OTHER LIFE, OTHERS CHALLENGES

                                                                 (draft 1)

I came to Canada by family class programme in September of 2015. Despite my husband described for me many times the future place of living in Canada, it was difficult to imagine where I have to live, when I was still in my country origin (Ukraine).

Here, in Canada, my husband and I live in a small village in remote area and there is not any developed infrastructure here. The closest bigger city with good developed infrastructure is located 30km away. The most difficult aspect of adjusting to life in Canada for me is language. My level of language is still not good enough on finding some job or interacting with people.

I have encountered with some barriers since coming here. For instance, huge distances which cause a big problem for me because I cannot drive and there is not a public transport in our area. Also, we have a chance to go to town for shopping only once a week, on weekends, when my husband is off. So I have to buy all our groceries for one week ahead. We don’t have a lot of people around in our area who could be a potential “local teacher” for me on improving my language skills. We have the nearest neighbours who live 100, 150,200 metres far, but they live their lives and not much motivated to contact with us.

It was one funny story when my husband and I were invited to our neighbours for lunch. How much I was surprised when we had to drive almost one hour to get there. Yes, it sounds strange, but they are neighbours.

My adjusting to life here still continues. It is not going fast and easy. I cannot to get used to some aspects of living here. But I know it will come, sooner or later. Just step by step and never give up!

 

                      

                                                  My First Impression of Canada

                                             (version 6, final, after 5-th correction)

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

I moved to Canada from Ukraine in September of 2015 so I am still a 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. 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 impressions are based on what I saw, heard, read, or was dealing with at that place.

Let me 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 a luxury. Also, I was impressed by the multiculturalism here and the huge number of people of different nationalities who live peacefully. The people are polite, friendly, and tolerant, so no one criticizes anyone for their appearance: piercings, tattoos, green hair, etc. Nobody cares!

Here, there is a well-developed infrastructure for people with disabilities- from reserved wheelchairs to specially equipped busses.  Also, there is very strong financial support for the community. The different companies, firm, and private people donate money to their local community. Volunteering is something that has existed for a long time in Canada, and many people are involved and do it with a pleasure, whereas in Ukraine this is at an early phase. Here, all important documents such as PR Card, driver’s license, insurance card, etc., can be sent by mail, which is convenient and saves time. I can get any information without leaving the house or wasting any time with just a phone call or online transaction. Many times while the hardware store was closed but the fertilizer and ice melt were sitting outside the store, nobody stole them. I felt safe.

Canada has the imperial system of measurement while in Ukraine there is the metric system. So when someone asks me how tall I am in feet, I say “I don’t know”. When I buy potatoes, for example a 10 lb bag, I have to convert it to kilograms, or when I bake I use the conversion table from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The sales tax on most of goods and services which are not included in the price confuses me. Sales taxes in British Columbia comprise 7% PST (Provincial Sales Tax) and 5% GST (Good and Services Tax) which totals 12%. In my opinion it is a confusing situation, when I want to buy a dress listed at $100, but in total I would have to pay 12% more because of taxes. For example, in Ukraine all taxes (20%) are already included in the price, and everybody knows how much to pay, because the posted price is final. Here, it is easy to return any unsuitable or defective thing at customer service within 14 to 90 days of purchase whit the original receipt. In Ukraine this is almost impossible. To return a product I have to fill a form, to explain the reason of returning, and attach a copy of my passport. Then, after due consideration, if I am lucky, they will return the money in three months.

 In Canada I can buy alcohol only in the provincially licensed shops. In Ukraine I can buy alcohol in any shop. For me it was strange to know, that I don’t have to include any information about my age, marital status, or a photo in my resume. In Ukraine the situation is the opposite. The photo, age, and marital status are required; -otherwise, the resume is not acceptable. As I know, in Canada, the employment history is written in the resume, while in Ukraine it is a very important document filled in by one’s employers.

It seems Halloween is as popular an event here as New Year or Easter in Ukraine, and people spend a lot of money during this time. For example, in Ukraine nobody celebrates Halloween because it is associated with monsters. I have seen a lot of Christian denominations in Canada unlike in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian orthodox church dominates. 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 lot of coffee! And as soon as the break begins, most people go to Tim Horton’s to pick up a cup of coffee. I was disappointed when I couldn’t find any Ukrainian food, which I miss so much: natural ray bread, roasted brown buckwheat, different kinds of salted 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 to four times a day, so very often I can see people in shorts and flip-flops in the middle of the winter. I feel embarrassed when strangers ask me, “How are you?” whereas in my country it is not good manners to ask a stranger that question. Canadians love their little brothers, I mean, their dogs and cats. And I have never seen any homeless or stray animals.

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

These were my first impressions about Canada, its people, and its situations. Some of them are funny, some are interesting, and 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.

 

 

 

                                 


                                         CORRECTION 5, FINAL

            

                                           My First Impression of Canada

                                             (draft 5 after 4-th correction)

 

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

I moved to Canada from Ukraine in September of 2015 so I am still a 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. 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 impressions 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 a luxury. Also, I was impressed by the multiculturalism here and the huge number of people of different nationalities who live peacefully. The people are polite, friendly, and tolerant, so no one criticizes anyone for their appearance: piercings, tattoos, green hair, etc. Nobody cares!

Here, there is a well-developed infrastructure for people with disabilities- from reserved wheelchairs to specially equipped busses.  Also, there is very strong financial support for the community. The different companies, firm, and private people donate money to their local community. Volunteering is something that has existed for a long time in Canada, and many people are involved and do it with a pleasure, whereas in Ukraine this is at an early phase. Here, all important documents such as PR Card, driver’s license, insurance card, etc., can be sent by mail, which is convenient and saves time. I can get any information without leaving the house or wasting any time with just a phone call or online transaction. Many times while the hardware store was closed but the fertilizer and ice melt were sitting outside the store, nobody stole them. I felt safe.

Canada has the imperial system of measurement while in Ukraine there is the metric system. So when someone asks me how tall I am in feet, I say “I don’t know”. When I buy potatoes, for example a 10 lb bag, I have to convert it to kilograms, or when I bake I use the conversion table from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The sales tax on most of goods and services which are not included in the price confuses me. Sales taxes in British Columbia comprise 7% PST (Provincial Sales Tax) and 5% GST (Good and Services Tax) which totals 12%. In my opinion it is a confusing situation, when I want to buy a dress listed at $100, but in total I would have to pay 12% more because of taxes. For example, in Ukraine all taxes (20%) are already included in the price, and everybody knows how much to pay, because the posted price is final. Here, it is easy to return any unsuitable or defective thing at customer service within 14 to 90 days of purchase whit the original receipt. In Ukraine this is almost impossible. To return a product I have to fill a form, to explain the reason of returning, and attach a copy of my passport. Then, after due consideration, if I am lucky, they will return the money in three months. In Canada I can buy alcohol only in the provincially licensed shops.  In Ukraine I can buy alcohol in any shop.  For me it was strange to know, that I don’t have to include any information about my age, marital status, or a photo in my resume. In Ukraine the situation is the opposite. The photo, age, and marital status are required; -otherwise, the resume is not acceptable. As I know, in Canada, the employment history is written in the resume, while in Ukraine it is a very important document filled in by one’s employers.

It seems that 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 of different streams. It seems that 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’m missing 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 unique 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 that my main goal here is accept that, take the best of it and become a part of Canadian society.

 

 

 

 

                    


                                           CORRECTION 4

                                          


                                           

                                           My First Impression of Canada

                                             (draft 4 after 3-d correction)

 

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

I moved to Canada from Ukraine in September of 2015 so I am still a 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. 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 impressions 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 a luxury. Also, I was impressed by the multiculturalism here and the huge number of people of different nationalities who live peacefully. The people are polite, friendly, and tolerant, so no one criticizes anyone for their appearance: piercings, tattoos, green hair, etc. Nobody cares!

Here, there is a well-developed infrastructure for people with disabilities- from reserved wheelchairs to specially equipped busses.  Also, there is very strong financial support for the community. The different companies, firm, and private people donate money to their local community. Volunteering is something that has existed for a long time in Canada, and many people are involved and do it with a pleasure, whereas in Ukraine this is at an early phase. Here, all important documents such as PR Card, driver’s license, insurance card, etc., can be sent by mail, which is convenient and saves time. I can get any information without leaving the house or wasting any time with just a phone call or online transaction. Many times while the hardware store was closed but the fertilizer and ice melt were sitting outside the store, nobody stole them. I felt safe.

Canada has the imperial system of measurement while in Ukraine there is the metric system. So when someone asks me how tall I am in feet, I say “I don’t know”. When I buy potatoes, for example a 10 lb bag, I have to convert it to kilograms, or when I bake I use the conversion table from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The sales tax on most of goods and services which are not included in the price confuses me. Sales taxes in British Columbia comprise 7% PST (Provincial Sales Tax) and 5% GST (Good and Services Tax) which totals 12%. In my opinion it is a confusing situation, when I want to buy a dress listed at $100, but in total I would have to pay 12% more because of taxes. For example, in Ukraine all taxes (20%) are already included in the price, and everybody knows how much to pay, because the posted price is final. Here, it is easy to return any unsuitable or defective thing at customer service within 14 to 90 days of purchase whit the original receipt. In Ukraine this is almost impossible. To return a product 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’m missing 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 unique 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 that my main goal here is accept that, take the best of it and become a part of Canadian society.

 

 

 

 

                                


                                   CORRECTION 3

                                        

                                                        My First Impression of Canada

                                                         (draft 3 after 2-d correction)

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

I moved to Canada from Ukraine in September of 2015 so I am still a 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. 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 impressions 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 a luxury. Also, I was impressed by the multiculturalism here and the huge number of people of different nationalities who live peacefully. The people are polite, friendly, and tolerant, so no one criticizes anyone for their appearance: piercings, tattoos, green hair, etc. Nobody cares!

Here, there is a well-developed infrastructure for people with disabilities- from reserved wheelchairs to specially equipped busses.  Also, there is very strong financial support for the community. The different companies, firm, and private people donate money to their local community. Volunteering is something that has existed for a long time in Canada, and many people are involved and do it with a pleasure, whereas in Ukraine this is at an early phase. Here, all important documents such as PR Card, driver’s license, insurance card, etc., can be sent by mail, which is convenient and saves time. I can get any information without leaving the house or wasting any time with just a phone call or online transaction. Many times while the hardware store was closed but the fertilizer and ice melt were sitting outside the store, nobody stole them. I felt safe.

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’missing 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 that my main goal here is accept that, take the best of it and become a part of Canadian society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                

                                                     CORRECTION 2