Canada part 3

Starbucks, Starbucks and one more Starbucks. Well actually no. You do find quite a lot of Starbucks here and they have their own clientele. Canadians prefer Tim Hortons though. I do agree with them. The prices are much lower and the taste of the tea or hot chocolate is in my opinion better. Also you can get doughnuts from there. Now don't get me wrong, it is not just a coffee place or doughnut place. You can get snacks and food from there as well. One stop place indeed! So if you ever are in Canada, visit Hortons! It is a must see place. 

The bags at the grocery store are not free. They are not really expensive either, just cost 5 sent a pop. So they are cheap to use as garbage bags as well! Just do not put too much items in one bag as they will break. They are tougher than in US, in my opinion where you have to have almost as many bags as you have items. Sometimes they'll double bag things for you (in US). Walmart bags are the same all over, so I am talking about Canadian grocery stores. The bags are not free, so that people would use the one bag more often or would use alternative methods like cardboard boxes or reusable bags. I prefer using my back bag, as then I don't have to carry as much stuff. People use quite a lot of those big things that you can pull behind you (what mostly older people in Finland use). 

People drink coffee and tea hear as people do in any country. The coffee is lighter than what finnish people are used to and usually mixed with a variety of different things. Tea is pretty much similar. The difference is that you have to know places to find the tea loose. They mainly sell it in bags, which annoys me very much. I do have loose as I was directed to Bulk Barn where you can find all you need from tea to flours. It is not a grocery store, so no fresh items. 

Baking can be an expensive hobby here. All the items that you need for baking are expensive to buy, and the tins and pans are super expensive. I was so surprised to notice that in Finland these items are much, much cheaper. I mean you can find expensive ones in Finland as well, but it is much harder to find cheaper ones here. The best place for these items is Dollarama, where you can find what you are looking for much cheaper. Still they might be more expensive then what you are accustomed to. There are not that many people here who bake. People mainly by the cheap ready made stuff. 

Have you ever

Checked your company in LinkedIn and saw unfamiliar people as working there? I have. To my knowledge there is only me and my boss working for the company. Well there is one new since last September which I believe to be a real employee. Then there is one who has worked longer than I have... Which I do not believe. There is a connection between that person and another person who has had a subsidiary but that person has not worked longer than me either. So that is bullshit entirely. 

I just feel so appreciated at the moment. I really do not think that in this size company I should learn new information elsewhere. If I had another job in hand, I would quit in a hear beat. I am just so lost with words right now! Argh!

Canada part 2

My absolutely favourite Canadian radio channel is Z103.5. Just google it and listen to it. This is the music I listen to daily. When I wake up, I go put the radio on and when I go to bed I turn it off. I just love music. Sometimes I watch TV and listen to the music at the same time. Not a good combo, but if you turn off the tv sound, it is doable. Just love the lunch time and travel home music it plays. 

Milk and dairy products are expensive! Luckily I do not drink a lot of milk, but I do feel bad when I have to through some away. Think 1 euro is bad for milk? Double that! Of course now that the canadian currency is going down and euro up, the prices here are going down in my eyes too. My rent has dropped for the last month from 670 euros to 590 euros. Oh, how I wish I could stay longer! I am surprised to see that some of the vegetables are expensive here too. I would have thought that as US is quite close by, that the prices would be similar. 

Tax added. Like in US the tax is added to everything you buy at the register. I think I have mentioned this earlier... But as a reminder, the advertised prices are usually without any Tax.

Flying within Canada is expensive. Travel is expensive. It is not expensive is you know the sites to go, and prefer to use busses. Why I haven't travel that much within Canda... Somehow sitting in a bus for over 15 hours, does not sound like fun... By myself at least it does not sound like fun. I am too modern, I need entertainment. Also my car sickness does not allow reading in a car or in some busses. 

Canada, Oh Canada!

I just realized that I have not written that much of my Canadian experience as compared to normal daily living. That is mainly because I haven't had that much weird experiences and I have mainly stayed at home. I do have to say that after I have gone home, I will miss the politeness of people. Although not everyone is that polite in the greater Toronto area (more people and not all Canadians yet). Still people are generally more polite than elsewhere. 

The roads. It is in middle of the winter, and the roads are mainly clear. If there is a storm, then the roads will not be clear of course. Generally if there is a bit of snow or ice, it will be salted away. The cars will look more white or grey(ish) white because of the salt. All the sidewalks will be salted too. This means that all your shoes and trousers will also have this whiteish colour. You might need to wash your trousers a bit more often like daily, as the salt will become hard when it dries. 

Extreme weather warning! It is going to be -20 outside and the wind factor will make it feel like -30 so be careful! So, that sounds like February to me. No need to warn me about it, because I kind of think that is normal winter weather. Apparently the homeless shelters depend on the extreme warnings, as if it is not extreme they are not allowed to keep doors open!? Or then it was the extra shelters or something, but still it is mind poggling to through people out if the warning is not extreme enough. 

I, Frankestein 3D

Saw it, loved it, and hated that I paid extra for the 3D. Really no need to pay for the 3D if the movie is not an animation. Grr. Actually my intention was not to see the 3D version, but it was the only one playing at the time I was at the theater. So about the movie... You know Frankestein? Yes! Good. You know the Monster? Yes! Good. You know the basic plot for fantasy movies? Yes! Good. So now you know what happens in I, Frankestein. Good movie and entertaining. So what if the plot is nothing special. I was not going to see historical document or thriller or anything like that. I went to be entertained, and I was.