Disclaimer: Please note that I recently moved here in Surrey from my comfort zone (Edmonton). My views are premature and may change in the coming days. I have no intention of putting Surrey/BC in a bad light. I guess I just miss Edmonton so much.
Twenty-three days. We've been here in Surrey for twenty-three days. How are we doing? The husband is ok, he easily copes with things so wala siyang issue. Ako lang naman daw ang maraming hinaing sa buhay. To be honest, if I will only be given a chance, gusto ko ng bumalik Edmonton.
Funny, I used to call that place Deadmonton. Complain ako nang complain na boring dun, na walang masyadong magawa. I first visited British Columbia in 2012 at talagang pinangarap kong tumira dito. Ang ganda kasi ng impression ko dito, ideal place to live in talaga. Pero ngayon na nandito na ako, parang gusto ko ng magback-out. Hay buhay nga naman!
Anyway, ito ang mga disappointments ko as of now sa pagtira ko dito:
(1) I loathe our apartment. I hate hate hate our apartment! Ang hirap magdowngrade ng housing. We used to live comfortably in a brand new 3-bedroom town house kaya talagang sobrang adjustment ito. Even though I know that this is just a temporary thing, nahihirapan pa rin ako (#bourgeoisieproblems!).
Also, the other day, we received a complaint from our neighbor on the lower floor (we're on the second floor) that we are "too noisy." They even accused us of having a party. My husband got agitated. He reasoned that we have a toddler and some noise can't be avoided. We live in an old building so talagang konting galaw o ingay lang ng kapitbahay eh magkakarinigan na.
By the way, we ended up in this apartment because we had no choice. Ang hirap maghanap ng apartment na maayos dito sa BC, lalo na at nasa Edmonton pa kami that time. Grabe ang demand. We want to move to a different place kaso pauwi na kami ni Nathan sa Pinas on November 7. Also, magpepenalty kami ng $1200+ kapag umalis kami in less than a year. Hay saka ko na nga lang iisipin pagbalik namin. If there's any consolation, we live just across a mall at super ganda ng location kaya keri na rin.
(2) Edmontonians are "nicer." In Edmonton, almost everyone you see will say "hello," or "hi, how are you doing?" Dito hindi eh. Parang lahat me pinagdadaanan haha!
Drivers are somewhat rude, too. In Edmonton, pedestrians are the bosses. Pagtapak mo pa lang sa kalsada, hihinto talaga ang mga sasakyan kahit malayo pa. Dito takot ako lalo na for my son. Dire-direcho talaga ang andar ng mga kotse eh.
(3) There is no Lucky Supermarket here (or its equivalent, in my opinion). Akala ko talaga mas ok "mamalengke" dito, mas mura at mas madaming choices. But for me, the best pa rin mamili sa Lucky Supermaket (na sa Edmonton lang meron). I am not a fan of T&T eh. I never thought na mamomroblema ako sa presyo ng karne dito. At galunggong -- di ko alam kung saan ako hahanap ng matinong galunggong dito (na paborito namin ng anak ko). Pati calamansi, mas mura sa Edmonton. Waaah!
(4) There's too much rain. My husband "warned" me already that it's too rainy in BC. I told him it's ok, that I love the rain. Kaso sobrang hassle din pala, lalo na since we have no covered parking. Tapos may little boy pa kami, mahirap siya isakay at ibaba ng car kapag umuulan.
(5) There is no snow. Snow is so beautiful, nakakamangha talaga kapag puting-puti ang paligid. Feel na feel ko ang Canada dahil sa snow. Kaso sobrang minsan lang daw mag-snow dito, tapos tunaw agad kinabukasan. Less than 3 years pa lang ako sa Canada kaya hindi pa ako quota sa snow. Gusto ko pang maglaro ng yelo!
(6) I have a feeling it's harder to find good friends here. In my less than 3 years in Edmonton, I am happy to have found really good friends there. Barkada talaga. Dito mukhang mahirap. Sa Edmonton kasi karamihan ng Pinoy ay TFWs (Temporary Foreign Workers) na naging Permanent Residents. Mga walang kamag-anak, lahat open for friendships. Saka mas relaxed ang buhay doon, palaging may time for get-together.
(7) Ang dami-daming chekwa! Maaming nagsasabi na mukha daw akong chekwa at hate na hate ko ito. I know it's bad to generalize pero hindi talaga ok ang experience ko with our Asian neigbors. Ayaw ko sa ugali nila.
At this point, I have no choice but to embrace our life here in BC. Sana talaga maging masaya kami rito.
No comments:
Post a Comment