My one year Canada anniversary!

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I left the UK for Canada. It feels like only a couple of months ago I was sat on the coach with a tear stained face, munching on a croissant, on my way to Heathrow Airport. I wish I had more travels to boast about after being here for so long but as I’ve mentioned in my previous post, all I’ve really done so far is work, work, work because Canada is expensive, expensive, expensive. This will be changing in the next two months so watch this space.

In my time here I feel like I’ve adjusted pretty well to the Canadian lifestyle and even made friends, which is something I really struggle with being the natural loner and introvert that I am. Since I arrived here, I’ve been compiling a list of “culture shocks/observations” that I’ve come across as a Brit living in South – West Ontario. So to celebrate my Canada anniversary, I’m going to share with you my list of the good, the bad and the down right weird.

Before I do, as a disclaimer these are my personal opinions so please don’t be upset with me if you don’t agree.

Let’s start with the positive:

• Tim Hortons are everywhere and like a religion for most Canadians.
• Iced tea is a very popular drink.
• Yellow school buses.
• Wide roads.
• Canadians pride themselves on friendliness.
• Tipping. This is great when you’re the one receiving but annoying when you’re the one giving. The pressure of leaving at least 20% is very real.
• Although housing prices are high (which is the same everywhere), you do get more for your money here in regards to space.
• Canadians love their boardgames and being outdoors which I realise as I’m writing this are contrasting hobbies.
• A lot of people spend their evenings relaxing by a nice fire which leads me to my next positive…
• S’mores!
• You can buy anything at Walmart.
• Wide variety of pickles.
• Beautiful parks.
• People really go all out on decorating for the holidays, this is espeically exciting around Halloween.
• Golden retrievers are a very popular dog breed.
• Canadians in general absolutely love their dogs.
• Most houses have basements.
• Crocs are are fashionable especially with socks and jibbits.

And now the negatives (and no crocs are not going on the negative list)

• Tail gaiting and aggressive driving. This is espeically scary when on a motorbike.
• As mentioned earlier, it is expensive here.
• A lot of places are closed on the weekends so running errands and sorting out ‘life admin’ is difficult because you have to take time off work, which in the majority of places is unpaid.
• Lack of privacy in bathroom stalls, seriously I can see straight through the gaps and my feet and lower legs are totally on show. I know we Brit’s really value our privacy but when it comes to using the loo doesn’t everyone?
• The standard of driving is very low and I say this as someone who has experienced taking a full motorbike test in the UK and in Canada (separate post on this to follow. Wowie getting a bike here was a pain in the bum).
• The UK is known for its drinking culture and from what I’ve seen, alcohol consumption in Canada is on par if not a little more. However, the community side of it I personally haven’t found. What I mean by this is many places in the UK have a pub/freehouse in the heart of a community where all are welcome. It’s a great place to meet people and find someone who knows someone whether it’s to fix that leaky tap, your cars suspension or someone who can watch your cat for a week.
• Whatsapp is not very popular here but Snapchat is and I refuse to download it. Yes this is a negative because I love WhatsApp!
• Phone plans are not great when it comes to data and they are pricey.
• My dry humour doesn’t really land a lot of the time. There’s nothing more painful than having to explain a joke and why it’s funny. Believe me, it very quickly becomes the opposite.
• People don’t really look when they cross the road.
• Filing a tax return is complicated for someone who’s never done it before and the cost is painful.

Okay now for the fun ones, these I have really enjoyed mulling over with my Canadian friends.

• Milk in a bag!
• No squash but there is cordial and it only comes in small bottles.
• When driving there are constant stop signs whereas in Europe, those stop signs would be give way signs to keep the traffic flowing.
• Petrol is called gas.
• Being told to have a nice day/enjoy the rest of my day after receiving any type of service/dealing with the general public.
• Rubbish is not a word which is absolute rubbish.
• The word toilet is avoided. Which leads into the next item on the list; when avoiding the dreaded T word, people will say bathroom or washroom even though theres no bath in there and you’re not really going in there to have a wash.
• Sorry another toilet one, theres never an “engaged/vacant” sign on the outside of the door so you can’t tell if it’s locked unless you push on it.
• Mee-maw and Paw-paw for a Nanny and Grandad which I adore.
• Loonies and Toonies for one and two dollar coins which I also adore.
• As someone who has worked in the dog industry over here for a year now, a lot of Canadians name their dogs the most bizarre names and if that’s not enough, they will spell them in the most bizarre way too.
• Painkillers come in packs of up to 1000
• Real estate agents and other types of face to face selling will be advertised with that person’s face on posters, benches, signs etc.
• Canadian flags are everywhere.
• The weather could be -10 one week and the next in the high 20s, of course global warming could be to blame for this but I’m putting it on the weird list.
• Turning right on a red light.
• Pedestrians getting a green light to walk when a car gets a green light to drive.
• Careers are very much part of people’s identities here.
• In a lot of stores there is always a section that sells Canadian memorabilia.
• When Canadians are sick they really go all in on medication. Growing up we would be given a wet paper towel and perhaps paracetamol if really bad. Here I have seen coworkers bring in a sandwich bag of at least six different pain and symptom reliefs.
• Popcorn is drizzled and covered in butter, this was a fun suprise for lactose intolerant me.
• Ranch sauce goes with pretty much anything.
• A lot of people are allergic to peanuts.
• Cannabis is legal here and there weed stores everywhere.
• Country music is compulsory to listen to even if you say you hate it.
• Houses have vents which is awkward when you can hear someone’s conversation from downstairs.
• Most people can’t drive a manual car only an automatic.
• When fueling your vehicle in the UK, the green handle is unleaded and the black diesel, whereas here the colours change at each station.

If if you have your own to add to the list please let me know in the comments! I had a lot of fun writing this and had a little help from the Facebook group, Brits in Toronto so a big shout out to them!

As always thanks for reading!