10 Random Facts About Canada

 

• Phone plans are shockingly expensive. As in feeling ripped off. I have to pay an extra $10 (about 8 euros, 7 pounds) for unlimited incoming calls. Pay. For. Incoming. Calls. How crazy is that?
• They use dish cloth to wash their dishes. I still don’t get it. My husband and I have our own dish washing gear and we don’t share. It is just as well.
•  Canadian eh? Their accent is very close to the American one – only words in [u] sound different (like “out and about”) but in my opinion, it sounds better ! They are also vocabulary differences (ie. Ca. says pharmacy, Uk says chemist), they use words like loonie (one dollar), toonie (two dollars) and tuque (knitted woolen hat).
• You lock the door from the inside. First time I went out by myself, I couldn’t figure out (for the life of me) how to close that bloody door. I tried, and tried, and tried, missed the bus and ended up staying home. Angry. Stupid, me? Let’s put it on culture shock. When I told my now-husband, he said: “you should have left it unlocked. It is pretty safe here. ” Having lived in both Paris and London, I can assure you that I would never leave the door unlocked.
• Poutine. It’s French fries, with gravy and cheese. Doesn’t look good but tastes amazing.
• Maternity leave usually lasts a year which makes it difficult to find care for children under a year old.
• Canadian French doesn’t sound like “proper French”. Proper French being French from France. I sometimes want to pinch myself when I request French service on the phone (what is a French girl to do if she can’t have a little fix?!) and end up not understanding half the things I am told because of an extremely strong accent; Acadian French being the hardest to understand, and Québécois French the easiest. However, please, don’t be offended French-speaking Canadians: I love you ! It is just hard to understand you on the phone.
• It is rather cold out here. (Duh !) But whenever the temperature hits 0+, it actually feels warm. Last June, my hubby and I were cruising around in the Jeep when I suddenly realized that summer had come. It was 13 degrees out and it felt actually warm. I swear !
• The cliché that Canadians are “laid-back” is true. They are generally very friendly with a relaxed attitude. I don’t know what it is (the outdoors, the fresh hair, the culture?) but I love that about them.
• Don Cherry. He deserves is own bullet point.