I've been a bit MIA lately as we've been traveling non-stop. I've got a bunch of posts I've been meaning to get out so I'll start with this one - a follow-up to my previous post on differences between Canadian and American English.
Here are some more translations of American words into Canadian:
Electricity = hydro
A local (non-express) lane on the highway = collectors
While I can't really say I've been following this much, I do think it was worth mentioning that it is election day today (as in a national election - big stuff). Back on March 25th it was announced we'd have an election this year because the conservative party in power failed to create a majority. So after a few months of campaigning, today is the day. While I don't yet understand the detailed workings of Canadian government, I did want to share a few facts and resources that I find helpful in getting a basic understanding of what is going on with this election.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! In Canada it is hard not to since it is a long weekend for most, and we lucked out with fabulously warm weather Saturday (and everything is finally starting to bloom). Since Good Friday is not typically a day off in the US, I was surprised to learn that it is one of five nationwide statutory holidays in Canada. On top of that, many people also have Easter Monday off as well (statutory for federal employees only though some other businesses take the extra day as well) making it a nice, long four-day weekend. I've come to find out that most things are closed Friday and Sunday with the exception of some restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries. Luckily for those like me who haven't finished preparing for Easter, virtually all of the service industries in Toronto are open on Saturday (stores, restaurants, gym, dry cleaner, etc).
I guess it shouldn't be surprising with the small audience base here in Canada that it could be difficult to fund many great TV or music productions, and that people would turn to the US or other countries for more selection. I recently learned about can-con requirements for radio and TV stations - which basically means a certain percentage of the content they air must be Canadian. I find the whole concept very interesting, and apparently other countries have similar requirements. In Canada, these requirements are set by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Here is how it breaks down:
When we were moving to Toronto, I remember feeling disappointed that we weren't going to have some things I was used to in the states - among them Target stores, Amazon.com, and Netflix. Well, I have to say these things are much less missed now than they were 6 months ago. As I mentioned, Target announced plans to be here by 2013. Also, Amazon.ca has recently increased their product offering significantly so while you can't get as much as you could in the US, it is no longer limited to books, CDs, etc. And now Netflix is available in Canada!
Netflix Canada is limited to streaming only so no DVD delivery is available (there are other companies who offer this service in Canda - Zip.ca, Canflix). The streaming plan costs $7.99/month which I find extremely reasonable (yes I just said something is a reasonable price in Toronto!). Considering it can cost $8 for HD movies on Rogers, to get a full month of movies for $7.99 sounds like a steal! The selection of movies is more than sufficient for me but I don't watch a ton of movies. They also have TV series available, which I haven't used but plan to! So if you have a computer or a WII, XBOX, PS3, Apple TV, iPhone, etc - you can get Netflix now and start streaming. It is the little things in life and having Netflix in Canada is one of them that makes me smile!
Follow-up from my previous post. We had been wine tasting up in the Hudson River Valley when we lived in New York, and while the white wine was pretty good, it was nearly impossible to find a good red wine. We assumed Niagara would be the same, but we were pleasantly surprised with the quality of some of the wines we tasted - some better than others. For our first time in Niagara, we drove down Saturday morning and spent the day wine tasting, then stayed near the falls for the night. We tried a few wineries on the escarpment and several others in Niagara on the Lake (NOTL). The one thing I realized early on is that some of the wineries are family-owned while others are corporately owned - the difference isn't necessarily obvious on the outside, but I prefer to support the family businesses.
I wasn't in Toronto on December 26th this year, but everywhere I went Americans were making some comment about it being Boxing Day back in Canada - and I should know what that is because I live in Canada now? I had heard of Boxing Day when I lived in the US, but didn't pay much attention. However, in Ontario, Boxing Day is actually a statutory holiday, so I did some digging to figure out what I could about Boxing Day hoping not to look so ignorant when people make comments in the future.
While Canada has been known for its ice wine for a while, I think most people outside Ontario, me included, would turn-up their nose at any other Ontario wine before even giving it a shot. But, I always try what is local and try to find at least a few local favorites. Many of the restaurants in Toronto carry Ontario wines so I've tried a few and found one that was pretty good (Flat Rock Pinot Noir). So after months of talking about it, we finally made it to Niagara to taste some wines. I've put together some general resources and information to share here, and will give the best and worst of our weekend itinerary in the next post.
Is Target coming to Canada? It looks like they're trying! But, it looks like they've been trying for 10 years with no success. Apparently someone else has rights to the Target name in Canada, but Target continues to fight. I'm going to keep hoping, because there is just something about Target that I haven't found a replacement for (maybe it is the Minnesota girl in me?). I can find almost anything I need there, and I find it actually to be a therapeutic experience. I can't walk into one without spending $100, but I guess that is ok now that I only get to one on occasion. I know I'm a bit crazy about my need for Target, but apparently I'm not alone as I know that many Canadians drive to Buffalo to shop and always make it to Target!
Every time I have to tell my Toronto address to someone in the US, they ALWAYS question the postal code (unless they do extensive international shipping). The format is quite different here in Canada. In the US, the zip code is a 5 digit numerical number (no spaces). In Canada however, the postal code is a 6 digit alpha-numerical code that identifies your location very specifically. It is in the format of L#L #L#. I'm always surprised how much people here know about me just by stating the first three characters of our postal code (Go M5S!).
Tim Hortons, eh. It is truly an institution in Canada. If you don't know what Timmy's is that means you probably haven't spent much time in Canada or in Michigan, Maine, Connecticut, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York areas where there are Tim Hortons locations.
Tim Horton was a Canadian hockey player who started a doughnut and coffee shop in 1964. (See Wikipedia for lots of information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hortons) The chain has grown and morphed over the years into what I would consider a cross between McDonald's and Dunkin' Doughnuts. There are locations everywhere here (more than 3000 in Canada), and they are constantly busy. In the US, there are hundreds of locations, but they've recently closed 50 stores. It doesn't seem like Timmy's is quite as successful breaking into the US market as it has been expanding in Canada.
We ended up driving to the US for the US Thanksgiving holiday so I made my first stop at a Tim Hortons on the road. I thought the coffee was ok, maybe the same as McDonald's or Dunkin' Doughnuts. But, as of 2006 Tim Horton's had 62% of the Canadian coffee market. At least for coffee, I'm not planning to convert anytime soon - I'm still a Starbucks (or Caribou when available) girl!
I think Canadians are funny, and while I'm still observing and learning I thought I would share a few observations that I find humorous so far. (Yes of course these are generalizations and are not meant to be in anyway demeaning - just observations!)
First, Canadians are rule followers, which I think I've mentioned before. I think my favorite illustration of this is that when walking around town, they never disobey street lights. In New York, everyone waits for the cars to pass and then crosses the road regardless of what the lights tell you to do which makes sense since you walk so much you'd never get anywhere otherwise. But here where you also walk a lot (of course less than NYC), if the light says don't cross, NO ONE and I mean NO ONE will cross the street no matter how dead the street or the traffic is. Funny what they will do however is cross in the middle of the street, not at a light, when the traffic has ceased - I guess this way they aren't actually disobeying a light?
Toronto has daylight savings time, which follows the same calendar as the US. Much of Canada also follows some sort of daylight savings time, though it varies by province/territory. So, this first Sunday in November at 2 am(November 7th) we will set our clocks back one hour. I've always looked forward to this day - one extra hour of sleep can feel like you've conquered the world - or if you're in college, you get one extra hour at the bar! We are in dire need of this change here in Toronto - right now the sun rises basically at 8 am. It is hard to get moving in the morning when it isn't light until 8 - that is about half hour behind what I'm used to in NYC. Here comes lighter mornings and darker evenings until the second Sunday in March!
While I’m sure this will not make or break your decision to move to Toronto, you should know that the mail is only delivered Monday through Friday in Canada.Since most things are electronic these days, it isn’t such a big deal for us.And, FedEx is open if you need to ship something urgently.A stamp for a regular letter mailed to an address within Canada costs $0.57, and Canada Post says it takes 2 to 4 business days to deliver.To the US, a stamp costs $1.00, and it takes 4-6 business days.I’m definitely learning to plan ahead better for birthdays and holidays. Prices will go up even a few cents more next year - maybe I should have included this in my post on how expensive things are in Canada, but the take home message is really just that most things are more expensive here. I guess if USPS charged these prices and closed on Saturdays, it might not have so many financial problems?
Do you know what the national sport of Canada is?If you guessed hockey, and I bet 90% of you did, you’d be partially right.Canada actually has two national sports - lacrosse in the summer and hockey in the winter.They just want to be different!
Canadians sure like their beer and whiskey - my kind of people. I caught a great quote from my husband on my iPhone when we went to the Toronto FC game & were surrounded by some good drinkers. It seems to be pretty applicable here, and it makes me laugh.
The drinking age in Canada depends on the province – either 18 or 19. In Ontario it is 19. While this would have been nice in college, it doesn’t help me much now – except I really don’t get carded that much here which I guess means I at least look over 19. I’m moving up in the world (or getting more wrinkles)!
In Ontario, liquor is sold by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). There are retail locations all over that sell virtually every kind of liquor, beer, and wine - just like most liquor stores in the US. They are open 7 days a week with reasonable hours, which is an improvement for those of us who lived in MN where liquor isn’t sold on Sundays or after 8 on weekdays. These are owned by the province, and they regulate the prices (which as I mentioned in my post on costs in Toronto, are pretty high). I haven't found the employees to be very knowledgeable about the products, but the stores are clean and have a good selection. You’ll also find stores that sell only beer, though a wide variety, under the Beer Store name that are separate from the LCBO. These stores are privately owned by a cooperative of large brewers. There are also wine stores independent of the LCBO, but as far as I’ve ever seen they only sell local Ontario wine. While I look forward to exploring the wine regions in Ontario – especially the Niagara region - I would like to see more variety & stores that are walking distance from my house.
There is a separate organization that issues liquor licences to bars, restaurants, and individuals. It used to be known as the LLBO so if you see a restaurant with LLBO on the sign it just means that they are advertising the fact that they have a liquor license. You’ll see this often with Thai restaurants, etc that may not typically have a license. In Toronto, last call is at 2 am.
We’ve had a tough time finding a full-flavor beer. Many of the beers just taste like Molson. I like a good Canadian (that is what they call Molson here – better get it right or they will know you’re a foreigner – kind of like Houston Street in NYC) or Labatt every once in a while but it is nice to have more taste variety. Be careful if you order an IPA here as you may be sorely disappointed (unless you wanted a beer that tastes like Canadian, in which case why not just order a Canadian). One exception we’ve found is #9 by Duggan’s (a local brewer). There are several other local brewers that are popular here including Mill Street which has an organic line, and their Tankhouse Pale Ale is pretty tasty - similar to a Brooklyn Lager. I’m also going to make a trip to Steam Whistle, Amsterdam, and Granite Brewery to test out their local brews. I’ll keep you posted on those trips!
I’m in search of a good Bloody Mary here as well. I’ve ordered a few but have always been disappointed – just tomato juice with vodka – no horseradish, celery, pickles, olives, Tabasco – not a real Bloody Mary if you ask me (business idea?). Though they do have a popular drink here called a Caesar – which is basically like a Bloody Mary with clam juice and/or clams. Now every time I’ve seen one of these, they look like a really good Bloody Mary, but unfortunately I can’t get over the fact that there is clam juice in it. The search goes on for good beer, cheaper good red wine, and a good Bloody Mary.
There are a few things I’ve learned about paying for things in Canada that differ from the US, and I thought were worth sharing.
Cash: Regarding the currency, you know a Canadian dollar (CAD) is different than a US dollar (USD), right? (I'm not being facetious, some people don't.) And though my nephew questions whether bills with so many colors are REAL money, the exchange rate is around 98 cents/dollar. Yes, for those of you stuck in 2001, the CAD is almost one for one with the USD (see converter on the side of the blog for up-to-date exchange rates as this is changing all the time). One difference that I find a bit annoying is that the smallest bill is $5 so they have $2(toonies) and $1 (loonies) coins that you have to carry around. Keep in mind that some merchants, not many and usually small, only accept cash so be prepared.
Canada has two official languages – French and English.However, in Ontario the defacto official language is English.The only significant time I spent in Canada prior to moving here was in Montreal. From my limited exposure I thought Toronto, though English speaking, would be significantly influenced by French. I haven't found that. Living in Toronto you'll be aware of the French influence, but English is the main language used. All signs and laws will be posted and official announcements made in both languages.Almost anything you buy at the store will be labeled in both English and French (from my former life I can tell you this is a pain for consumer products companies!).
One of the first things (in a pretty long list of things that I`ll write about in upcoming posts) you need to do when you arrive here is get your Social Insurance Number (SIN). The SIN is the equivalent of the Social Security number in the US. It is a nine-digit number you need in order to work in Canada or have access to government programs and benefits. If you are moving here for an employer, I’m sure they will insist that you get it quickly because they will need it. If not, you still don’t want to put this off – I needed it in order to get a cell phone here in Canada (Note: Service Canada says this should not be required by the cell phone company so feel free to push back if they ask for it. However, I didn`t have a local ID yet so this was something to show I would be living in Canada).
Yes, Canada generally uses the metric system.Gas is sold by the liter (L), distances are posted in kilometers (km), speeds are posted in kilometers/hour (km/h), and temperature is in Celsius (C).However, you’ll find many Canadians still know the English units since the conversion to metric started in 1970 in Canada and was slowly adopted.What can I say; it takes some getting used to.Get an app for your phone, and that will ease the transition.One note of caution: you will find a mix of measurements at the grocery stores.Be careful when you buy anything by weight because some places post prices per pound, some per 100g, and others by kilogram.
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