to escape the urbanity of Toronto are High Park (Large park with a few short trails in the west end near the lakeshore outside High Park station), Riverdale Farm (A small farm in the middle of the city with a complete set of farm animals it is only a 20 – 30 min walk from Vic) and the Allan Gardens (A series of downtown greenhouses owned by the University of Toronto with a wide variety of unique plants)

Anyways that is all from me so I hope you all had / will have / are having a great O-Week and hope to see you soon / again!

I’m pretty excited about orientation week. It’s going to be my first orientation week at Vic (apart from my own, way back in 2007) – to be honest, I’ve almost completely forgotten what it’s like. Before I go into what I remember about orientation week, I will delve a little into how I got here in the first place! I actually spent the best part of my life growing up in Singapore, after being born (to Indian parents) in Saskatchewan of all places. Yes, Saskatchewan. Sometimes, I don’t even believe it. Anyway – somehow, I ended up in Singapore at the age of 2 and went to an International School for pretty much my entire life. Everyone always asks me, ‘So Akash, how do you speak English so well?’ That question is really subjective, for plenty of reasons. Maybe they just don’t expect me to speak English at all, and so the fact that I even do speak it is surprising? In fact, English is one of the four main languages in Singapore, the other three being Tamil, Bahasa Malayu (Malay), and Mandarin (because ‘Chinese’ isn’t actually a language!). I actually applied all over for my undergraduate studies, simply because I had no idea where I wanted to go, and because in an international school, everyone pretty much applies everywhere. So with options in Canada, England, and the States, I ended up deciding to come to U of T. This pretty much brings me to my first experiences at Vic.

My dad came all the way from Singapore with me to drop me off in Toronto, on what has now become a rather routine 30 hour flight. People normally ask me how that works out, but to be quite honest, it’s just habit now. One of my most distinct memories of orientation week was registering at the Cat’s Eye (Our student pub), and receiving my frosh ID and frosh kit. Everything was actually coming to life. I also remember walking down Charles St, and being swarmed by a bunch of, what appeared to be, crazy people in orange shirts. Turns out, they’re frosh leaders, and perfectly helpful human beings. Oh, and now they wear yellow, because apparently, no one likes orange anymore (orange was my favourite colour growing up as a kid).

And then there was the wacky tacky boat cruise, the guy who ate fire (and made really bad jokes), and meeting real life Canadians, in true flesh and blood! You see, you’d think that going to an International School might have helped me figure out what Canada REALLY is. We used to joke about how Canadians say ‘eh’, and I guess somewhere along the line – I became one of them! And you know what? It all started at frosh week.

I can’t go into all the good times I’ve had in my last 3 years at Vic, because it would simply be too much to write. I can’t even go into how much of a good time orientation week was, because orientation week itself felt like a lifetime. What I can say is this – it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, because at Vic, none of that matters. As a person who grew up in the streets of Singapore (Yes, it is true that you can’t chew gum there!), with no concept of what Canada was, coming to Vic was one of the easiest transitions I’ve ever had. One thing I’ve learned is that University can be everything you want it to be – there’s no shortage of opportunities, especially at Vic. You’ve chosen to be a part of one of the finest colleges at the University of Toronto, and I hope you won’t be disappointed. So I say, get out there, and make the most of it. Freshman year only happens once.

I cannot wait to officially welcome you to Victoria College, UofT, and Toronto. All three of these places have so many great things to offer you and Orientation will be the perfect place for you to learn about these things. But Orientation is still a few weeks away and I am so excited that I want to start sharing some resources with you now.

Toronto, and especially the area around UofT, has a lot of really great places to eat between classes. But even better than the fact that there are a ton of places to eat, is that so many of them are vegetarian friendly (which I especially love because I am vegetarian). So, I am going to dedicate this entry to sharing five great places to eat if you are a vegetarian (but still great for all types of eaters).

Ethiopia House
Location: 4 Irwin Ave.
(Two blocks north of Wellesley off Yonge St.)
What to get: Vegetarian Bayaaynatu – $12.65
It is a sampling of eight different ethiopian dishes on injara (Ethiopian flat bread).
If you go before 3pm you can go for the lunch special. I can’t remember how much it is exactly. I think it is around $7. Ethiopia House is one of my favourite places! A lot of the veggie dishes involve lentils, peas, or chickpeas and the injara is so tasty.

Biryani House
15 Hayden St.
(One block south of Bloor off of Yonge)
What to get: the lunch special. It’s about six bucks and you can pick any three dishes. It’s definitely worth going here for lunch over dinner. It is a great value and is just down the street from Vic. If you want a sit down Indian dinner I would walk down Bloor over to Nataraj.

Nataraj
394 Bloor Street W
(On Bloor, right between Bathurst and Spadina)
What to get: So many options! They have so many things for vegetarians but I think the paneer dishes are the best tasting things off the menu. Paneer is a fresh cheese and it is done up with different sauces, like Saag Paneer which is cubes of fresh cheese and a creamy spinach sauce. Yum!

Hot Yam!
33 St. George St
(International Student Centre at St.George and College)
The Hot Yam runs once a week out of International Student Centre. The student volunteers cook up a mostly local, mostly organic meal every Thursday at lunch. Moreover, its entirely vegan, completely delicious, and only $4. Lunch runs from lunches from 12-2pm, every Thursday at the International Student Centre. To find out what the menu is each week and to get great recipes check out their blog (http://hotyam.blogspot.com/). If you want to try your hand at cooking and want to join a great group, the Hot Yam! is always looking for volunteers.

Diabolos’ Coffee Bar
15 King’s College Circle
Diabolos’ is located in the Junior Common Room at University College. It is not-for-profit and completely student run. There you can find fair trade coffee, tea, and vegan and vegetarian lunch options. It is open Monday to Thurs 8:30am – 6pm and Friday 8:30am – 4pm.

Happy eating!

Kristina

Alright, events not to miss during the year. Firstly, Orientation Week! If you are still undecided about whether or not you should come, that is definitely one not to miss. But, presumably since you are already on this website, you have already registered (or are about to), so good on you! But on to events other than O-Week.

Well, firstly, VOCA hosts weekly free pancake brunches Wednesdays 11-1, an event which is now entering its third year here at Vic. For more information on this, as well as invites to all the other VOCA events, be sure to join the VOCA facebook group http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=2201612690&

VOCA also hosts monthly dinners, a trip to the Hart House farm (a farm an hour north of Toronto owned by U of T), and co-hosts events with the VUSAC Productions Commission, like trips to Stratford and Yuk-Yuks. Keep watch for these and other events throughout the year. Though our events are promoted as a way for commuters to become more involved, residence students are very welcome as well!

Well, now that the plugging of commuter-specific events is done, I would also like to speak more informally about a few of the events Kim promoted in her previously-mentioned blog post. The big ones to watch out for are the club nights, dances, and balls, all of which are a ton of fun, and which you will hear more specific details about as the year progresses. They offer a nice variety of experience and size, with High Ball and any event held in the Cat’s Eye (there is likely to be a party or two there this year) being awesome. Vic is famous for throwing amazing parties, and they definitely live up to the hype. For instance, the ‘Cat’s Eye Closing Party’ last December involved a graffiti wall, tons of paint, and lots of free white T-Shirts in addition to the usual dance floor fun. Oh, and the ‘Closing Party’ part ended up not being true, so hopefully a sequel will occur this year!

But everyone knows Vic hosts great parties. What about more relaxed stuff? Well, we also have the most clubs of any college at U of T, so be sure to check the VUSAC listserv (watch for a signup during O-Week, or subscribe right now at vusac.ca – check the right sidebar) for all the smaller events which you might otherwise miss. Anything from movie nights to yoga classes, and there is always lots of free food available. You are sure to find an event that is right for you.

I could talk forever about the plethora of great events available at Vic, but in the interest of keeping this short and not boring you to death, I will end here. See you at Orientation Week, Pancake Brunches, and tearing up the dancefloor throughout the year!

-Rob

For you sports fans out there, the intramurals at Vic are definitely a good way to get involved. We have a plethora of sports to get involved with (my personal favourites being basketball and flag football), and they are all run by the fantastic members of the VCAA (Victoria College Athletics Association). Be on the lookout for them during and after Orientation Week; they’re all friendly and no prior experience in the sport is required…think of it as ‘on-the-job training’!
Another good way to get involved is to join one of the many clubs at Vic! We actually have more clubs than any other college at UofT, which is kiiiiiind of cool. It’s never been easier to join a club (clubs.vusac.ca is a good place to browse through the ones that exist) than now, and I would also say…if there’s something you feel passionately about, something that you want to share and provide to the rest of the Vic community…there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own club! Thanks to VUSAC (which I will expand on in a bit), the process of creating a club has been made a lot easier…and has made our community stronger, as a result. So, if you’re feeling up for some tea drinking (Plen-tea To Talk About), some video games (Victoria Electronic Entertainment Club) or even making stuffed bears (Bear Pals)…there’s something for everyone!

Finally, my absolute favourite way to get involved is through VUSAC, which stands for the Victoria University Student Administrative Council. Having been on the council last year, I’ve been lucky enough to not only give back to the Vic community, but meet some of my very good friends (some of which are on the Orientation Executive with me right now!), people who I will probably know for the rest of my life! By being a part of VUSAC (through the fall Member-at-Large elections, where eight positions are available, two of which are reserved for first years), you have a chance to help out the Victoria College community in a very large way. You can make sure the voices of your peers are heard, and also have a lot of fun in the process. Without a doubt, VUSAC is a great way to get involved.

I hope that list helped you out! Keep an eye out during the week, all three of these will be coming directly to you, to help you find out more information about them. VCAA, the Clubs Brunch and VUSAC themselves, all three events/organizations will help you find out whatever you need to know, so don’t be afraid to ask questions!

- Shoaib, Orientation Exec 2010

I hope your summer’s have all been FANTASTIC! Looking at the days left before O Week I know that my weekends will no longer be spent out of the city or at a cottage, we are into the last stretch!

Your O Exec have spent a very busy month booking venues, speakers, buying goodies, brainstorming new events, and improving the old ones.

Some updates you can find on the website:

- video bios on each of the exec members

- schedules for commuter O and Frosh week under the “Schedule” link

- a link to our promo video on the main page

- blogs from 4 of 12 of out exec members

- updated Commuter page

- updated contact info

- updated residence page

- a packing list

- registration form

Things that are still on the way:

- more pictures of last year’s frosh week

- the rest of the blogs from the exec team

- where to park on move in day

- list of dons for the upcoming year

That is all for now, please check back again for these updates and a few surprises!

Good luck to all first year students whose course selection begins on Tuesday, July 27! Course selection is very exciting and ROSI, although known to cause emotional breakdowns, can be conquered!

After checking this website I hope you will read about how important it is to fill out our registration form. I can make it even easier for you! Here is the registration form and email your frosh id photo to vic.froshpics@gmail.com. There! Done!

Any questions? email vic.orientation@utoronto.ca!

I hope you all have a lovely midsummer night,
Kim

One of the most amazing things at Vic is the variety of events it hosts! There is almost always something going on. I understand that not everyone likes the same kind of events so I’ve broken some down into categories to help you find some in which you are interested.

Special themed weeks

International Week: Organized by Brandon Bailey , Vice President External of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (VUSAC), and Cody Schacter, Don of International Floor, as well as a planning committee –If you are interested in joining the committee, send an email to vpe@vusac.ca. Events include a special guest speaker, International Night, and an open mic. It runs between October 23 and October 29.

Environmental Week: Organized by the don of Environmental Floor, and Ashley Quan, Sustainability Commissioner on VUSAC. It boasts events to encourage being good to the environment. Keep an eye out for the Environmental Fashion show which showcases clothing that is made from environmentally friendly fabrics or recycled clothing and features some designers from U of T.

Winterfest: This is the first week back from the winter break. It is filled with winter related activities all over U of T’s campus some of which are organized by the University of Toronto Students’ Union and others organized specifically at Victoria College. Keep an eye for Winterfest Committee Applications!

Fancy Events

High Ball: Organized by Annie Narae the Scarlet and Gold Commissioner on VUSAC and a committee she will put together. It takes place at a spectacular location somewhere in Toronto (that changes every year!) and includes a formal dinner and dance.

Gardiner Gala: A semi formal event organized by me (Productions Commissioner on VUSAC)  in collaboration with the Dean’s Office. It takes place at the Gardiner Museum (right next door to Vic and always free to Vic students!!!) offering tours of the museum, live music, and food. This event is free!

Low Key Events

Open Mics: Great nights to relax and listen to the musical talents of your friends and fellow students or if you are the one who likes being on stage please come and entertain us!

The Bob Sketch Comedy Revue: Running for over a hundred years the Bob Comedy Review is a staple in the Vic events calendar. This year’s directors are Jake Howell and Rhada Bowes. If you think you’re funny come to auditions on September 20-22 or if you like to laugh come support the show on November 19-21!

Productions Trips to shows: Look out for a variety of trips throughout the year and get excited for group discounts! Things to look forward to: Yuk Yuks (in collaboration with VOCA!), a Stratford trip, a ballet, a musical, and so much more!

The Vic Variety Show: A fantastic variety show organized by the Don of the Arts and Culture living community in Vic’s residences.

Where to find out about events?

VUSAC Website: http://www.vusac.ca/

Facebook: Join the Victoria University Student’s Administrative Council (VUSAC) group on Facebook.

The Victoria Student: This is a weekly news letter sent out by Brandon Bailey, VPE of VUSAC. It contains information about all the events going on that week as well as opportunities to get involved. To sign up: Go to www.vusac.ca and check the right side bar.

This short list is a sample of what Vic offers you next year for student life. Keep your eyes peeled for posters and check out vusac.ca/facebook/or the Victoria Student for more — but don’t forget to study in between!

Farewell until September, or my next update!

Kim

written on Wednesday, June 23, 2010.

I want us for a second to take a side bar with me to an issue that has been on my mind for, oh I’d say the last hour or so. Considering what my attention span is like you should take this to mean that it is something of real significance in our lives as present, or future, Torontotonians. At approximately 1:40 pm, Eastern Standard Time, Ontario and Quebec were struck by an earthquake for the the first time in over a decade. It registered as 5.0 on the richter scale with skyscrapers in T.O. being evacuated and the windows of City Hall in Ottawa shattering….. And I didn’t notice a thing.

My first clue came in the form of a mass onslaught of my newsfeed wall on facebook (this I think speaks loads to our generation. That a potentially lethal natural disaster could have occurred and the first thing we all decide to do about it is tweet or update before even checking on our grandmothers) that was alluding to what I thought at the time was just a really widespread inside joke. However after the 22nd status change in two minutes that simply said “EARTHQUAKE!” I realized that something must in fact be up. As the status updates continued to pour in, my favorite so far being “Earthquake causes Tsunami warnings for residents surrounding fake lake” (a fairly amusing jab at what I consider a political mess up on a very long list of G 20 mess ups), it suddenly dawned on me.

I missed it.

Now when people ask the inevitable “where were you when….” questions I will have no incredible anecdote about grabbing the fine china or even seeing unexplainable ripples forming in my glass of water…. I have nothing. What does that mean for my understanding of history? I can’t take part in an retelling or contribute in anyway. If it weren’t for facebook I would probably would have had no idea till I got home and would have just gone on about my daily business while everyone around me was in a state of reflection trying to understand themselves in correlation to this, quite literal, shifting of the planets. Am I missing out on some sort of awakening? Will my peers reach a state of enlightenment that I am robbed of simply because I am not very observant? These questions, and more, have been wracking my brain trying to come to some sort of conclusions on how to proceed in this post-quake world. Can I still have a place in it even if I am still living in what will now come to be known as the pre-quake world? I just don’t know…

I’m Rachel, one of the Orientation Co-Chairs this year!  There are two of us: myself, and Kristina Minnella, who is our Campus Life Coordinator at Vic.  Together, Kristina and I have the wonderful opportunity to lead an amazing group of students – the Orientation Executive – to plan Orientation for all of you.  I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my last summer as a student here at Vic and UofT and I’m so looking forward to meeting all of you and welcoming you to Vic, to UofT, and to Toronto!

Kim, our Orientation Exec in charge of the website, asked me to write a blog entry about what Vic means to me.  Some of you were able to make it to Open Vic on May 25 (a welcome event for incoming students) and heard me give a speech on “The Student Perspective” here at Victoria College.  Giving that speech was an incredible experience for me because it allowed me to really reflect on why I love Vic so much, and although it was challenging at first to figure out how to put it into words, it was a great feeling when it all came together!

So for those of you who weren’t able to be at Open Vic, (or for those of you who were and are interested!) here’s an excerpt from the speech I gave that morning that is really the best way I know how to describe what Vic means to me.

“What Vic means to you is something you’ll discover for yourself as you spend time here.  But you’ll also discover so much about yourself – whether you’re commuting, staying in residence, joining clubs, playing sports, running for student council, hanging out in the Quad, studying in the library, doing research, sitting on a committee, attending social events, becoming an Orientation Leader, or spending time with friends, you’ll have so many amazing opportunities to learn things you never knew about yourself, to find your passion, and to discover who you are and who you want to be.  One of my most favourite things about this college is that it is a place where you really and truly can be whoever you want to be.

This campus is beautiful as many of you know already and will discover on your tours this afternoon.  The resources available to us here are remarkable.  The staff are dedicated and supportive.  Your courses will be challenging and hopefully inspire a curiousness and creativity you’ve never experienced before.  There are countless opportunities to get involved in the community.  But behind all of these shining opportunities lies something more.  It’s why Vic has changed my life, and it’s what makes us the best college at UofT.

Here at Vic we have the most wonderful, caring, supportive, hilarious, interesting, diverse, passionate, curious, dedicated, friendly, delightful people.  It’s the people that make this community so special – that get you through those all-nighters writing the paper you should really have started sooner or studying for the three hour exam that makes you queasy to think about.  It’s the people here that make you happy to come home to Vic at the end of a tough day of classes, that make you miss your home and family less.  It’s the people here who will support you and also challenge you in new ways.  And right now, all of you are becoming the people of Victoria College – you will make this college a special place, and you will be the people who will make differences in each others’ lives and in the lives of future students.

I’m so proud to welcome all of you to my college, my community, and my home, and I’m excited for all of you to discover that it is your college, your community, and your home too.  Welcome to Victoria College.”

Hey Everyone,

It’s Micah, one of your Orientation Executives this year, and I just wanted to let you know how excited I am that you’ll be coming to Victoria College in September. Orientation is such an amazing experience, and I hope that you’ll have just as many memorable experiences as I had when I first came to Vic. Initially, I was a little bit apprehensive about starting university. I’m orginally from Windsor, so moving up to Toronto was a big change. I didn’t know too many pepole in Toronto, but I’m really glad tha I attended Orientation. I found that that many of the leaders, and exec members were really helpful and welcoming.

I would have to say that I have many favourite things about Orientation, but I’ll only name off a few. I’ll start off with the Wacky Tacky Boat Cruise, you’d think wearing the most outrageous outfit around Union station would make you feel absolutely mortified, but think again. Since there were so many students just as outrageous looking as you, it was honestly a really good time. You just get to be silly and not have a care in the world. My other favourite event was Traditionals, taking part of traditionals made you feel like Victoria College was a home away from home. It makes you feel like you’re part of a community, sorry I can’t give out any details, but you’ll just have to come out to traditionals and take my word for it. Last but not least, I LOVE FROSH PLAYS. Frosh plays are various skits performed in the Bader Theatre by frosh leaders. Honestly, if you’re looking for a good laugh come out to frosh plays.

There’s so much more I could say about how amazing Orientation is, but I’d probably end up writing a novel. Actually, maybe not a novel but it’s definitely longer than this. There’s so much to experience during Orientation so I hope to see you there!

Much love and check back next week for another blog!

O Week Exec 2010