Winter bonding

Canadian weather offers great opportunities for reaching out.

• Tim says, “My wife and I recently moved from Melbourne Australia, to London. We arrived here in December 2017 and settled in a neighborhood in North London. I cannot believe how welcoming London has been to us. The city and its people have welcomed us with open arms. On moving day, several of our neighbours stopped by to introduce themselves, some even giving us gifts. We were invited to a neighbourhood Christmas party, and have made several friends in our block. When it snows, my neighbour often ploughs our driveway before we can even get to it! (Generally speaking, snow is a foreign concept in Australia! I’m still trying to work out how to repay my neighbour as the cable for my recently purchased electric snow blower doesn’t reach his driveway.... so far it’s been with wine!) My wife and I have both found great work, and the manager of a local day care centre went out of her way to get us a spot at their centre for the kids. We love London! Thank you to all the wonderful residents of this beautiful city for making us feel so welcome!”
• Mohamed, who is an immigrant, says, “I was happy to offer my driveway for my neighbour to park his car when he gets visitors. His wife thanked me for doing that. And when my snow blower did not work, my neighbour offered to check if he could make it work. I feel that we both have welcomed each other.”
• Linda who moved to Canada from a warm country says simple tips have been extremely handy. “Dressing in layers, using a corn broom versus a scraper to clear the snow off my car quicker and using the flip side of a scraper to make ridges in the ice to clear out it off fast are just some of the tips I’m grateful for. A Canadian friend even showed me to make snow angels! These tips may not seem like much to native Canadians but they really help immigrants like me who had never even seen snow prior to moving to Canada.”