Culture shock? Nah.

Dear Internet,

You've all probably heard of a phenomenon called "culture shock". Supposedly it means the initial shock that you get after the "love at first feel"-phase when for example moving abroad to live within a different culture. During my two-and-a-half-or-so years of studying International Business in Finland we have been going over the infamous culture shock and its effects countless times, and the culture shock is supposed to include symptoms such as home-sickness, rejecting the local customs and the general feeling of loneliness and anxiety. I have now lived in Canada for one full month, and supposedly I should have experienced to shock in its full effect by now.

Canada, of course, is one of the most developed modern societies in the world. When it comes to technology and living standards, Canada is pretty much at the top of the list along with U.S.A and most of Western Europe. Yes, we even have electricity in Canada, and even though bears and wolves are a constant danger, the local infrastructure is very sophisticated. Of course, there are some things that are just different, but not always in a negative way. Below are a few examples.

-Sidewalks are basically nonexistent. Usually sidewalks are only on one side of the road, and some roads have no sidewalks at all. They are usually quite narrow and slippery, a far cry from the constantly maintained sidewalks and cycling roads in Oulu. Not many people walk on them anyway; most people drive a car or take the bus instead.
-Tap water tastes different. Unless you run the water for a few seconds, you will get a mild chloride taste. I already got used to it, but the first times drinking local water was strange.
-You cannot find quark anywhere. This high-protein/low-cost dairy product is a Finnish favorite, but In Canada it seems to be nonexistent. Well, at least cottage cheese is sold in jars of 1 kg!
-People talk a lot. The common stereotype is that Canadians, just like Americans, talk a lot, and this is very true indeed. It is not extraordinary that random people just start chatting to you in a grocery store and if you happen to bump to someone, people always apologize and let you know they're really sorry (another stereotype confirmed, Canadians say sorry a lot!) This is of course only a positive thing, but as a silent Finn, it threw me off in the beginning. Well, it still does. Sometimes I prefer silence over small-talk.
-The local chewing gum sucks. They are all sweetened with artificial crap such as aspartame, and most of the people don't even know what xylitol is.
-Peanut butter is everywhere. And it's awesome. Why don't we have it in Finland?

I honestly couldn't think of anything that could be truly classified shocking. Sure, I occasionally miss Finland, my friends and family, and Finnish foods such as proper Finnish ruisleipä, Fazerin Sininen and salmiakki, but other than that, all the new experiences are just great.

So, I suppose culture shock does exist, but it didn't hit me very hard.

The past week passed by way too fast. Aside from school I had some time to do the occasional weightlifting, swimming, rock climbing and rugby, and I'll tell you; I was so tired on Sunday. Five workouts, a couple of rugby sessions and the climbing and swimming really pushed me to the limit! We also went to the movies, had some dinner in a Portuguese restaurant, went for a few tankards in the Outpost and generally had a good time.

For the next post I'm thinking of listing some of the greatest Canadians of all time. There are a lot of famous Canucks out there that some of you might not even know!

Thank you for reading and have a great week!

Yours sinceriously,

Teemu

Silvercity cinema

Some sweet arcade game consoles!

This is The Bar in Canada, the famous one. It is old because it is not new, and there is beer inside and people drink beer and become happy and that makes it a good bar.

Finally had some KFC! So greasy, so good.

Awesome peanut butter. Just like Guile's theme, it fits with everything!

Dinner at Churrasquiera Galo, a local Portuguese restaurant!

I received a package from Finland :) Thank you!

Having a couple of beers at The Outpost. I only had three (three liters, oops.) Picture by Mette (IG: @jagmette)


I watched Scarface last week, and this song has been playing in my head ever since.
Push it to the limit!