Image source: Lane & Anne
Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up for us the week after next. I am amused to remember the first time I ate turkey. I was still living at home so I was 18 or younger. We had big turkey drumsticks and I found the flavour to be so powerful and overwhelming. I was not a fan at all. Now that I've been living in Canada for over 6 years turkey has become one of my favorite things (at least when accompanied by cranberry sauce!). I had cravings for turkey throughout both of the girls pregnancies and was very happy when Thanksgiving came around.
That's right everybody. Believe it or not, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia! People are always astonished when I reveal that. In addition to that Halloween had no presence while I was growing up, although I have heard in recent years that Australia is now becoming more Americanised so I think that it may end up being more prolific there in years to come.
I enjoy Thanksgiving. I think Canada has it right though, having it the second week in October rather than the last week of November as it is in America. That falls way too close to the holiday season. Any occasion that gets all your family together is lovely, especially so with lots of good food! Although I do not now and never will understand the appeal of pickles and onions. Yuck! I'll stick with my egg and beetroot on hamburgers, thank you very much. ;)
I've been thinking about all of these things as my Dad and Step-Mum are going to be visiting with us from Australia in several weeks. We haven't seen them in person since we left Australia in March of 2004. They've never met my girls.
Thinking about what they will experience brings to mind my initial impressions of Winnipeg. My home town of Newcastle has about a third of the population of Winnipeg and despite both cities being primarily English speaking, I experienced a bit of culture shock. There are just so many differences between our two countries. The first and most obvious would be the extreme temperature difference of a Canadian winter versus an Australian winter. The first time I saw snow was as my plane descended in Winnipeg. Walking out of the airport in to the -18 celcius temperature was very shocking. We consider it cold back home if it's 10-15 degrees ABOVE zero.
The next most obvious difference was the bombardment of roadside advertising. Billboards at all different heights and sizes, flashing lights and writing. The numerous lanes of traffic, it felt like there were 8 lanes in either direction though really there are only two-three in most places. These things I now consider ordinary but I sure was wide-eyed taking it all in that first night.
When I flew back to Australia a few weeks later I experienced reverse-culture shock! I think once you've seen the way things can be different in other places, you look at your own world through new eyes. That's exactly what it was like for me. In Australia we drive on the opposite side of the road, and there are trees and greenery every where. Winnipeg often feels like a concrete jungle to me. You might argue that there are trees, but it's just not like it is back home. Here in Winnipeg the houses are so close to each other, and there are no beautiful hills or mountains to see right outside my front window.
One thing is for sure, here on the prairies the sky goes on forever.
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