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Abstract

e of humour but in Canada, it is just different.</p><p id="9b67">There have been a number of occasions when I have said something, which was hilarious (if I say so myself), and it just went over everyone’s head and they probably thought I was a weirdo.</p><p id="163e">In my head, I was just thinking, “That was funny dammit! That would’ve killed in the UK.” But alas people probably just peg me as strange. Oh well.</p><h2 id="f0d8">Tipping</h2><p id="bc22">While tipping exists in the UK it is scarce and is not really expected, but in Canada, tipping is essential. In fact every time you pay for any sort of service you are expected to tip.</p><p id="29c9">This was new to me because even in some of the other countries I’d lived in, tipping was not mandatory. In Canada, if you don’t tip you seem extremely rude.</p><p id="0ceb">So now I tip away for anything and everything, even if the only service that was provided to me was my croissant being put in a bag.</p><h2 id="ef20">Fashion</h2><p id="7fd2">Now I am not dissing Canadian fashion, not at all. What I did notice though was that people here mostly dressed for comfort. There were a lot of people donning activewear, which makes sense considering the lifestyle here <i>is</i> more active.</p><p id="39d9">You also have to dress for warmth in the winter otherwise you would just freeze. Even the clothes that you find in the stores here are different from what you’d find in the UK.</p><p id="188c">I guess also coming from London, one of the fashion capitals of the world; people take how they dress more seriously there, whereas in Canada it is much more laid back.</p><h2 id="d0a2">Weather

Options

</h2><p id="146f">This didn’t exactly take me by surprise as Canada is known for their notoriously cold winters but it definitely was an adjustment.</p><p id="85b3">But I will say that what I found refreshing about the winters here is that they are bright and sunny winters, often with cloudless blue skies. When winter rolls around it doesn’t feel dark and dreary.</p><p id="5f38">Of course, this depends on <i>where</i> in the country you are because places like Vancouver are known to be grey, but for the most part, Canada has sunny winters even if they are at freezing temperatures.</p><h2 id="39e0">Tax</h2><p id="9a60">This was actually one of the biggest adjustments for me. Tax is not included in the price of things like it is in the UK, so for the first few weeks, I thought I was being scammed because they could tell I was a foreigner.</p><p id="a5ae">But I learned that the tax gets calculated upon payment. Truth be told, I would rather have tax included in the price, it just makes more sense to me and you know what the price of something is upfront, but I have gotten used to this now.</p><p id="0676">One of the things I love about living in different countries is the difference in lifestyle and culture, and Canada was no different.</p><p id="970b">It takes getting used to sometimes, but I always remember that wanting new experiences is why I left home in the first place.</p><p id="0f6c">I have really enjoyed adjusting to life in Canada, especially as my lifestyle here is completely different from what I was used to back in London.</p><p id="d55c">Adjusting to a new place is all part of the adventure too.</p></article></body>

The Biggest Culture Shocks Of Moving To Canada

A Brit adjusting to life in Canada

I have lived in other countries before, but I found moving to Canada to be the biggest culture shock out of all of them.

I wasn’t expecting this either, I was naively under the impression that most western countries would have a similar culture but I was wrong. This isn’t a bad thing at all, in fact, I love that no place I have lived in has been the same.

How boring would it be to move to the other side of the world just to experience the same old things anyway?

These were a few things upon my move to Canada, which I found to be vastly different from the UK.

Words

I remember getting a huge laugh from my colleagues after asking for a plaster when I cut my finger one time at work. Their response was “what on Earth is a plaster?” and “I got plastered last night!” I guess the right word would have been “band-aid”.

There are so many words that are different from what we say in the UK. Like it’s crazy, we are all speaking the same language yet some words are different.

So autumn becomes “fall” loo becomes “washroom” and as I learned the embarrassing way, plaster becomes band-aid.

Humour

The sense of humour is so different here compared to the UK. In the UK we have a dry sense of humour but in Canada, it is just different.

There have been a number of occasions when I have said something, which was hilarious (if I say so myself), and it just went over everyone’s head and they probably thought I was a weirdo.

In my head, I was just thinking, “That was funny dammit! That would’ve killed in the UK.” But alas people probably just peg me as strange. Oh well.

Tipping

While tipping exists in the UK it is scarce and is not really expected, but in Canada, tipping is essential. In fact every time you pay for any sort of service you are expected to tip.

This was new to me because even in some of the other countries I’d lived in, tipping was not mandatory. In Canada, if you don’t tip you seem extremely rude.

So now I tip away for anything and everything, even if the only service that was provided to me was my croissant being put in a bag.

Fashion

Now I am not dissing Canadian fashion, not at all. What I did notice though was that people here mostly dressed for comfort. There were a lot of people donning activewear, which makes sense considering the lifestyle here is more active.

You also have to dress for warmth in the winter otherwise you would just freeze. Even the clothes that you find in the stores here are different from what you’d find in the UK.

I guess also coming from London, one of the fashion capitals of the world; people take how they dress more seriously there, whereas in Canada it is much more laid back.

Weather

This didn’t exactly take me by surprise as Canada is known for their notoriously cold winters but it definitely was an adjustment.

But I will say that what I found refreshing about the winters here is that they are bright and sunny winters, often with cloudless blue skies. When winter rolls around it doesn’t feel dark and dreary.

Of course, this depends on where in the country you are because places like Vancouver are known to be grey, but for the most part, Canada has sunny winters even if they are at freezing temperatures.

Tax

This was actually one of the biggest adjustments for me. Tax is not included in the price of things like it is in the UK, so for the first few weeks, I thought I was being scammed because they could tell I was a foreigner.

But I learned that the tax gets calculated upon payment. Truth be told, I would rather have tax included in the price, it just makes more sense to me and you know what the price of something is upfront, but I have gotten used to this now.

One of the things I love about living in different countries is the difference in lifestyle and culture, and Canada was no different.

It takes getting used to sometimes, but I always remember that wanting new experiences is why I left home in the first place.

I have really enjoyed adjusting to life in Canada, especially as my lifestyle here is completely different from what I was used to back in London.

Adjusting to a new place is all part of the adventure too.