DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CANADA & UK

I've been living in Canada for the past 2 weeks and as any Brit would say, certain things had me saying,"you what?" but I'm sure I will get used to the differences. I guess it's worth a blog post anyway.

1) Yo, where's the milk? So I went grocery shopping with my aunt and as we were walking past the milk aisle, she told me to pick up one of the low fat milks. Baffled, I carried on walking past the fridge area, trying to find the milk. I look back at my aunt i

n confusion and said "Where's the milk?". She laughed and pointed at dozens of bags lined up in rows. Yep, they have milk in bags. When you open it, there are two smaller bags of milk inside, then you rip the top and place them in jugs.

2) Red lights and pedestrian crossings This is something I need to get used to, otherwise I'll end up dead. In Canada, when the traffic light is red, it doesn't mean every car will stop. The cars that are turning in roads can still go, even if it's red. I noticed this the first time I was in a car with my cousin and as the red light popped up, I expected her to stop. But she continued to drive and turned left into another road. They are allowed to do that unless there is a sign telling them not to. In addition to that, when pedestrians are crossing the road, the cars that are turning can still drive through, but have to wait for the person to cross first. So even though the person walking has the right of way, a car will still be driving past them as soon as they make way for them. 3) Family Day In the UK, there are a few public holidays: Christmas Day, Boxing, New Years, Easter and Bank Holidays. Over here, there is a holiday called Family Day. A day you spend with family. However, this is only observed in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and in British Columbia. But Family Day? That's very new to me. However, who am I to complain about holidays? Others include: Thanksgiving, Victoria Day, Civic Holiday and Canada Day.

4) ATM Machines You're basically being robbed. Unless you use an ATM that is associated with your bank card, you will be charged around $1.50 everytime you withdraw money. I don't think I've appreciated the free cash machines in London enough. You don't know what you got until you lose it! Also, it took me ages to find an ATM machine that would allow me to withdraw money with my Natwest (UK) bank card. They only have one bank that I recognise, which is HSBC, and I would have to go downtown Hamilton to use that ATM machine. I'm now banking with TD Canada so I guess that won't be a problem anymore. 5) Coins

Maybe I’m over analysing everything. But the 5 cent coin is bigger than the 10 cent coin. I'm so used to the 5p being the smallest, which makes sense as you’ll know that it’s definitely 5p. In Canada, it's the complete opposite so it's very confusing. The 10 cent is tiny and the 5 cent is bigger and I end up mistaking one for the other. I still struggle to count coins every day.

6) Bus Schedules

One thing I've gotten used to when living in south west London is the fact that the buses arrive every 5, 8 or 12 minutes on average. Sometimes buses arrive continuously. Whereas in Canada, or specifically, Hamilton (Ontario), we need to call a number that tells you when the next bus arrives before we leave the house. The buses arrive every 30 minutes, in some areas, it's 1 every hour. I've also noticed that 9 out of 10 people actually say thank you to the bus driver. I'm not saying Londoners are not as polite (we don't have a great relationship to be fair) but over here, every single person shows their appreciation to the bus driver and he always shouts "Have a good night!" back.

The minor stuff that I can live without....

As a lover of food, I was kind of surprised that they don't have sweetcorn as an option at Subway. I'm not a fan of vegetables so I only put lettuce and sweetcorn in my sandwiches. Now my subs look as plain as ever without the sweetcorn. There is also no such thing as Galaxy chocolate over here. It's okay though, Timbits is a great replacement.

Apart from the obvious: different accents, driving on the other side of the road and the fact that London doesn't have Tim Hortons, I know I'll adjust to these changes. At the moment, I'm loving the wide roads, the free car parks, the beautiful waterfalls, views, and of course - Tim Hortons.

*Winter is coming.... Look out for pictures of loads of snow and blizzards!!