A Tale of Two Cities

by Raphael Holdener, 30.05.2019
View of Toronto from the Observation Deck at 346m in the iconic CN Tower (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)

In September 2018, I started my exchange semester in Toronto, the largest city of Canada. The hustle and bustle of the big city helped me to find myself, focus on important matters, and enjoy the current moment.

10 months after my initial application, my long-awaited exchange semester at the University of Toronto was finally about to start. Ready to start the adventure, I boarded the plane nervously on the 4th of September 2018. I thought that I would be relaxed for this trip after my experience of an internship in Colombia 2 years ago. However, a strange mix of feelings containing excitement, joy and anxiety at the same time overcame me during the flight. During the landing phase, I could observe the city from above and I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city.

An abundance of skyscrapers characterizes the scene in downtown Toronto. However, farther away from the center, the building height lowers quickly because more space seems to be available in this flat area of the city. After the long journey from Zurich, I finally arrived at my home for the next 4 months. I lived together with 2 student-interns in one of those oddly spacious houses on the outskirts of Toronto. From one day to the other, the population around my living place increased from about 4 000 in Zurich, to around 2 700 000 people in Toronto.
Yonge-Dundas Square at the crossing of the Yonge street and Dundas street (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
St. George Street during the fall (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Walkway on the St. George Campus in the first snow of the winter (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
King's College Circle with the Convocation Hall (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Courtyard of the Hart House (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Every day, on the way to the university the free space around me started to fade away in the subway until I felt like I was in a sardine tin. This prompted me to reflect on how complaining about the local public transportation system is one of the favorite discussion topics in Switzerland. After I made my way through the crowds of people to the door and finally out of the obscureness in the daylight, the St. George Campus with its iconic buildings was in sight, and I let me eyes wander across the campus.

The look and feel of the campus was similar to Zurich, with various buildings with different architectural styles standing side by side, and plenty of young people laughing and chatting away. Noticeably, students walking on campus often wore clothes related to the university -- UofT for short – and they also had other articles in their belongings with a university logo. In fact, the amount of merchandising articles was gigantic, and the UofT bookstore provided a variety of articles, from 12 different bottles, to pillows and backpacks. The presence of UofT logos everywhere created a unique atmosphere on campus and the affiliation to the university seemed to be large.
Occasionally, a group of sporty people clothed in a uniform walked by on one of the campus walkways and caught my gaze. The University of Toronto offers a sport program called Varsity Blues in 16 varied sports including ice hockey, volleyball and swimming. In comparison to the ASVZ in Zurich, competitive teams made up of students sometimes have full-time coaches, and compete against different universities in Canada. During my stay, I was able to practice in the track and field team, and I enjoyed every minute spent on the track and the weight room. The coaches devote time not only in the in the training of athletic abilities, but also in the development of personalities and mental skills. The whole sport program is motivated and carried by the idea of complete, all-around development of student-athletes.
Toronto Varsity Blues in action on the volleyball court (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Toronto Varsity Blues in action on the ice hockey rink (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Training group of the Track and Field Team at the Athletic Centre (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Toronto Varsity Blues in action on the football field (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Varsity Stadium with 400m track and synthetic turf football field and direct view on the CN Tower (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Track and field practice on the hills in the Riverdale Park with view of downtown Toronto (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)
Overall, the exchange semester was just an incredible experience, and I left the university -- “The 6ix” as it’s also known -- after 4 months with a backpack full of memories and a “Toronto Varsity Blues” winter cap. After all, my stay in Toronto ended only a couple of months ago and the special insights that those exciting moments and places gave me have remained. I believe we should open our eyes to the inherent beauty of the current surroundings and situations life throws at us, and take pause to appreciate those little things.
A backpack full of memories (photo credit: Raphael Holdener/ETH Zurich)

About the author

Raphael Holdener is currently a master student in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich. In autumn 2018, he had the opportunity to enjoy an exchange semester at University of Toronto and was part of the competitive Track & Field team of UofT during his stay.