Blizzard

In UK you hear about blazes here in Edmonton, Canada is more common to hear about blizzards.

A blizzard is a blizzard but nothing like the first one in your life. In other words, I am thinking that surprises can come with the apparently insignificant and common things of everyday life.

"Cada quien habla de la feria como le va en ella" (each ones opinion about the funfair is in direct proportion to the kind of experiences that you have on it) is a Mexican say that expresses that, what can be a hell for someone, is a heaven for someone else. This is either because the experiences are different or because the same experience is seen from a different perspective.

From my part I am happy to see that a bus driver waits for you if they see you running to the bus stop. Then it is not wonder for me why those drivers that have the same schedule every day, make acquaintances and friends from their regular users.

Here in Edmonton cents are to take and to leave . There is usual to have on the counter of a shop a container where people can leave their cents. Is that for a charity? No. If you have to pay $1.03, the cashier will take those 3 cents from the container and accept one dollar from you. For this to work you have to leave there or in a similar container somewhere else, those cents that make your pocket bulky. "Take a penny, leave a penny". (As a subject besides but talking about money, yes, Elizabeth II appears in coins and notes and her portrait ages =)

The F word is an old folk in these parts of the world and I don't mean only the streets. Not that my colleges and I are extensively users of it but you hear it in the TV, in the radio, read it in the newspapers and nobody seams to blink an eye. Still someone may have the politeness to write: "However, if I may be so bold as to speak candidly, where the fuck is this money going to come from?".

Jaywalking or crossing a street not using the designated areas for that (e.g. crossing in the middle of the block instead of the corner) is an unknown concept in UK as it is common place to cross a road wherever convenient. In Edmonton, apart from being illegal, in some cases the police have taken it seriously.

A news writer shared her impressions about her moving from Toronto to Alberta and ended them saying: "Holy Mother, it’s unbelievably cold! Dry cold or not, it’s much, much worse than Ontario. And I’ve never seen so much snow in my life. But still, people wear running shoes! In Toronto, we’d have called in the army long ago. Edmontonians, you’re a tough bunch."