Seven Things That Surprised Me in Canada
I didn’t see this coming.
I visited my 26th country this month, Canada.
It was nothing close to what I imagined it to be. To be honest, I didn’t have lots of expectations as I believe in travelling with a blank slate and letting my experiences fill in the colour.
It also reminded me a lot of the U.S. where I last went about 14 years ago.
But there were so many things that took me by surprise!
1/ Number of Indians
The amount of Indians there was surprising.
I mean, living in India, I’ve seen many friends and family immigrate to Canada. In fact, people from my grandma’s village who have never even stepped foot in big cities of India like Delhi, have immigrated straight to Canada.
It’s a hub for everyone right now.
But I really saw lots of ‘our people’ pretty much everywhere. I was even greeted with sat-sri-akal (Punjabi Sikh greeting) in the cab and at the outlet mall.
I didn’t really feel as far from home, even though I was on the opposite side of the globe.
2/ Culture
We went to Toronto to attend a wedding.
I feel Indians in India have modernised way ahead in terms of our customs and culture, but Indians in Canada have kept the decades-old culture alive. I was ashamed that everyone born there spoke our regional language better than me.
Even the outfits, I haven’t seen that style in years.
The customs of the wedding — it’s what I saw growing up, but it has now vanished into thin air. I got married 8 months ago, and our ‘sangeet’ event was one big party loaded with food, cocktails, and dancing. Here, all that happened after a few customs.
I believe that since so many Sikhs migrated to Canada in the 1980s, culture and community helped them feel closer to their homeland.
This had its own beauty.
3/ Portions
Were huge.
I knew this about the U.S.; I didn’t know this about Canada. I could only eat 2/3 of the plate every time I ordered something.
For instance, I ordered shrimp tacos when my cousin took me out for lunch. I expected Taco Bell-sized tacos with a few shrimps. But the tacos were big rolls loaded with shrimp and other fillings.
While I’m glad they weren’t frugal with shrimps, it surprised me how anyone can eat this much.
The day I left for this holiday, I finished 30 days of an Ayurvedic diet where in the first few days, we worked on portion control and decreasing my appetite. This was more than what I ate even before the diet!
3/ Variety
The grocery store has so much variety for everything.
For instance, my husband and I wanted to do wine and cheese after we did it so frequently in Japan earlier this year. But you can’t finish an entire block of cheese… months later, that cheese is still lying in our refrigerator.
In Canada, I saw wooden cheese platters with the cheese already cut.
How convenient is this now?
I could imagine that if I was living there and we host a party, something like this will look so good.
This is just one of the many examples. There are different variants for everything that it's almost overwhelming to go shopping.
4/ Sizes
We were staying at my husband’s aunt’s house. She bought potato salad… and man, it was probably 3 kilos of salad. It’s perfect when ten people are staying at your house. And again, another example of making life easy.
But that’s a huge bloody size.
We don’t have that kind of size for things here.
I saw gigantic ketchup, cheese, salad, juice, everything. Name it, and a huge-ass variant exists. It’s pretty cool, especially for those in big families.
But I wonder if the bigger variant is inexpensive and if that leads to overeating…
5/ Space
I haven't been to North America for 14 years.
In the meantime, I’ve mainly explored Europe, Australia, and a bit of the Middle East and Asia.
The kind of space I saw here took me aback.
Like:
- endless land everywhere
- huge parking outside Costco (in India, we have basement multi-level parking)
- big parks, big houses, big roads
Everything was so spacious… it felt good. It felt breathable.
This was a change from Europe, where everything fits in a much smaller space.
6/ Distance and Time
I lived in Brampton, and my best friend lives in Downtown Toronto. Trust me. I thought I’d easily see her every other day.
Being used to Europe, I thought you can reach anywhere in about 30 minutes by public transport.
Turns out, public transport takes over an hour, and the taxi is $100!
I underestimated how far everything is.
That being said, 30km without traffic can be achieved in 30 minutes, which was pretty cool. Here in Delhi, 20km is about 45 minutes so.
The wide roads and good infrastructure help.
7/ Summer Felt Cold… And Hot
I think this is a thing with countries on a higher latitude than my home country.
It's chilly when it's cloudy.
It’s chilly when it rains.
It’s cold morning and evening.
And when the sun comes out, it's so hot that it pierces through your skin and makes you sweat so badly.
Back home, summer is hot. Period.
Lastly
As somebody who’s always been weak in Geography, I completely underestimated what a big country Canada is. How big the areas are, how far they are from each other, and how public transport isn’t as quick and convenient as in Europe.
I also haven’t taken such a long flight in ages, and it’s not easy. It’s cramped up and tiring when you're as tall as me.
I really enjoyed my time here, and Toronto felt like a melting pot of culture.
I hope I get to see more nature next time. The lakes, mountains, and countryside.
Hope you enjoyed reading this experience!