The first thing that I realized about Canadian society is that people are very individualistic; I came from a society that was very collectivist. So for me, celebrating smallest of the smallest festival or occasion meant inviting about 25-30 people. In Canada such type of gathering were very rare. Also, the number of festivals was very few. So, celebrating those festivals with only immediate family felt really peculiar to me.
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| An example of a small gathering in Nepal. |
Certain customs in Canada really surprised me. One of them was custom of eating a turkey for Thanksgiving. Another was Halloween trick or treating. I did not know anything about them. In Nepal I had heard about Christmas only. Thus Easter Monday, Labor Day, Remembrance Day, Boxing Day, St Patrick’s Day were all new celebrations for me. Boxing day for me was nothing I ever imagined. The number of people in malls at that day, the extent of sale going on in shops that day completely shocked me.
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| No one has their laptops on :O |
Wearing trousers to go to school was a popular fashion in Canada. In Nepal trousers or sweatpants were house-clothing items. Soon, I realized that dressing up for Canadians depended on how comfortable it is. You do not necessarily have to look fabulous and tip top all the time. Also, bringing laptop for classes, listening to music all the time while travelling, reading a book while on the bus was new for me. I was not used to doing these things before. Since Nepalese people are more group oriented, people would rather engage in conversation while travelling. I noticed Canadian people’s need for their own personal space and time.
