Top 10 of Canada

A few months ago my other American-transplanted to Canada sister-in-law, Leslie, and I were talking about what we miss about the states. We were talking about our family, the stores, certain food items, PRICES, freeway systems...anyway, you get the point. We were all in the kitchen and my mother-in-law said "there are advantages and disadvantages to both." In a weaker moment, I regretfully said something to the extent of "Oh yeah, name one!!" AH! I know. So bad! But I still do have days where I feel that way, wondering how my life ended up in Canada. When I really look at it, rationally, not in a "woe is me, I miss my mommy" attitude I love my life. I love, love, love my husband and my children, my in-laws, my home ... I really could live anywhere. Of course I wish I lived closer to my family and my kids to their other cousins, but I am lucky we have technology like phones, Skype, Internet, and blogs to keep us updated and feeling closer.

In light of all of this, I thought for my Canada day post that I would celebrate my adopted country in my Top 10 Advantages of living in Canada. Weird to say it, but in reality this is probably my home country from here on out, and it really is a great one.

So here it goes...in no particular order,

The Top 10 Advantages of Living in Canada

1) The People

Generally speaking, Canadians are extremely nice, interesting, humble, social people. I was so surprised at the diversity it encompasses too. Where I live in Edmonton there is a HUGE population of East Indian people, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and African people. I thought it would be pretty whitewashed up there, but it is not!! I feel more like a minority there. In that way, it kind of feels like home in So Cal, but just with different nationalities.

2) The Pace of Life

While we are extremely busy with church, school, home, and three 3 and under, life just seems slower and simpler here. Probably because I came from Southern California, where it is one big city connected by several enter twining freeways. Here there is a "big" city, then you drive for an hour or so 'til you hit another city or village. There are farmers, real cowboys and ranchers, and fields of cows, hay, and canola everywhere. Maybe it is the winters that slow everyone down. They are used to not going going going all the time. Sometimes, you just have to stay home and play cards. :)

3) The Universal Medical System

Sure, it has its downfalls, but I love the fact that everyone can get medical care up here. I don't have to worry if we have enough money to go get my kids checked on. I don't have to question if they are sick enough to take to the doctor, will it be worth the co-pay (if I am even lucky enough to have insurance) or is the doctor just going to say, "Yep, it's viral. Give her Tylenol and make sure she gets her fluids." I didn't have to pay twice as much for having twins. I paid nothing! The hospitals were not as nice and they had shared rooms and such (luckily no one shared mine with me and we were gone in less than 24 hours). Also, say one of my babies had complications and had to have surgeries and stay in the NICU, I wouldn't have to have the added stress of medical bills on top of my baby's health. It really is nice.

From Justin's "almost a doctor's" view, he likes that he is billing the government in this case and not some poor person or insurance company. Anyone he treats he will get paid for and he doesn't have to worry about whether or not his patients have insurance or the money to get the procedures done. That is probably the major reason we aren't moving back to the states. He doesn't love their medical system. Moving on...

4) The Parks

Canada has TONS of beautiful parks!! They put their money into them and keep them nice too. When I was younger our city parks all went down the drain because people voted not to pay an extra bit in taxes a year to keep them up. It was sad to watch the local baseball diamond grass grow over a foot long and just die in the heat. Sad. So, I love that here there are parks everywhere. Kid parks, Spray/splash parks, even Dog parks! There are several parks along the river valley to go and have hot dog roasts (a.k.a. wiener roasts) and just walk and play. There are ponds everywhere and in the winter you can skate on them (if your skin doesn't freeze first, AND if you don't trip, fall, break your elbow, and still have 2 1/2 month old twins to care for. That was fun. Thanks again for coming up and helping Cynthia!) That is pretty cool...the skating on frozen pond part I mean.

5) The Festivals

We haven't fully participated in all of these things, but there are tons of things to do, even in the winter. Edmonton has festivals downtown year round. There are street performers, Ice Festivals, food festivals, Taste of Edmonton (sampling of local restaurants), on and on. We should have gone to more of those while we were in the city. Of course when we move down south there are fun small town things too, parades and rodeos and such.

6) The Education

I am VERY impressed with Canada's educational system. The schools seem to prepare their students very well for post secondary education. I know Justin and his siblings say their 1st year in University was quite comparable to their Grade 12 year in high school. The education is Provincially managed and departmental exams are given in grades 6, 9, and 12. It really seems like a quality education. That's one perk to staying here!

Music education is Nationally organized and regulated here. For piano and other instruments there is specific training and testing you can go through. For piano, there are 10 grades. At the end of each year you can take the exams and participate in the festivals and competitions. After completing the 10 grades you can go into getting a teacher's license and credentials. You can teach without them, but having these credentials shows all that you went through and learned. It can show how prepared you are to teach kids.

Swimming lessons are also standardized across the province. I should take them! I can swim to not die, but that's about it!

7) The Economy

When the U.S. Economy tanked last year, I believe the Canadian Economy was #1 in the world. Alberta has the #1 economy in the nation too.We actually had a surplus?! What?! It is a pretty stable economy up here and that makes me feel a little safer.

8) The SUMMERS!!

Winters are STINKING LONG, but summers are beautiful, fun, and happy! People are out playing. The summer is hot enough to be summer, but not boiling hot to where you don't want to go outside. I love summer. Sigh. Too bad it's over...

9) The Holidays

Canadians know how to party! There is basically a long weekend every month. It is great. A lot of them coincide with American holidays, but have different names. Like our February holiday is Family Day. Isn't that cool. What a moral nation. A day off for families. :)

Also, it seems that people make sure to get away from the snow, or go enjoy it once a winter. Smart.

10) The Flag

What can I say, I just like how it looks!

Oh, and the chocolate, Shreddies, No Name gummy bears, Red River, Froot Loops, and other things I'm sure taste better...You pay a pretty penny for them, but they're great!

I still miss Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Target, Ross, cheap groceries, accessibility to online things and cheap shipping, and my family and friends dearly, but really, I have it dang good up here in the Great White North. You are all welcome to come experience it with me...there is definitely room up here and we love visitors!!! We love move-ins even more though.