The past few weeks have been eventful and, well, humbling. From the psychological perspective, Lizzie and I have been reshuffled into the modest life of the student. We have come to terms with the sobering fact that our parents are no longer stocking the refrigerator, since we are no longer living at home. That organic produce I had gotten so morally used to eating…gone. The fanciful array of cheeses…nope, too expensive. Shit, we can’t even afford grated parmesan. (As an anecdotal note, a regular-sized Kraft parmesan cheese is 7.99 here.) This, however, is mostly due to the outrageous cost of food in Canada. Every food item is 20-30% more expensive here. Are you ready for this? Cell phone plans: a voicemail and caller ID package is extra. $12/month extra. I know. Lizzie and I decided to try it for a month without it. Every call comes up as unknown, the phone does not store the number so you can’t call the unknown number back, and the unknown caller can’t leave a message. Even if you have the number stored in your phone as a contact it comes up as unknown when they call. They have your balls vice-gripped into a system where you have no choice but to pay for all of the “extra” features. It’s crazy. That is the end of my pecuniary rant.
Saskatoon is a beautiful city. The South Saskatchewan River flows north through the city, providing a perfect place to walk, run, bike, or sit and relax after long days of classes and readings. The University of Saskatchewan’s campus has been voted most beautiful in Canada multiple times. They have done a phenomenal job matching new construction to look like the older semi-gothic style architecture. My building is a smaller yellow brick building from the 40’s that has almost been completely swallowed by new additions to the agriculture college. But it is home. I even have an office, well, I share an office with three other students, but it gives me a sense of place. 
Saskatoon has fewer things to do than in say, Chicago, but plenty to keep a busy graduate student busier. A few weeks ago Lizzie and I went to Strawberry Ranch. Every year, this farm plants a few acres of corn in a differently shaped maze. The goal is to find your way through, a task made tough by the thick corn stalks that are several feet taller than your head. I felt like I was in Harry Potter 4 looking for the Triwizard Cup. It took us nearly two hours to get through. This mostly had to do with the fact that we had to find the three hole punches hidden deep within the maze. Before entering the maze, a woman told us we would get a prize for punching our ticket with the three different hole punches. We had to find them. 
There were three best parts about the excursion. First, we got out of that God forsaken apartment. Second, we encountered Saskatoon berry pie. The Saskatoon berry looks much like a blueberry, but tastes like a combination of a blueberry and cranberry. It is synonymous with a serviceberry, if you have had one of those. It makes a phenomenal pie. Thirdly, I encountered a red fox. Lizzie and I were deciding which path to take to find the third and final hole puncher, when I saw a leg and tail slink past at the end of the row. After a bit of stalking, I found the fox at the end of another row about 15 feet away with nothing between us. I crouched, he sat, and we stared at each other for a good 30 seconds before a noise from another couple tramping through the maze scared him off. Definitely worth the price of admission. 
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