“Hey Siri, what’s the difference between a Loonie and a Toonie?”
You know the montage.
Stepping off the plane. The air is crisp. The airport employees guide you through the kiosks and arrivals. Friendly strangers smile. And a few days later, a campus appears straight out of a movie. By the end of the semester, they’ve made lifelong friends, landed a dream job, mastered all the Toronto slang, and somehow still have enough money left over for trips to Banff.
If only.
For many international students, moving to Canada feels like chasing a dream we’ve spent years planning. We watched YouTube vlogs, TikToks, and virtual campus tours that made it seem like life would instantly become exciting and independent.
Then reality showed up at the door with a bulldozer.
All expectations came with their own side effect that no Reddit forum warns you about.
“I’ll experience all four seasons”
Except, I somehow experienced all four seasons before lunch.
Nobody mentioned that September could feel like summer, October could feel like a movie, November could make you question every life decision, and by January, your eyelashes would literally freeze.
Quickly learning that “feels like -25°C” is not just a suggestion. It is a warning to layer up even more.
Suddenly, crossing campus becomes an Olympic event involving figure skating to the next class; at some point, you start to believe you are ready to compete against Yuzuru Hanyu on the ice.
Layers make you look like caterpillars in their cocoons.
… at least I made my first snowman.
“I’ll make friends on the first day.”
It’s a new country after all, a new start and no one knows your story.
But you quickly realize that icebreakers in class are dreadful, and you are still figuring out what your ‘fun fact’ is.
What if they don’t want to talk? What if they’re already in a friend group?
So you wait… and wait… and wait.
The lecture ends, and before you know it, the semester ends up being a very lonely experience.
Making friends as an adult is a hurdle you never think you’d face until it arises. But it is not impossible.
Sometimes, the person sitting quietly beside you is hoping you’ll say hello first.
“I’ll have my life figured out.”
You forgot to eat lunch.
Some weeks feel like you’re constantly running.
Lecture.
Assignment.
Work shift.
Laundry. Again?!
Cook.
Sleep.
Repeat.
You promise yourself you’ll start meal prepping. You don’t.
You promise you’ll go to the gym. Maybe next week.
You promise you’ll answer your parents’ messages earlier.
Oops.
Sometimes simply getting through the week feels like an accomplishment.
“I’ll budget efficiently”
Nobody prepared you for grocery shopping.
Back home, someone always seemed to know what groceries were needed.
Now you’re standing in the cereal aisle comparing prices like you’re solving advanced calculus.
Do I really need laundry detergent?
Why is cheese so expensive?
Why did I spend $70 and somehow only buy snacks?
You slowly become the kind of person who gets genuinely excited when butter goes on sale.
This is adulthood.
“I’ll travel and experience Canada every weekend”
The one-hour distance from home to my destination seemed unbearable when I first started.
But you get used to it.
What you don’t get used to is Line 2 giving up out of nowhere. Google Maps reinventing routes. And the thought of a trip to Niagara Falls being a chill afternoon is now a joke you laugh at.
Now, a good weekend experience includes cafe-hopping and finding events on the many Toronto-based Instagram pages.
The reality nobody posts about
Here’s the part that doesn’t always make it into the vlogs.
There are days when you miss home so much that hearing your favourite song feels emotional and you cry for hours.
There are moments when you wonder if moving here was the right decision, and there’s no one to help you figure it out.
There are weeks when you feel exhausted from constantly adapting to a new education system, new culture, new weather, new expectations and a completely different way of life.
And that’s okay.
Because adjusting is not a one-semester project. It is something that will take a long, long time. But the best part? You aren’t alone in this experience (even when it feels like it).
The real Canadian dream
The dream was never perfect grades, snowy selfies or spamming the CN Tower on your feed. Your prosperity lies in your perseverance to grow even when life comes at you in a million different ways.
It is realizing that your courage is built on tackling fears and showing up anyway.
It is understanding that home is where the heart is, and even when your heart is miles away in your childhood country— you still strive on making this new place your home.
The expectation might not have matched reality, but reality has taught you things your expectations never could.
And one day, when you look up at the sky as a plane passes by, you’ll smile and be proud of the brave version of you that stepped out of the airport with no clue about anything.
Because they had no idea just how much they were about to grow.
Feature photo courtesy of Philip Myrtorp on Unsplash
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