Well I have arrived back in Ontario after a two week holiday visiting Emma and friends in Nottingham, England. I had a wonderful time and am sad that I needed to come back as I enjoy living in that city. Over the two weeks I have been out for dinner more times than the last year, and in a pub to have a drink, all but one day. Even though we speak the same language(sort of) it is a different culture, but probably not something that most people will notice spending only a few weeks there on holiday.
As I lived in England for 15 months I am familiar with the citizens and their daily lives and how they differ from that of Canadians. For me the biggest difference is the city life, everything revolves around living in cities. In North America people work in the city centre(if you can call it that), then drive back to their homes in the suburbs and don't interact with others around them, whereas in England people work in the city centres(live in the centre as well as suburbs) and remain there for hours to go shopping, meet with friends for drinks, go to the cinema or theatre and congregate in the open market square for any events happening. While observing this you get a real sense of community and discover attributes from your own nation that irritate you, especially when the world around believes Canadians to be some of the friendliest people. Yet having travelled to many places over the past years I am not being a witness to this belief.
My second largest observational difference in how the citizens moves about the city, public transit v personal transport. Throughout Europe public transit is the biggest means of transportation for moving from house to work and social venues. In North America the car has been the dominant means of transportation for the past five decades and possibly longer. With the idea of public transit I feel it adds to the sense of community you get with the citizens of cities and outlying areas.
After reading this you probably think that I am only interested in city life, that's not the case. I do enjoy living in the countryside but you can't deny the convenience of living in a city and when you want to experience the country life you have the option to go for a drive, camping or hiking(all if you own a car). Another point I would like to make is that European cities have been established for a much longer period of time than all of North America and therefor have the upper-hand when it comes to city planning and catering to the residents.
Over the next few weeks I shall be adding new posts that are in line with this one, feel free to add your two cents on the topics at hand
