Help! I'm turning into a Canadian!

This coming Tuesday (the 11th) will mark six months since I came to Canada and the halfway point of my stay here. It's hard to believe that I have lived here for so long. It honestly feels like just a few weeks ago I was waving goodbye to my friends and family at the airport.

I was struggling to think of what to write to mark this occasion. In fact I was struggling to think of what to write at all lately( I appear to have been hit with a pretty bad case of writers block). Then yesterday, I went to clean some windows without really thinking about how cold it was, and as soon as I sprayed the Windex it instantly froze to the glass and I realised that cleaning windows in -25C was more than a bit futile. After being laughed at for a good few minutes by my host (It seems I provide a lot of entertainment around here by doing stupid things), I explained it's probably because I never have to factor in temperature when doing simple things such as cleaning back at home as it is so mild. But then it was pointed out that perhaps I have become so used to the extreme cold that maybe that's why I didn't think about it. It got me thinking about how I have changed here and how maybe I have adopted the Canadian way of life much better than I thought I would, so I have decided to compose a list of all they ways i'm becoming more Canadian vs all the things that have helped me stay true to my British roots.

Signs i've become a Canadian.

• When I check the thermometer and it is -10C and I just think 'huh it's warm out today'.
• When I'm walking around in a t-shirt and hoodie and it's -15C outside.
• It's been pointed out that my usage of the word 'eh?' at the end of sentences has increased tenfold since I arrived here 6 months ago.
• I called a hat a toque yesterday.
• I don't find it weird anymore that I occasionally, when walking back to my room, spot a moose casually staring at me from the field.
• Pancakes, doused in maple syrup have become a staple part of my diet.
• I now know that Tim Hortons is the best, and anyone who says otherwise is just wrong and this is fact.

Signs i'm still a true Brit at heart

• The undeniable squeal that I involuntarily let out when my host family bought me Marmite and scones (Not to be eaten together of course).
• My usage of the words 'bloody hell' and 'twit'.
• The unsubtle groan that escapes my lips every time a member of the royal family appears on TV or on the news. I hear enough about them at home thank you very much.
• I still can't seem to function without a cup of tea.
• I miss dunking biscuits in said tea.

So it seems that I am adapting to life up here pretty well, thankfully though I haven't appeared to have picked up the accent at all, as I think it was subtly implied before I left home that if I came back with an accent I might be disowned. Now, off to eat some poutine, with Timbits and Nanaimo bars for dessert, ride my dog sled up to feed the moose, catch a hockey game, call some people hosers, and go shopping in Canadian Tire to use up all my loonies eh? (some of this may or may not be true, i'll leave it up to you to decide which is which though).

A grand miscalculation

I woke up today with absolutely no idea what I wanted to write about. Inspiration has been lacking all week, and while I usually have planned out what my blog post will be days in advance, this week I honestly had no clue. So with that in mind, in true British style, if all else fails - talk about the weather.

I knew that coming here for a year I would face extreme temperatures. I arrived in mid-August and on some days it went up to thirty degrees Celsius and I found myself thinking that this wasn't what I signed up for when moving to Canada. Canada is meant to be cold, snowy and everyone gets around using snow mobiles and dog sleds. That's the stereotype right? Wrong. Summer actually got pretty hot, so hot that on some days I thought it was unbearable, however I now find myself wishing more than anything that summer would return and heat up my frosty fingers. It isn't even officially winter yet, but it already drops to minus six at night and doesn't go above zero during the day. Everything freezes and the thick layer of frost in the morning makes even walking across the bridge hazardous. The worst part of all though, I think, is going from a twenty degree heated room back into the cold, those first ten minutes outside, experiencing the huge temperature drop is pure torture!

Unfortunately for me it's only set to get colder from now on. I'm told that minus thirty is not uncommon at the height of winter and seeing as I am already wearing two pairs of leggings under my jeans now, I think an urgent shopping trip will be required pretty soon. otherwise I'm not entirely sure how I will survive. I greatly underestimated just how cold it gets here and am now paying the price. My only saving grace is that my snow boots (which have got a great deal of use despite only getting the first snowfall yesterday) keep my feet warm enough, so that's one less things I have to worry about at least.