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Hi, I was at a party recently, a regular, suburban Australian party, and a very close friend who has recently been travelling brought along a Canadian. We talked and talked and talked some more. She had travelled a lot and being the kind of person I am (I'm very interested in other cultures) I had a lot of questions to ask, until all of a sudden she suggested I go to Canada.
My first thought was - "You're crazy."
I said that and immediately her tone changed. "Do I sound crazy?" she asked. Of course I said no, and then we started talking about why the thought sounded crazy. The bottom line was in my mind I was so sucked in to the day-to-day. I have a job (doing something I don't want to do mind you), and a house, and enough money to support my habits and my hobbies. So the thought had never crossed my mind.
But one thing's for sure, she definitely wasn't crazy. She was a nice friendly person, living a fun life doing fun things, meeting new people from different cultures.
Then she said "This is what being a Canadian's like."
My mind was blown. Could this really be what being a Canadian's like? Being nice and fun and friendly. See, in Australia, the culture is based heavily on drinking, having barbecues, being friendly in the sense that if someone's around you'll say G'day, or if someone needs a hand with something you'll lend it. But you never really get to know anybody unless you have a reason to. It just shocked me deeply that here was this person that I just met at a party, who spent the time to actually get to know me, and was convincing me that there is a better place for someone like me to be.
So I actually decided, why not. I should go to Canada. I have a friend who wants to move there and if we do it together it will be so much easier for the both of us. Being an Australian over there too I assume it will give me a new talking point, a new lease on life so to speak, everything will be different. The internet will be better in terms of ping. There will be greater opportunities in terms of the games industry, specifically when it comes to indie games. It will give me easier access to things like conventions in the US which I have always wanted to go to, and then there's things like MLG.
I went home that night and barely slept at all. I couldn't shake the thought, is Canada the right move? I posted on facebook about it and every friend I have that has travelled said they have never heard anything bad about Canada (except for the weather, which I'm almost certain I could handle.) I looked up the culture and society and in every single way, it seems better than Australia's. Not a lot better mind you, but just the little things.
So I just wanted to ask for people's opinions on Canada in general, if any Canadian's see this or if anyone's travelled there, how would you rate it?
And I ask here specifically because TL'ers always seem to have good opinions on things.
P.S In the mean time, time to apply for a visa :D
 
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It depends on where in Canada
Where exactly would you be?
In my neck of the woods, it's pretty good. Though, I get laughed at alot for where my house is in my city, as it's supposedly part of the ghetto. Canada is nice, pretty and we're quite friendly. Even though our polar bear friends and igloos are slowly going away. D;
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Learn to play hockey and speak french.
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On April 15 2012 14:38 Fallians wrote:
Learn to play hockey and speak french.
This too, and slowly incorporate eh into your speech
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What province are you looking at? What city?
Most Aussies I meet either work on ski hills or as tree planters or, most often, both. But since I'm a tree planter, and my boss recruits heavily from people living in the Kootenays (a region in the Rocky Mountains), I suppose that's... kinda what you'd expect. Every year at the end of our planting season we have a big fancy-ish award night in honour of one legendary Australian planter from way back...
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Three things.
1. In Canada, people apologize when they walk past you in the opposite direction on the sidewalk.
2. We have a corrupt and deeply offensive government.
3. Depending on where you move you'll either be living in a vibrant urban art centre or a gold rush ghost town. Your choice.
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Is this for a visit/touring Canada?
Or
Staying in Canada?
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Honestly, I don't mean to be rude here, but I think you're the crazy one if you believe that an entire country of people are "nice and fun and friendly", like robots. There is no place on earth where every single person is the same in a country, you are always going to get a spectrum of different personality types. In fact, you'd probably find the exact same spectrum of people in Canada as you do in Australia, some are nice, some are mean, some are friendly, some are not.
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If you're into parties and you come to a big city like Toronto I think you'll still go to parties here. That part of you won't change.
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Depends on where you want to go. East/West coast is pretty good, although I live much farther inland. If you can survive the winter (-30 in January is the norm in my area) Canada is a pretty good place to live.
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On April 15 2012 14:36 X10A wrote:
It depends on where in Canada
Where exactly would you be?
Toronto was suggested, and where I have been looking/thinking about. Although honestly it would depend a lot on where I find work, and what type of accommodation is available which I probably wouldn't try to narrow down until I get a positive response from the visa application.
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On April 15 2012 14:48 Zapdos_Smithh wrote:
Honestly, I don't mean to be rude here, but I think you're the crazy one if you believe that an entire country of people are "nice and fun and friendly", like robots. There is no place on earth where every single person is the same in a country, you are always going to get a spectrum of different personality types. In fact, you'd probably find the exact same spectrum of people in Canada as you do in Australia, some are nice, some are mean, some are friendly, some are not.
There is much truth in this. You'll see plenty of "drinking, having barbecues, being friendly in the sense that if someone's around you'll say G'day, or if someone needs a hand with something you'll lend it." Plenty of fucking assholes and god damn geniuses and fucking asshole geniuses. Blithering racists and shut-in nerds and flaky artist-types and drunk-ass college kids (god damn engineers) and worldly renaissance men and everything else in all possible permutations and combinations.
Like you'd find in Australia, I'd bet.
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On April 15 2012 14:52 skipgamer wrote:Show nested quote +On April 15 2012 14:36 X10A wrote:
It depends on where in Canada
Where exactly would you be? Toronto was suggested, and where I have been looking/thinking about. Although honestly it would depend a lot on where I find work, and what type of accommodation is available which I probably wouldn't try to narrow down until I get a positive response from the visa application.
You should be aware that Toronto is the most mean-spirited city in Canada. Not to say that you'd hate it, there's always something happening in Toronto so you'll never be bored. But it's business-like, not very inspiring, and someone will be a dick to you daily.
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they have milk bags watch out LOL <3 Canada
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On April 15 2012 14:58 lolmlg wrote:Show nested quote +On April 15 2012 14:52 skipgamer wrote:On April 15 2012 14:36 X10A wrote:
It depends on where in Canada
Where exactly would you be? Toronto was suggested, and where I have been looking/thinking about. Although honestly it would depend a lot on where I find work, and what type of accommodation is available which I probably wouldn't try to narrow down until I get a positive response from the visa application. You should be aware that Toronto is the most mean-spirited city in Canada. Not to say that you'd hate it, there's always something happening in Toronto so you'll never be bored. But it's business-like, not very inspiring, and someone will be a dick to you daily.
You should be aware that Toronto is one of the most expensive cities in Canada. That and Vancouver.
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On April 15 2012 14:48 Zapdos_Smithh wrote:
Honestly, I don't mean to be rude here, but I think you're the crazy one if you believe that an entire country of people are "nice and fun and friendly", like robots. There is no place on earth where every single person is the same in a country, you are always going to get a spectrum of different personality types. In fact, you'd probably find the exact same spectrum of people in Canada as you do in Australia, some are nice, some are mean, some are friendly, some are not.
Really, that's a huge bummer. Of course I wouldn't expect everyone to be the same, but from what I've read there just seems to be a more culturally accepting vibe about Canada. I don't know if you've ever been to Australia, but there is real seperation and segregation within most of the community. Australians stick to themselves, Vietnamese stick to themselves, Europeans stick to themselves, Middle-eastern's stick to themselves. And if you spend time with any of these groups you will usually find them complaining about others (especially Australian's complaining about others.)
Perhaps, you are right, it may just be a pipe-dream.
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By the way, if you're moving to Toronto and plan on renting an apartment you need to do some serious research before you sign anything. There are particular buildings that are notorious for being exploitative of immigrants and full of crime.
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depends on what you're looking for. big city? outdoors? cold? coast/ocean? There's a wide range in Canada.
I suggest just looking up each major city in each province to get yourself a feel. Vancouver/Toronto/Calgary/Edmonton/Ottawa would be a decent start.
I suggest Vancouver, though it's rated the most expensive place to live in all of NA... yikes :S
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On April 15 2012 15:01 Tamburlaine wrote:Show nested quote +On April 15 2012 14:58 lolmlg wrote:On April 15 2012 14:52 skipgamer wrote:On April 15 2012 14:36 X10A wrote:
It depends on where in Canada
Where exactly would you be? Toronto was suggested, and where I have been looking/thinking about. Although honestly it would depend a lot on where I find work, and what type of accommodation is available which I probably wouldn't try to narrow down until I get a positive response from the visa application. You should be aware that Toronto is the most mean-spirited city in Canada. Not to say that you'd hate it, there's always something happening in Toronto so you'll never be bored. But it's business-like, not very inspiring, and someone will be a dick to you daily. You should be aware that Toronto is one of the most expensive cities in Canada. That and Vancouver.
Just wondering, where would either of you suggest? I think I'll just travel around on a holiday before even thinking about moving by the direction this thread is going.
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On April 15 2012 15:02 skipgamer wrote:Show nested quote +On April 15 2012 14:48 Zapdos_Smithh wrote:
Honestly, I don't mean to be rude here, but I think you're the crazy one if you believe that an entire country of people are "nice and fun and friendly", like robots. There is no place on earth where every single person is the same in a country, you are always going to get a spectrum of different personality types. In fact, you'd probably find the exact same spectrum of people in Canada as you do in Australia, some are nice, some are mean, some are friendly, some are not. Really, that's a huge bummer. Of course I wouldn't expect everyone to be the same, but from what I've read there just seems to be a more culturally accepting vibe about Canada. I don't know if you've ever been to Australia, but there is real seperation and segregation within most of the community. Australians stick to themselves, Vietnamese stick to themselves, Europeans stick to themselves, Middle-eastern's stick to themselves. And if you spend time with any of these groups you will usually find them complaining about others (especially Australian's complaining about others.) Perhaps, you are right, it may just be a pipe-dream.
No offense but you seem really wishy-washy about the whole thing. People act like people. Two immigrants from Russia will become friends in a place like Canada for no other reason than that they both speak Russian. It's how human beings behave. But Canada is a country of cultural interaction and if you want to meet Italians or something then you can always go to Little Italy and talk to them and eat meatballs. In my city people describe distances in terms of how many shwarma places you pass on the way. But if you don't want shwarma just go next door and have pho. Whatever.
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EPT
