How far could spring be when winter is around

This is a chinese saying, I assume. A very old-fashion one, kind of telling people in a wiselike way, however never in a I-told-you-so-way.

I still remember the day before last day I spent in Torontoin at the end of 2008. I was out for a clinic appoinment and the snow alarm was 16cm. It was literally a snow stormy day. I walked in the city as if I was walking through a jungle trying to not stumble in piles of snow, cause of the wind the snow everything I almost thought of as punishment of nature. I lived just a few blocks away from the clinc, the distance of which I used to enjoy walking slowly taking the peacefulness on Bay street. However on that day I was cursing all my way there, and I felt so depressed over the feeling of living the winter in Toronto just like that.

I was wrong. Even though I didnt remember being this cold when I was in Norway for winter, now in Toronto turns out to be much much less horrible than I expected. I checked the calendar, and laughed at myself. Im always so easy to get panicing. And thus always so difficult to just take a moment and enjoy what I am having.

I always have a wierd feeling about Toronto. Recently I just realized part of this oddness I kept sensing about - it is just that I have never lived in such a city where even the locals have difficulties articulating their identity of being from the city. The Shanghainese have this huge prestiges over any others from rest of China (maybe even asia) cause of its remarkable progress in economic growth; The HongKongnese have this amazing sense of chinese tradition which perfectly mixes with their pride of being international; The Norwegian (sorry to oversimplify them into a city concept) always can clearly tell you the differences they have from other scandivian countries with numbers of jokes and experiences (over a good drunk of course); The londoners, however also being in a multicultural urban society, are very good at using the city's uniqueness and leading roles in various aspects to convince you what they all have in common; The dutch's personality and their values (mostly resulting from living in such a geographically tiny flat country) are always their symbolic stamps.
For Toronto, when I was unconsiously searching, if there is any, it kind of left no impression on me so far. Although there is a growing perception in my heart, whenever I was walking down the crowds, reading newspaper, hearing conversations, that this city is still struggling to loose the burden of "having to be Canada's #1" "catching up to be North America's top city" and really creating something that can be shared by all Torontonians and for which to be proud of.

The pain in finding such way just started to fascinate me muchly. I am thinking, Toronto is just like me, in some ways.