Now, first - a disclaimer. This is in no way meant to offend anyone. I'm not having a go at Canadians (or anyone else for that matter). These are simply observations we've noticed since we've been here, the strange and the good.....
First, because I know that everyone wants to know......
YES, the toilet really does flush anti-clockwise! Likewise, the water going down the drain goes anti-clockwise too.
Speaking of toilets - this has struck us as really odd. The toilet bowls are half full with water. It really freaked us out a bit at first - we're not used to having so much water in the bowl! And then when it flushes, the fills MORE water into the bowl before it sucks down into the drain. A few times we've been freaking out thinking it's about to overflow or something!
The coins are really weird - I'm still trying to get used to them. The 5c coin is about 3 times the size of the 10c coin, which is smaller than the 1c coin. About the only coins I have no problems with are the $1 and $2 coins. Oh, and the 1c coin of course. The rest - they'll probably continue to be delegated to the money jar because I'm too lazy to figure it out when I'm in the store trying to pay for something!
The road rules are odd. And I don't mean just the whole driving on the wrong side of the road thing! First, it's not only expected, but its LEGAL to turn right on a red light. If you wait for the light to turn green first, you will most likely get a polite toot behind you! Then there are the 4-way stop signs. Now, its taken me a while to get the hang of these. Officially, I believe you're to give way to your right. However, the polite canadian way to do it - everyone goes in order of arrival. And if you don't go, everyone else will continue to wait until you do. They are that polite here! Likewise - a red flashing light is to be treated in the same fashion. Unlike *green* flashing lights which mean you have the right of way over everyone else!
Another oddity - traffic will stop for you to cross the road! All intersections have markings for pedistrians to cross, and cars must stop if there is a pedistrian waiting, even if there is no marking. Likewise, we have found that even when you're not near an intersection, if you stand by a parked car waiting for a gap in the traffic to run across to the other side - traffic will stop for you and let you cross!
Canadians apologise for their weather - a lot! In the week we've been here, we've had someone apologise at least on a daily basis for the weather! They're very sorry it's cold, they're sorry for the snow, and they're sorry for the lack of sunshine. They also think we're very odd for *liking* the cold and the snow. As well as being odd for *wanting* to move here! We're constantly being asked "why?" when we say we've moved here! Should we be worried?? LOL
And lastly - there are maple leaves everywhere. We love how the McDonalds golden M has a maple leaf in it. Even subway has a maple leaf on the logo! We're loving how we see familiar things that now have a maple leaf on it!
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but merely a few observations we've made this past week!
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