Soooo...Canada...in one word, it was AWESOME!!! Sooo diverse, nice, exciting, relaxing,...a complete intercultural experience and just great!
It all started a couple of months ago, when 2 of my exchange friends, Hina & Mikael, decided to get married...in Toronto. It took me some 'convincing myself' because Canada was definitely not one of my "I have to go soon" locations, but the wedding seemed too important not to go... The best part about it was that Aafke, who I met during my last year in Paris, always wanted to go to Canada and we joined forces and booked our tickets :) So we agreed to meet Saturday 21st of July at Toronto airport, both coming from different locations, and it all worked well. Taras, another friend we both met in Paris, was so kind to offer his apartment and even picked us up from the airport! So there you go, our first view of Toronto and the skyline...for the 2 European girls (one of them has never been to North America, the other one just once) already damn exciting!
The day continued with Hina's bachelorette party!! Motto: Red Hot Bachelorette!
We (The bride plus bridesmaides, Aafy and me) started in a hotel suite with drinks and funny games...both continued afterwards in a club called "Devil's Martini". For that, of course, we had to dress up like little (harmless) devils :)
The next day Aafke and I spent planning our trip a bit, before we took off to Niagara Falls on Monday.
The Niagara Falls were of course great and impressive...although after all this talk about it I expected more. But then we went on the boat trip which brings you directly to the water, and there we got the best feeling of the gigantic water masses...and we got completely wet.
To go to Niagara, we booked a trip with Jojo, a lady who owns her own business, and is driving young people staying in youth hostels etc. to Niagara EVERY day. And still, after doing this for years, she was still so excited and told us her and Canada's whole life story on the trip there. Was good for us because this way we could also ask all our questions we needed to decide on the rest of the trip.
She even brought us to this little village a bit further down called Niagara on the Lake, and there was some wine tasting, because apparently Niagara is one of Canada's riches wine regions. It's still pretty young though but definitely upcoming, and if you ask me, I didn't taste any difference in the wine...but maybe I am not the right one to ask ;)
Next stop: The Henna party at Hina's parents' house!
According to Indian tradition, the women (and especially the bride) get henna paintings on their hands (and sometimes feet), said to make them more beautiful...so of course we all got one :)
Traditionally this is an event where all women sit together, chat, eat and have a good time. We did all that, with lots of Indian specialities, but since this couple is so international, people coming from all over the world, and modern, men were invited as well.
Funny thing for me to see was despite all this, for me new, Indian culture, the family lives what you imagine a "normal" Canadian life...and we ordered pizza for dinner :)
The next day we went with Marika, one of my exchange friends, to Toronto Island, which is only 10 minutes by ferry boat away, and completely different from Toronto. You'll find lots of green there, and beaches, and water of course...definitely a good spot to chill away from the skyscrapers of Toronto.
Just realized I haven't even uploaded more pictures of Toronto, so here you go:
Then we had the Indian wedding, called Nikah. It was very nice to see everyone in their Indian clothes, hear the "priest" explain a bit about the religion and why it is completely okay for Hina and Mikael, coming from 2 different religions, to get married. Had some Indian food, singers, music and dancing.
And then the final wedding event - took place in a Swedish Lutheran church in Toronto, followed by a dinner reception in the Fantay Farm :)
For me it was amazing to celebrate this wedding in so many ways, basically for everyone in their tradition and a bit of everything. At the "real" wedding, most of the guests were all of a sudden in "normal" Western clothes, the dinner reception with lots of speeches and entertainment. Definitely a happening and I was so glad I could be part of it!
At the end it was time for goodbye though...
...because the next day the couple left for their honeymoon, and Aafke and I started our Roadtrip.
We went from Toronto to Ottawa for a quick lunch stop, then continued to Quebec and Montreal.
I had the feeling Toronto was completely "American" with the Skyscrapers, and the noise in the city, the food etc. When we arrived in Quebec we were a bit shocked actually because we had the feeling we were back in France! Soo many people all of a sudden, no space any more, tiny streets again, the French attitude...and this weird Canadian-French! Oh dear, I really had a hard time understanding. Montreal in the end was a nice mix - with "American" and French parts. Was funny though to see Notre Dame in Montreal, and next to it a big skyscraper...didn't fit at all, takes some getting used to I guess. But in general definitely a nice and diverse city! We also spent a night out and the last day with Valerie, one of Aafke's exchange friends, so we got a taste of the real quebecois life!
And then, the hardest part of all, to say goodbye to Aafke and take my plane back to Paris!
So, to sum my looong story up, here some points worth mentioning:
- Canadians really do a good job separating their trash - definitely a non-American attitude
- It was so nice to finally be in an English-speaking country where everyone understands you!
- You order the smallest possible car and get a huge Dodge! Made us think we would even have some more space for hitchhikers :) (Don't worry, it was just a thought...)
- Everyone is sooo nice!! Or did we just feel this so strongly compared to the frechies ;)
- Everything seems so cheap in the beginning...cause you always forget about the tax! Definitely weird for me to add it in the end.
- Don't ever forget to always tip a waiter AT LEAST 10-15%...otherwise they'll kick your ass
- What makes Canada so beautiful is that they have lakes EVERYWHERE!! Even if you are driving on the highway and just stop to grab a sandwich from the Subway along the street...you get off, turn around, and...BAM...another one of the beautiful lakes! Not all are for swimming though...
- It's amazing that after all that I've only seen such a tiny part of Canada...it's HUGE!
PS: As indicated below, I'm lost with all the locations to put my pictures and stories...so you can find them all on this page in the Photos section, but a bit unorganized (it ends with the recent pictures), or you can just check out the most important ones with some descriptions if you follow the links to my facebook albums:
The Wedding: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10126&l=785d6&id=695629244
Toronto and surroundings: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10130&l=3df23&id=695629244
Roadtrip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10132&l=6e572&id=695629244
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