Most Canadians lived their whole lives - or at least their childhood years - in a private house. Which means that by the time they come of age, meet that special someone, and get married - they are fairly well prepared for the magic world of house ownership.
Most immigrants, on the other hand, lived their lives in high-rise apartment buildings, sharing rooms with their siblings (or parents...or grandparents), never having to deal with anything more than cursing municipalities for anything and everything wrong with water supply, heating, and such things.
And then one day you move to Canada, reach financial stability, and enter that magic world of house ownership.
Those are completely unchartered waters!
Why are there 3 garbage bins? Oh, that's green bin, recycling, and rest-of-garbage? Okay, is tea bag considered a green bin? But what about the little paper label attached to it with a staple and a string - are those green bin, too? Or should I tear them away and throw in recycling? While we are at that, are threads and staples recyclable?
The electric jack in master bathroom stops working all of a sudden and there is no reset button. What? Press a reset button in the adjacent bathroom? Who would've thought.
Most immigrants, on the other hand, lived their lives in high-rise apartment buildings, sharing rooms with their siblings (or parents...or grandparents), never having to deal with anything more than cursing municipalities for anything and everything wrong with water supply, heating, and such things.
And then one day you move to Canada, reach financial stability, and enter that magic world of house ownership.Those are completely unchartered waters!
Why are there 3 garbage bins? Oh, that's green bin, recycling, and rest-of-garbage? Okay, is tea bag considered a green bin? But what about the little paper label attached to it with a staple and a string - are those green bin, too? Or should I tear them away and throw in recycling? While we are at that, are threads and staples recyclable?
The electric jack in master bathroom stops working all of a sudden and there is no reset button. What? Press a reset button in the adjacent bathroom? Who would've thought.
A light bulb goes off. How do I find out which of the 25 fuse switches downstairs is the right one? Well, you turn them on and off, one by one, and then run up and down the stairs as if you were on a treasure hunt, trying electric jacks and switching lights, searching.
I need to clean air ducts? What ARE air ducts? Why is it so cold in the study? Why are there hot water pressure problems? What can I do about a shaky toilet? What does that switch do? Why am I not getting my electricity bills? Why was my second gas bill three times higher than the first one for the same number of days? Why can't I turn on my dryer? Is my water heater rented or owned?
They think that ESL and Career Planning seminars for immigrants are enough to launch them into life in Canada. I think home ownership deserves to be a separate course. And as we get more and more city dwellers in Canada - perhaps immigrants won't be the sole target audience for those courses?.
I need to clean air ducts? What ARE air ducts? Why is it so cold in the study? Why are there hot water pressure problems? What can I do about a shaky toilet? What does that switch do? Why am I not getting my electricity bills? Why was my second gas bill three times higher than the first one for the same number of days? Why can't I turn on my dryer? Is my water heater rented or owned?
They think that ESL and Career Planning seminars for immigrants are enough to launch them into life in Canada. I think home ownership deserves to be a separate course. And as we get more and more city dwellers in Canada - perhaps immigrants won't be the sole target audience for those courses?.
You spelled it green BEEN istead of BIN in one place.
ReplyDeleteAnd fyi you don't need to turn off the fuse switch to change a bulb - you just need to turn off the light switch. :)
see? even this I don't know (about the light, not about the BIN :)))
ReplyDeletebtw - are you sure about the light? even if it's a potlight?
I'm starting to have serious doubts... ;)
ReplyDeleteahhh, but don't... that's what virtual friends are for - to watch, listen, and learn from their mistakes :)
ReplyDelete:))
ReplyDeleteyesterday cashier woman in sberbank tried to cheat me while I was paying my bills, same with our kooperativ - they give us print outs with the amounts we have to pay monthly and then a game "find a mistake!" starts - if you are lucky you will save 100- 200roubles. If not kooperativ will keep this money (as long as there are some people that dont pay at all they love to accumulate some from the ones that pay, even if it looks more like theft ))
about changing the bulbs - at least these things wont try to trick you once you learn about it ;))
ReplyDeleteAh, Andy - no one tries to trick you on purpose, but we've been trying to figure out a couple of bills for quite a while now.
ReplyDeleteOne bill from the city of Toronto arrived, I paid it right away (all bills are paid through online banking), and then noticed that while it was sent in my name to my address, the bill was for some other property - different address. I am still waiting to get reimbursed.
Another bill arrived for the period before we moved into this house. Our lawyer's mistake, most likely - they should've notified the city that the ownership got transferred. It got taken care off by our insurance in the end (the previous owner didn't respond to any voicemails and never paid this bill - although it was really his). But it took a while to get this all sorted out - while the city kept sending more and more angry "pay the bill or else..." notifications.
Sigh.