#UofTGrad17: the aquarium, the opera, the best bubble tea – international grads’ guide to Toronto

Family and friends of graduating students are arriving from around the world to help celebrate convocation at the University of Toronto.

U of T News recently asked graduating international students for tips on some of their favourite spots in the city – from cool neighbourhoods to giant parks, and of course, the best places to eat.

Their recommendations included tourist attractions such as The Distillery District, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and Rouge Park – as well as concerts, theatre and opera (students can buy discounted tickets at the Canadian Opera Company and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra).

Read on for more tips from the class of 2017:

Asuka Kono, who will be graduating with a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, also finds that food is the best cure for homesickness.

And she doesn’t have to go far from campus to get it – her favourite spot is Konnichiwa on Baldwin Street.

“At Daniels, there are no Japanese people so I can't speak Japanese at all at school. But every time I go to the restaurant with my friends, I definitely feel at home.”

Living in Toronto has also introduced Kono to different types of food – from Jamaican to Polish and Greek.

Trying new things was a big part of Nana Boa-Amponsem’s experience studying in Toronto.

“So many things were very new to me here,” says Ghanaian Boa-Amponsem, who double majored in economics and equity studies.

She has sampled everything from fried dumplings to sushi – while also tapping into the city’s caffeine obsession.

“Coffee wasn't something very common back home – usually if you'd see someone drinking coffee, it was because they were staying up late. It wasn't something people do for breakfast every morning,” she says.

While she spends most of her time on campus, Boa-Amponsem likes to go for strolls along Spadina Avenue and hang out at Christie Pits Park.

Claire Zhang said she adopted a healthy habit while at U of T. 

“I actually really like salad now, and things that are really healthy and clean,” says Zhang, who came to U of T from Shanghai to study civil engineering. “There's a lot of salad shops here like Fresh and Hibiscus in Kensington Market.”

But she still loves venturing to Chinatown for some dumplings at Mother’s Dumplings or heading to Yonge Street for bubble tea at CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice.