Knowing The Way

On Canada Day, I talked to several people who were at various crossroads. For lunch, I visited a friend at their apartment. We haven't seen each other in months and caught up on work, life, and the health of our family. Though no one was affected by COVID-19, their relatives suffered from several new medical conditions. I was surprised to find out that they had crunched the numbers and felt ready for retirement. Perhaps not the golf and vacation in Florida kind, but definitely stop working and returning to university to study their passion. One wrinkle was the current situation since online studies was undesirable for them. So they were unsure about making a final decision.

Returning to my own place, I was invited by a housemate to join a backyard bbq in the evening. It was a dual Canada Day and their own birthday celebration. As several new renters have recently taken residence, I finally got a chance to talk to them. One had started working for a major bank office downtown after finishing their MBA. They were actually an ex-housemate as they quickly found a nicer studio apartment just up the street.

Meanwhile, one renter had previously abandoned their business studies in India and became a self-taught videographer. Their South Asian compatriot was looking for work in research and analytics. Both were recent immigrants lacking local contacts and experience and have been struggling to get interviews even before the pandemic shutdown.

The two youngest walked clearer paths but also had their own uncertainties. The subletter needed to decide soon whether to remotely wrap up their Masters this year or defer and hope that a more satisfying in-real-life campus life experience will be available again in the near future. The birthday host, an international student, complained about their large ($60,000) tuition fees despite numerous classes moving online. There were anxieties about the time-frame in which to find work and obtain enough time to apply for permanent residency before their student/work visa expires.

It was interesting to chat with people who were living major life events. In contrast, my own challenges were usually about what to have for lunch. Another surprise was the wonderful array of food today from a light spaghetti lunch to paneer, chicken tandoori, masala dishes, and other bbq dishes for dinner. So unlike my own lack of kitchen prowess, living solo did not correlate with poor cooking skills.