Limitless Gist- My First Culture Shocks

Welcome to Limitless! 

I’ve backspaced so many times, and I just keep thinking of what to write. It’s like having so many things in your head, but you don’t know which exactly to pick. It do be like that sometimes, so I’m just going with the flow. Okay, delete that. Let’s pretend I’m perfect😄. 

Let’s talk about My First Culture Shocks in Canada. 

First culture shock for me when I came to Canada was “oh, I actually need to wear socks”. 

Photo from Kate Laine on Unsplash 

I always wondered why people in colder continents wore socks in their houses whenever I saw pictures and videos of them. Is it aesthetics or are they wearing it for aesthetics? Or is it the same reason people wear bathroom slippers back in Nigeria? Anyways, I got a firsthand answer. No one taught me to go throw a pair of socks on by the time the “inside cold” hit my leg. Apparently, the feet and palms get colder faster. 

Second culture shock was liquid milk. 

Photo from Nikolai Chernichenko on Unsplash 

What do you mean powdered milk isn’t really a thing here? Anyways, here’s a background to the background to the background of this story😂. I came to Canada in 2021 during the COVID pandemic, and I had to self-isolate for about two weeks. I first quarantined at a hotel, then I self-isolated in my school’s hostel. 

My brother sent a glass jar of milk along with the groceries he sent to me. I was perplexed🤣. Two things went wrong- the jar and the milk. 

Let’s start with the milk. I was elated that I finally got to eat some cornflakes, so I poured myself a bowl of cornflakes, some sugar and I added the milk. Here’s the thing. I added WATER! Oh my goodness. That was the most watered down cornflakes I had ever eaten. Apparently, once you add your liquid milk, you do not need to add more water. I wasn’t informed🫠. 

Also, the major shock with this milk was that I was used to eating cereal with a thick consistency of milk. I disliked the watery consistency of the milk at first, but I’m used to it now. I use half and half cream now, by the way, it’s thicker than the regular bagged milk. 

Second, the jar was a whole experience on its own. After using the milk, I decided to refrigerate it. However, here’s the problem. I put it in the freezer not the fridge. Ilaro girl like me didn’t know that the compartments on a refrigerator are there for a reason.

Growing up, we always had chest/deep freezers. They would seldom get to freezing point because of the epileptic power supply in my town. They were also a better option because once things got frozen, they would take a longer while to defrost as opposed to fridge-freezer style units. So, considering the state of power supply, chest freezers were a better option. 

Anyways, I put the glass jar of milk in the freezer because of my “unexposure”, and guess what? The glass exploded. I was more concerned that my brother and his wife would be angry that I shattered their glass than I was about the little explosion situation. I do not even know why😂. They didn’t seem to be bothered about it at all. 

Third culture shock was bagging. 

Photo from Umesh R. Desai on Unsplash

First, I had to unlearn the name. I was used to calling it “nylon” or “nylon bag”. It’s called a plastic bag here. 

I was also shocked at the culture of bagging. You can literally buy anything and carry it with your hands without worrying about a bag. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, you would even prefer to put it in a black plastic bag for various reasons. 

I can never forget the day I went to grind pepper, and it was in a transparent “nylon” bag. This woman whom I didn’t know from Adam saw me on the road and started scolding me. She was annoyed that I put my ground pepper in a transparent bag and everyone could see what I was carrying. People have issues, but that’s by the way. I didn’t even answer her; I just stared and walked away. 

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This, my friends, were my first culture shocks. We might do a part two because I got so many culture shocks. Or maybe we should do a survey?🤔 That would be interesting. 

Thank you for reading! Till we meet again❤️.