I’ve been living in England for 3 months now, and things here are starting to feel like my new normal. I have lots of people ask me if I miss home, and what I miss the most about Canada. Usually my reply is that I don’t miss much except for my family and friends, but I decided to do a quick think of some of the other things I miss about Canada.

Rounding Prices to the nearest 5¢

Canada eliminated the penny in 2013, meaning that our prices round up or down to the nearest 5¢. In a job that requires cash handling, this makes life so much easier. The UK has taxes included in marked prices, so if something says its £5, it’s exactly £5, not £5.65 or however much would be added by sales tax. But if that’s the case, why are some prices £4.99? Why would you do that? No one cares about that 1p change! Start rounding your prices and get on Canada’s level!

Watching Hockey Games

Even though I am Canadian, I only got into watching hockey regularly within the past year or so. Now that I’m living in the UK, I find it so hard to manage watching NHL games because of the time zone difference. We’re 5 hours ahead of Canada, so games don’t start here until 12:00 or 12:30am! This typically falls within an hour after I get home from a shift at work and find myself barely able to stay awake through the whole game. Major bummer. It’s very frustrating to have gotten attached to a team and now struggle to keep up with their game schedule. On a brighter note, Nottingham has a local hockey team, so I can still go see live hockey games every so often!

Coffee Shops

Okay, so it’ not like there are no coffee shops in England. There are chains like Starbucks and Costa, as well as independent coffee shops. Still, compared to Canada they are few and far between. I think this is because in Canada, if you want to meet up with a friend for lunch or in the afternoon, it’s too early to go to a bar so a coffee shop is the perfect place to go. Here in England, you can pop into a pub for a drink instead. While a pub is a fine replacement for a social meeting space, they don’t quite cut it for a public workspace. I’m way more productive when I’m not working at home, so it’s a bit of a bummer that I don’t have my go-to option of “nearest coffee shop” as a reliable spot.

Plus, I didn’t think I’d end up missing it, but I miss Tim Hortons!

Talking About Canada Things

What exactly are “Canada Things”? It’s not like I don’t get to talk about Canada here. Many people at work ask me where I’m from, and if I like it here compared to back home, and what’s Canada like. I’m always more than happy to talk about it, but it’s not the same as talking about what’s going on back home. Like Don Cherry getting fired. It doesn’t hold the same importance for someone who grew up seeing him every week on Hockey Night in Canada as it does to someone who has no idea who he is or how ingrained he is in Canadian identity. It was weird only having a few people to talk politics with surrounding our federal election in October. I want to laugh with people over how disastrous the new LRT system in Ottawa is.

It’s not like I don’t get to talk about these things. I can text my friends and family back home about it, and talk to my boyfriend (who hears way too many updates from me on the failures of the LRT). But it’s just not the same as being able to make small talk about it with people. It makes me feel far away from home, and very much like a foreigner. That’s not always a bad thing (I am a foreigner!), but it’s the only thing that does so in a way that makes me miss home.

Really, it’s not all bad to miss things from back home in Canada.

It can be hard living abroad sometimes, but all these differences are really shaping my experience as an expat. These little differences are what I love to experience. They’re the kinds of things you don’t realize about your country until you’re not there! If you’ve ever travelled or lived abroad, what are some of the things you ended up missing from back home? Let me know!