Canadians, Warm Up!

I have heard many times that the behavior of people might be affected by the weather of the place where they live. That means, for example, that people living in tropical places might be warmer and more social than people living in cold places like Russia or Scandinavian countries, just to mention some examples.

I have never lived in the places I just mentioned, so I cannot confirm this statement, but I met people from this countries and I can say that the weather-people behavior relationship might have some connections. Honestly, at the beginning I was thinking that this was just a stereotype, as labeling people in a certain way (not necessarily bad) could sound like an easy way to go. But the more people from different countries I meet, and the more I'm pretty much sure that THERE IS a connection between the way people interact and the weather or temperatures of the country where they live.

Of course, it's not right to generalize and say that all the people from a cold country will be cold in human relationships as well, and vice versa, but in my opinion there are higher chances that people from, for example, Finland will have more hard time to socialize with other people than people from places like, for example, Spain.

Also, when I share this thought with friends, sometimes I am misunderstood, as some people think that "cold people = bad people". I have to specify that I absolutely don't have this concept in mind when I think of cold people. For me, a cold person is somebody who doesn't necessarily show an interest on socializing with new people or to keep in touch with them, in case the first step is done. I have being living in Canada for 6 years so far and I have struggled making new friends or to keep in touch with them almost all the time. This was one of the first things I have notice when I move here from... a warmer country. I actually remember that when I went back to my home country the first time after only 1 year in Canada, my dad asked me if there was something that I didn't like about it. And, with no hesitation, I said "human relationships".

The first year was pretty hard for me under this point view, even because I was not expecting this, but after a while I unfortunately got used to it. I said "unfortunately" because I tried many times to keep in touch with a small group of friends, but after many tries I realized that people don't care that much, basically because they already have their own friends from high school, hockey or whatever. What's even worse and what still makes me feel bad many times is the fact that when you keep the distance either because you move to a different city or because you change job, the basic friendship that you've been able to built that far is already gone... unless of course it'll be your interest to start an "on distance relationship". And I've noticed that, in terms of socialization, Canadians are also really good saying things rather than doing them. A good example could be "it was really nice meeting, let's keep in touch, I'll see you soon", with the final result that none of these will really happen unless it'll be your choice to do so.

Again, with this I absolutely don't want to label Canadians in a bad way; I simply think that moving to a new country (as it is my case) you notice things that in your home country probably have never noticed, because they are different and characteristic of that new place. Some people can actually find this aspect quite good, so there you go, even better, but for me it is something that simply makes me suffer.

And as bad things are noticed when you move into a new country, the same happens to good things. Indeed, what I admire from Canadians is their honesty and calm, two characteristics that many other countries and cultures should start to "adopt".

I really would like to hearing somebody with my same experience or with an opposite experience, who moved to a "colder" country or to a "warmer" country, to better understand if this can be thought as a general situation and if there is any solution or shortcut to it.

I love traveling, because it opens your mind and let you experience new cultures. El Dido Photos Albums is where you can find the pictures of my trips and of the main cities in Canada. I hope you'll enjoy them!