Pleun goes Canada

Yep, this is it! My new country is Canada. Only Canada doesn’t know it yet as I have to apply for a visa to be able to stay here. Until then I’m a tourist and I’m just going to play that as hard as I can, I’m living in a bubble and trying to not let anything bad in.

This sounds easier than it really is to be honest. Everyone around me is a born Canadian and thinks everything here is pretty normal. Hubby (having been gone for so long) thinks most things are normal, some things are backward (those are actually the things we do agree on!) and some have improved hugely. We’ll get to all of that in later blogs.  Suffice to say that some of the things that are considered normal here, surely are not! So, this blog will be a bit of a rave/rant type blog I imagine, until I’m used to everything and will think of it as ‘normal’ myself.

I need you to be my support network, and keep telling me I’m not crazy! I’m not saying the Canadians are either though, just different 😉

Anyway, let’s go. I figured I might as well start talking about the weather. Currently that is something that Canadians and Dutchies have in common. Today is May 9th and last weekend we’ve had snow! Yes, that white cold stuff. I have to say it looks nice and very Christmassy, but singing Christmas carols in my head in May is really not cool. I didn’t even know I new that many, so thank you Singapore Supermarkets for that.

But when you go outside, you wish you had better clothes than the one that came with you in the backpack. Even though we did do some shopping (pants/shirts with long legs/sleeves) the only nice place was inside.

I have seen snow on three different occasions since I came to Canada. Tomorrow that was exactly one month ago! And even though everyone keeps telling me this weather is not ‘normal’ I think that’s just what they say. Because they also tell me that after the long weekend in May there should be no more snow. Everyone fails to mention when the long weekend is, I was apparently supposed to know that. I did not. I do now, but I forgot what it was for. Something historical probably but without parades etc. (right?); judging by the plans everyone has made, it sounds more like it is the first weekend Canadians go out on walkabout.

But being a tourist means all my days are free (I am not allowed to work yet). I just hope that the snow will stay away, because I wouldn’t mind some warm weather. After all, that is why we came here in April, it was going to be the start of spring! Well spring, we are all here now: you can start!