So Steve moved to Toronto, eh?

These Canadians really do like "eh", it's funny.

Hello friends and family!

As some of you may or may not know, I picked up and took off to Toronto last week for a two year stint with an organization called Me to We.

What the heck is Me to We you ask? Well, I am still in the process of figuring that out, but Me to We is considered a social enterprise - we sell books, music, a domestically made line of clothes, workshops, and tour speakers (me!) all with the objective of teaching the everyday citizen how they can make a difference in the world they live in through a variety of different mediums. We help them to examine their passions, think about what needs to be done, and then teach them to tools to go about doing it.

Furthermore, 50% of the proceeds made from all of the Me to We products go towards offsetting the already low administrative costs of their sister organization Free the Children - an organization that I used to be a part of at St. Joan and whose primary objective is empowering youth to help their peers throughout the world - specifically those in third world countries who are forced or sold into labor markets and rarely properly compensated for their work. Still with me?? Basically, thanks to Me to We when my mom and her 5th graders at St. Joan raise $500 in a garage sale, ALL of that money will go directly to the children in need.

Our main goal is to help people to realize their social potential. And to switch from an attitude of "Me" thinking to a collective "We" attitude. (I think the idea came from our generation being dubbed the "Me generation" and we refuse to accept that).

So I arrived last week after some border crossing issues (apparently Canadians don't like foreigners coming in to take their jobs) and I have had three full days on the job. The people here - my coworkers - are incredible. I woke up every day excited to go in to the office and find out what crazy things they are going to throw at me. My first couple of days consisted of: a Global Leadership Council (where I played the part of St. Joan of Arc amidst a table of Einstein, Ghandi, Socrates, etc attempting to create a new world order), a series of workshops and team building exercises which I might be using in my presentations, I was introduced to the producer of Hotel Rwanda, gave my own "I have a dream" speech (which revolved around baseball), annnnd flow charts of stress levels measured in the shots of alcohol you are going to want to take.

The atmosphere in the office is incredible - the energy level is so high I am going to need an injection of caffeine or something similar every hour just to keep up. The "organization" of the organization would make my organizational study friends uncomfortably proud: It is basically orchestrated chaos. The driving factor is the blatant desire and will of all the employees to take initiative and accomplish what needs to be done regardless of the obstacles. It appears to be chaotic, but in the end it turns out to be a well-oiled machine. One is free to stop what they are doing and jump to something else if it is more pressing, deadlines are more like guidelines and are usually always met.

It's a concept that when I try to explain it most people would say to me: Steve, that's good in theory but life doesn't work that way... But the fact that it DOES work here is a great testament to the quality of people working here and the underlying "core values" that are plastered in every room throughout the buildings.

Alright if you made it this far, first of all, Thanks :-). Secondly, the city of Toronto is awesome. I live in a spot called Cabbagetown on the east side of the city (about a 20 minute walk to the Eaton Center). There are people EVERYWHERE (which makes sense in a big city I guess) and some of them are crazy - I had a door-to-door hobo knock on my door and ask me for a Looney. I wish I had a mirror to give him.

I have already seen a Blue Jays game (they lost to the Red Sox 4-1 on Friday) and I went to "Hip Hop Karaoke" which quite possibly was one of the funniest things I have seen maybe in my life. Picture a white, world of warcraft playing, four-eyed, engineerd singing hardcore gangsta rap. Yeah I know it's tough - I didn't think it was possible until I saw it with my own two eyes. Funny thing was they were usually pretty good! It was hilarious.

I have found that the workers here despite (or perhaps IN spite) of their heavy weekly workloads enjoy indulging in a drink or two on the weekends - an activity I can certainly support.

In the coming weeks my main priority will be to write my speech(es) and figure out A. who my partner is going to be and B. what tour I am going to be a part of. I really don't have a say in either of those two things but the speech I have free reign over.

The second week of August I will be taking part in the "Academy" where I will be a student learning leadership skills and action plans along with over 200-300 students mostly from Toronto. This is put on by both Free the Children and Me to We. Come September I should be on tour (crazy, right?) and then it's off and running.

OOOK... that should be enough for now. I hope you are able to see how excited I am about this opportunity and I am very happy I was able to stick it out and find something I can throw my back behind. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

I already know that these next two years are going to be full of crazy times, incredible people, and great stories. I can't wait to get goin'!

I love and miss you all, PLEASE write back.. I would love to hear what everyone is up to and how ya'll are doing! God bless America!

Love,
Steve

PS - I have an unlimited International Texting Plan! My phone number is (647) 884-3219. I realize that most people don't have this type of plan but if you send me your numbers I just may send you a random text letting you know I'm still alive :- )


K bye.