partyon

I currently live in Toronto. I HATE it. I find that in Canada everyone is too busy working, paying off debts, stuck in traffic (at least in Toronto) and doing household chores. Don't people get out and meet with their freinds, or are they just too busy? How often do you meet with your freinds/family? I am on a two year contract with work, I can't wait to leave! Is my description about life in Canada accurate?

laverendrye

I couildn't find a more inaccurate descrption of the life that I, ourfamily and our friends live in various parts of Canada. I'm sorry that your two year stay has been so miserable. I don't think your experience is even typical of Toronto.

Borealis

Where are you from? How is life "there" different??

I agree with the "too busy working". It seems the philopsophy of life has changed in the past twenty years from "we work to live", to "we live to work". Impossible not to be that way if you want to keep your job.

April

Funny you should mention it, partyon. Just this morning my husband and I were having a nice breakfast in a restaurant. Along comes a businessman who sits at the table behind us and proceeds to make calls on his cellphone. My husband said, "Let's get out of this guy's office," and we packed up and left. I try to not be a part of that kind of hooey. I only work part time, love what I do, but love my time off more. Where are you from anyway? Maybe I'd like to live there.

Patrick

Whenever I hear remarks like this about any place I usually assume the problem is the complainer, not the people or the place the person is complaining about. Some people don't make friends easily, others do. Your assessment of Toronto sounds way off from my brief visits there, but admittedly I've never lived there. I see from your previous posts you were unhappy and felt this way from the time you had "just moved to Toronto".

You post a lot about places you are going to visit or have visited -- including South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Tokyo. How did you like them when you got there? You even questioned Tokyo not being worth it before you went, based on the rantings of a bunch of people you admitted had never been there. Pardon me, but perhaps you need to change your outlook. Are you the type of cheerful person that others want to be with? Hard to tell from here, but I suspect that if you're looking for a reason you can't find friends, or why your friends are too busy for you, maybe you need to look "closer to home" for your answer.

jtp

you could be describing life in the NY-Metro area, you ask: "Don't people get out and meet with their freinds, or are they just too busy?" - What are you doing to meet people, or make them feel welcome in your world. What are your efforts and energies? Perhaps some one working 1-2 jobs, tending to home and family would love an invite...organize a pot-luck dinner, Canada had a wonderful bar-b-que day throughout the country earlier this month where lots of people gathered in all kinds of communities to share food, beverage and laughter. So many beautiful vilalges sponsor fairs, host art events, offer music concerts and comedy-- Toronto has some amazing restaurants, i can't imagine they don't have amazing people.

April

I think partyon has a point though. This society seems to be full of people racing around in their SUVs, grabbing food on the run, running from appointment to appointment - event to event, no time to look after their kids properly, rushing around mindlessly. Fill up every moment with stuff to do, do, do. Blaring music, cellphone chatter about nothing, shop 'til you drop. Gadgets, gismos - we've got them all. What is the big hurry, people? In countries where life is slower, even those financially worse off, they seem to have something that we have lost.

kodi

Maybe all this rushing is a sign of the times. I certainly don't think it's unique to Toronto. I feel most big cites are probably the same. But to answer your question, NO I don't think your description is anywhere near to being accurate.
Yes, people do get out and meet with friends and family. And yes, there certainly are many, many community events to attend and enjoy. And Yes I am busy....busy having fun and enjoying life. I love Toronto, but then, I think I'd be enjoying life no matter where I was living. It's all about attitude and putting forth an effort.
Go out and have fun. We aren't all working! I hope your time in Toronto gets better for you.

st2327

Hey Partyon, when you finish working in Toronto, come on out to Vancouver and find the real meaning of " get a life"!!
I have lived in both cities for many years and there is simply no comparison! If you are really looking for a more laid back lifestyle and WONDERFUL people go to Australis...I wish my forefathers had emigrated there instead of the "land of the dull and the boring!"

Sherri1

Toronto is my FAVORITE city! There is
always something to do at any level of
the social scale. We have met some
wonderful people and have continued
friendships with them over many years.
We go there as often as we can. It is
a 4 hour drive each way. We actually drove up for dinner one night and back
early the next day. Life is what you make it.

djkbooks

So, you aren't working, paying off debts, stuck in traffic, doing your own household chores?

It sound like you haven't been able to make friends.

All in all, if folks wanted to spend time with you, they would.

HogtownJim

Toronto is dynamic fast pace city and is the best place in Canada to find opportunity. Get over it. Canada did not become a one of the richest nations on this planet by sitting on its ass.

Toronto is the best large city
in North America. I can walk down any street and feel safe, find something interesting to make my day and eat great food from around the world without leaving my neighbourhood.

If you want laid back, then move to a smaller city such as Ottawa, Stratford Ontario, Halifax Nova Scotia or Canmore Alberta. They are all great places to live.

Canada is a liberal democracy that offers a place for everyone as a home.
Our country is envied by all others.

Open your eyes to the possibilities that are around you and you shall be rewarded.

Meesthare

As a Torontonian, I realize that our city is the centre of the universe but how do you figure that you can make comments about "everyone in Canada" from the vantage point of a two-year work contract in one city? I suspect a troll here.

SusanInToronto

Interesting to read all the comments. I agree that the original poster is probably a troll, but his/her comments are somewhat accurate, not just for Toronto, but for life in general now. I read somewhere that many Americans and Canadians don't take all of the vacation that they are entitled to in a year (and obviously a lot of those people live in other cities and towns). I have a very hectic job, but I always take all my vacation time and wish I had more. However I work with people who say that they never can find the time to take a break from work longer than a few days. Some of them believe that long weekends through the summer are a good compromise. One of the columnists in the Globe & Mail wrote about it the other day.

I honestly believe that no one will be rewarded for not using his/her vacation. Does your company reward you for it? Probably not - if they're like companies I've worked for, they'll look at you, decide that you're too old and they can hire someone younger for much less money. And you're out the door before you know it.

I leave tomorrow for BC and finally today I feel somewhat relaxed (I'm on the net right now instead of working), but I was a nervous wreak the last 2 weeks trying to get everything completed. There is a lot of pressure these days. When I was a kid, people used to talk about the future when we'd work a 3 day week because of all the labour saving devices. Ha! That sure hasn't happened. Instead there's the expectation that you'll work longer and harder. Dragging my labour saving device - my PC - to and from my office daily doesn't help either.

Enough of this cynicism! I'm out of here later today and looking forward to it! (And when I'm back, I'll start planning the next break!)

partyon

I have read through all the comments and find them interesting.
I have lived in Europe (UK and Belgium), Asia (Hong Kong) and the US (Houston). I make freinds easily and know many great people in the UK, Belgium HK and Houston whom I have kept in touch with. I find in Canada most people are willing to talk to me but when the weekend comes they are too busy for me. Most people I know only socialize with their school freinds and not on a regular basis. How often do freinds in this city meet each other? I was not expecting this when I moved here.

torontopm

Partyon, I have to agree with you. Have lots of complaints from friends and friends of friends that say the same thing. Canadians in general are very friendly, but at the same time very "reserved". I think that maybe the problem. One of my best friends daughter has a very good friend from St. Lucia. When she came here to attend high school(her father is Canadian)she also said it was very difficult to make friends especially in bigger cities like Toronto. A friend from Ireland also said the same of Toronto, although he had no problems making friends when he was working in Montreal. Took him two full years to find a friend to hang out with here.

I'm sure someone will let their guard down and invite you for a drink it will just take some more time then usual in this city.

Judy_in_Calgary

A good way to get to know people is to take a class in something that interests you -- yoga, Tai Chi, cooking, sculpture, a foreign language, or any other topic that appeals to you.

Another strategy is to get involved in a physical activity, like a sport, folk dancing, or something like that.

Volunteer work can get you into contact with neat people. Here in Calgary I do volunteer work in a nearby wetland wilderness park, and through that I've met people in my neighbourhood who share my interest in the environment.

When I spent 2-1/2 years in Melbourne, Australia, a while back, I took biographical writing classes, joined a group of poets who critiqued each others' work, and joined a bird watching club.

I joined a church in Melbourne, and after that I joined another one in Calgary. My Calgary church has several groups that are loosely associated with the church. That is to say, the groups draw heavily on the church congregation for their members, but also include members who don't belong to the church. These quasi-church groups include a hiking / cross country skiing group, a music listening group, a book discussion group, a yoga group, a Reiki group, an ethnic cooking group, a parents of young tots group, a current affairs discussion group, a group that helps with Inn from the Cold (an organisation that provides shelter for homeless people) ....... The church has so many optional, spin off groups, that I can't even keep up with them.

I haven't lived in Toronto, but these have been some of the strategies that have worked for me in other places.

Hope that helps.

2jacks

TROLL! And not a very good one at that.

SuperMom

Saying you HATE Canada because you don't like Toronto is like saying you HATE the USA because you don't like Chicago.

How can you judge the whole country? Some areas have a lot of business type people while some are very laid back.

And I guess there are no other countries in the world where you would also be stuck in traffic?

atilla

So leave! I find your comments highly offensive and also suspect you are a troll. No, your description about life in Canada is not accurate and is nothing but a huge generalization.