Numbers

Now everyone knows that Canada does numbers differently than we do in the U.S. It seems like not a big deal but recently I've run into a big shock that has motivated me to discuss the "numbers" here in Canada.

Every morning when I flip on the radio it is obvious. I am definitely in a different country. Is it the funny accent you ask? Is it that they play strange music? Nope. None of the above. The answer is the weather. As you probably know, temperature is done in Celsius here. Every morning when I hear the weather for the day I find myself thinking "hmm 6 degrees Celsius, what is that?" As long as it is between -5 and 10 degrees Celsius I have a generally good idea of how cold/warm it is since that was the usual temperature range I encountered in Russia. Fortunately, my computer has a nice littler temperature converter too that I take advantage of when I am not sure.

Then there are the other Metric system measurements. I have to forget oz and pounds and miles, throw them away. Poor things. Here we all think in litres (yes spelled "litRE') and kilograms and kilometers. I know, it makes more sense and all but I still have a hard time figuring out just how far away something when given to me in kilometers.

Finally, the big shock for me this week came in class. My first french paper was returned to me on Thursday and right in the middle in red pen was a big 78. I was pretty much devastated as this class is an undergraduate class and I spent a fair amount of time on the paper. I really began to panic and the string of usual doubts surrounding graduate school came threading through my thoughts: "maybe I'm not good enough, maybe this is too hard, maybe I should've taken some time off..." While talking with Rich about my disappointment, he thought to look up the grading scale for the University. To my surprise a 78 in Canada is actually a B+! The Canadian grading scale is completely different than the U.S grading scale. 100-80 is an A, 79-60 is a B, etc. So while I now have to adjust to the way I think about grades and numbers, I am very relieved!

Grocery shopping

I love to grocery shop. I actually just love grocery stores. Admittedly, I sometimes do wander around grocery stores just for fun.

I've always found when moving to a new place that the grocery stores are vastly different wherever you go. Of course one would expect to find an aisle of pickled beets, cabbage, eggs, and so on in Russia and crispy baguettes and brie in France, but what was I to expect moving to Canada?

After scouting out the grocery scene for a month or so here I've come to report on some of the things I've found.

Where I shop:

I do my grocery duty at a nice little establishment called "No Frills." And believe me it really is no frills. This is most definitely the cheapest place to get your basic kitchen needs. Sometimes they don't have celery, sometimes they don't have chicken breast, but always they have low prices. As you probably know, being a student isn't living in the lap of luxury and therefore this budget-friendly place around the corner is my grocery of choice.

Other (fancy) places:

Of course we have the Whole Foods here on Bloor (our big glitzy shopping street) but we also have a couple of nice places near me just in case I have to have the organic bok choy or my fall favorite, the elusive butternut squash soup. For these things, the grocer "Pusateris" is really nice and usually has any odd organic, vegetarian, vegan thing that I could think to want. If I am feeling meaty-er then there is an amazing-looking butcher next door that I have yet to try. Rich and I went in a couple weeks ago and were amazed at the variety of nice marinades and fancy selections they had. We've already agreed that some day we'll have a special dinner that includes something from this place. And finally, a very nice shop which is also adjacent to the butcher is the cheese shop. No, it does not smell! Or at least not too much. The people behind the counter here are extremely friendly and very knowledgeable about cheese. (Who ever knew cheese was so complicated?) Another bonus is the free cheese samples all over.

A couple differences I have noticed here in the grocery stores (mostly in the dairy aisle):

• Milk. Milk is sold in cartons as we see in the States but also in bags. I am not sure how these work actually. I always eye these things and wonder how these rolly-polly bags of milk could ever get from the grocery store back home without popping and making a huge mess. And then there is the whole challenge of what to do once you've gotten it home. How do you drink milk out of a bag?
• Dairy prices in general. Dairy is unfortunately not subsidized by the government here and it always ends up being the most expensive thing I buy. 2 liters of milk (approx. 1/2 gallon), for example, costs me $4.50. Wow!
• New brands. Wonderful brands such as "No Name" and "President's Choice" are usually my off-brand favorites. I was a little perturbed today when buying pumpkin puree to find that the trusted "Libby's" brand was nowhere to be seen. Oh well... guess I gotta cut loose some time and try something new!
• Eggs. I always found it strange in Russia that you could buy eggs that weren't refrigerated. You could also buy eggs in a plastic bag which I thought was even stranger. But here in Canada I've come across the same non-refrigerated egg scenario. Maybe it is just a habit that I formed growing up in the U.S but for some reason non-refrigerated eggs seems like a bad idea to me. Fortunately, Canada is all about choice which means that I can choose between the non-refrigerated and refrigerated varieties of eggs.
• Grocery bags. Grocery bags cost extra here. Actually, all shopping bags do. It seems that it is a Canadian law the all stores must charge 5 cents for each bag. I actually really like this law. It is of course environmentally friendly and I get to show off my cool reusable bags from H.E.B and West Side Market (Rich's awesome grocery store) .

Alright, enough distraction for now. Back to the books! I hope everyone is doing well. Grandma, I hope you are recovering alright after the surgery. I am thinking about you!