This morning we had to say goodbye to the beautiful country of Canada. If this were a normal holiday, we would be heading back home now. But for us it’s 10 days down, 80 to go! Whilst we are moving on to the next exciting chapters of our trip, the stark reality hit me that the first part went by so quickly. Slow down please!
Our week in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada was wonderful. The downside was that we didn’t see the sun after day 2. The upside was that we had more fresh snow than we could handle!
I thought that I’d list some interesting observations during our time there. Call it, my “Top 10 list”:
1. WASHROOMS: While we say “Bathrooms” or “Toilets”, and the Americans say “Restrooms”, Canadians say “Washrooms”.
2. METRIC SYSTEM: No miles, and Degrees Fahrenheit for the Canadians. They use kilometers and Degrees Celsius just like us.
3. HAIRSTYLES: All the young boys have Justin Bieber / Zac Efron hairstyles (mop of hair, all combed forward). Watch out SA teachers, it’s coming!
4. WINTER FASHION: All the woman (under 45) wear boots over skinny jeans or black tights. High boots, low boots. Skinny girls, and not so skinny girls.
5. LOW SALT, (HIGH SUGAR): The new thing that food producers are advertising, is how they’ve reduced the sodium in their products. But their food generally remains overly sweet. They should try reducing the sugar levels too!
6. LOW STAFF LEVELS: Labour is expensive, so in many cases, “you do it yourself”. Even though our condominium got cleaned at the end of our week there, we were asked to take our own trash out to the dumpster. At the airport, we checked ourselves in via machine, and then had to go and drop our own bags off. We are spoiled in SA!
7. SHELTERED: Like most Americans, Canadians don’t seem to do much international traveling. One lady we met was flabbergasted that there were direct flights ALL the way from London to Vancouver. She asked if they even served meals on such LONG flights.
8. CONSIDERATE: Canadians are very polite and considerate. Buses that were not in operation would indicate on their electronic board “This bus is not in service….sorry.”
9. TV ADS: The number of commercial breaks during any one show is ludicrous. It seems that there are more ad breaks than there is actual viewing time. (This is true to the US too.)
10. PRICE ANOMALIES: Andy has already alluded to this, but the discrepancies in prices still baffle me. My margarita cocktail (enjoyed after our last ski run yesterday) cost a whopping $13. While, down the road, I could pick up an entry level Burger King burger for $1!
All part of discovering a world other than your own. Farewell Canada!
Tomorrow we are taking a drive up into the Colorado Rockies…