Canada: From Our Point of View
Fabiola Gonzalez Rios, Roxxannia Wang, Gbenga Omowa
Having had the opportunity to explore Canadian streets — whether in busy, downtown Toronto, beautiful Westdale lit up during the holiday season, or even on McMaster’s campus in between classes — the most fascinating thing we’ve noticed is that every individual walking those streets has a unique story. A story behind our nationality, ethnicity, and specifically, a story about what Canada represents and means to each of us. While we may share different backgrounds and stories that brought us to this country, the fact that we ended up in the same place allows us to come together to reflect on what we notice, love, and cherish.
Fabiola’s Point of View
Before arriving at boarding school in September 2015, Canadian culture had never crossed my mind — I had no family members who had lived here before, or anyone who could give me a bit of insight about living in the country. Since I lived in the United States when I was younger, my brain was convinced it would be similar, only with a lot more snow. As time went by, slowly but surely, I was exposed to the country more through meeting my local classmates, signing out of school on the weekends, and sitting in Canadian history class in grade 10.
One of the first things that I can think when I refer to Canadian culture is… you may have guessed it: Tim Hortons! Your local coffee turned fast-food shop is a staple to the Canadian citizen. The red, cardboard cups with their branded maple leaf logo embrace the country’s colours and symbols (“colours” with a u! Another change I encountered from my upbringing in the American school system). At Tim’s, you can enjoy a large freshly brewed coffee for only a Toonie ($2 Canadian coin) and a Tim Bit, the famous flavoured donut hole, for only a few cents. Chewy, delicious, and hard to put them away! Putting the food/drinks aside, my favourite part about Tim Horton’s is not necessarily what is sold there, but who its consumers tend to be. The reality is, everyone goes to Tim’s. You will see a man in a suit, a high school student on a lunch break, and your local business owner, all in the same line. It was fascinating to see a business so commonly used by all demographics of the residents of Canada.
Being raised in 40℃ dry, desert weather, and coming to a place where negative temperatures were pretty average, was a bit of a culture shock. I saw snow for the first time 6 years ago and when I touched it for the first time I genuinely did not expect it to be so cold. I thought it was going to be like soft, fluffy sand. Instead it’s more like thinly shaved ice and depending on the temperature, snow will fall and melt away, or stick, and look really pretty! Although you do end up getting used to the cold winters, knowing the importance of a good pair of winter boots, jackets, and mittens — there are things about Canadians in the winter that shocks me every time.
I admit, you can argue that what most of the things I’m genuinely surprised by is basic science. But still, it blows my mind as it happens at such a large scale and everyone is so used to it! As you have learned in life (or science class): Water freezes! So all the bodies of water near McMaster during the winter have a thick layer of ice on the surface. On my daily walks, I see many dads with their sons playing hockey. Families also tend to use it as a skating rink for the weekend. It is pretty fascinating to think that bodies of water like these have a completely different use in the winter!
Roxxannia’s Point of View
Coming to Canada and studying here had always been my dream. Before departing from Guangzhou, China and flying 12 000 km to Canada in the summer of 2015, my imaginations for this foreign land were built up from all the Hollywood/Disney high-school-themed movies — long hallways with lockers on both sides, big bright cafeterias where students laugh and chat, students rushing into the gym or to the field to cheer up for their sports teams. I really thought that I was ready for my new life in this completely new environment even though I have family members in Toronto, none of them have been through the school journey here. Stepping into school was the time that all the sugarcoating in my imagination melted. That was the door that actually led me into the real Canadian culture, and to meeting the people that I love and cherish the most.
The reality of coming to a foreign land hit me hard. Being an extremely shy person plus being unfamiliar with the language, I remember not talking to anyone for the first two days of school and not asking for any help even though I was late to classes because I was so confused by the room numbers. The first time someone talked to me in school, she was a girl that lightened up my life in Canada since then and she is one of the people that I care for the most. She sat beside me in my first period class — geography, and we also shared a common second period and fourth period class. “Would you like to walk to our second period class together?”, she had asked with a bright smile when she sent the invitation before the first period bell rang. I have heard that Canadians are nice and always carry a smile on their face, but I would never think that I would be greeted by such kindness. She would walk with me to my classes, sit with me during lunch and introduce me to some of her friends. After that, I started to explore the world around me more and was surprised to see how approachable the teachers were compared to where I came from.
One of the most representative cultural characteristics of Canada is its multiculturalism. It was the first time that I fully understood the word “diversity”. I have never seen so many people with different skin colours, people with different religions and beliefs, people with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities. All of these differences drive my curiosity to understand, and learn more about them to close the gap in our conversations. I learned what inclusivity means, and how everyone is just the same and are all humans, and everyone should be treated the same. I personally enjoy having the diversity around me and in my opinion, it was just nice and amazing to meet so many people with different backgrounds. It was also wonderful to see how many second generation immigrants still know about their root culture, showing that there is more respect and reservation for the cultures instead of unifying to one culture by eliminating others.
What I like about Canada the most is the education system. That being said, it is drastically different from the education system that I came from. There is more open-ended learning that requires students to do research during spare time, look for resources, and read the textbook, instead of being taught the same way in classes. I love this type of learning as we can explore more into the topics based on our interests, and not necessarily have to learn the same knowledge the same way. I remembered the biggest frustration that I had when I was in Grade 9 was my first Geography assignment. I scored a low mark on a research-based assignment where we need to discuss environmental policies. I was lost from the beginning because I have never done these types of assignments and felt unguided since the whole assignment was open-ended. As I got used to the education system, I became much better at research, expressing my own thoughts, and doing presentations in front of a large number of people. It was amazing to see the transformation in my learning abilities from obtaining information solely from textbooks, practices and tests to gaining knowledge from various sources through my own browsing time.
Gbenga’s Point of View
Looking back, it’s funny what my perception of the Canadian culture was. Less than 4 years ago, my knowledge of Canada and its culture was all stereotypes and hearsay. Through my interactions here for the past 4 years I’ve learned that while some are true, a lot are still just stereotypes. Apart from that, I have learned about more than I had questioned coming in.
My earliest idea of Canada and its people came from an episode of The Replacements — a TV show which features Riley, an exchange student in Canada. Though young, I could still notice the emphasis placed on how much nature was present in Canada. I had noticed this was a continuous theme in different shows. Whenever a scene was set here, the characters were either camping or in a cabin. Basically, my first idea was that everyone here was nature-loving and had an appreciation of wildlife.
Later, I developed more stereotypes of the Canadian culture in my head. Then I had a solid picture of what to expect if I ever did find myself in Canada. Here is a list of them:
- Everybody is friendly and apologetic
- It’s always cold, and Canadians love it
- Hockey is the only sport that people support
- You had to learn French to survive
Now that I have been here for some time, I can confirm what turned out to be true and what did not.
Put yourself in this scenario, it is the middle of summer, 20–22 degrees celsius, and you have two shirts and a sweater on. I know right! How absurd does someone have to be to even think of a sweater in the summer? Well, I cannot be blamed here. “A place so cold the rain turns to ice before it hits the ground.” That is what I was told as a kid when I asked my mum to describe Canada. In hindsight, 16 was old enough to realize that she was kidding all those years ago. However, some ideas just stick with you so long that it becomes the absolute truth. No weather app could have convinced me that I would be sweating at the Pearson Airport. I had to take off a couple of layers and acknowledge defeat. That is when I realized my first stereotype was proved wrong. It’s not always cold; summer exists here.
I stated it is not always cold but please do not underestimate the winter. Get a jacket before winter sets in. I’d recommend two for when it’s cold and when it is really cold. However, that’s just me. I don’t think I was made for winter and a lot of international students feel the same. I would not say Canadians love it, but they are comfortable with it. A good number of times, I have seen them out with only a shirt or one sweater while I have the shirt-sweater-jacket combo on.
Heading back to the topic of summer — it is truly beautiful in Canada. I mentioned how much nature was portrayed when representing Canada in the media and what they depict is so true. There are smaller towns that feel all-natural; where you can go camping or book a cabin for the weekend. However, even the cities have enough nature to make you appreciative, and laws enforced prove that there is an expectation to keep it this way. Hiking is a hobby I never expected to pick up but that I now live in the waterfall capital of the world; it had to happen!
Lastly, if you are a prospective international student and you think you will miss your favourite sports cause it’s not hockey or American football. Canadians are a diverse set of people. That means communities here grew up involved with the same sports you did at home. I thought hockey was the only sport I would be able to see here. I was going to miss football (soccer) — however, I have found more fans of football than hockey. A lot of other sports thrive here as well — basketball, cricket and even MMA, just to name a few.
I would like to conclude by stating I have enjoyed my time here. Not only have I been able to see past the stereotypes of Canada, but multiculturalism has helped me ward off stereotypes of other cultures and people. Everything has been a great learning experience!
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