Everything is Bigger in Canada
Report by Viktoria d.K.
Canada is the best place I could’ve gone for studying. Canada is the biggest country that I have been so far. Well, if you’re not counting the USA :). But it’s definitely more beautiful than the United States of America, from my point of view. But as Canada is the direct neighbour, they both have almost the same lifestyle. When you’re going to have something to drink, you get a cup which contains 1,5 Liter fluids at least. They have bigger cars, bigger burgers, even bigger streets and parking lots.
Distances in Canada
When I came to Canada I still thought in German ways. Like, I’m living on a small Island and to get from the airport to Nanaimo I only have to cross the ocean, which has the size of the English Channel. But the “small” island of Vancouver Island is almost the size of The Netherlands and the short way from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay takes almost 2 hours!
The first thing I learned was not to underestimate the “short” looking ways on the map. When I went to Tofino for the first time, I thought we would be there in about an hour. But as a matter of fact, it took us almost 3 hours to get there. Victoria is about 2 hours away and Port Hardy…well calculate 5 to 6 hours for one way. Even to get to Vancouver Downtown you need almost 2 hours with the ferry and then 1 hour at least for the bus. But it’s worth it :)
Landscapes in Canada
Ever since I came back to Germany distances aren’t as far as they used to be for me. Now I’m like “let’s go to Berlin for one night. It’s not that far away, it’s only a 4-hour-drive” and before I wouldn’t have gone to Berlin for only one or two nights. You learn to see everything different in Canada. The distances aren’t that big of a deal to you anymore after 4 months. I went from Nanaimo to Banff for only 3 days. We drove halfway through the night and it took us almost 11 hours by car to get to Banff. But when we woke up the next day and we were surrounded by the tall and big mountains of the Rocky Mountains, it was just worth it. That was one of the best moments of my entire stay here in Canada. Some people would compare it to the Alps, but it’s not the same feeling. If you’re standing on the peak of a mountain and you see nothing but forests and other mountains for miles, than you have a slight feeling, what I was talking about when I said everything is bigger in Canada!
