This is the second part of my interview with Sasha, a Serbian immigrant who arrived in Canada seven months ago. For the first part of my interview, see the Dec. 7 News-Optimist. As always, if you are a new immigrant and would like to share your story, I can be reached at [email protected].
Alex: What are some other cultural differences between Canada and Serbia?
Sasha: We are a little different from Canadian people - we like houses. For us houses are very important. Everybody likes houses, but in Europe it's different. Everybody who's lived here for four or five years has a house. I'm on my way, but I've only been here seven months.
I think people in Serbia, when they want something, work much harder. People in Canada just work one job, and that's all. Not everybody, but most people. Lots of people from Serbia have two or three jobs. If you want a house, you know that the pay from one job isn't enough, so you find another job. This is one difference.
Another is that people in Serbia aren't relaxed - you can see I'm not as relaxed as you are right now. It's not really my fault, it's maybe because I live in a country where life is harder. If you lose your job in Serbia, it's hard to find another, and you're always living with pressure. Here people are relaxed - today I have money, tomorrow I might not, but who cares?
I worked on a project with a couple guys, and they don't always show up for work because they'd be hung over. When I know I have to go to work, I don't drink the night before. I think it's better to be like Canadian people, relaxed. But if you live in a country where you've seen two wars, it's hard to relax.
A: What are the biggest differences in terms of day-to-day life?
S: Well, day-to-day life is mostly the same. One thing though is that when you go to see friends in Serbia, you're talking about money. Everybody's complaining, "Oh, I'm not paid enough, I can't afford this, I can't afford that!" Here, when you see friends, you're talking about buildings, culture, love, sports, whatever, but you're not talking about problems.
Canadian people, and me now, we don't talk about problems because I don't have any now. Some people have problems but they've made them for themselves - they want a new car but they can't afford it, and so on.
A: What surprised you most about Canada?
S: One thing that really surprised me was the driving culture. In Europe, we don't have four-way stops. Everywhere you have good drivers and bad drivers, but in Serbia there are a lot of bad drivers. If we had four-way stops in Serbia, we'd have plenty of problems because the bad drivers just wouldn't stop. Here, everyone respects four-way stops, no one drives too fast. I've driven all over Europe, and everyone drives too fast. When you should be going 80, they go 120. People don't rush too much here. In a place like Belgrade, everyone is rushing, and everybody is late. I don't feel comfortable there.
Another thing that surprised me was government workers in Canada. They're nice, they're kind and they do a good job. If you need a driver's license in Serbia, you might have to wait a half day for nothing, might be forced to come back again and again, and so on. Here, you go in and get registration, it's easy.
A: What do you like most about Canada?
S: The system. The system really works. Even if you have to get unskilled work, you can live with your wage from it. You have health insurance and so on. In Serbia, you can get a job and not be paid for six months. Not everything here is perfect, but the system works, and works better than the Serbian system.
People here appreciate good work. If you do a good job, you can charge what you want. When you give people a quote on a tile-setting job in Serbia, they'll always complain about how much it is, even when you give them a reasonable price.
When I have to fix my car here, I ask the mechanic how much it'll cost, and I don't gripe and groan about how much it's going to cost.
A: And what do you like least about Canada?
S: I don't know, winter probably. I should say that Serbia isn't as bad as I'm making it sound - lots of things are nice in Serbia. The food, for example.
Another thing I don't like is that people here use the word "sorry" too much, without thinking. Sometimes sorry isn't enough - just do your job well, and sorry isn't enough if you do it badly. But in another way, it's nice when people say "sorry" - some people never use the word.
A: What do you miss most from home?
S: Family and friends.
A: Can you say something about the Serbian community here in North Battleford?
S: I would say that people coming here are pretty brave. Because it's not easy to make a decision to pack everything and go somewhere no one speaks your language. Some people came here with no money, I came here with only $500.
A: Anything that you want to add?S: Maybe from hearing the interview, people think that Serbia is really bad. Or maybe people will think that life was really hard when we came to Canada. Neither is as bad as I made it out to be.
