Culture is more than old buildings

If you move to Canada, you know in advance that you will not find any nice medieval towns there.

What you do see a lot are the rather tasteless "American" cities with streets in a checkerboard pattern and wide car boulevards everywhere. The architectural achievements often consist of building ostentatious buildings as large and cheaply as possible. This applies to offices, shopping malls, apartment buildings and houses.

Some older buildings are given a "Heritage" status, which means they have some protection. But if someone can make a lot of money from them, they will be demolished.

Je zult weinig cultuur aantreffen in Canada. Wel vrij veel subcultuur en hebzucht.

It's not that easy to describe Canadian culture

When you think of Canadian culture, you might initially think of ice hockey.

The Canadians themselves might think more of pub life and the habit of getting horribly drunk every now and then. Partying, at home or elsewhere, is a high priority for many.

What else is important to Canadians? Driving, shopping, watching TV and certainly eating out. Nowhere will you find as many "fast-food" places to eat as in Canada.

There are also Canadians who like to go to the gym, but there aren't many of them.

The arts are underrepresented in Canada: people don't want to know too much about music, dance, theatre, literature and museums. It's boring.

The interest in new experiences and other cultures is remarkably low. In fact, most people are quite stubborn about it.

Even for the differences within their own country, people are hard to get excited about. And for those who want to see them, there are indeed some differences.

Yes, adapt

Multiculturalism has long been promoted in Canada, but in everyday practice most people stay in their own circles and often look down on other cultures.

This is also strongly reflected in the aversion to other languages. Most Canadians speak only one language and want nothing to do with the other national language.

Many people prefer to shut themselves off from the fact that there are other languages and cultures in the world.

Fear of other cultures quickly leads to xenophobia. You can read more about that here.
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