In the last four years, almost everyday was a new learning. Even today, I realize some things I didn't know before. So here is the list I recollect.
1. Snow and sunlight mirage: I landed in Toronto in the month of February, amidst snow. The first few days was spent admiring snow before I started hating it.. :) It still baffles me on how it can be sunny outside like 30 Degree Celsius and that the sun will melt down the snow at any moment. But when you set foot out it suddenly feels like -30. It looks sunny but doesn't feel sunny at all.
2. Everything is costly: From milk to vegetables and beyond everything is soooo costly. And Canada is a place where vegetables are costlier than meat.... This was hard for me to wrap around my head first. But then I guessed that farming is done only in the 6 months of summer and rest of the year everything is imported.
3. Canadian Girls are extremely beautiful: Now you would expect a guy to talk like this and you must have heard that white skin is not the best skin and far from flawless, etc... You have to come to Toronto to bust that myth. Every other girl walking on the street looks like Drew Barrymore or Rachel McAdams' cousin. In the initial days I couldn't keep wondering on what kind of genetic mutation should have taken place to bring all the good looking girls at one place. Sure Toronto is a big city, but still... And this is not true at all of any city in the US. The girls there were horrible actually (I have been to Washington, San Francisco, and Las Vegas). But after staying here for about 4 years I have seen that people here eat clean (salads, yes green stuff) and work out regularly. And coupled with clean water and air, it does make your skin better.
4. Its extremely difficult to be vegetarian in this country: I remember my initial days when hubby and I would go out and he would order a chicken dish and the only item I can order in the entire menu is a greek salad with tasteless lettuce leaves. I would look at my salad and then look at my husband's plate. Not fair at all. :(. Canadians have a vengeance to turn you into a meat eater. They will make an extremely tasteless saltless vegetarian dish and make you pay the same amount as the chicken dish your husband ordered. After a few repeats of this, I slowly started digging into my husband's dish. Just about that time I saw life of Pi, and the scene where the boy catches a fish, says "sorry Brahma, sorry Vishnu" and digs into the fish. Ya... taking some inspiration I converted into a ahem ... meat eater....A true Canadian novel depicting Canadian life....
5. Coffee here tastes like shit: Yes, after growing up with the amazing south-Indian filtered coffee, I had a hard time drinking this bitter yucky coffee. I almost got used to it in the last couple of years, and I went to India this year for a break. I tasted my good old filtered coffee for two weeks. It felt like heaven. After coming back I had a couple of coffees and that was it! I decided never to drink coffee here again. I don't know if the coffee is worse here or the milk. By the way, milk here is pasteurized to such an extent that it looses its original taste and ends up tasting like a plasticky white liquid that bloats you. Hence I gave up both or the milk and coffee. I am back to good old black tea. It seems black tea is good for your gut bacteria so no regrets at all!
6. Dishwashers are not common in Toronto: I really didn't expect this. I don't know if its a thing with Indian women and their hatred to washing dishes or builders just assume that people love to wash dishes by hand. It was a harrowing experience washing utensils for the first year at York Campus. And even when we were looking for Condos, I saw some Condos that had a gym and a swimming pool but no dishwasher in the kitchen. I mean seriously! I haven't decoded Canadians and their indifference to dishwashers but its my lifeline after bidding good bye to Kamala amma in Bangalore.
7. English: Before landing in Toronto I thought that I spoke decent English that any fellow speaker could understand. Of course, I had a noticeable Indian accent. But after coming to Toronto I realized that my English is hard to understand for native speakers here. They always made a face as though I am speaking gibberish and this really irritated me. At first I thought it maybe my accent. So I tried emulating an American accent. Even then I had people trying to correct my pronunciation. At this point I really thought that Indian accent is bad and I should be speaking in an American accent. Then one day at a meeting I heard a Russian woman speaking in a very Russian accent and people seemed to understand her perfectly. That's when I thought "fuck you and your subtle racism". I am going to flaunt my Indian accent. No I am going to be the Ambassador of Indian accent! Next time, when people seemed to not understand me I tried the "oh let me help you" and spoke as slowly and intimidatingly as possible. It Worked!
8. Most Canadian women are Fake Blondes: Yes, this was a late realization. As a brown person, it was hard for me to understand the difference between blondes and brunettes and of course white people with black hair. So it seems that only 2 % of the world is naturally blonde. So rest assured that not all of the women in that North American or European town where you live are blondes. They dye their hair... You can make it out by looking at their root hair in their scalp.
1. Snow and sunlight mirage: I landed in Toronto in the month of February, amidst snow. The first few days was spent admiring snow before I started hating it.. :) It still baffles me on how it can be sunny outside like 30 Degree Celsius and that the sun will melt down the snow at any moment. But when you set foot out it suddenly feels like -30. It looks sunny but doesn't feel sunny at all.
2. Everything is costly: From milk to vegetables and beyond everything is soooo costly. And Canada is a place where vegetables are costlier than meat.... This was hard for me to wrap around my head first. But then I guessed that farming is done only in the 6 months of summer and rest of the year everything is imported.
3. Canadian Girls are extremely beautiful: Now you would expect a guy to talk like this and you must have heard that white skin is not the best skin and far from flawless, etc... You have to come to Toronto to bust that myth. Every other girl walking on the street looks like Drew Barrymore or Rachel McAdams' cousin. In the initial days I couldn't keep wondering on what kind of genetic mutation should have taken place to bring all the good looking girls at one place. Sure Toronto is a big city, but still... And this is not true at all of any city in the US. The girls there were horrible actually (I have been to Washington, San Francisco, and Las Vegas). But after staying here for about 4 years I have seen that people here eat clean (salads, yes green stuff) and work out regularly. And coupled with clean water and air, it does make your skin better.
4. Its extremely difficult to be vegetarian in this country: I remember my initial days when hubby and I would go out and he would order a chicken dish and the only item I can order in the entire menu is a greek salad with tasteless lettuce leaves. I would look at my salad and then look at my husband's plate. Not fair at all. :(. Canadians have a vengeance to turn you into a meat eater. They will make an extremely tasteless saltless vegetarian dish and make you pay the same amount as the chicken dish your husband ordered. After a few repeats of this, I slowly started digging into my husband's dish. Just about that time I saw life of Pi, and the scene where the boy catches a fish, says "sorry Brahma, sorry Vishnu" and digs into the fish. Ya... taking some inspiration I converted into a ahem ... meat eater....A true Canadian novel depicting Canadian life....
5. Coffee here tastes like shit: Yes, after growing up with the amazing south-Indian filtered coffee, I had a hard time drinking this bitter yucky coffee. I almost got used to it in the last couple of years, and I went to India this year for a break. I tasted my good old filtered coffee for two weeks. It felt like heaven. After coming back I had a couple of coffees and that was it! I decided never to drink coffee here again. I don't know if the coffee is worse here or the milk. By the way, milk here is pasteurized to such an extent that it looses its original taste and ends up tasting like a plasticky white liquid that bloats you. Hence I gave up both or the milk and coffee. I am back to good old black tea. It seems black tea is good for your gut bacteria so no regrets at all!
6. Dishwashers are not common in Toronto: I really didn't expect this. I don't know if its a thing with Indian women and their hatred to washing dishes or builders just assume that people love to wash dishes by hand. It was a harrowing experience washing utensils for the first year at York Campus. And even when we were looking for Condos, I saw some Condos that had a gym and a swimming pool but no dishwasher in the kitchen. I mean seriously! I haven't decoded Canadians and their indifference to dishwashers but its my lifeline after bidding good bye to Kamala amma in Bangalore.
7. English: Before landing in Toronto I thought that I spoke decent English that any fellow speaker could understand. Of course, I had a noticeable Indian accent. But after coming to Toronto I realized that my English is hard to understand for native speakers here. They always made a face as though I am speaking gibberish and this really irritated me. At first I thought it maybe my accent. So I tried emulating an American accent. Even then I had people trying to correct my pronunciation. At this point I really thought that Indian accent is bad and I should be speaking in an American accent. Then one day at a meeting I heard a Russian woman speaking in a very Russian accent and people seemed to understand her perfectly. That's when I thought "fuck you and your subtle racism". I am going to flaunt my Indian accent. No I am going to be the Ambassador of Indian accent! Next time, when people seemed to not understand me I tried the "oh let me help you" and spoke as slowly and intimidatingly as possible. It Worked!
8. Most Canadian women are Fake Blondes: Yes, this was a late realization. As a brown person, it was hard for me to understand the difference between blondes and brunettes and of course white people with black hair. So it seems that only 2 % of the world is naturally blonde. So rest assured that not all of the women in that North American or European town where you live are blondes. They dye their hair... You can make it out by looking at their root hair in their scalp.
Lovely article...good to know that you are into my clan now and can relish non-veg dishes.
ReplyDeleteOf course Shvetlana darling! nice to see your comment :) Yes i am part of your tribe now!
Delete