A Boy and his BlackBerry

Reunited. And it feels so good.

There’s luck. And then there’s being really lucky. 

This is the story of how I got my phone back. It’s one that’s filled with despair, desperation and dedication.

It starts one fateful Sunday afternoon as I’m off to edit a three part series for school. There is no phone in my pocket – “one less distraction” I say to myself. At the time, it was the least of my concerns.

But it wasn’t.

Fast forward to 11pm. The scene: my living room, home to the frantic search for a cell phone that can’t be traced. Where is it?

Indeed where was it? Did I drop it?

Outside it was snowing merrily, with nonchalance as if to say, I’m here to trouble you more.

And off I go back to school. The great cell phone hunt has begun.

Plastic bags on my knees, double layers on, with my warmest hat, mitts and scarf I search amidst the snow – on all fours – for a tiny minuscule BlackBerry. A BlackBerry that is the very lifeblood of my fledging journalism career.

It was nowhere to be found.

Dejected I lay in bed, but not before sweeping my apartment’s parking lot one last time. The clock stuck 1 o’clock.

“I have a class in 7 hours,” I say to myself. “This is futile.”

And so Sunday turned Monday. And the search resumed. The snow was receding, the ground was slowly exposing itself. But still no BlackBerry.

“It’s going straight to voicemail. The phone is lost forever.”

But a part of me kept me from calling my service provider. No, I’d wait it out a bit more, unless there was drastic usage on my phone’s account. There wasn’t. 24 hours had passed.

For a guy who lived 17 years of his life without a cell phone, one day without one was tough.

It was rough.

But still, there was no cell phone.

And so Tuesday dawned bright and sunny. It was the perfect day. It was my day off, and all efforts were directed to locating this cell phone. I was due in Leamington on Wednesday. Would I be willing to make the trip with no proper means of communication?

Unlikely.

And then, almost as if something called out to me, I tried to track my phone online. It was just after noon.

There was a trace. Not two kilometres away. Suddenly there was hope. A hope that increased when the phone was accurately tracked to within 7 metres.

“But how did the phone reach there?” I hadn’t been in the area in almost three weeks. This was one of life’s great mysteries.

Four hours later, after some frantic dialing to see if someone will answer the phone, I set out to see who has my phone.

Now, there are plenty of stupid things that one can do. And this was right up there. Picture walking up a stranger’s driveway, and asking them if they had your missing (possibly stolen) phone? Crazy right?

But there was hope.

And so with an able sidekick in Greg, Starsky and Hutch, as he termed our duo, we approached our first potential location.

The door opens. And a man, morbidly obese with a vest and shorts, walks out.

“Can I help you?”

We didn’t know whether to talk or to run.

“I know this sounds weird sir. But would you have happened to have seen a cell phone?” I ask, nervously. “I lost mine and tracked it to one of these houses.”

“No, I haven’t sorry!”

And that was it. Was he lying? There was no way we could be sure.

The other house, his neighbour, was not home. And it was almost dark. The bubble of joy, burst.

Twenty minutes later, a little McDonalds cheered me up. I mean, is there anything that a McNugget can’t do? It was just past six o’clock now.

“Let’s give it one more shot before I drop you home Greg,” I say. “Maybe they’re home now.”

And so, back we go. This time there’s activity in the once empty house. Two cars are on the driveway. This is it.

I go up to the door, and ring the bell. Just like before.

“Can I help you?” asks a tall, greying man.

“Yes. Would you perhaps have seen a BlackBerry lying about? I lost mine, and tracked it to one of these houses. I know this sounds crazy.”

“No. No.” he said. “Is it a Z10?”

I was shocked and happy at the same time.

“Yes. A black one.”

“Come on in. My son found one yesterday in the Fanshawe parking lot.”

And once inside, his wife hands me a badly damaged cell phone. It’s still working, but the display would need some major repairs.

I didn’t quite catch their names. I’m now wishing I did as I recall my adventures.

“How did you know it was here?” asked the lady.

“Tracked it online. The phone was on and I got a signal.”

“That’s amazing!”

It sure was. And then we spoke for fifteen minutes, mostly about how I was able to locate the phone.

You see it turns out that Brandon, who works at Fanshawe College found the phone on Monday evening and took it home. He meant to bring it to school the next day, but forgot. His dad, a BlackBerry user himself, turned it on to see if he could try and reach the owner.

“That was the smartest thing you did sir,” I say exuberantly.

“It kept going off and I couldn’t answer it,” said the lady. “Wou

I’d thought I lost the phone somewhere. And the chances of finding it were pretty slim. But no, there was hope.

Brandon had saved the day.

I’ve tried to reach out to Brandon at Fanshawe a number of times now. But our paths don’t seem to cross. Sure the phone was damaged; a vehicle had driven over it. But Brandon had saved me a lot of money.

So Brandon, if you ever read this, and we’re unable to meet: Thank You. This means a lot to me. 

If we do ever meet, and I hope we do, there's a beer or two in it for you.

London Knights in a Must Win Situation

Barrie Colts forward Andreas Athanasiou

The next sixty minutes or so, will make or break the London Knights chances at an OHL title. The Knights travel to Barrie once again, this time for a must win game four against the Colts at the Molson Centre.

For ex-Knights' forward Andreas Athanasiou, it's been a series to remember so far. The Detroit Red Wings fourth round pick in 2012 is the only player to register goals in all three games so far this series.

He's gone from being another Knights' alumni, to major concern for Dale Hunter and his troops.

"It's great to see him doing well," said sophomore Knights' forward Bo Horvat. "We played with him last year but that's the past. Right now he's just another player on their team and we want to stop him."

Stop him they need to. Athanasiou has three points this series, all goals, two of them coming at the arena he once called home, the Budweiser Gardens. Along with Mark Scheifele, Athanasiou is fast propelling the Colts to their first OHL title since the 1999/2000 season.

London effectively utilized home ice advantage and last change, to effectively shut down Scheifele. The 2011 Winnipeg Jets first rounder was at his stellar best when the Colts had last change Monday evening, not having to play against London's shut down line. He finished with 2 goals, and 3 assists that night, his second multi goal game of these playoffs.

"Everyone was working their hardest," said Scheifele. "Everyone was creating chances I think. That pulled of pressure of everyone giving us time to relax and make the play we want."

“We weren't too sharp,” added London's versatile utility man Tyler Ferry. “Next game, we don't have last change and we're going to work as a group and collectively shut them down. (We) just got to get up for the challenge."

For London, game four is a challenge.

For Barrie, it's a chance to pile pressure on London like never before.
The last time the Knights faced elimination from the OHL playoffs was over two years ago, on April 3, 2011, when the Owen Sound Attack beat the Knights in six games en route to thier first OHL title.

Puck drop Wednesday evening from the Barrie Molson Centre is 7:35pm.

Image Credit: Yahoo Sports.

Barrie Colts Strike First in OHL Finals

Puck drop between the London Knights and the Barrie Colts

Call it deja vu. Almost.

The Barrie Colts struck first blood in the Ontario Hockey League finals, beating the London Knights 4-2 in game one Friday evening.

Unlike the Niagara IceDogs from last season, they didn’t need double overtime.

The Colts grabbed the second-period lead and held off a late Knights rally in front of 9,046 at Budweiser Gardens.

"That's the plan," said Colts head coach Dale Hawerchuk. "You come in here and try to win the hockey game, and the boys were able to do that. Mathias [Niederberger] had a great game for us."

Niederberger, a German native and overager for Barrie was a rock in net, stopping 40 of 42 shots, not counting the numerous blocked shots as London turned up the pressure late in the third period searching for a tying goal.

His counterpart, Knights' Anthony Stolarz stopped 24 of 27 shots, making this the fifth straight start where he's let in three or more goals.

Ryan Rupert opened the scoring for the defending champions early in the second period, after a terrific pass from captain Scott Harrington. Ex Knight Andreas Athanasiou wasted no time to make a mark on his return to London and tied things up two minutes later, leading to a barrage of boos from the London faithful.

“We had our chances and didn’t bury on them,” lamented a sombre looking Knights head coach Dale
Hunter, “and that was the difference.”

Needing two goals for most of the third period, London’s Alex Broadhurst beat Niederberger glove high on the power play off a Claude Lemieux penalty, bringing the Knights to within one, which changed momentum drastically. From then on it was all London, all the way, Barrie escaping after two massive glove saves and a shot off the framework late on.

"The guys had confidence in front of him [Niederberger]," added Hawerchuk. "There's good unity between the players and the goaltender, and he's the backbone for us."

“I think we did a great job keeping the shots to the outside,” Niederberger, who was also named first star said . “It was our plan and we did that really well. We tried to give up shots from the outside and the boys did a really good job with that making it easier for me."

Lemieux, son of ex NHL-er Claude ended up with the game winner on the powerplay barely two minutes into the final period. Future Winnipeg Jet Mark Schiefele added the insurance late on via the empty net goal.

“It’s a bit of a wake-up call for us,” said Knights' Seth Griffith said. “I think (losing Game 1 is) going to make us play that much harder over the next couple of games.”

Game two of the OHL's Western Conference final did just that for London. They rallied back with two six goal outings in Plymouth to beat the Whalers in five straight.

Expect the Knights to come out in game two with a lot more shots on net. They went into the Kitchener and Saginaw series knowing that constantly peppering Saginaw's Jake Paterson and Kitchener's John GIbson would eventually lead to mistakes from the netminder.

And it did.

"On the powerplay we passed the puck too much," added Broadhurst. "We were getting too cute. Against Plymouth we shot every puck, going hard to the net. Now we had defenceman shooting the puck but no one at the net [for the rebound], that's got to change."

"We got to block a few more shots too, just like they did at key moments of the game," he added.

The Knights were without winger Josh Anderson and Matt Rupert, both still nursing lower body injuries.

Game two goes Sunday evening at 7:05 from the Bud Gardens.
-----
SUMMARY:
Colts 4, Knights 2
Barrie leads OHL championship series 1-0
Barrie goals: Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Camara, Brendan Lemieux, Mark Scheifele (EN)
London goals: Ryan Rupert, Alex Broadhurst

London Knights move on to the OHL Finals

London Knights goalie Anthony Stolarz (R) and Paxton Leroux (51) join the celebrations at the Budweiser Gardens

Max Domi scored 20 seconds into overtime as the London Knights beat the Plymouth Whalers 5-4, in a thrilling yet nervous encounter. Domi had also opened the scoring at 9:24 in the first period, and finished with five points and a plus 2 rating.

Alex Broadhurst had two goals while Bo Horvat rounded out the scoring for London. who led 4-1 after two periods of play. The Whalers would come back midway in the third with goals from Garrett Meurs, Rickard Rakell and Gianluca Curcuruto, forcing the extra period of play in front of 9,046 at the Budweiser Gardens.

Ryan Hartman had the Whalers other goal.

Plymouth outshot London 41-34, the Whalers pelting Anthony Stolarz with 40 plus shots for the fourth successive game in the series.

“The last two games, their (London’s) power play was clicking,” Plymouth GM and coach Mike Vellucci said. “They got the timely goals. They scored some big goals. They (the Knights) play a good brand. They rope-de-dope you, put you to sleep and boom, they get a two-on-one or a breakaway."

The Knights now return to the OHL Championship series for the second straight year, where they will face either the Barrie Colts or the Belleville Bulls.  The Bulls beat the Colts 3-1 on Friday night, and now trail the series 3 games to 2. Game Six of that series goes down on Saturday in Barrie.
The Knights found a way without Josh Anderson, who missed Game 5 with a lower-body injury. They were also without Matt Rupert, who was great all season against the Whalers.

Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter took a puck in the eye in the first period, sat out the second and returned to the bench with four stitches for the third period.

“He thought he was done with stitches,” his dad Dale joked.

“He looks good,” Domi added.

Just like the Knights cup chances.

'Snow' Nice to Meet You

Snow, Snow, Snow till I be...

If you look outside your window right about now, you'll probably see snow. In fact, I really don't think it's all that bad, considering that I grew up with mild (though I thought them cold when I was experiencing them) winters in India. Given that this is just my second winter with snow outside my door, I expect it'll take a few more years and a ton of snow before I publicly moan about my hatred towards large amounts of snow.

In fact, I distinctly recall a tweet I sent out during the Christmas break on the morning of December 27, 2012. With winter boots on my feet and quite possibly all the clothes I took with me to Toronto on me, I began my first adventures of shovelling snow and scraping cars.

'Oh, what it's like to pretend I'm 10 again.'

As the pile of snow beside the driveway grew bigger, big enough to perhaps make a snowman, my mind raced, perhaps to the point of imagining how most of you reading this grew up. Shovelling driveways to make that extra buck before heading on home to warm up and grab some sticks for a game of hockey. How I wish I had that while growing up.

Needless to say, I had to stop myself from going down the block asking people if I could shovel their driveway for a small fee. While I may feel like a 10-year-old inside, I didn't imagine people would believe that a 10-year-old could be six feet tall. Reality sucks at times, I tell you. But frankly, that wasn't the worst thing that happened. Living in a house with my cousins – all girls – who showed next to no interest in hockey made me want to cry. All I'd wanted was to play a game of pond hockey. Is that too much to ask for?

Anyway, while I wait to play my first pond hockey game, I move on. A white ending to 2012 – perhaps that's all I could ask for whilst wrapping up an entire calendar year in Canada. In fact, my dad looks at me with disdain when I refer to 'nine-degree weather' as mild. It's funny when I think about it, though; just over a year back, nine degrees was all I could manage, and now it's next to nothing when outside it's a nice, chilly -28 on the Celsius scale.

Old Man Winter's been a fun one this time, especially since I can now poke fun at some people I know who moved to North America for school last fall. With one year of winter experience under my belt, and being able to understand why some Canadians hate the amount of snow they get, I feel just a little more welcome to Canada.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.php?storyID=9239&sectionID=3&issueID=221
Image Credit: http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article676029.ece/ALTERNATES/s1023/Snow+around+Billericahttp://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article676029.ece/ALTERNATES/s1023/Snow+around+Billericayy

What A Year for Sports in London

:London Knights sniper Seth Griffith in action at the 2012 Memorial Cup in Shawinigan

With a new year comes new opportunities for London's sports teams to shine and dominate the sporting world in Ontario, Canada and the world. Last year, London's athletes put on some outstanding performances, and their achievements were recognized and praised by Londoners and sports fans across the country.

Let's start with everyone's favourite team, the London Knights. They won the OHL championship for the second time, beating the Niagara IceDogs on home ice in game five, driving the city into a frenzy. Austin Watson was a marvelled acquisition; he showed his worth in the playoffs as the Knights headed to Shawinigan for the Memorial Cup. Sadly, they lost in the finals to the Shawinigan Cataractes 2-1 in overtime.

This season, the Knights have taken the OHL by storm. Although the team started off slow, their loss to Windsor on November 1 would be their last for almost two months. The boys won 24 consecutive games, beating their own franchise record and falling just one win short of tying the Canadian Hockey League record. The Knights are sure to be tough competitors as their exciting season continues and the run for the Memorial Cup begins once again.

The London Nationals also had a great season, claiming the Western Conference championship in the 2012 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. While they went on to finish third in the Sutherland Cup, Kelly Thomson's team helped put London sports on the map.

London's new basketball team made a name for themselves across Canada. In their inaugural season, the London Lightning came out on top, as over 5,000 fans witnessed them defeat Halifax in game five to win the league title. London finished with a 33-10 record on the season, including 5-2 in the playoffs. Budweiser Gardens could be home to two defending champions for the 2012/13 season.

The Lightning made numerous changes to their roster in the off season, coming back even stronger than last season. The Lightning won their opener, beating Halifax once again. The team continued to be successful throughout 2012. No team came close as the Lightning opened the season with 11 consecutive wins, breaking the league record.

Soccer might not be the prime choice for London sports fans, but that doesn't mean the sport doesn't do well in the city. FC London was crowned winners of the 2012 Premier Development League season, beating the Carolina Dynamo 2-1 in the championship finals in North Carolina. While the victory might not have sent every sports fan in the city into a frenzy, London's soccer fans were ecstatic that from a league of 73 teams, spread across the U.S.A., Canada and Bermuda, their local team came out on top.

One of London's women's soccer teams also made headlines. North London Galaxy was crowned as the best women's team in the country when they beat Surrey United to lift the 2012 Jubilee Cup. This victory is their first national title after four Ontario titles in six years.

The 2012 Olympic Games gave Londoners a chance to show their talents to the world. London native Damian Warner catapulted to Canadian fame after his mesmerising performance in the decathlon, where he finished fifth. He didn't win a medal, but instead he set six personal bests in 10 events. The 22-year-old also put up the second best point total (8,442) in Canadian history. Heptathlete Jessica Zelinka and swimmer Joe Bartoch had memorable performances in the Olympics as well. Zelinka placed seventh in the heptathlon while Bartoch and his teammates finished eighth at the 4x100-metre medley relay.

London and Londoners can be proud; they live in a city that is home to champions. From individual accolades to team championships and success at the provincial and national levels, and even at the Olympics, 2012 had it all.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.php?storyID=9173&sectionID=4&issueID=219
Image Credit: http://chl.uploads.mrx.ca/memorial/images/en/gallery/2012/05/MMC12_0519_DSC_77192909.JPG

The Festival of Lights...

The Festival of Lights...

At the beginning of November, we celebrated Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. Now you're probably asking yourself what is Diwali? Or why do people celebrate Diwali? The answer to that is simple.

Diwali is a Hindu festival, and in a multicultural country like Canada it becomes one of utmost importance, especially to people who grew up celebrating the festival. It's essentially a five-day festival, but that's not the way I celebrated it. Of course, the prime reason for that is largely the fact that I'm not a Hindu, but as a child growing up in India, the lights fascinated me.

Typically, in the area I grew up, families lit their homes (hence the term "Festival of Lights") and exchanged sweets with one another. Diwali doesn't occur on a fixed day, just like most Indian festivals. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali typically falls between mid-October and mid- November. Diwali is an official holiday in a number of Asian countries: India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore as well as other countries like Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Suriname.

Diwali is by no means a public holiday in Canada, so if you're someone who celebrated the festival, you still had to go to school or to work that day, even if you didn't feel like it. You also saw how large department store flyers tend to advertise Diwali shopping and it's all part of multiculturalism.

So what do people do on Diwali in Canada? Many Canadians do celebrate the festival, which also attracts plenty of media and public attention. Various community groups, businesses, schools and associations celebrate Diwali each year, largely due to the number of employees that might celebrate the festival.

Victoria Park in London saw a near traditional celebration. Besides fireworks on November 17 (which happened to be the official date for the festival in 2012) the place saw Lakshmi puja, bhajans (Indian devotional songs), a quiz on Ramayan (one of the great epics on India), music, entertainment, dancing and celebration by Hindus and non-Hindus alike.

But now here comes my favourite part. What would I do on Diwali growing up? For me the festival largely involved buying tons of fireworks. Huge sales (or "melas," as we called it back home) would sprout up in numerous locations and they were always buzzing with life. Returning home with stacks of fireworks, it was time to move the vehicles into the garages, leaving plenty of space on the roads and on our driveways as we'd take turns, family and friends included, to light those fireworks, each of us full of such passion and enthusiasm. And when we were done burning about a thousand rupees' worth of crackers (About $17 to $19), we'd take turns scrubbing gunpowder and smoke off our skins before gleefully hogging sweets as if there were a shortage coming.

I miss that here, and I won't lie. I'm scared at times that lighting a firecracker would land me a ticket of some sort. The festival is monitored strictly for obvious reasons: the noise, the risk of fires and the very rare chance of a stray firework. But all that said and done, that won't stop me from heading out and picking up a few sweets, even if I have to eat them myself. I may not be celebrating the festival in the true sense, but look at it this way: the world is a global village, and if it's not me celebrating, then someone else definitely is.

Here's hoping everyone had a safe and happy Diwali.

Image Credit::http://www.stow.ac.uk/media/diwali.gif

A Summer Of Fun

Summer 2012 Bucket List: Complete

I've always grown up as a person who hated summer. But before you judge me, I should make myself clear and say that summers for me while growing up involved near 50°C temperatures on a daily basis with unpleasantly hot and sticky weather, so naturally, I hated the sight of summer.

Of course, now, summer seems like a pleasant thing after all. I've just put my first Canadian summer behind me and while the joy of returning to school may haunt me in a few months, the summer most definitely will not. I've heard about the rage that barbecues create in this country and now that I am the proud owner of one myself, I'm not sure if I fall under the category of enthusiast or bandwagoner. Perhaps someone would like to clarify.

Jokes aside, I really looked forward to my first taste at a 'Canadian summer.' I was excited, naturally, and the suspense would kill me each passing day while I was holidaying back home in India: golf, baseball, barbecues, the possibility of meeting Corey Perry,  all of this was indeed in the cards back in April. And then it so happened that the London Knights won the OHL title and there I was, probably the only guy in India who was actually celebrating, which made me realize how out of place I really was. "Keep cricket to India and hockey to Canada," is what I told myself.

Fast forward a month and my dreams of becoming the next superstar on the PGA tour took a backseat. It seems like everyone in Canada, from businessmen to the biggest NHL superstars, all fancy their hand at golf, but alas, I've yet to discover why. Perhaps next summer, eh?

London has been great to me, it really has. It's been my home from over a year now and was also the place where I watched my first hockey, baseball and football games. But there is something that beats all of that combined: meeting Corey Perry at Labatt Park during Drew Doughty's charity softball tournament. I know some of you might despise Perry, but for a kid from well beyond the pond, I'd call that a pretty awesome and nerveracking moment; a moment that sort of makes up for the disappointment of being told that not being Canadian was the reason why I couldn't apply for a summer work study position at Fanshawe. I can now only imagine how much different life might have been if I had I been working at 106.9 TheX or for the Interrobang, but that's not something that really matters now that summer is gone and winter draws ever so near.

Summer 2012 is almost complete, and since it was my first Canadian summer, I can safely say that it will always remain special to me. It's interesting to see how people do things here in Canada, and yes, they are different than things we did back home. Studying abroad is a great learning experience, I'm glad I could do it. It's great to be writing for the Interrobang again, and I can't wait to meet new people in the halls of Fanshawe.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.php?storyID=8602&sectionID=3&issueID=206
Image Credit: Spencer Gowan

An open letter to the St. Patrick's Day 2012 rioters on Fleming Drive

A CTV News vehicle being damaged by angry rioters, Fleming Drive, London. March 17, 2012

There was probably a time when St. Patrick's Day was a joyous occasion. There were also times when people learnt to respect someone else's privacy. It pains me to think whether I made the right decision to come all the way from India, just to go to Fanshawe and witness such a debacle on St. Patrick's Day! Where has civilization gone?

It's strange, I never hear stuff like this coming out of Platt’s Lane or other 'Western' neighbourhoods here in London but Fleming Drive never seems to disappoint me. And yes, I'm being sarcastic here. Riots, burning couches, overturned news vans? Come on people, there has got to be a limit. I hope the people responsible realize that innocent Londoners will be paying for all the damage they caused on their idea of a joyous occasion. 

I'm not going to be a hypocrite here, I love my beer. Then again, I believe in moderation. You know your limit; you know how much you can handle before you go overboard. It is 1:15 am now as I write this and I can still here sirens blaring, and I live five minutes from Fleming Drive and Fanshawe College. Students have got to remember that for most of them, it's not their town; they are merely living here for a couple of years. There are people who will live their entire life in London, and negative press coverage isn't something that anyone would want their hometown to be associated with. I know I wouldn’t want my hometown to ever face negative press.

Remember when Mayor Fontana released 'London is a city of Opportunity'? You do? But is this the ‘opportunity’ you want? To bring disregard to the Forest City? To show people how many cars you can destroy? How many kegs of beer you can chug? I hardly think so. If I was Irish or had Irish roots, I would probably be so mad right now! How dare you ruin a day that brings about the Irishman inside everyone? Sure everyone has the right to gather freely and say whatever they want, whenever they want. That is basic freedom. But freedom to wantonly destroy property? Blasphemy I tell you, blasphemy.

Being a student of journalism, a part of me wanted to step out with my equipment and cover the event, nay cover the debacle I should say. The other part of me feared for my own safety. I know this is nothing compared to being a journalist in the middle east where your life can be in danger every minute of  every day, but to risk my life at the hands of thousands of rioting teenagers and young adults? That would be something quite pointless, in my opinion.

So now when people ask what Fanshawe is famous for what do we tell them? Riots? Parties? Angry Teenagers? Or do we tell them that Fanshawe is a haven if learning? A place of wit and wisdom? A place of dignity and consideration? I always knew that I would face a culture shock when I moved across the world. India and Canada is completely different when it comes to customs and behaviours, but not once have I heard of a drunken college riot during eighteen years in India. I've already heard about two in London itself, and you got to remember that London is nothing compared to a vast majority of Indian cities when it comes to student populations.

So in conclusion, if you're one of the rioters who thought it was 'cool' and 'trendy' to fill yourself up with alcohol and then go berserk, you should probably look at yourself and feel sorry. Step forward and admit your wrongdoing, if you didn’t face the consequences for what you did that night. Do not let innocent people who had no part to play face trouble for what you did. Do your bit, to make this city a better place to live in. Do your bit for the community. Do your bit for the college; but more importantly, do your bit for yourself. 

Image Credit: https://yfrog.com/a/img644/193/43eofz.jpg (via twitter)

Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vh7AwyfcHA 

Watch the London Free Press' Video here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/03/18/19517661.html

Thoughts Of An (Almost) New Canadian

O! Canada...

Normally I use this column to write about something Canadian that the country loves (or something that the majority hates). This week I thought about twisting it around just a little bit. The reason is simple: I've been here for five and a half months and it has been quite a ride.

I guess the best thing that has happened to me so far is hockey. No, not ice hockey, but ball hockey; 'Ball So Hard,' to be precise. Imagine the joy on my face walking into Sportchek to buy my first ever hockey stick. I'm told by many people that they've "never seen anyone embrace Canadian culture so much." It is strange when I think of it, but as an international student, I guess I find it contagious to a large degree.

Should I decide to put sport aside (although that would be very hard), there are still many things I love about Canada. Take London, for instance. I never expected the city to be this good. The people and even the college is amazing. It's always hard for someone to pack his bags and move to a new country alone, but fitting in to Canadian culture has been smooth so far. What's interesting to note is the banter I enjoy with friends in London, England. The constant question, "How's your London? My London is fine," goes around quite often. That's when I realize that I'm not from the city, yet I've adopted it as my own in a little over five and a half months. It's been homelike so far, this city, and I can only expect the future to be equally pleasant. Canadian culture is something I really want to experience, and though things like poutine and Tim's coffee are already crossed off my 'To Do In Canada' list, there are other things that I would love to try – I just don't know what they are yet.

I already know one of the things I'm going to try real soon (although chances are it will be next winter before I finally attempt it): ice hockey. I told you earlier, it's going to be hard to put sport aside, but going to the John Labatt Centre to watch the Knights play has been great. How great? I won't tell you, you need to experience that yourself.

I've had so much fun in this city and I've yet to set foot into a bar. I hear that is uncanny and unheard of, especially since I'm a student in the Forest City.

I may not know what's in store for me another five months down the line, but I can look back at the past five and a half months with nostalgia, and always be glad I made the decision to leave Calcutta, India and move thousands of kilometres away to the city of London, Ontario.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.asp?storyID=8089&sectionID=2&issueID=196
Image Credit: http://www.eco.ca/Uploader/files/images/Newcomers-to-Canada.jpg
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjLQ6uCw2g8

Dreams Do Come True...

TD Waterhouse Stadium, London

I have no real words to describe what going live on public radio for the first time is. It was exhilarating to say the very least. Going live on public radio covering sports is one of the reasons why I moved from India to Canada.
The game here is the 2011 Senior High School Football Championships between Lucas Vikings and St. Thomas Aquinas Flames, from the TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ontario.
I'd say Spencer my co-host was a natural, I was stuttering but we're all learning. And the ending to the show is just classic.
Hope you enjoy it.
Cheerio

Photo Credit: http://jessicaparry.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/td-track1.jpg

London Through The Eyes Of An Outsider

Downtown London

Whenever I mentioned to my friends that I was going to Canada for college there were mixed emotions that came through: some happy, some sad, some couldn’t care less. When I replied “London” when asked which part of Canada, 99% were stumped. “London? In Canada? You’re joking right?” was the usual monotonous reply. Things said and done, it’s almost a month since I left home. It’s almost a month that I have been living on my own, independent. And I must say it’s been one heck of an experience.

                London, Ontario is unlike London, England. Why you ask? It’s a simple answer but one that needs to be experienced properly. London, Ontario is a small little city with a population of a little under half a million, situated midway between Detroit (in the American state of Michigan) and the city of Toronto. Yet, this city is home to two major educational institutions in Ontario: Fanshawe College and the University of Western Ontario. Now, as I’ve already mentioned, I’ve been here just about a month and yet I’ve already set foot on places like Covent Garden, Highbury and Oxford Avenue, Trafalgar Street and so on. The early settlers here sure did love their old dainty city of London. Interestingly enough, I read somewhere that it was intended that London, Ontario be made the capital of Canada but the Queen thought otherwise. Probably it was a wise decision, for if it were the capital, it’d be a lot noisier.

                It’s been homely, to say the least. The place I’m staying, the college and the new people I’m meeting on a regular basis. They all make the extra effort that the only International student in the Broadcast Journalism program feels at home. It’s quite flattering I tell you. (If you’re one of these people reading this, it’s the only reason why I haven’t mentioned the possibility of me taking advantage of it someday!) Interestingly enough, this small city plays gracious host to some of the biggest events in Canada – a WWE show (which interests me not), a TIESTO concert, a Kings of Leon concert, Avril Lavigne, Colbie Calliat and more hockey than I ever could have imagined. I can see some of you preparing to wring my neck and that is the risk I am willing to take. It’s a beautiful place, London, and it’s where I am for at least the next two years.

Photo Credits: http://beloveserve.com/?category_name=uncategorized&paged=2