Newbies to the US from Canada: Anyone else having trouble adjusting?

[Chalandrae 31]

haha i have been in the states since 2008 and i just read this form and LOL about all the food.. SO TRUE!! i actually forget what alot of canadian food is:/ i started googling products in canada and i forgot how much i loved CRISPERS! the chips.. so good!! and even tho i went to michigan alot, i never noticed until i moved here the lack of chip flavors!! although with kettle chips ect blowing up i have noticed more companies are getting 'artisian' lol aka more gourmet flavors.

I wrote a letter to Fritos Lays asking them to bring dill pickle chips to california and they said it isnt in our demographic but to enjoy a similar taste of salt and vinegar (i got a free coupon in the mail too). However, i have found Dill Pickle at Whole Foods for a while and Sprouts... although they arent the same as Lays:(

i forgot how nice canadians were and my first time going home i remember i was like "wow, everyone in canada does say sorry alot!" i was in the grocery store and heard it SO MANY TIMES it wasnt even funny!

the biggest thing i actually miss in canada is KERNELS!! omg the popcorn flavorings are my faovirte and in america they arent into flavoring popcorn? so weird! they have seasonings everywhere.. in the theaters ect.

luckily i live in a big city i have all the good food i wanted and more.. i dont know how people could move from a big city in canada to small town USA:/ like toronto --> ohio.. how do you do that?? my friend moved from ottawa --> buffalo.. ahhh i wouldnt be able to do that!

in regards to the healthcare.. i didnt have healthcare for the first 7 years here! i guess i got lucky:/ i would just go places to get my annual checkup and it was a small fee. my mom always annoyed me that i should pay $100 for health insurance incase something happens where i couldnt go home to canada and get the required surgery:/ however, i was shocked to realize that 100 wouldnt cover anything you had to spend 600+! you do need a good job in this country to survive.

Halloween.. they do not give out chips!!! no small bags of chips!! that was always my favorite! you only give out chocolate bars or candy here.. haha i used to love getting chips and pop! (and they call pop soda here!) so no little bags of doritos ect:( and a chocolate bar is a candy bar here also:/

Oh and i dont have an accent anymore except BAG!! and when i would ask people "would you like a bag with that?" they would respond "a huh?? what" you know a BAG to put your bags in!!! SMH! they say "baaag' and i guess we say 'beg' lolllll just like flaaaaaag

you will not notice how much 'american' you are until your first visit home and then you will understand haha and come back slightly more canadian each time:)

I went to the North Shore of Montreal to a village in NY. I like it but Damn, there's a lot of things missing. Also, the village is on a hill, so everytime I have to go to the pharmacy or get groceries, I get a workout ouf of it. We plan on moving once we try for a baby, we shall see! (No way I'll run up and down that hill with a stroller!!!)

I love it when my husband says things like "your Canadian is showing."

For the first time ever I couldn't control myself when saying About... it blurted out "Aboot" and my hubby dearest had a blast. Sucker spent 5 minutes laughing and clapping, saying I was speaking Canadian. I love him lol.

[Ontarkie 14,221]

haha i have been in the states since 2008 and i just read this form and LOL about all the food.. SO TRUE!! i actually forget what alot of canadian food is:/ i started googling products in canada and i forgot how much i loved CRISPERS! the chips.. so good!! and even tho i went to michigan alot, i never noticed until i moved here the lack of chip flavors!! although with kettle chips ect blowing up i have noticed more companies are getting 'artisian' lol aka more gourmet flavors.

I wrote a letter to Fritos Lays asking them to bring dill pickle chips to california and they said it isnt in our demographic but to enjoy a similar taste of salt and vinegar (i got a free coupon in the mail too). However, i have found Dill Pickle at Whole Foods for a while and Sprouts... although they arent the same as Lays:(

i forgot how nice canadians were and my first time going home i remember i was like "wow, everyone in canada does say sorry alot!" i was in the grocery store and heard it SO MANY TIMES it wasnt even funny!

the biggest thing i actually miss in canada is KERNELS!! omg the popcorn flavorings are my faovirte and in america they arent into flavoring popcorn? so weird! they have seasonings everywhere.. in the theaters ect.

luckily i live in a big city i have all the good food i wanted and more.. i dont know how people could move from a big city in canada to small town USA:/ like toronto --> ohio.. how do you do that?? my friend moved from ottawa --> buffalo.. ahhh i wouldnt be able to do that!

in regards to the healthcare.. i didnt have healthcare for the first 7 years here! i guess i got lucky:/ i would just go places to get my annual checkup and it was a small fee. my mom always annoyed me that i should pay $100 for health insurance incase something happens where i couldnt go home to canada and get the required surgery:/ however, i was shocked to realize that 100 wouldnt cover anything you had to spend 600+! you do need a good job in this country to survive.

Halloween.. they do not give out chips!!! no small bags of chips!! that was always my favorite! you only give out chocolate bars or candy here.. haha i used to love getting chips and pop! (and they call pop soda here!) so no little bags of doritos ect:( and a chocolate bar is a candy bar here also:/

Oh and i dont have an accent anymore except BAG!! and when i would ask people "would you like a bag with that?" they would respond "a huh?? what" you know a BAG to put your bags in!!! SMH! they say "baaag' and i guess we say 'beg' lolllll just like flaaaaaag

you will not notice how much 'american' you are until your first visit home and then you will understand haha and come back slightly more canadian each time:)

Oh the chips flavours here are so lacking in flavour it's crazy. I bring back chips all the time and chocolate bars and about 30 bottles of popcorn seasoning i can find popcorn seasoning here in Walmart but they lack in variety, nothing really good. Although the last time I looked they had a few more. But I have a ton of the stuff so I didn't look that close.

I say yahoo and bag different here too. Being that 5 of us are from Canada I still sound Canadian but have picked up a little extra words. I am teaching my 2 little ones pop, eh, and mum Oh and of course Zed

I think it's funny that Lays tried to say Salt and Vinegar was a similar taste um no it's not We have Dill pickle here though. Oh I have a hard time finding BBQ corn chips. They are all plain or Chili or flaming hot.

Halloween just plain old sucks here. Ppl just go crazy decorating then don't bother to give out candy. My kids were really bummed out. They wanted to go home just to go trick or treating.

Health care sucks ppl dry here it's crazy. We still don't know the final bill from the hospital stay my youngest had.

As for your poor mom she's right in one way you would of had a hard time with really bad insurance, heck even good insurance. But then she was wrong about going to Canada to get the care. We aren't able to use it the second we crossed the border to move here

All in all I find the lack in variety in all the food departments lacking. They suck at good junkfood, which with the stress of moving here is probably a good thing.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

In the flip side - Healthcare doesn't suck for us at all. What we pay per paycheck for Family Medical coverage is less then I used to pay for my Supplementary heath insurance with Sunlife back in Canada. We plunk extra $$ into our HSA to cover the fact that we pay a deductible.

It's the cost of living in the US, but I don't miss paying GST + PST (or HST now) on every darn thing. Pretty sure all the tax on everything I bought back in Canada amounts to a lot more then we pay in insurance premiums.

to the poster who didn't have Health Ins for 7 yrs......Going without healthcare at all is risky in the US because if you have an emergency (heart attack, broken leg...anything that puts you in the hospital)...the cost with insurance can be astronomical. Since implementation of the ACA....you can't do that anyway since you'll be paying a penalty on your taxes if you aren't covered.

[Teddy B 17,252]

In the flip side - Healthcare doesn't suck for us at all. What we pay per paycheck for Family Medical coverage is less then I used to pay for my Supplementary heath insurance with Sunlife back in Canada. We plunk extra $$ into our HSA to cover the fact that we pay a deductible.

It's the cost of living in the US, but I don't miss paying GST + PST (or HST now) on every darn thing. Pretty sure all the tax on everything I bought back in Canada amounts to a lot more then we pay in insurance premiums.

to the poster who didn't have Health Ins for 7 yrs......Going without healthcare at all is risky in the US because if you have an emergency (heart attack, broken leg...anything that puts you in the hospital)...the cost with insurance can be astronomical. Since implementation of the ACA....you can't do that anyway since you'll be paying a penalty on your taxes if you aren't covered.

I posted a cost of living comparison between the US and Canada in the CEHST forum about a year or so ago. The end result of the comparison was that the two countries come out almost exactly the same after all is said and done. What Americans save in lower taxes, they end up paying in services that aren't provided by the gov't like they are in Canada. There were a few cases that showed the Canadian cost of living to be cheaper overall.

I personally have found that the Canadian gov't does a much better job of maintaining their infrastructure than the American gov't does and that's a benefit of the higher taxes. Canada also tends to be cleaner overall than the US I have found.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Teddy B

[BWise 18]

You guys might be interested to know that Ruffles now sells All Dressed chips in the US! I found some at Publix last Friday and was a little over excited.

Oh my goodness!!! I'm SO excited!!!! Thank you for letting us know!

[caliliving 606]

ahhh maybe taxes are lowered where you are! in california you are taxed big time!! 30%++, the sales tax is 9.75%..and the cost of living is astronomical:/ 2k to rent a one bedroom. Yeah, i chose to live here so i cant really complain.. lol My inlaws live in new jersey and its so cheap out there it isnt even funny! haha but they have to drive like 30min to get to a grocery store.. i would not be able to handle that.. honestly, if it didnt end up in california, i would move to vancouver.. i am not a toronto/montreal person.

and every time i go to new jersey my inlaws stock up on dill pickle chips for me:) thank god! haha candy/chocolate/flavors and food products are very regional in the usa.. i am not sure if it is like that in canada bc i have never been outside ontario??

everyone always asks me too "do you guys celebrate halloween in canada" lol!! but i am pretty sure only canada and the usa dress up in costumes and go trick or treating? i dont think any other country does that (but i could be wrong)

[Abby&Colin 40]

ahhh maybe taxes are lowered where you are! in california you are taxed big time!! 30%++, the sales tax is 9.75%..and the cost of living is astronomical:/ 2k to rent a one bedroom. Yeah, i chose to live here so i cant really complain.. lol My inlaws live in new jersey and its so cheap out there it isnt even funny! haha but they have to drive like 30min to get to a grocery store.. i would not be able to handle that.. honestly, if it didnt end up in california, i would move to vancouver.. i am not a toronto/montreal person.

and every time i go to new jersey my inlaws stock up on dill pickle chips for me:) thank god! haha candy/chocolate/flavors and food products are very regional in the usa.. i am not sure if it is like that in canada bc i have never been outside ontario??

My family in England does it too !

everyone always asks me too "do you guys celebrate halloween in canada" lol!! but i am pretty sure only canada and the usa dress up in costumes and go trick or treating? i dont think any other country does that (but i could be wrong)

ahhh maybe taxes are lowered where you are! in california you are taxed big time!! 30%++, the sales tax is 9.75%..and the cost of living is astronomical:/ 2k to rent a one bedroom. Yeah, i chose to live here so i cant really complain.. lol My inlaws live in new jersey and its so cheap out there it isnt even funny! haha but they have to drive like 30min to get to a grocery store.. i would not be able to handle that.. honestly, if it didnt end up in california, i would move to vancouver.. i am not a toronto/montreal person.

and every time i go to new jersey my inlaws stock up on dill pickle chips for me:) thank god! haha candy/chocolate/flavors and food products are very regional in the usa.. i am not sure if it is like that in canada bc i have never been outside ontario??

My family in England does it too !

everyone always asks me too "do you guys celebrate halloween in canada" lol!! but i am pretty sure only canada and the usa dress up in costumes and go trick or treating? i dont think any other country does that (but i could be wrong)

[NikLR 13,227]

My husband and friends seem to think that Canada is more expensive because in some areas housing prices are higher, but you get paid more so I think it works out. Yeah the taxes are higher but Im okay with that when you know where it goes. Sales tax is much higher in the counties we have lived in in CO than it is in AB.

[caliliving 606]

My husband and friends seem to think that Canada is more expensive because in some areas housing prices are higher, but you get paid more so I think it works out. Yeah the taxes are higher but Im okay with that when you know where it goes. Sales tax is much higher in the counties we have lived in in CO than it is in AB.

In california the sales tax is for the sun:/ but yeah, i agree you get higher salaries in canada! the good thing about california is the food! so many healthy choices...

[NikLR 13,227]

Colorado is similar. When I go to OKC with my hubs, there's a mcdonalds every 2 blocks there. Here it's a mexican restaurant. LOL

[caliliving 606]

whenever i watch hockey and its in a canadian city i read the billboards and it makes me sad:( i just saw a billboard for harveys:( omg i could go for a burger and a poutine:( the worst is when they aired the world juniors and it was the canadian feed, even the commercials!! i kept seeing the same canadian commercials over and over...

I heard the Arizona Coyotes arena has a TIm Hortons inside!!! i guess its for all the snowbirds that end up ther:/ i think tim should get a contract with the NHL and put one in every arena! it would do so well in california and florida.. and honeslty everywhere because you could bring a canadian to a game and get them a tims coffee/ice cap and a honey cruller timbit lol and they would get the real canadian experience!!

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Harvey's! Oh my goodness!

[Teddy B 17,252]

My husband and friends seem to think that Canada is more expensive because in some areas housing prices are higher, but you get paid more so I think it works out. Yeah the taxes are higher but Im okay with that when you know where it goes. Sales tax is much higher in the counties we have lived in in CO than it is in AB.

I used to think the same as your husband and his buddies until I looked into it further and started spending time there with my wife and her family. It really is almost a dead heat between the two when all is said and done. In some areas of Canada housing can be higher than in the US, but where my wife is from in Ontario it is much cheaper than the housing where we live in Mass. We could get the same house we have in Mass in Ontario for over 100K less.

I think it's funny how so many Americans pull out the "socialist" card when talking about Canada, but in reality it all comes out the same. It's just done a little differently. I think Canada does it better than the US overall. There is a lot of corruption in American politics and almost everything that the gov't does costs two to three times more than it should. If it wasn't for my job here there is a very good chance we would be living in Canada.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Teddy B

[warlord 73]

Harvey's! Oh my goodness!

I used to hate Harvey's when I was growing up until after college then I became addicted to it. It's still one of the 'mandatory' Canadian things I try and do anytime I go up there at least once.

When I think of Canadian food, that's about the only thing that comes to mind that I like. I can't stand maple syrup and poutine is just some abomination I wouldn't never attempt to even think about trying and that's about the only Canadian foods I can think of.

So is Harvey's still around I hope? I will actually be flying up to Canada in the summer for a few days and would love to introduce my girlfriend to the wonders or Harvey's awesomeness...

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I used to hate Harvey's when I was growing up until after college then I became addicted to it. It's still one of the 'mandatory' Canadian things I try and do anytime I go up there at least once.

When I think of Canadian food, that's about the only thing that comes to mind that I like. I can't stand maple syrup and poutine is just some abomination I wouldn't never attempt to even think about trying and that's about the only Canadian foods I can think of.

So is Harvey's still around I hope? I will actually be flying up to Canada in the summer for a few days and would love to introduce my girlfriend to the wonders or Harvey's awesomeness...

It sure is. They and Swiss chalet are almost always together