An American’s perspective of Ontario:

Hello everyone! I’m a college student in Philadelphia, who’s been staying in Ontario for basically the whole summer on a visitor visa. My boyfriend lives just an hour out from Toronto, and always asks how different it is from home, and what I’ve noticed is completely different so I figured I would share!Not once did I anticipate on staying here for the summer, but I had saved up prior and relied on impulse to be here. Crossing the border was rough, as I was stuck in secondary for hours, but they were just making sure I wasn’t a criminal and I get that. My first stop was to try Timmy’s, and oh boy I’m gladly addicted. The coffee is a lot stronger than Dunkin Donuts yet I do indeed prefer Dunkin’s doughnuts over anything. Mostly from nostalgia I think. I got homesick often, missing what was my normal at home such as sirens, going to the beach where I could swim in the actual ocean, and yes, target. Why is target not a big deal here? However, Ontario opened my eyes to the beauty of Canada. The air quality? I can actually breathe without suffocating from the pollution. I can see the stars and the sunsets are breathtaking. Every road feels the same, yet there’s so much nature to look at other than industrialized buildings. The sirens? Heard them about 3 times. It was weird knowing that there wasn’t a shooting happening a few blocks down. At night, it’s VERY quiet and beyond peaceful. The people are great as well. I’ve only encountered like 2 mean Canadians and it just seemed as though they had a rough day. You all hold the doors for one another and say hello to each other without knowing the person you’re speaking with. And “eh?” Haha. It’s been said so much I actually started saying it myself. I also noticed many people say “for sure” in drive thrus. I never realized how polite it is to say “pardon” instead of “what” too. The words centre, colour, and favourite still amuse me with the spelling on buildings. However, my biggest shock was how unpopular gas station food other than Timmy’s is. Wawa? Royal Farms? 7 Eleven? As an American, we actually usually grab dinner with gas station food. Speaking of gas, wow. I don’t know the conversion of how much it would be in liters, but it ran me up to 10 bucks a gallon where at home it’s about 4 bucks a gallon (converting to metric has been a bit rough too). I’ll make sure to never complain about gas at home again lol.Overall, this province is beautiful. The sunsets are still my favorite part, but I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience. I’m also sorry if this ever offends anyone, it was not my intention! via /r/ontario https://ift.tt/KPojIEN