On the GO

A few weeks ago, I used the GO Train to commute into downtown Toronto. I had a few observations about the people and their habits when riding the GO.

• The experienced GO train drivers know exactly where the train stops so that they are directly positioned in front of the door when it arrives.
• The cooler or younger people always sit in the upstairs area of the train. It reminds of taking the school bus in elementary school, where all the cool kids (like me ;-)) would sit in the back of the bus and the not-so-cool kids would sit in the front. Interestingly, in China, everyone on the bus sat in the front of the bus.
  
• There are the regular GO train riders who talk throughout the ride about every single occurrence of their day. Taking away from other riders any opportunity to get a quick nap or read a book.

Throughout all these observations, I do miss working downtown and not having to drive to work. I would take the GO train if it was possible for me. I do not like commuting at all, but I wonder if I did not have to drive, perhaps I could build some liking to commuting and even form my own GO train clique.

Beijing

This year has probably been one of my most blessed years. I have been given the opportunity to travel to many great places in this world. I will now add Beijing, China to that list. I just spent a little over a week in Beijing, China, where I had a chance to visit many unique places, meet interesting people, and learn about Chinese life and culture. I planned on blogging in Beijing, but the higher-ups at the Chinese government decided to censor my blog, in-fact no blogs on blogspot were accessible. I have lots to talk about on my journey to Beijing, and will not mention it all in this post. So, watch out in the near future for posts on Bargaining in China, Muslims in China, and Driving in China. In the meantime, I shall leave you with my pictures and some interesting happenings during my trip.

• Visited Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City or Palace Museum, Temple of heaven, Great Wall of China, and the Niujie mosque. Check out my pictures here.
• My tour guide got a call from the Chinese government congratulating him on being single … LOL
• Spitting is quite common with the locals.
• The cars have the right-of-way in China, not legally, but if you want to survive.
• Visited the Nuijie mosque, a blend of Islamic and Chinese traditions. It was built in 996 AD. Beijing is home to 250,000 Muslims, most of them living in the area near this mosque.
• Bargaining is quite common in China. The sales people will do anything to get your attention. For example, “Hello sir, you are quite handsome”, “Here, loookay, loookay”.
• Chinese people thought I was from India and were impressed that my English was so good.

What's in a name?

I was looking through some documents a few days ago and came across an interesting letter written by my dad. Here is a snippet:

Ontario Registrar Office

I would like to change my son's name from Ayyaz Sheikh to Ozair Sheikh
...

Sincerely

[my Dad's name]

I was shocked to learn that my parents had initially named me Ayyaz instead of Ozair. My dad wrote the letter to the Ontario Registrar Office to make this amendment. I took the letter to my mom and asked for an explanation. She confirmed the story and said that my grandparents actually preferred Ozair rather than Ayyaz. I was interested by this finding and queried my parents to the thought process that was occurring at that time. It was interesting to hear the other possible names that were being thrown around:

• Waheed
• Sarmad

I cannot picture myself with any of these names. There are people you probably come across in your life and concluded that so and so "looks like a Mohammad" or "acts like an Ahmed" without any reason.

If I had not been named Ozair than I would have lost out on my potential nicknames such as:

• Oz (My official Western name)
• Jose (My official American name)
  
• Ozwald (Unofficial name used by my high school friends)
  

and then there are the many times where my name has been mispronounced:

• Hozair
• Ozaaar
• Ogar (z looked like a g)
  

What's in a name ... there is a lot to a name, an entire life of nicknames, misinterpretations, and being called out to accept prizes, the latter which I am still waiting for ;-)

Sleepover at 24 Sussex Drive

Check out this snippet of Rick Mercer's sleepover at the Prime ministers house. Very entertaining! You can check out the full video here.