When you move to another country, there are so many things on your mind that you need to think about, such as “is my passport valid?”, “will my visa come through in time for the trip?”, “do I already have a place to live?”, “will I get used to the language?” and a million more thoughts, but none of them are about possible cultural differences that exist and can make your experience different from what you imagined.
I left Brazil and moved to Vancouver in 2023 and realized that I wasn’t as prepared as I thought. There are things that are unique to your country, and when you go to another, things work completely differently. So here are 5 culture shocks that I experienced (and sometimes still experience) when I arrived in Vancouver.
- Rain
The first one, and I dare say it’s the one that shocks me the most and that I still can’t get used to, is how Canadians never use umbrellas. It could be the biggest storm happening, but for a Canadian, just a waterproof jacket is enough.
Besides, you live with the rain without any problem, again, even with a storm happening, you have no problem walking, going out to enjoy the night, or going to college. Rain or shine, with or without an umbrella, it’s just another normal day. I confess that I feel like an alien with an umbrella in the streets, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
- “Thank you”
Before arriving in Canada, I had already heard a lot about how polite Canadians are, so that was a very positive point of arriving here and seeing that it was true, but what impresses me is the concept of saying “thank you” every time you get off the bus. I think that’s really cool to do and it was one of the first things I started doing here. What I like most about the idea of thanking the driver is that even if people are riding on those larger buses and they’re getting off through the back door, the driver often won’t be able to hear them, but even so, everyone will say “thank you” when they get off.
- Tipping
In Brazil, tipping is not usual to do; it’s the kind of thing that happens very rarely, so I was never used to it. But when I arrived in Vancouver, tipping wasn’t just a nice thing to do, it’s almost an obligation. I confess that at first it was very difficult for me; I couldn’t wrap my head around why I should give more money than I was already paying, and many times I didn’t tip. But living here, you get used to it, and today it’s part of me.
- Beach
Being Brazilian, this was a big culture shock for me. If you don’t know how Brazilian beaches work, I’ll explain it to you. A completely sunny day, everyone in their swimsuits, you arrive, spread out your “canga,” which is like a towel, but not exactly. You open your parasol and enjoy sunbathing, taking a dip in the sea every 15 minutes. On the beach, there are stalls after stalls with food and drinks of all kinds, vendors shouting things like “Beer 1 for 10, 2 for 7” all over the beach. Here in Vancouver, people go to the beach whether it’s cold, hot, raining, windy, and when you get there, many people are enjoying themselves in normal clothes, sitting directly on the sand, or with a tent and no parasol. And there’s no one selling food or drinks. Maybe that’s one of the few shocks I’ll never get over.
(MarlynCollins/Pixabay)
- Physical touch
Last, but not least. Being Latina, coming from a country where we love physical contact, it’s one of our ways of showing love and affection for people, and arriving here and realizing that it wasn’t like that was difficult. I wanted a hug and I received a handshake, but little by little we began to understand everyone’s limits and how far I can go. So I have friends that today I just say, “I’m going to hug you now, okay?” and they love it.
In short, living in Vancouver taught me many things. I feel that I’ve changed in many ways, but I also feel that I’ve managed to change the Canadians I’ve met a little bit.
Here I managed to have a new version of myself, neither 100% Brazilian nor 100% Canadian, but a little bit of both.