Living in Toronto

何之乎Jun 2022

Rating 3.0
Word count
142K words
Chapters
41

Tags

Essays and Miscellany Historical ReappraisalPower GameAntiheroComplex HumanitySocial CritiqueMoral DilemmaDocumentary NarrativeTurbulent Era

Summary

The author of this book is a senior engineer who moved to Canada to be near his children after retirement and has lived there for fifteen years. Starting from why he emigrated and the problems he encountered during the application process, he gives a plain, straightforward account of daily life in his adopted city—food, housing, transport, medical care—and of what he has seen, heard, and thought along the way. In his sixties he went back to school to study English, visited Parliament Hill, sat in on provincial legislature sessions, and through contact and observation came to understand how people enjoy life, manage society, and handle social conflicts, as well as how they reflect on history and deal with past wrongs. Who are Canada's Indigenous peoples, and where did they come from? How did Canada become a nation, and what danger of breakup does it face? What is "unfree" about life in this "free country"? How did a young man with one leg become the greatest Canadian in their minds? Why does an ordinary farmhouse draw millions of visitors from around the world? Why are Chinese convenience-store owners troubled? How do people at the bottom of society live? There is no Women's Day or Children's Day, yet protection for the safety of women and children is meticulous. How do Canadian children who "play at the starting line" grow up to become successful?

Editor's review

The value of this book lies not in travel tips or an immigration guide but in a retired senior engineer's notes on social observation, written from fifteen years of firsthand experience. Starting with his motives for emigrating and the application process, the author recounts everyday details of city life in Canada—food, housing, transport, medical care—in a plain, unembellished style. The range is broad: returning to school to study English in his sixties, sitting in on provincial legislature sessions, observing how social conflicts are handled, reflecting on historical wrongs, and also asking institutional questions about where Indigenous peoples came from, how the country was formed, and the risk of breakup. A few specific figures and scenes—the young man with one leg, the rush of visitors to an ordinary farmhouse, the troubles of a Chinese convenience-store owner—ground abstract social issues in concrete experience. Suited to reading in short stretches on a commute or before bed; the pieces are short and light. By the end you will have a more concrete sense of the unfreedom within a "free country," of welfare and its costs, and of life at the bottom—not just concepts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the sections on motives for emigrating and the application process first to establish the author's perspective, then move on to daily-life chapters
  2. Jump between themes: health care, education, Indigenous peoples, and social conflicts each form a thread; no need to read in order
  3. When you reach a specific personal story, note the institutional questions the author draws from it and jot brief comments
  4. Read alongside your own city's experience, noting differences and questions for later verification

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 一、飞往多伦多
  3. 二、顺风车移民
  4. 三、密西沙加这座城
  5. 四、食有鱼
  6. 五、居有房
  7. 六、行有车
  8. 七、学有校
  9. 八、看病易？看病难？
  10. 九、我在英语学校的一天
  11. 十、老师和同学
  12. 十一、读有书
  13. 十二、邻居们
  14. 十三、郁金香与流浪猫——渥太华印象
  15. 十四、旁听省议会会议
  16. 十五、“老干妈”与国会大选
  17. 十六、旁观市政工人大罢工
  18. 十七、没有妇女节和儿童节
  19. 十八、自由国家里的不自由
  20. 十九、党魁来拜年
  21. 二十、湖心岛记趣
  22. 二十一、享受生活
  23. 二十二、人人都做慈善家
  24. 二十三、安妮的绿山墙农舍
  25. 二十四、独腿青年的万里长跑
  26. 二十五、小费的故事
  27. 二十六、拒绝现代化的村庄——圣·雅各布村游记
  28. 二十七、易洛魁村的长房子
  29. 二十八、错拨“911”
  30. 二十九、蒙特利尔掠影
  31. 三十、魁北克老城半日游
  32. 三十一、老外婆走丢了！
  33. 三十二、便利店主的烦恼
  34. 三十三、你不该读这本书
  35. 三十四、打工记
  36. 三十五、等待轻轨
  37. 三十六、遇见中国留学生
  38. 三十七、丁丁实习回来了
  39. 三十八、华人点滴
  40. 三十九、加拿大适合你吗？
  41. 四十、我们的“新天地”——参加华人老年协会活动

FAQ

Is this book meaningful for someone with no plans to immigrate? Yes. Much of the book is social observation rather than immigration procedure, covering health care, education, Indigenous history, public administration, and how social conflicts are handled. Even without plans to emigrate, you can see through a long-term resident's eyes how a society runs and reflects on its own history, gaining a reference point for your own experience.
Is the information useful for actually moving to Canada? Indirectly useful, but not as a manual. The author writes from fifteen years of lived experience—medical care, housing, transport—which helps readers form an intuitive sense of living costs. Policies and procedures change over time, though, so check official, up-to-date information for actual applications.
Is the author's stance clearly one-sided? From the material, the author writes both about what is admirable in Canadian society and about the "unfreedom" in a "free country," conditions at the bottom, and the troubles of a Chinese convenience-store owner—an observation that looks at both sides. Readers may note the author's perspective as an immigrant and keep their own judgment on passages comparing systems.

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About the author

何之乎 Author

He Zhihu is an author about whom limited public information is available. The library currently holds five of his works, including My Journey to the West, Living in Toronto, and A Cruise through Greece and the Mediterranean. Judging from these titles and their common classifications, his writing centers on two categories: essays and miscellaneous writings, and travel. The content is largely related to personal journeys, living abroad, and cruise travel, and carries the flavor of travelogues and life sketches. Because details such as his dates of birth and death, nationality, and English name cannot be confirmed, his biographical background is difficult to describe in detail. What can be confirmed is that he is adept at recording travel experiences and impressions of living in other places in the first person, turning his experiences on the road into highly readable prose. In the works available so far, his style leans toward documentary accounts and personal impressions, with themes close to everyday travel and life across regions, making them suitable for readers interested in travelogues and essays.