I toil like a slave both as a full-time school principal and as a part-time doctoral student at the University of Southern California. Thus, I have a strong sense of entitlement of getting away from it all and escaping for a few days during the winter recess.

This holiday season I visited friends in Toronto, Canada for a few days. I have visited the western areas including Banff, Calgary, Lake Louise and Vancouver, but have never traveled to the eastern regions of Canada. Several of my former middle school classmates (from Korea) currently reside in Toronto.

Someone once said, "We travel to lose ourselves and we travel to find ourselves." Harvard philosopher George Santayana wrote in his essay The Philosophy of Travel, "We need sometimes to escape into open solitude, into timelessness."

The great joy of traveling is simply the luxury of leaving all my beliefs and assumptions at home and seeing everything in a different light. The winters in Toronto are undoubtedly harsh and brutal. However, my friends assured me that if I was able to endure the severe winters of Korea as a young schoolgirl, I can surely tolerate the freezing weather in Toronto.

While researching Toronto, I purchased several books and visited numerous web sites, learning of Toronto attractions, restaurants and historic places of interest. I discovered that the word "Toronto" is, in fact, a native North American word that means "meeting places."

Toronto is a lovely city and rich in ethnic diversity, not unlike Los Angeles, which made me feel at home. I experienced the cuisine of various ethnic restaurants (I especially enjoyed the Japanese sushi and the nicely prepared Thai and Vietnamese dishes!), while chatting with friendly Canadian patrons. The citizens of Toronto are friendly, energetic and talented and there is always a pleasant, natural vitality in the air.

The National Ballet of Canada performed The Nutcracker, the timeless holiday season classic for young and old, featuring the music of Tchaikovsky. And a recreation of the world-famous Viennese New Year’s celebration will be performed in Toronto by Symphony Canada, with Viennese soprano Edith Lienbacher and baritone Benno Schollum. Dancers from the Vienna City Ballet will also take the stage.

At St. David’s Anglican Church, there was a pleasant presentation describing the strong relationship between Toronto and the Queen Mum of England. The Queen Mother is Colonel in Chief of the Toronto Scottish Regiment, one of three Canadian groups. The regiment marched in the official parade in London, celebrating the Queen Mum’s 100th birthday, and crossed the Channel to unveil memorials to the Toronto Scottish action in the Second World War.

All in all, there are always fun and exciting events taking place in Toronto, especially during the month of December!

Back to Reality


The wonderful Canadians whom I encountered during my festive holiday adventure, the exciting places I visited, and the opportunity to visit with cherished classmates of yesteryear, have indeed energized me for the year of 2001!

Aside from such frustrations during the past year, such as the recent presidential election quagmire, Los Angeles freeway traffic, and ongoing strife in the Middle East, some progress has occurred in the world of education in California! Governor Gray Davis recently signed the Cal Grants bill, which is the most innovative state scholarship program in the nation. This will help finance college tuition for all low and middle-income California students maintaining at least a C average. The governor also signed a bill that provides for $118 million to award new merit scholarships of $1,000 and $2,500 to students with high scores on the statewide test and advanced math and science exams, regardless of family income.

I have had a wonderful time in Toronto and have escaped into solitude and timeliness, if only for a short time. I am nevertheless happy to return to my home in Los Angeles, and anxious to prepare my list of 2001 New Year’s resolutions!

Best wishes to all my readers, and their families, for a happy, prosperous, and successful 2001!

(Suzie K. Oh is the Principal at Third Street School in the Los Angeles Unified School District and she can be reached by email at sko1212@aol.com or by fax at (323)256-1765.)