One of the coolest things so far are all the
differences between the States and Canada. Here's the things I've noticed first
and foremost.
1.
Starbucks First of all, the place to be here is Tim
Horton's, not Starbucks. Starbucks can still be found on every corner, really
more corners than in Dallas, sometimes multiple stores on one corner. The
reason it's on this list, though, is that the Starbucks here are oddly
"do-it-yourself-ish." Only at the airport have I been handed a cup
with a lid on it. Want a coffee collar to protect your hands, better ask for
it. The little green stoppers are more readily available than they are in the
states. It's just a little odd.
2.
National
Language(s) The States don't
have a national language. Canada has two. This mean French and English
translations are on almost every public sign, product and good. On top of that,
we live in an area with a large Asian population, so things are frequently
triple listed. In the Costco, they have all boxes stacked in two columns, one
with the French labels facing out and on with the English labels visible. It's
beautiful in a way. A real mixing of cultures. I've often marveled at the way
the States refuse to declare a national language. When they were first being
settled with the motto and heart of a melting pot, it made sense. Since then
English has become the unofficial official language, causing great heartbreak
and strife among some of our people. Particularly in the southern most states
where Spanish is a very common language. I've heard and seen a lot of
"learn to speak our language" type statements. These infuriate me.
The nation hasn't declared anything to be "our language," so how do
you call yourself a patriot of this great country when you are rude to those
whom your country welcomed. The States have long touted themselves as a haven
for all. Even when they first settled, this wasn't true. Canada seems to have
actually been able to embody this mentality as a governing body and as a
society. I wrote about a really gorgeous observation from a gentleman we
encountered in this post. For as much grief as I might have even
once given USA's hat, the people of America have some things they could easily
stand to learn from the people in Canada.
3.
Left
turns Dallas has an
overabundance of left turn only lanes. Tulsa has a few, with a spike from what
I was used to in protected right turn lanes. Vancouver also has a large number
of left turn lanes. The kicker is, these lanes frequently don't come with a
left turn arrow. What I've seen this result in is cars just turning left after
the light turns yellow, and the opposite lanes having to wait while their light
turns green to ensure they don't t-bone anyone. It's terrifying. Usually only
two cars try to make it through, but I've seen a bus pull this maneuver!!
Seriously dangerous stuff!
4.
Flashing
green lights Lord have mercy. I
have no idea whose idea this was, but I would like to kick them in the pants.
If a traffic intersection is "pedestrian controlled," the green light
will flash. This means that pedestrians using the walk buttons can cause the
light to change at a moment's notice. I think. I'm not actually sure. But I get
really antsy when driving through a series of them. Because Wikipedia covers
everything under the sun, here's an article on Pedestrian Crossing. Enjoy it as much as I did.
5.
Stopping
where cars should stop This
is a VERY pedestrian city. The only place I've driven so far was to the
PetSmart because I wasn't sure how much I would be getting. The beautiful
wonderful amazing TransLink train system and walking are the
primary ways to get around. I even took the train to the airport htis morning.
It's just the way to do it. In light of this fact, the cars behave the way they
should around pedestrians. Drivers stop BEFORE the crosswalk!! It's an
unbelievably novel idea. Absolutely insane, really. Practically archaic. Yet I
have seen drivers throw their car into reverse and back up if they stopped in
the crosswalk. It's a truly heavenly sight for ye olde pedestrian.
6.
TransLink
trains have no operators Everything is run automatically! It’s 2 parts
terrifying and 8 parts amazing. The trains run constantly. I’ve never looked up
a schedule, because even if I approach the platform when the train is leaving,
I know it will be less than five minutes until the next one arrives. It’s a
really awesome system. The one thing I would recommend is installing an actual
turnstile system. Right now they don’t have a way of checking that you actually
purchased tour train ticket. Apparently they’re in beta testing for an
electronic system. We’ll see what comes of this during our time here.
7.
Bike
lanes Ok, so I heard
from many sources that Vancouver would be the most bike-able city in the world.
I think the city planners put a great deal of effort into making it so, but in
the end, the cars and foot pedestrians will always win. There are bike lanes in
place, marked by green strips on the roadway. They are supposed to yield to
pedestrians. They don't. They are supposed to still follow all traffic laws.
They don't. I think the problem boils down to the few people who DO bicycle
around town. They do so with such disregard to all others that it makes it
dangerous for the average rider like myself to attempt to join them. I will
stick to walking, and I'm just fine with this. It's a beautiful city and I
don't have anywhere to be in a hurry.
8.
Driveways Homes don't have front driveways!!! It's
absolutely confounding to me!!! Neighborhood streets are all sidewalk and
no driveway. Alleys and street parking are what it’s all about here. It makes
for a really cute neighborhood street, but it makes it tough when you made a
wrong turn and need to pull a u-ey.
9.
Street
buses They’re electric.
Downtown and neighborhood streets are blanketed by an intricate network of
electric cables. They are familiar to me for trolleys in cities like Dallas and
San Francisco. Pure electric buses are a little odd to me though. Surely they
have backup systems… we’ll see. I haven’t had to ride a street bus yet. Further
investigation is clearly required.
10.
Units This one’s a little
more obvious, and we knew we were walking into it. Still it catches me off
guard on a regular basis. Celsius vs Fahrenheit and Kilometers vs Miles.
Kilometers and miles are fairly easy to deal with. One kilometer is about 2/3s
of a mile, plus we really only need that when we’re driving, and our car has
both on the speedometer. On that note, though, Canadians drive sooo slowly! Our
parking garage has a 10 km/hr speed limit. That’s like 7 mph! That’s nothing!
The highways are typically between 80 and 100 km/hr, which is roughly 45 and 65
mph. It’s tough for this Dallas girl. The temperature units are much more
difficult. I was telling someone that Dallas reached 115 degrees on a regular
basis in the summer. The look I got was indescribable. I quickly realized my
mistake and amended my statement with Fahrenheit. I know there’s a formula for
conversions, but it’s not exactly the quickest thing in the world. So far I
just have my phone weather app report the temps to me in Fahrenheit, and we’ll
go from there.
11. The
accent Oh it’s a beautiful one! Every time I hear “sorry” and “Mazda” pronounced
with much longer vowel sounds than are used in the States, especially in the
South, I lose my shit. On the flip side of that, I became so accustomed to the
accents of international students at TU that I’m just as floored when someone
appearing to be of foreign decent speaks with a flawless Canadian accent.
That’s one of the biggest negative things I gained while at TU. The school
consistently tried to improve the interactions and impressions between the
nationals and internationals, but it never got very far. I’d like to say I was
never rude to anyone of international origin on campus, but I will also say I
never went out of my way to befriend anyone from the same group. Also, here's a YouTube video of a fabulous (in every sense of the word) gal teaching people to "speak Canadian."
12.
Conservative
banking America tried to tell the rest of the world that their democratic
approach to government and banking is the best in the world. Wrong. Canada’s
is. Their economy is right on par with that of the States’. The exchange rate
between Canadian dollars and US dollars fluctuates in favor every week. They
have a strong workforce and a healthy economy, based on everything from
industry and farming to technology and business. I’m quite excited to look for
a job here. The market is healthy and I’m decently marketable. This difference
became most apparent to us when we applied for our bank account. First of all,
US credit doesn’t transfer in any way to Canadian credit scores. They saw the
negative influences the lending market was having on the validity of our credit
scores and decided to stay true to theirs. As a result of this, they pulled our
US credit score to be able to recommend us for a checking account, but this did
not establish any sort of credit record or score for us in Canada. We will have
to get a Canadian credit card in order to start building up our credit here.
They are also large, enormous, overwhelming users of the built in chip in
credit and debit cards. I remember a few years back when the States tried to
implement this same program, and it failed quite splendidly. Scammers were
bumping up against purses and wallets, people were hesitant to use them, and
they weren’t even national installed. In Vancouver it’s practically the only
way to go. Retailers will still let you scan a card, but they look at you a
little funny. The card readers here are also slightly different. They’re
mobile, so waiters bring it right to your table, retailers don’t have it
mounted to the counter, and it has multiple ways of use. There’s the typical
swipe ability on the side of the machine. It also has a slot more like an ATM
on the bottom of it. Then it also allows for tapping with the chip on the top
of the machine. Debit cards are true debit cards, and cannot be swiped like a
credit card. There is no option to use it without your PIN number. PIN numbers
can also be any length between 4 and 20 or something like that. They
recommended we choose a 4 digit PIN if we wanted to use the card in the states,
as it’s the only length they recognize. It’s really one of the starkest
differences.
13.
College
Don’t tell anyone you went to college. It does not mean what you think it
means. In Vancouver, Colleges are all trade schools. It’s the Tulsa Welding
School and the Art Institute. Still reputable schools teaching excellent
abilities, but not the four-year higher learning institution I paid good money
to attend.
Well 13 isn’t the best number for a list of items… I guess I
could break a few things up to get to 15, but is it really worth it? Probably
not.
I hope to continue with these lists as we run into more
fascinatingly different things about Canada!
