Most recent print edition: Jul 28

– Last updated: Today

• About Us
• |
• Contact Us
• |
• Advertising
• |
• Submissions

International

Oh Canada!

Stephanie Kwoll - Omega Contributor

Inspired by Jessica’s travel diary about Great Britain last week and feeling my interest as a cultural studies major picking up, I decided to write about the town and country that I have been living in for the last seven months. If you feel offended, just remember: I’m German. We are rude and don’t know what humour is…

Distances

Compared to Germany, Canada is pretty big and not very populated. Germany has 32.5 times the population on 1/30th of the space. That means three things:

1. Close isn’t close. For Canadians, Kamloops is close to Vancouver. For Germans, that is a four-hour drive and therefore nowhere near close. I can reach about four different countries if I drive that long from Dortmund (my study town) in any direction.

2. No coverage: If a sign says next petrol station in 100 kilometres, you better have your tank half full before you pass it. Otherwise you end up like me, driving on a highway at night without radio coverage and mobile phone connection, sweating and hoping that the car will make it because nobody will pass you for an hour or two if it doesn’t.

3. Bears! We don’t have bears in Germany. We had one bear within the last century who came over from Eastern Europe and was shot because he was feared to be a threat to people. Consequently, I was stunned when my roommate from Lillooet told me that they have bears in the garden and all over town regularly. Walking 10 minutes from the pub to her house in September became a true adventure for me.

Trucks

In Germany we are missing two things: oil (petrol is about $2 a litre) and space. Consequently, we make very small and very petrol-efficient cars. Not so in Canada. Asking for the petrol intake when buying a car usually gets you a really surprised look and a shrug. More space and cheaper petrol are probably also the reason for another Canadian phenomenon: Truckmania! Whereas some people might need them for all the back road driving, many of the 4X4s here do not look as if they have ever seen a muddy, undeveloped road in their life. They seem to be more like an ultimate expression of masculinity for their drivers. (The bigger the truck, the better I am!)

Temperature

This winter was the longest winter in my life. It’s March and there are still temperatures in the negative double digits and snow, and that’s been going on since November! In Dortmund we get snow approximately four times a year and it stays from an hour to two days. Sometimes the snowman starts melting even before you have finished it. I really love playing in the snow and I would have done it much more often if it wasn’t for the evil wind chill! I had to learn what that means the hard way. Wind chill means frostbite on nose and fingers (despite gloves!) Wind chill means even though the weather forecast says -10C, it is actually a good 10 degrees less, and wind chill also means that you should not go to Sun Peaks without goggles.

Language

Canada has two languages but most people here only speak one and refuse to try to understand the other one. As a result everything is written in two languages, even the name of the little cooks on the Rice Krispies package! I also learned that French Canadians do not want to be Canadian and Canadians don’t want them to be Canadian now either because they don’t want to be Canadian. But they are still Canadian and so they just decided to speak a different language, have their own party and make different rules for everything. Weird.

Country culture

So far, I only knew cowboys from wild west movies. Now that I have lived in Canada, I know that they really exist and with Cactus Jacks, they even have their own nightclub in Kamloops! With a cowboy hat on the head, they are swirling their fillies around the dance floor in a true country manner… but without spurs because according to a sign at the entrance, the cowboys are not allowed to bring spurs into the club. “Save a horse, ride a cowboy!”

Portion size

Being spoiled with portion sizes for a single household, I had problems food shopping here. I always find what I need but rarely in a size that I could carry it home in! Everything is at least double the size here! Not 500g but 2kg of rice, 2l instead of 1l packages of orange juice and 4l instead of 1l cartons of milk. First, I thought Canadian families must either eat twice as much or be double the size. But now, I think that it might be the distance: If you live 30 to 60 km away from the next big shop, chances are pretty high that you have a monthly shopping marathon instead of going once or twice a week like we do in Germany.

Friendliness

Canadians are very well-known for their friendliness. Whereas in Germany, we distinguish strictly between friends and acquaintances, everyone is simply your friend in Canada and is treated as such. That is why I had the chance to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas with a Canadian family.