So two weeks ago, my mom and I arrived in Canada. A week ago, she went back to Malaysia. I have now lived on my own for the first time, on opposite ends of the world from my family, for a week. To be honest it was scary at first; you might not know this about me, but I'm a cry baby. During primary I would cry at the start of every new year, with a new class. This stopped about when I reached secondary, or maybe earlier. I remember crying for only that first day of Year 4, for a short while. And by crying I mean tearing up a bit, I wasn't bawling.
Anyways, when my mom left, we were both crying. But then I was OK. Over the next few days I teared multiple times though. They come at the most random times and when I least want them. For example, I'll start tearing up whenever I'm talking to people. I went to talk to this lecturer after the class (I had just registered for it so had missed it) and halfway through I can feel my eyes starting to water, and it's so embarrassing and awkward because I have to turn my head so she won't see that I'm crying. *Input frustrated groan*
I know I've said that I'm an introvert and that I'm proud of it, but being a newcomer to a whole new country and having no friends whatsoever is quite intimidating. On the first day of class, when everyone had come back from holidays, the campus was filled with crowds of people. I don't do crowds, thus was really feeling very intimidated.
Another thing is that now I'm living alone (well with a flat mate), I have no idea what to eat every time (yes, my mom cooked back home). Breakfast is easy, and lunch is not so bad (I'll eat at uni or eat a salad or something), but dinner is very troublesome. My cooking skills aren't so bad, but I've never really had to cook like every day before. In Malaysia, it's very easy to go out and pack food back. I can't do that here since everything closes so early, plus its cold out and I'll have to change to go out.
So now I have to cook. I've spent a lot of money already just buying all my kitchenware and regretting buying them so early because I hadn't been to Wal-Mart yet and seriously, they have the cheapest stuff. But now I have cooked twice this week! So proud. I'll probably cook about 4/5 times a week, unless I go out and manage to pack something back. Looking forward to becoming a masterchef!
If you are in a situation like me or would like to start cooking your own food, I would recommend you to get a rice cooker. I bought 2 pans and a pot, but I all I need really is the rice cooker. Just wash your rice, put water in and then on top of that put whatever else you want, like meat and/or vegetables. Close it and press the cook/start button and 30 minutes later, your meal is done! Makes things so much easier and healthier.
Now that I have my dinner plans sorted, all I need to do is to keep busy with school work, make more friends, join clubs and enjoy my life at university. Bring it!
So I've just moved to Canada for my studies and though I was prepared for a very different culture and lifestyle, I was still shocked at how friendly the people here are. I've been here for about a week and during that time I've ridden a lot of buses, that's where I experienced how polite and friendly Canadians are.
Being a total newcomer to the local transportation and the routes they take, my mom and I had to constantly ask the bus drivers for directions. Apart from the first bus we were on, all the drivers would readily tell us when to get off and some even chatted with us along the way.
Another bizarre thing for me was that passengers (not all, but enough) getting off would say 'thank you'. I know that its manners and I shouldn't be surprised but really, how many places do you know where people actually say thank you to bus drivers? Even this one dude who was talking on the phone and you know swearing the way some teens do, shouted 'Stop please', after the bus driver missed the stop, and said 'thank you!' after.
Another thing that I am not used to is how handicap friendly everything is and how people are so accustomed to handicapped people. I sat near the front of the bus multiple times and noticed that a lot of people in the front got up at one stop. I had thought they had gotten off, but they had just moved to the back because either a senior citizen, a handicapped person or a person with strollers was getting on. The front is reserved for priority seating and can be flipped up to make more space for those who need it (picture).
Furthermore, the first time I saw the chairs pushed up was the same time I noticed everyone moving back. This woman came on board, pushed the row of empty seats up and went to sit on the other side of the bus. Then when I was wondering what in the world these people were doing, a person in a wheelchair comes in and takes the spot that was vacated and it all makes sense. Shockingly. Really, this renews my faith in humanity.
But that's not the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was that the bus drivers themselves said good day or thanks to the passengers getting off. The first time this happened I was wondering who the driver was talking to and what he was saying. After a few stops I figured out that he was saying "good day" to the passengers getting off, even when the passengers didn't say thank you.
Seriously it kind of reminds me of the film The Invention of Lying, where everyone is so honest at the beginning of the film (not sure if it's the same throughout, did not watch the rest of the movie).
Oh and their LRT stations. There are absolutely no security measures, in the sense that you could literally just walk in and get on the train. There are no turnstiles, no barriers, nothing. And they supposedly do random checks and if you hadn't followed the proper procedures (E.G. a validated ticket) you'd be fined $250. Maybe that's enough of a deterrent for people to refrain from cheating the system, but that's a hell of a lot of trust the government has in its citizens.
Though it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love living and studying here. It really is a beautiful country (even through its coldness) and the people are just as beautiful.
