Tried to add a reply to a topic I got involved in earlier about flags, but things got out of hand and so I couldn't...

So - anyway.

Some things on this forum never change, eh?

Ho-hum...

Was in Ontario the other week(s) - Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Toronto and Algonquin Park, to be precise. First time I've been over that side of the country and seeing as that's where we'll be moving to if we decide to come, the holiday served as a bit of a recce too.

It's hard to describe, but I guess I was spoilt by my trip out West a long time ago. Everything seemed very flat. Being a Northerner who lives on the edge of the Pennines, perhaps it was more pronounced for me.
Don't get me wrong - there's a lot of beautiful countryside, but so much of it in southern Ontario seems turned over to farmland.
Of course, a bit further up north was a different kettle of fish. A few more hills and wilderness galore.
Saw moose, beaver, fox, mink, white-tailed deer, turtles, groundhogs, chipmunks and loads of different birds and it was all quite exciting.
Further down south though, it was kinda like being at home...

...but without the edge if you know what I mean!!

I guess what I'm getting at, is that people in England think that they're heading for an exciting new life over there.
But unless you're seriously going to look for it, you'll find it very similar and sometimes even more boring.

Now - before all you ex-pats jump on soap-boxes and high-horses, I want to make it clear:

There was so much that is better than home.
It's cleaner; people are a lot friendlier (for example - you pass people on the street and you still say "Hi!" to one another, a bit like we used to in England until fairly recently); service in shops and restaurants is a class apart from the surly assistance we've come to expect in England nowadays; there's a genuine national pride - the flag's flying everywhere and not just because the national team's involved in an international competition; there's a greater level of acceptance, irrespective of the colour of your skin or your language; the steaks are good.

That's not to say there are things that as an Englishman won't get on your nerves:
Being asked twenty times a day how you are will start to grate; the beer generally sucks; after two weeks of eating nothing but beef, your digestive system will start to rebel...

Anyway - enough there to start people arguing, so I'll leave it to you...

Interesting....As a Londoner, now living in Ontario, and know these areas very well, I bettter take another look properly as i drive around this weekend !

I was born in Canada and sometimes the "how are you" question grates me too. So at times I started to tell them: oh, my knee is sore so I have a slight limp and I have a runny nose, so how are you? Then I'd get a puzzled look.

It would be funny if you prepared a printed list of all what ails you every morning to hand out to anyone who wants to know "how are you"?

As someone else who lives on the edge of (or in them) the Pennines up in Glossop, I can understand your sentiment.

I have done the west and the 'east', well SW Ontario anyway. I personally lean towards Ontario. I like the farmland, I like the small towns and the houses. Also the nearness of the lakes is good.

Interesting..

Ha ha!!

I was thinking exactly the same when I was there!

In a Roots store in a mall in Kitchener I was greeted by a hugely over-enthusiatic "Hello, how are you today!" the second my foot went over the threshold...
It was the last day of my holiday, I had a stinking hangover, what I shall politely call 'an upset stomach', I'd hardly slept the night before AND I'd just kerbed a car I was borrowing and burst a tyre.
There was no way I was going to say "Fine" and leave it at that.

Instead of telling her the truth I decided to fight fire with fire and said in an incredibly over-exuberant manner "I feel fantastic! What a beautiful day - how are you? You having a great time?"
The irony was missed needless to say but she looked a little shocked...

You should know that while it is very Canadian to say "how are you", the practice of greeting someone as they enter the store is actually more of an American thing that comes straight from Wal-Mart. The management of the store that you went into figures that they better give you a really big "how are you" or you will think that they are ignoring you, and will lose you as a future customer. They are worried that you will then go to Wal-Mart to get a big "how are you".

Bottom line: The Canadian stores are in competition with Walt-Mart as to who can give us the biggest and much-needed "how are you". Oh, the irony.

I wonder how Wal-Mart will respond to this Canadian challenge? Next time you visit Canada, just watch out for a wet kiss when you walk into our stores. If that happens, just explain that you a$$ is back here.

We are starting to get it over here too though, take the Disney Stores as an example. Someone always at the door to give you a big cheezy 'Hello' or 'How are you', I do feel sorry for these English people who are forced to put on the yankee false smile....

I usually find a simple 'Piss Off' helps matters immensly...

When they say "how are you", just say that your hemorrhoids are itching and if they are really interested in how you are, then they can have a look. :scared:

When you get a "How are you?" on the street in Canada you at least know that that it's genuine. I mean Canadians are some of the friendliest people on the planet and, while it may grate after a while, it's got to be better than the "Wot choo looking aht?" malevolence of London and the "How can I make money out of you?" mercenary-ism I get here in Hong Kong.

Even if staff are made to say it in Canadian shops, you at least know that it's closer to the genuine spirit of the people of this fine country than when you hear the same thing in England and Honkers.

God Bless Canadians - that's what I say!

What a miserable lot you all are!

Frankly I've never minded the friendly shop greetings on my visits to Canada although I freely admit that I've yet to live there so perhaps I'll change my mind. However I'd much rather be greeted as I enter a shop than be completely ignored as we tend to be here in the UK. After all what's wrong with an apparent friendly greeting even if it is habitual rather than completely genuine? Isn't that true of most niceties where ever we live? Personally I can't see the problem.

Actually I hate completing a transaction here where the only "thankyou's" that are said are by me! (I find that's pretty common over here.) On the odd occasion that I am greeted here I simply return it. Life is a lot more pleasant that way.

Actually I've noted that my Canadian wife since being here in the UK has always tended to extend a greeting (even including a "how are you?") with most people that she deals with when shopping and it always strikes me again as very pleasant.

OceanMDX, you should be proud of your fellow Canadians for this!




As an aside after I left school I worked in retail for over ten years for a mens clothing company called Fosters. Back then they had over 500 branches (late 1970's) and the shops tended to be relatively small. We were always encouraged to greet every customer that entered the shop with just a "Good Morning" or a "Hello". They wanted us to do that for two reasons. Firstly to let every potential customer know that there was service available if they needed it and secondly to let any potential thief know that we knew they had entered the shop.

I used to work for the Disney Store in Manchester!!

I used to hate being on "Greet" as it was called.

Even in the shop you were encouraged to meet and greet every "guest" (customer), again, like stepnek said, not only to ensure "guests" knew you were available, but also to deter "customers" (shoplifters) by making them aware of the fact that you knew they were there.

They soon took me off the "stage" (shop floor) as I was blatantly surly and sarcastic about the whole sickly sweet Disney Experience.
Especially about the fantastic "costume" (uniform) we had to wear.

Hmmm... pink shirt, white socks, fetching cardigan and those superbly fashionable grey 'action-slacks'.

I wish I'd kept mine.

On a recent visit to Canada, I stayed for a month in Mississauga. I was *never* greeted in the street - in fact people studiously ignored each other. A bit like the UK really.

Greetings were extended in shops but, mostly, it had a forced feel to it.