Living in Canada

Canada is a big, nice country and it's also very beautiful but maybe as I did think it was, it's not as nice to live here as in your dreams.  Life is hard for immigrant and Canadians living here.  The winters in the North are long with short days, meaning, it gets dark early.  I live in the North of British Columbia and the temperatures go down to at least -30 C in the winter and sometimes colder.

Right now the economy is not that great because of Covid-19.  When other countries will be able to travel into Canada it will be better.

Where I am right now, this summer has been very rainy and we have had rivers overflowing and highways being flooded.

We have all kind of industries, like lumber mills, coal mines.

The highways are long between towns and for me the closest big city is about 1hour away.  We like driving here and we drive long distances often as planes and trains are expensive to use.  Because our highways are long they get resurfaced every summer on a rotation basis.

We have restaurants in our towns and cities which are mostly fast foods.  Home-cooked meals style restaurants here are mostly a thing of the past.  The food is great here and very American.  Restaurants try to incorporate European style meals on their menus.

People for most of the time seem to enjoy each other and enjoy life and especially family and camping in the outdoors.  There are many places you can camp in.

In Canada, most people of my age have had ancestors that came from overseas and had a pretty rough life to start with harsh winters, but they are still, surprisingly, very friendly.

I came from Brussels, Belgium where I grew up, forty some years ago and life at the beginning was rough but I have gotten used to the pace and people's expectations.

 

O Canada Glorious and Wild

 

Canada has its own charm,

But not as you would think,

Canada has a call to the wild,

The wilderness is its charm.

 

You will enjoy its roughness,

Its toughness through and through,

There’s no one that will stop you,

From North to South, its yours.

 

Canada has its own charm,

West to East has it all,

From cities to the Great Lakes,

It has it wild even through the malls.

 

No one knows you like a Canadian,

Your neighbour could be at your front door

He could also be in the great outdoors,

You are welcome by them all.