Culture Shock of Moving to a Major Metropolitan City

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Like New York, London, Paris, Tokyo etc from a much smaller city, like Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, or even a small town.

So for example, I was born in Regina, and due to family connections have spent a lot of time there. But most of my childhood was spent in small towns. And even though I lived in a small town just outside of Calgary and spent a lot of time here, I still had a bit of culture shock when I moved to Calgary when I was 16. For example, I had literally never taken public transit before. I was used to being able to walk to the other side of town in 20 minutes, so the idea of a 45 min bus ride to school with two transfers was quite the change. My high school had more students than the town I lived in had people.

Now that I've lived in Calgary for half my life, I'm not daunted in the slightest by anything this city has to offer.

But I often wonder how well I'd adjust if I went somewhere way bigger or way different, or both, from Calgary.

So for anyone that has made such a move, how did it go? How about more exotic places like the Middle East or SE Asia? This presumes you didn't already speak the language and such.

I know there would be a lot of sweet things about doing such a move, sports, museums, culture, food etc, but high population density, the pace of life, costs etc would be obvious barriers.

Obviously going to another English speaking, westernized city would be easier. For example, moving to NY seems a lot easier than Tokyo to me. But even moving to New York seems a bit daunting to me. Then again, I was a bit nervous about going to Montreal alone for the first time a couple of years ago and it turned out to be anything but stressful. I feel like I could easily move there with minimal issues. Same with Toronto, minus the French language barrier. I wouldn't worry at all about moving to TO due to the size or culture shock if the opportunity was there. I know Montreal and Toronto are a long ways off from NY or Tokyo, and I was only there for a vacation, but I'm talking about time to assimilate. I felt almost no culture shock at all. I've been to NY and LA and they definitely felt different.

Another wrinkle would be age. I'm mostly referring to being in high school or older. I know a number of people whose families immigrated to Canada and I feel like it would be a vastly different experience if you were 7 years old vs 35.

Some people seem to never get over it though. I know a few older people who are used to a slower paced small town and even though they've lived in Calgary for years, they still would never take the train alone or drive around the city during rush hour. Or drive downtown at all anytime for that matter.

Sorry. Really long OP.

TL;DR Anyone moved from a smaller city, or town, to a huge city? Was it hard to adjust?

[FlamesAddiction]

I grew up in the bush and then moved to Vancouver when I was 19 and I remember being freaked out and having trouble sleeping just thinking that there were so many people around me. I have anxiety in general, but it really started to manifest itself around then.

[FireGilbert]

My family moved from small town BC to Calgary when I was young. I thought Calgary was the most amazing place ever with numerous malls, cinemas, hockey rinks and every fast food chain I had ever heard of. I also thought it was awesome to be in a city that had an NHL team and I could listen to every game on the radio and even see them live occasionally. I honestly thought I would spend my entire life in Calgary.

Of course fate intervened and I ended up moving to Brisbane. There was not much culture shock at all as Brisbane, although twice the size, is a very similar city to Calgary. The only issue was everyone at work talking about rugby and cricket instead of hockey, however I quickly became a fan of both sports.

Then I moved to Sydney, which I'm sure meets your definition of major metropolitan, and there was definitely some culture shock with the cost of living, crazy traffic and a generally faster paced lifestyle. Also, the multiculturalism, which I think is great and allows me to eat so much amazing food, was a shock at first. Examples include everyone speaking Macedonian at my doctors and barber shop, the cafe around the corner not serving bacon, getting off the train at my nearest shopping mall and thinking I had arrived in Beijing, and of course my neighbourhood having Himalayan, Halal, and Chinese butchers (but no Italian!). Also, I went from having a token Asian or Indian friend to being the token white friend.

It took me about 6 months to a year to really get used to living here but now love it. The great food is the biggest draw card and there is always something to do with all the sports and entertainment going on. I also still find the harbour to be one of the most beautiful places in the world and love I can get to the beach in under 10 minutes.

That said I do not think I will spend the rest of my life in Sydney due to the cost of living, specifically the ridiculous real estate market which is 2nd most expensive in the world with an average house price of $1.1 Million. I'll definitely consider a move back to Brisbane or even Calgary one day just so I can buy a house for my family and have more savings.

[Roast Beef]

Every city is boring to the ones who have been there most. I don't care if it's Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Paris, London, Sydney, Tokyo..New York, etc....it's boring to most of the people there. It's just life.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Roast Beef

Every city is boring to the ones who have been there most. I don't care if it's Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Paris, London, Sydney, Tokyo..New York, etc....it's boring to most of the people there. It's just life.

Kind of like woman, show me the hottest chick at the beach there's always someone tired of ...well you know!

[JohnnyB]

I grew up in Calgary, went to Vancouver for undergrad and then ended up in Shanghai for most of the last ten years. Looking back on it, the assimilation to the big city life was generally much easier than the adjustment to a very different national culture.

One of the things I remember really feeling early on was that big cities are easier to feel anonymous in. I used to run on the treadmill at a gym overlooking a major intersection of People's Square and love watching the masses of people that would flood across the road when the light changed. Even though you are surrounded by people, the people are more like features of the landscape because you have no personal connection.

I have loved the convenience of Shanghai, and now Hong Kong as well. I also like the pace of these cities and going back to places like Vancouver feels pretty slow and boring. When a bit younger I couldn't imagine myself moving back, but now that I'm thinking more of family I can see the advantages. Overall though, I think I would most like to split my time between the mega-cities and the countryside. Middle sized cities feel like a compromise on the benefits of both. Not an easy thing to do though. I mostly skip the city when I come back to Canada now.

[OMG!WTF!]

I knew a family that moved from Mexico city to Oyen. None of them could sleep because it was too quiet. And realizing they were our numbered, they scrapped plans for a Mexican restaurant and opened a Burger Baron. For a while you could get strangely authentic salsa for your burger. Then just ketchup.

I think really big cities become not much different than smaller ones. Your area of operation is about the same no matter the size. I lived in LA and there I've not been to massive swaths of that city.

[Northendzone]

I have heard of people who have moved into Calagry from airdrie.

The hardest adjustment they found was how it would take no more than 15 minutes to get from airdrie to almost anywhere in calagary; however once they were actaullly living in Calgary, it took 30 to 40 minutes to get places.

They moved back and gained lots of extra hours each week.

[Ozy_Flame]

Question for Canadian expats reading this who moved away and are permanently gone, living in the bigger cities and other continents and such: Do you still come back to Canada for health care and other needs?

I ask because the more I talk to people who move away from Canada in my job and in life, the more I get concerned with Canadian passports being "passports of convenience".

Not trying to be spiteful or anything, but I would hope living in Canada is not something people should be trying - or want to - get away from.

[GGG]

I think Calgary is large enough that any first world English speaking city wouldn't be a shock.

I think language, cultural and infrastructure differences would be the bigger shocks. So moving to Mexico City would be a shock but New York or LA wouldn't be.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Question for Canadian expats reading this who moved away and are permanently gone, living in the bigger cities and other continents and such: Do you still come back to Canada for health care and other needs?

I ask because the more I talk to people who move away from Canada in my job and in life, the more I get concerned with Canadian passports being "passports of convenience".

Not trying to be spiteful or anything, but I would hope living in Canada is not something people should be trying - or want to - get away from.

Nope. Canadian healthcare is good and I feel more comfortable going to see a doctor in Canada, but it's not like I'm crossing the pacific when I get sick.

I suppose it's different if you're an expat in the U.S., but in my experience moving away involves not living with those benefits.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Question for Canadian expats reading this who moved away and are permanently gone, living in the bigger cities and other continents and such: Do you still come back to Canada for health care and other needs?

I ask because the more I talk to people who move away from Canada in my job and in life, the more I get concerned with Canadian passports being "passports of convenience".

Not trying to be spiteful or anything, but I would hope living in Canada is not something people should be trying - or want to - get away from.

It doesn't really work that way because health care is tied to residency. Once you move out of the country you're no longer covered by Canadian health care and if you return to visit you need travel insurance. Only when someone permanently moves back to Canada are they eligible for medical coverage again, and even then there's a 3 month waiting period before they're covered.

[Northendzone]

One thing that might be hard about moving from Calagry to someplace like NYC or even TO would be leaving someplace that is automobile based to potentially living without a vehicle - depending on where you are living, income etc.

Otherwise, there are always going to be things that are special to that city that don make sense to new comers for example the stampede here in Calgary

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Question for Canadian expats reading this who moved away and are permanently gone, living in the bigger cities and other continents and such: Do you still come back to Canada for health care and other needs?

I ask because the more I talk to people who move away from Canada in my job and in life, the more I get concerned with Canadian passports being "passports of convenience".

Not trying to be spiteful or anything, but I would hope living in Canada is not something people should be trying - or want to - get away from.

It seems like you have some irrational fear of foreigners coming to Canada to steal your healthcare.

Why would I get on a 14 hour flight to see a doctor? The public health system in Australia is on par with Canada with the added benefit of being allowed to purchase reasonably priced private health insurance. I still remember asking a surgeon about a surgery wait time and he laughed at me saying he could do it that afternoon if I didn't need to fast first.

Also of course having additional passports are passports of convenience. My Canadian passport makes it easier to get into Canada and the USA.

Finally I never wanted to leave Canada but after being laid off and running out of EI before finding another job, I had to try something different with my life.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

It seems like you have some irrational fear of foreigners coming to Canada to steal your healthcare.

Why would I get on a 14 hour flight to see a doctor? The public health system in Australia is on par with Canada with the added benefit of being allowed to purchase reasonably priced private health insurance. I still remember asking a surgeon about a surgery wait time and he laughed at me saying he could do it that afternoon if I didn't need to fast first.

Also of course having additional passports are passports of convenience. My Canadian passport makes it easier to get into Canada and the USA.

Finally I never wanted to leave Canada but after being laid off and running out of EI before finding another job, I had to try something different with my life.

Nope. No irrational fear about "foreigners stealing healthcare". Would have a concern with native Canadians coming back for healthcare and then leaving again, but if the healthcare thing is pretty much for residents only I'm cool with it.

When I say passport of convenience, I just mean I have concerns with people actively choosing to living abroad, when so many people in this world would bend over backwards to live in a country like Canada but can't for a variety of reasons. For the record I have been an ex-pat myself too, I lived in New Zealand for a while and spent much time in Japan.

Sure, it's a shallow way of thinking, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that if a Canadian citizen is willingly living elsewhere - permanently - the government should be able to bump up immigration into Canada in equal numbers - basically to counter-balance emigration.

[SuperGrover]

Recently moved to Mexico City from Calgary. Biggest culture shock was just how big and busy this place is. And the lack of open green space. But has been a good experience so far


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[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

TL;DR Anyone moved from a smaller city, or town, to a huge city? Was it hard to adjust?

I will say that these kind of questions and my thoughts on how I would handle things give me anxiety when I think of even visiting places like Manhattan or Chicago. Even though I've been through the greater Los Angeles metro area several times on my own.

[Weitz]

I moved from Rural Red Deer area to downtown Calgary.

I hate it. I would move back in a second if I had the chance. Big cities suck.

[Amethyst]

I'm the opposite. Grew up in a small town (pop 2500) and moved to Calgary. No way would I go back to a small town.

1) Access to doctor, dentist, optometrist, without having to go out of town (and more than one to choose from).
2) Access to a variety of entertainment - theatre, symphony, movies, restaurants.
3) The ability to take the train, instead of driving, on a day like today.
4) The big one - privacy. In a small town, everyone knows your business.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I moved from Rural Red Deer area to downtown Calgary.

I hate it. I would move back in a second if I had the chance. Big cities suck.

I moved from Calgary to a small town High River and have yet to regret it. I love the pace of life and having everything I need within a short driving distance.