im from vancouver island. So my advice would be to study up on the Canucks! :p
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They are an Ice hockey team...better work on your rioting too
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gotta ask what you mean on rioting... I'm guessing it's something to do with hockey? if not then I hope it's not rioting as in causing riots o.o
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If the team loses, the fans riot. Not many of them were badly punished last time it happened, either...which makes certain it'll happen again. :/
I was born there but left BC years ago for the other side of the mountains. :P
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Ooh... I thought Canadians were all nice and calm. I went to this baseball game in Toronto like 6 years ago (Blue Jays were playing) and they were all nicely seated and quiet just watching the game, nothing like people watch football (soccer) games here in Mexico, I was really surprised. Then all the other Mexicans I was with started a wave and it was awesome because it went around for a while.
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Sadly that stereotype's not as present as it used to be :(
Have a few friends that backpack around the world during the summer, and they say they're treated like crap now like most US backpackers are. From what they've heard, they deserve it as lots of young Canadians apparently have a nasty habit of disrespecting local cultures >.<
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Oow.. well you still have the good stereotype in Mexico and -as far as I know- Canadians are very welcome here (that doesn't sound right... but you know what I mean) :)
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Haha, good :)
Have always wanted to do a road trip to there and back, guess it'll have to stay on my To Do list for a while yet :D
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It's good apart from the drivers :D
I'd never move back to BC, but at least there they tend to be more careful on the snow and ice. Here its all relying on ABS rather than driving right so it never needs to come on :/
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Thats what i always hear....the drivers are terrible there, i never noticed it in my 25+ years as an Albertan but i was never a driver there either so theres that.
I remember that you could halt traffic by crossing the street wherever you want...but maybe that has changed..
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Unfortunately, i do mean causing riots..It is of course, not JUST a hockey thing...ok maybe it is here in Canada...
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Aah... well, I'm not really a sports fan, I don't even watch it on tv so I guess I'm not really gonna have problems with that personally.
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No, you probably won't, unless you happen to wander into the area..
Nevertheless, i have only heard of the one riot in Vancouver so overall you'd be ok.
I do suggest that you familiarize yourself with hockey, not saying you need to be all Don Cherry about it...but you'll be run out of the country if you don't know what a puck is.. (j/k)
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I am curious though, why did you choose Van over Montreal? idk about the schools out here but Montreal is home to some big devs..plus french and spanish are linguistically similar...more so than either compared to english
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I'm not really interested in french and I didn't really chose Vancouver but the school Vancouver Film School; if I would'd been given the opportunity to choose the city then I would'd chosen Toronto, although now that I've read more about Vancouver I think it might even be a bit better than Toronto, but it's too soon to say and I've only been in Toronto once for 3 weeks so I can't really say anything about it.
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Wait, no! Canucks is a Canadian slang which means "Canadian". Sure, it is a Hockey team as well, but the real definition of Canucks is "Canadian". :P
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Aah, now that's new, do Canadians refer to themselves as Canucks? What are other common slang words? I'm afraid that if I google them I'm gonna find only old or weird ones and everyone's gonna laugh in my face xD
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No we don't call each other that....its not derogatory or anything that i am aware of but we just don't do it
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No, we don't actually. Or at least, I've never heard anyone do it here. I think it's more of an slang used by other countries to say "a Canadian". Perhaps it's American? Who knows.
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+1 for haven't heard it used at all, apart from being used to describe the team.
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Yes that is true, but we don't call each other that
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As in....i am right, or we do? Because i have been a Canadian all of my life and have never been called a Canuck by anyone that i know as a fellow Canadian
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No, you are correct. I never heard any Canadian call me a Canuck ever, only foreigners. I think a Canadian once told me "Hey, a fellow Canuck!" in a chat at one time, but more as a joke than anything else. ^^
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lol and what about other slang that you actually use?
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The only one I can confirm is "eh". Like, we seriously use it all the time.
"Nice day, eh?"
"Pretty cold this morning, eh?"
"Getting some Tim's for breakfast, eh?"
(Well, I mean we use it a lot. Not all the time. :P)
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Biggest slang i hear ( if you can even call it slang) is TABERNOOSH!
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Googled it and could only find "tabarnouche" and it says it's french-canadian "Soft profanity used to emphasize an emotion, an impression. Mild version of french-canadian curse word tabarnak."
Is it like "dang" or "damn it" ?
About the "eh" one I think I'll be saying it after a couple months as I say that sometimes in spanish haha
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I was just spelling it how it sounds..
tabarnak and any french-canadian swears are all words against god or the church so its harsher than just dang or damn it. Tabernouche is more like saying "fudge" instead of "fuck" to my understanding..
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It's such a long word... imagining someone saying that when they hit their pinky toe with something is pretty funny
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Oh, but that isn't used in most of Canada. It's a French-Canadian slang, and oh boy, do they have a lot.
Tabarnac, Calisse, Osti... I'm not going to type a list. :x
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You're right, i was just mentioning the slang i hear most because, well, guess where i am..
Careful jbond them words will get you condemned to an eternity in hell!
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Meh, I already have a special spot reserved in hell. It's somewhat like a VIP seat.
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I have never heard of Tabarnac, Calisse nor Osti o.O
They're all french-canadian, are you from the french side? They also sound really weird for swear words hahaha they're usually short or easy to say
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Kinda. I can speak French fluently, although I'm more comfortable with English.
That's what happens when you live in a family split between English and Canadian French. :P
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Beer drinking is very popular in Mexico too but I just really dislike the taste, I didn't even like alcohol at all until this past December and I'm sticking to drinks that are too sweet to actually taste the alcohol like Margaritas and Daiquiris, unless we're talking about drinking games.
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About the bagged milk, what is there so mysterious? It's just milk in a plastic bag. :P
You cut a corner of the bag and pour it in bottles, or sometimes you can even buy special containers designed so that you cut a corner of the bag and just stuff the bag in the container. ^^
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Haha but what's the reason? does it cause less pollution than tetra-pack?
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at least in my country, it's much cheaper to buy bagged milk than packed (and they recycle the plastic bags into garbage ones so that's another plus).
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Oooh, that's cool. Didn't know Uruguay used bagged milk as well
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Cheaper, simpler, and easier to recycle, I assume.
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Aye. Typically, its just reducing a compounding cost. Less packaging makes it cheaper to produce, which also means its lighter and cheaper to transport. The difference may seem slight, but when you're talking about transporting tens of thousands of packages, it adds up. The reduced environmental impacts are a bonus as well.
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It's raining
In Vancouver
But I don't give a fuck
Because I'm far from home tonight
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Yeah, I've heard about the raining :/ hope it's one of those things you just get used to
Nice song, not my type, but still nice
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Why you completely passed up america lol
Still though, from Mexico to Canada I would think the biggest difference (apart from food) would be the temperature. So pack accordingly. Especially since you're moving in winter.
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Yep, first thing on the list, already made a visit to North Face ;)
I gotta say, I'm gonna miss my tacos. It's not the same when you make them with other country's ingredients.
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Dude still though, tacos are tacos are tacos. Perfection.
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Get yourself a nice peacoat. They're warm and comfortable, and stylish as hell.
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Eh not really my style, I'm more of the hoodies and leather jackets type of person :P
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Vancouver in the Winter will probably demand more than a hoodie, especially if you're used to the climate of Mexico. Maybe a nice bomber jacket?
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Hahaha I meant like jackets with hoodies for example, more casual and relaxed wear, I've already bought jackets suited for Vancouver's climate. I did my research of Vancouver's climate, don't worry about it :P
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Personally, I love the weather in this region (I'm in Oregon), but it can be disconcerting to people used to warmer and drier climates.
On a plus side, there's supposed to be a lot of amazing Asian food in Vancouver!
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Well were I live (Nuevo Leon, frontier with Texas) we get to -8C during winter some days and even tho' we rarely get snow (probably once every year and almost nothing) we do get hail and during summer we can go from 25C to 40C in the same day and maybe even some rain, weather here is very weird so we get a bit of everything haha
I personally consider 16-20C the perfect temperature, just chilly enough for a light hoodie. The stereotypical Mexican climate doesn't really apply to the northern part.
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Oh and about the Asian food it's really good to hear that because my campus is practically in the middle of Chinatown so I'm expecting to eat there a lot x)
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Ah, sorry, should've specified, I meant Vancouver, BC hehehe
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I hated Vancouver. I lived in Kerrisdale, Burnaby, East Van, and off of Broadway and Commercial and all I can say is that I think it's a terrible city and only the rich can afford to live there. The place is full of cultist-assholes and it drove me mad on more than several occasions.
I like Victoria. THAT city across the water is nice. You should check out Victoria when you get a chance.
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I've read that before, I'm still hoping it's a matter of who you hang out with and where, although I do know it's very expensive to live there.
And I've also heard good things about Victoria, I'm definitely gonna take a look there! :)
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Google Maps says it's a 2-3 hours drive from Seattle I guess there's a new highway or it's miscalculated (?)
Anyways, nice to hear someone talking good stuff about Vancouver :)
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3 hours is a pretty good estimate. It was about a 2 hour drive to Vancouver for me, and I'm from about 40 miles north of Seattle. The 40 miles from Seattle there usually takes an hour, because traffic on I5 can be a bitch and a half. So about 3 hours should be pretty close. It'll vary a bit if you travel across though probably, because you'll have to go through a bit more of an ordeal at the border crossing than we used to. Last time I visited Vancouver was before 9/11, and they just checked a couple things, let us through, and then to return to the US side was showing ID and going. I understand it can be a bit more involved these days.
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Ah, well crossing the frontier is probably going to be the same as doing it from Mexico and I already have my Visa, besides I don't think that I'm going to be visiting Seattle constantly haha
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"Anyone from Vancouver?"
No, thankfully. I already live in China.
HAH!
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I live near Vancouver (about an hour drive from it). There's no real "best" phone company. They all aim to tear you a new one and treat you like shit once they have you under their heel. Bell, Rogers, and Telus are the biggest ones here. I'm with Bell at the moment but there doesn't seem to be any real difference between the three. Many young people have started to buy just a set amount of data, text, and minutes instead of going into the 2 year contracts since it's cheaper if you're not a huge user.
As for milk in bags, that is predominantly an Eastern Canadian thing. I had never even heard of milk in bags until the internet kept mentioning it in reference to Canadians. You won't really encounter it in Vancouver.
What else do you need to know...? Um. Dunno. It rains a lot here. Buy a tiny feather light umbrella to carry around with you in your bag if you particularly dislike being in the rain. It's usually not too bad in the summer. It stays around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius but it's not too humid which is a blessing. In the winter it's not too cold either. We don't get much snow (rain instead) and it's anywhere around -10 to 10 C.
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Thanks for answering about the phone company, you're the first one. I'm guessing there are a lot of wi-fi spots around like in the US, right? if that's the case then the set of data, text and minutes sounds good for me. And about the rain I've heard it a lot but is it like raining the whole day or is it very common but it only lasts some minutes and then goes away?
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I've been with Telus for home internet and cell phone for well over 5+ years. Never had issues, prices are fair, can't complain.
I'm sure you'll find people that hate em, but in my experience they seem pretty solid.
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Ah, good to know. Would you recommend to start the contract or whatever thing by buying a new phone or is it better -and possible- to buy the phone separately?
Here in Mexico you can't start a contract without getting a new phone and most of the systems are more expensive than if you buy them elsewhere (at least in the company I've always used, the other ones weren't worth it until recently so it may be different now).
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If you buy your own phone, you should be able to activate it on a month-to-month basis. I don't see why not as the contract is getting you a free/discounted phone, so if you don't need that then you don't need the contract I would assume.
Personally, I just do the contracts as I know I'm still going to be using a cell phone in 2 years, and I'd rather not pay full price for the device if I don't have to - but to each his own :)
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Oh I was asking because I already have one but now that you mention it, it wouldn't be so bad to get a new one for a discount or free...
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Yeah there's a lot of free wifi places around. If it's raining then it usually just rains all day or for most of the day... Or it stops for like 10 - 30 minutes then starts up again.
And to address your other posts in response to AgeOfArmageddon, the 2 year contracts for a 4G LTE network smart phone with data are now around $75/month here. This article is a bit old (from 2014) but it'll give you some idea as to the types of options open to you and how you can go about calculating your costs: http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/carriers/unlocked-iphone-6-prices-vs-2-year-contract-compared/
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Oww I was hoping it wasn't that bad, I'm not really a fan of the rain.
$75 per month is a lot, but I'm sure there should be a contract that's a bit cheaper for less data or something, the one I have right now is like 400MB per month and it's ok and there's also the thing that those include an iPhone and I'm more of an Android type of person; I'm gonna need to check that once I arrive I guess. Thank you :)
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$75 might be a tad high unless you have tons of features. I have 2GB of data, 200 daytime minutes and texting for $65, and I'm sure there are smaller plans than that.
Also, if you have your own unlocked GSM phone, consider Petro Canada mobility. You just need to buy their sim card and the rates are prepaid monthly, no contract, and quite cheap. http://mobility.petro-canada.ca/en/features/396.aspx
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"Free unlimited text messages"
Woah the smart phone plans look really good! The social plan too. I'm paying like ~35 CAD every month for like 400MB (or was it 600MB... don't remember), 5 text messages and 40 call minutes and it's a contract...
Why isn't Petro Canada mentioned as one of the main phone service companies by people? Are they new or have a bad rep?
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They're new and they're considered a prepaid service so people don't bring them up often. They also don't have any of the "hot phones", so people who want a GalaxyS or iPhone will go elsewhere.
They use the Rogers GSM towers so you should have the same reception as any Rogers customer.
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Oh that's cool, I'm not one of those, I have an Xperia Z1 Compact and if I upgrade I'm gonna go for the Z3 Compact. Looks like I'm going to stick with this guys (petro canada), thank you :)
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You could take a look at Wind. The plans seem decent, mixed opinions on reception from what I've heard.
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You can pretty much just count on it raining any/all days between September & May in this entire region. Less likely from June-August, but still a chance. But it keeps everything green and pretty!
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And what about the rest of the year? o: is it less rainy?
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Rest of the year? I just listed all of the months. :)
Basically, there's always a very good chance of at least some rain every month that isn't Summer. But even in the Summer, it can still rain. During the Fall, Winter, and Spring, you might as well just assume that its going to rain. Personally, that doesn't bother me, as I love the rain and have never owned an umbrella. But it can drive some people mad.
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Ah yes, sorry, I'm a bit sleepy.
I don't really like rain because where I live that only means one thing: chaos, well... two things... chaos and dirty floors. People are stupid and drive recklessly so they crash a lot... and even more when it rains so there's a lot of traffic. Then there are those people that enter places without caring about the mess that they make, and the streets get all flooded... ah my city is just a really big mess. I know it's going to be different but this is just where I come from so it's hard to imagine it haha
Also, I bought a skateboard and I'm starting to worry I'm not really going to have chance to use it there :/
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There are plenty of skaters in the NW U.S., so I'd imagine they're in Vancouver as well. You just get used to skating in the light rain, or find places with indoor bowls. Some of my friends growing up just built their own in the garage.
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I grew up in Washington state right near Vancouver so I visited a lot. It's beautiful and clean. You'll probably end up seeing movies being filmed.
Stanley park is one of my favorite places. A long time ago it had a zoo, now it has an aquarium and water features and a big pool near a beach.
The food is amazing. There's every type of ethnic cuisine.
You're from Mexico so these things might not make a difference, but the pastry shops have pastries made with real alcohol, they have all the European candies not available in the US - Kinder and other things the US used to have but don't anymore. You can buy OTC Tylenol w/ codeine otc. (not to abuse, but it does work better for pain, toothaches... etc...) Basically less rules and regulations or at least different rules and regulations. Probably closer to the regulations you are already used to, being from Mexico, than the US might be...
Drinking age is 19, There were some really good pub like bars and places to go out in Gastown. I haven't been for awhile so I'm not sure if it's a popular place now.
Most of the people are nice, but like anywhere else be cautious. I've had some bad experiences, but more good ones. It definitely has the feel of a big city.
Also, not that it matters, but there are a lot of noticeably attractive people there. Maybe it's the different cultures, the health care system or rejuvenating rain :)
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That's most of Canada, lol. Except in AB legal drinking age is 18.
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Now you're just making me want even more for December to arrive! Specially because of the attractive people part e.e jk
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lol yep, but by then they'll be so bundled up, it will be hard to tell ;P
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Am I the only one that loves a woman in a flattering sweater? Not tight and awkward, per se, but fitted.
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No you are definitely not the only one. :)
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Nope, I'm with you but I'm looking more for a guy with a cool hoodie haha
And onyxmi: that leaves more room for imagination ;)
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Well, there will be plenty of hoodies. :)
Personally, I've never really cared for hoodies, because I hate losing my peripheral vision, but I'm sure that's just little bits of lingering paranoia from my past experiences. I wear them with the hood down, though.
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Past experiences?
I rarely get the hood up, just when it's raining, but I still love them, they're just so comfortable and I love how they look even with the hood down.
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I'm gonna move there in like 4 months and I need some answers... like what phone company is better and why? or the interesting logic behind milk in bags... So I'm looking for someone who would like to let me know about anything that I should prepare for or just talk... I've never moved before (ever) so I'm really excited and nervous. I'm 21 years old and from Mexico, I'm gonna start Game Design at VFS in January :)
I'm asking here because this is a great community (most of the time anyways) and Steam.
P.S. I don't add random people in Steam so if you want to add me leave a message here and send the invite or just leave the message and I'll add you.
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