My First Impression about Canada

                                                                  (draft 2 after 1st correction)

 

I am still not familiar with too many aspects of life in Canada, but I would like to share my first impressions about Canada.

I moved to Canada from Ukraine in September of 2015 so I am still new settler in the country. Here, in Canada, I live in a small village Burns Lake in beautiful British Columbia with a population of over 2,000 people. Our city is located between two bigger cities Prince George in the East and Prince Rupert in the West. My husband and I drove through this village from West to East and from East to West many times, so all my impression are based on what I saw, heard, read, or was dealing with at that place.

Let’s start!

I was impressed by the huge distances! Travelling 200-300 km for the local people is like going around the corner. So a car here is a vehicle and not a luxury, whereas in Ukraine it is still luxury. Also I was impressed by multiculturalism here and huge number of people of different nationalities which live peacefully. People are polite, friendly, and tolerant, so no one criticizes anyone for appearance: piercing, tattoo, green hair…. Nobody cares!

Here there is a well-developed infrastructure for people with disabilities- from reserved wheelchairs to specially equipped buses. Also here is a very strong financial support of own community. The different companies, firms, private people donate money for their local community. Volunteering is something that exists long time in Canada and many people are involved on that and do this job with a pleasure, whereas in Ukraine this is at a primary stage. Here all important documents such as PR Card, driver license, insurance card and etc. I can receive by mail, what is conveniently and save our time.  I can get any information not leaving the house and not wasting my time just with a phone call or using official sites of companies, firms or government departments by internet. I saw many times as a Hardware store was closed but the fertilizer for flowers, the soil, the melting salt was seating outside next to the store and nobody was stealing this.  And I thought, probably, there is not the crime in this area.

 Canada has the imperial system of measurement while in Ukraine there is the metric system. So when someone does ask me how is my height on feet I say “I don’t know”. If I have to buy potatoes, for example 10 LB bag, I have to converse to kilograms, or when I bake I use the conversion table from Celsius to Fahrenheit.  The sales taxes on most goods and services which are not included in prices make me confused. By the way, sales taxes in British Columbia are 7% PST (Provincial Sales Tax) and 5% GST (Good and Services Tax) what in total is 12%. In my opinion it is confusing situation, when I liked a dress by posted price $100, but in total I would pay 12% more because of taxes. For example, in Ukraine all taxes (20%) already are included in price and everybody knows how much has to pay without confusion, because the posted price is final. Here is easy I can return any unsuitable or defective thing during two minutes without any problem within 14, 30 days or three months of purchase with original receipt. While in Ukraine it is almost impossible.  For returning I have to write an application addressed to the main manager, explain the reason of returning, and attach a copy of the passport. Then, after the conclusion of expertise, if I am lucky, they will return money in three months. Any alcohol in Canada I can buy only in the specialized shops which controlled by the state. In Ukraine I can buy an alcohol in any shop.  For me was strange to know, that I don’t have to include in resume any information about my age, marital status, photo. In Ukraine a situation is opposite. The photo, age, and marital status are required, otherwise the resume is not acceptable. As I know here is not the employment history, while in Ukraine it is very important document.

  It seems Halloween is a very popular event here as New Year or Ester in Ukraine and people spend a lot of money for that. For example, in Ukraine nobody celebrates Halloween, because it is associated with monsters. I saw a large number of orthodox churches of different streams. Even our small village with 2,000 people has approximately 15 churches.

 It seems the traditional Canadian Maple Syrup is in every house like a sushi in Japan or pasta in Italy. Even I have it!  According my observations all Canadians drink a coffee! And as soon as the break has begun the most of people go to Tim Hortons to pick up the coffee.  I was disappointed when I couldn’t find some food here which I had in Ukraine and I miss so much: bread, roasted brown buckwheat, different kind of salty fish, halva, cottage cheese, and whey. Or it seemed that the name of food was the same, but the quality here is lower.

There are a lot of fat people, especially the young generation. The weather changes three-four times a day, so very often I can see people in shorts and flip-flop in the middle of the winter. I feel embarrassed when person who see me first time ask me:” How are you”?  whereas in my country it is not good manner to ask a  stranger that question.  Canadians like so much their smaller brothers, I mean dogs and cats. And I have never seen any homeless or stray animals.

 One thing that cannot be compared with Canada is its nature: endless forests, mighty mountains, fascinating lakes, and wonderful wildlife.

These were my first impressions about Canada, people, situations. Some of them are funny, some are interesting, some are sad. But despite this my main goal here is accept that, take the best of it and become a part of Canadian society.