Happy Canada Day!!

Canada Day

This is my first ever Canada Day outside of Canada. In honour of the day I figured I would do up a little list of some of things I miss about Canada. (For those of you who follow both of our blogs I 100% acknowledge that I am totally stealing this idea from Katrina as she did something similar to this when she first moved to Taiwan!!)

Obviously what I miss most about Canada are my wonderful family and friends - this goes without saying and so I did not put it on my list because it clearly over-rides everything else. Ok, here we go - and these are in no particular order.

The cottage

Because it is Canada Day which I would typically spend up at the cottage (both Jack Lake and Wollaston) I am very much missing not being there this year. I miss watching the early morning mist rise of the lake.; The call of the Loon; waterskiing and boat rides; campfires and spider dogs; and spending time with family and friends.

Autumn

We got here right at the end of "fall" beginning of winter and although there were some trees with coloured leaves it is not the same as the brilliant oranges, reds and yellows that we get with a Canadian fall. Autumn used to be one of my favourite seasons for this reason and I do miss that I am not going to get to see that for a few years.

Coffee - specifically being able to go through a Tim Horton's drive-thru, ordering my standard medium regular and needing no more than a loonie and perhaps a quarter or two. Let me break this one down for you as there are several parts to it.

First - the drive thru part. There are a handful of drive-thru coffee places here but they are few and far between. It just isn't the same type of coffee culture here that you have in Canada where you basically can't go more than 10 minutes without finding a Tim Horton's. Not to mention you have to wait a long time to get your coffee if you do find a drive thru because it takes so long to make - none of this waiting freshly brewed pot stuff (see number two)

Second - Medium regular - coffee with one cream and one sugar. They do not have regular drip coffee down here - all coffee is made with those fancy coffee machines they have at starbucks with the steamers etc. Your basic coffee options are a long black or a flat white (coffee with steamed milk). We do have a drip coffee machine at home but both of us enjoy our coffee with cream and you cannot buy coffee cream down here. It has been suggested that I try buying whipping cream, and skim milk and mix then together to make my own half and half but that seems like a lot of effort for a cup of coffee. And so I have gotten used to drinking flat whites when out, and coffee with milk at home but it just isn't the same as my Timmys!!!

Third - a normal size coffee down here will run you somewhere between $3.50 and $4.50. Often this depends on whether you want it to stay or take away. I don't know about you, but if I am spending $4.00 on a coffee it better be a Grande Vanilla Latte not a regular coffee with steamed milk.

Familiarity of restaurant chains

I am going to qualify this one because you all know that I love trying out new foods and new restaurants and I enjoy encouraging my children to do the same. However, it is tough when you are in a new city, and do not know where the family friendly restaurants are. It takes a while to search them out and while we have found a few that are amazing (sandboxes, play structures or toy boxes in the restaurant) we have also had nights where we had to drive to several places to find one that fit our needs. On these nights it would have been very comforting to see the familiar sign for Swiss Chalet, Boston Pizza, Red Lobster etc, where you know the environment and food is going to be the same no matter what franchise you are in. That being said, the exploring aspect is also fun and on nights where the kids are game to try something new, we have enjoyed some great different foods and found some wonderful new places.

Costco - We do have Kmart, the Big W (basically a regular walmart) and Target. But I do miss being able to go to one store and get groceries and household items, and clothing, and my contacts etc. There isn't really any bulk shopping down here that I have found. I quite enjoyed my former stash of non-perishables and my meat in the deep freeze. It kept me from having to go grocery shopping every week which when you have small children can be an entire event.

Triscuits, Goldfish, Red Rose Tea and Activia Yogurt - There are alternatives to most things, but none that I have found to the list above. Of course there are other brands of yogurt and tea but sometimes you just want to be a creature of habit and enjoy your favourite brand.

So those are just a few little things that I miss about Canada. There are many differences down here but also many similarities and on the whole, if I had to be living anywhere other then Canada I am glad that I am here. The people are friendly, the weather is amazing and the lifestyle is relaxed and family focused.

So on that note Happy Canada Day everyone!! Brayden was very excited to bring his Canadian flag to school today for "news" and tell his mates all about Canada. We are spending the evening with another Canadian family who has just arrived in Perth so it will be a nice evening.