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I shit you not. Hey, you're from fort Mac?

Wouldn't you be making a ton of cash if you were still living there?

   

Yes I am, and probably.

I was making 1600 a month when I left 4 years ago, but the problem with Fort Mac is that...while the pay is good, housing is extortionate, the cost of living is extremely high and it's a 5 hour drive from the nearest major city. lol

It wasn't so bad when I was growing up, a pleasant place to be. But then the Oilsands boomed about 10 years ago and it's been packing up since.

   

My biggest case of culture shock was after landing at Narita airport in Japan and going to the washroom. I opened the stall and saw only a hole in the floor (where the toilet was supposed to be) and thought WTF?!?

   

I have heard about that!! A few friends of mine work in China and it's the same there too. It sure puts things in perspective hey??

That was a funny mental image though.

   

Yea,

I wouldn't mind being that far from any city, but yea, I've heard the cost of living outweighs a lot of the pay advantage.

   

It's pretty high. I've heard of people going all the way down to Edmonton to do their shopping just because it's cheaper! There are also people who get their groceries shipped up to them from Edmonton because it's cheaper! It's a sad state of affairs really, as anyone from McMurray here will tell you.

   

Try squatting and using one of those things. I couldn't keep my balance - the only within reach is this thing sticking up out of the floor for flushing it. I probably flushed 8 times. Sheesh.

   

I am so never going to Japan!!

   

yeah, when i was on a train in Italy the same thing happened....go to potty and find a hole in the floor of the train going like 60mph....weee!

   

A buddy of mine from here and his girlfriend both sold their full size split level homes, moved to Ft Mac for the job he had and they bought a..............mobile home

   

Hope you put on your toilet slippers while squatting.

   

Those squatting booth are ALL OVER France - when I went on the Canadian Battlefields tour, we took pictures of them all Some were more colourful than others

   

Oh! And what's with the squirty cheese shit that they put on fries? Is that actually cheese? It's everywhere down here. I still put shredded chedder on my fries and every now an again I'll come across a good can of gravy for 'em.

I can't find maple beans either

   

Apparently some cultures don't outgrow the caveman method of squating in the bushes.

   

A few of my Culture Shocks

-Not that I didn't know people here spoke Swedish, but it was a real shock sitting around with a bunch of Swedes & feeling usless ... not knowing even some basic words. Basically the shock was 2 year olds could communicate better than I.

-Food was a real shocker. Herring is a part of the lifestyle here ... Food for the Vikings. Watching people droll over smoked Eel, just nasty yuck!!! I also married into a hunting family, who back then ... cleaned the meat at the kitchen table.

-washer/dryers. Closet dryers was a real challange for me, I had even iron our undies so that they would feel smooth I now own a tumble "condense" dryer. Having patience for your load to finish a whole hour and a half.

more later.

   

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