Just Canadian Things
First off, I am not officially a Canadian. I guess you can say I’m an amateur Canadian since I’ve only just been living here for almost 2 years now. But I will be happy to provide you with things that Canadians do that you won’t see in movies and shows because let’s be real, most of them are American.
1. Canadians are very polite. Well, unless you catch one on a bad day then they might be a bit hot-headed, but at the end of the day they’re also humans with feelings and that’s beside the point. They reply to ‘sorry’ with ‘sorry’ or ‘oh no, you’re fine’. They greet almost everyone they make eye contact with, even though it’s just with the tiniest of smiles. People are very welcoming and they don’t differentiate newcomers with local born-and-raised Canadians.
2. Poutine is life. If you’re not familiar with what poutine is, let me introduce you to this blessing on earth invented by Canadians. A bowl of poutine consists of freshly cut fries, brown gravy, and cheese curds. The key is to have both the fries and gravy hot enough so that the cheese curds will melt all over your bowl and thus creating this iconic dish you won’t find anywhere else in the world. Trust me, if you’re visiting Canada, you have to try poutine and you’ll miss it when you get back home.
3. They love nicknames. Canadians love giving nicknames as much as everyone else. For example, they call their one-dollar coins ‘loonie’ and their two-dollar coins ‘toonie’. To be honest, when I first got here I was pretty confused when a cashier asked me if I had a loonie. Also when you want to order a coffee at Timmies (read: Tim Hortons) with two sugars and two creams, you better call it a double-double so no one will look at you funny if you order it the ‘non-Canadian’ way.
4. Anything above 0 degrees Celcius is considered warm. As we all know by now, the Canadian winter is one of the coldest and longest in the world. The weather could go as low as -20 degrees and if you factor in the wind chill, it could go as low as -30 degrees to -40 degrees, depending on where you live. So when spring comes around for only two weeks, you’ll see people wearing shorts when it’s 5 degrees out and all you can do is shake your head. Oh, and don’t forget that one last snowstorm in the middle of April that will officially close the winter chapter of that year.
Well, those are the four most prominent things that I’ve observed this past year or so while living here. If you’ve considered on visiting Canada and haven’t already, what are you doing? Pack your backs and get on up here because it’s a beautiful country with beautiful people.
Until next time, cheers.
