East Meets Further East and then me 🙃

Hey!

This time we will be talking about a very different topic, focusing on friendships, cultures, and the "aura" of people. I haven't written such a post so far, but I would like to leave a piece of my experiences here before I leave Canada.

It has been more than 100 days that I have been living and studying in Montreal, where there are plenty of people from various countries all around the world. In my second exchange semester, I experienced something different: having a lot of Asian friends. In this respect, I want to talk about my experience with them, which has been different than my other experiences. I might start to compare Asian culture with Western cultures or my own culture. I will be dividing this blog into three parts:

• My Asian friends from Hong Kong, China, and Singapore

• Asian friends and Western culture

• My Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa trips

  
  

My Asian friends from Hong Kong, China, and Singapore

I will definitely start with the fact that they are really nice people. They care about you in the same way they take care of themselves. They are open to talking about their culture; they make an effort to introduce it and share everything they have with you. I would say it is definitely similar to Turkish and Kurdish cultures in that aspect. They are open to trying new foods, visiting new places, or trying other cultural things.

However, perhaps Turkish and Kurdish people who have preserved their culture might be a bit more inviting than they are. For instance, a Kurdish person will probably insist a lot while inviting someone to do something or simply to eat together. Asians offer, but at the same time, they don't insist, and I guess that is because they respect personal choices and space.

Another beautiful aspect of Asian people is that they care about hygiene. I noticed many times that they didn't touch food if their hands weren't washed, or they didn't eat fruit before washing it. While these behaviors are normal, they are still more strictly observed than in some other cultures.

Chinese restaurant in Montreal

Another feature I want to focus on is intimacy. In my experience, it takes a bit of time for them to become close to you. Usually, they don't ask a lot of questions, and they aren't overly curious about what you do initially. Moreover, I noticed they sometimes hesitate to take action or take the initiative. They are usually risk-averse, definitely strict about rules, and they try not to violate them.

Hong Kongers, Chinese, and Singaporeans are also different among themselves. Singaporeans usually maintain a bit more distance, Hong Kongers are more open and talkative, and Mainland Chinese people are not as talkative but not cold either.

Asian friends and Western culture

Let’s compare these cultures in terms of academics, social life, and people. First of all, Asian people definitely make you feel like one of them and they make an effort for you. Meanwhile, Canadians, Europeans, and Americans don't usually give that much importance to communal bonds, but rather see people as single individuals. Asians usually stick together, travel together, and live together.

However, Western people are a bit more "active" than Asian people, I would say. A common side of both Asian and Western youth is that many do not follow politics closely or know much about history. But they definitely follow technological advancements and use digital tools perhaps better than us. Usually, both sides are quite kind and welcoming.

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec

My Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa trips with my Asian friends

I have a lot of wonderful friends from China, Hong Kong, and Singapore here in Montreal. With them, I traveled to Toronto, drove to Ottawa, and explored three of the biggest cities in Canada. In Montreal, thanks to them, I tried several Chinese, Indian, and Hong Kong foods and discovered that Chinese cuisine is just for me! I had the chance to explore more about their cultures, their interests, and how they see the world. We drove to Toronto for 6 hours and explored Niagara Falls together. They are perfect road trip companions and very easygoing people. 🙂

The Ottawa and Mont-Tremblant trips are probably going to be among the best parts of my Canada experience. We stayed in a traditional mountain house in Mont-Tremblant, visited Parc Omega zoo to feed the animals, and even went skiing before heading back to our home city in Canada, Montreal. During these trips, I enjoyed myself a lot; we laughed and learned together.

Parc Omega zoo, Quebec

But there was a missing point: I missed my family and friends. Every time, I wished my family and friends could also see what I saw so we could experience it all together.

The Canadian Museum of History was definitely my favorite place in all of Canada. I enjoyed it a lot as it starts with the Indigenous peoples and ends with modern history in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Lastly, a very nice piece of information I learned was that the Canadian flag was first designed in 1964; before that, Canada used a form of the UK flag, similar to Australia and New Zealand.

I wrote this blog because I wanted to remember these experiences. The perceptions and conversations here are solely based on my own perspective and cannot be generalized to everyone in these cultures.

See you next time!