Does anyone else feel like Canada's now a foreign entity?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Life has certainly changed this year but I have no real problem with it. I can handle just hunkering down at home with a book, TV, surfing the net or going for a walk or run, etc. If it were just me, I could do this for years. I miss certain things but the new normal is still perfectly manageable.

The real challenge for me was keeping my young kids stimulated over the last six months, especially given that they had very little contact with friends over that time. It was a constant struggle coming up with new things to do. I am extremely grateful that they're back in school... I think my wife and I did a pretty good job keeping the kids happy over the summer but they need to be learning in a formal setting, playing with friends, etc.

Having teens makes that a bit different as they basically take care of their social needs themselves. They've been seeing significant others and friends fairly regularly, more or less within the parameters outlined by Dr. Horacio Arruda.

As I said in a post in another thread, I am a bit more concerned about the impact on learning, though not overly so.

Originally Posted by Acajack

My kids are teens who span the high school and "junior college" (called CEGEP) years here.

I am not overly concerned but still not thrilled about the impact on their schooling.

The last school year ended with 2-3 months of online learning for everyone from home. Like everywhere it was all thrown together rather quickly with the result that I don't think it was the most productive or enriching period academically.

In the end everyone just got a pass or fail mark as opposed to actual grades out of 100. I gather the pass vs. fail decision was generally made based on whether your homework and took part in exams, and not really about how good your work was.

For my kids who generally have really good marks and are moving towards various high-demand programs in university this actually sucks because there is no way for them to stand out from the crowd when everyone has a "pass". (Though I suppose people will also look at pre-pandemic marks.)

Since early September things are somewhat back to normal. High school is the most normal for the moment with all kids now back in a mandatory classroom setting. My fingers are crossed that this will last as this is my preferred learning option for my kids.

Junior college (at least for our household) is about half and half between online classes from home and courses actually given on site.

I mean, the whole world is in the same boat. So it's not like their school caught fire and was closed (as happened in our city last year after a high school was hit by a tornado) and their year was disrupted while everyone else continued to learn at the usual pace.

[esquire]

^ It sounds like this is a bump in the road academically at most for your kids, Acajack. I'm sure they will handle these challenges with relative ease.

I'm pretty lucky in that my older child is a little ahead of the curve... he started kindergarten a few years ago already knowing how to read and write. So fortunately there is a bit of a cushion for him. But kids who are behind the curve at any level could be in some trouble... it will be interesting to see the longer-term fallout from all of this.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ It sounds like this is a bump in the road academically at most for your kids, Acajack. I'm sure they will handle these challenges with relative ease.

I'm pretty lucky in that my older child is a little ahead of the curve... he started kindergarten a few years ago already knowing how to read and write. So fortunately there is a bit of a cushion for him. But kids who are behind the curve at any level could be in some trouble... it will be interesting to see the longer-term fallout from all of this.

Yeah, we're among the luckier ones in an unlucky time.

I do expect the high school dropout rate will unfortunately soar as a result of all this.

[WhipperSnapper]

Being single sucks and I'll leave it at that.

[WhipperSnapper]

My kid needs the classroom. She struggled at home. I've heard other kids that struggled in the classroom are excelling at home. It's a fairly even split. The option for remote learning should remain an option beyond the pandemic.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by esquire

The real challenge for me was keeping my young kids stimulated over the last six months, especially given that they had very little contact with friends over that time. It was a constant struggle coming up with new things to do. I am extremely grateful that they're back in school... I think my wife and I did a pretty good job keeping the kids happy over the summer but they need to be learning in a formal setting, playing with friends, etc.

Makes ya think... As I've mentioned to some of my friends & peers: (in our late 20s/early 30s) If a pandemic were to happen at any point in our lives - this is probably the best age to go through it.

Old enough that it's not adversely affecting our childhood development, and old enough (and mostly in relationships) to not have the same "need" to party & hook up with strangers as those in their late teens/early 20s; while still young enough to not have children to be stuck with all day at home, and young enough that we also don't have to worry about the virus killing us.

I mean, still sucks, but the timing could have been worse.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Makes ya think... As I've mentioned to some of my friends & peers: (in our late 20s/early 30s) If a pandemic were to happen at any point in our lives - this is probably the best age to go through it.

Old enough that it's not adversely affecting our childhood development, and old enough (and mostly in relationships) to not have the same "need" to party & hook up with strangers as those in their late teens/early 20s; while still young enough to not have children to be stuck with all day at home, and young enough that we also don't have to worry about the virus killing us.

I mean, still sucks, but the timing could have been worse.

Yeah, young adulthood from between the end of school to the start of having families/children (or simply to the start of getting older for those who don't do the marriage and kids thing) is probably the least onerous time of life in terms of dealing with this situation. Granted your cohort is probably feeling the economic hit more than most, but if you can hold on to your job and pay the rent or mortgage, then you have it made in the shade

[vid]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Being single sucks and I'll leave it at that.

A friend of mine shared a screen shot of a guy he found on Grindr whose profile basically said, "I'm not going to hook up with anyone due to Covid, just want to chat". And I'm like "that's not what Grindr is for? "

[Loco101]

I got to travel to Western Canada during the Summer mainly for work but had a number of days off to explore. I was able to have my family with me which was great. I was supposed to fly but instead was able to make a deal where I could drive my own vehicle as my employer couldn't find me a rental vehicle. I didn't get paid mileage because of my deal as I used many vacation days in between, had weekends off and got four paid days for driving. (I wasn't vacationing anywhere between Timmins and Manitoba which is a two day drive one-way)

It was really cool going to so many different communities and I will say that Canada did not seem like a foreign entity. It still felt like Canada. Yes COVID-19 really impacted many things but not the great outdoors. It was so cool being able to go to Grasslands National Park in SK, Dinosaur Provincial Park in AB, Canmore, Waterton Lakes, Crowsnest Hwy into BC, Okanagan and more. So many things were not busy that usually are and the weather was amazingly great. Everybody I encountered was extremely friendly. I've travelled across Canada and I'd say that the people I encountered on days off and outside of touristy stuff were on par with what I've encountered in the Atlantic provinces. I had a number of conversations with people in BC especially who told me about their towns, region, economy , etc.. They all were happy that I had travelled from Northern Ontario. It was weird because I though people out there might not be impressed with my family travelling there and they certainly proved me wrong.

For work, it went extremely well. I was involved with a pilot project and training with the Prairies region offices as well as some offices in BC. I can't go into details for obvious reasons working in government, but I will say that the people I encountered were wonderful. I learned a lot about some computer programs being used there, office designs, security, more efficient ways to do things and more. Nobody treated me like an outsider. A couple of females who trained me at one site invited my family to join them for dinner at a restaurant one evening which was very nice. More would have gone but you could only have six people at a table. In another place my family was invited to an outdoor backyard get together for drinks and appetizers. I had video conferenced and emailed with many of these people for a number of years so it wasn't as though I had just met all of them. But travelling for work was a big-time highlight for me and got me out of working at home.

I spent from March to mid-July working from home and am now back to doing it again. I'm very grateful to be working and that my pay didn't stop. I'm beginning to feel depressed (work-wise) because I really miss seeing people, the conversations, humour, going out for lunch with colleagues and more. The office created a sense of community for sure. I get more work done at home, have nobody watching me, but it's lonely. I know I'm not the only one. So my work is like a foreign entity, everything through a laptop, and it may last quite a long time as there is no sign of COVID ending. The weather has been terrible here lately and work makes the days just fly and I don't have to get dressed, can make tea or coffee whenever, raid the fridge whenever, so I'm not complaining out loud. Just find the socialization both at work and in my own time to be lacking.

And btw, I'm definitely an introvert but I really like one-on-one conversations not so much group ones.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I...

And btw, I'm definitely an introvert but I really like one-on-one conversations not so much group ones.

Same here - with one other person, you can't shut me up. I'm fine with two or three other people but start shutting down from there as groups get larger. Large social gatherings suck the life right out of me. That said, I love the anonymity of crowds. Go figure ...

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

VR/Zoom is a poor substitute for in person social interaction..

This depends, and hence why I said social geography in the OP.

For me and my wife we were already separated from our families and friends. Covid has forced everyone around us to talk and call more.

Also we've worked it so we have more daily socialization instead of waiting 2-3 weeks between events/birthdays/wedding/etc. I think this is the part of the circumstance that many extroverts are missing. Zoom/gaming isn't a simulation of past events. If you get your social fix on the weekend you're missing the point, you can't recreate going to the bar on a Friday on a Friday night zoom call. Socialization has now become a multiple times a day event.


I figure I'm a half and half extrovert/introvert. I get really excited being around people, I love crowds and events. I really really miss planning rail trips to Quebec. For me and my wife it was the highlight of 2019. Last year we made a 2020 plan of more travel, more hockey games, more concerts, more social clubs etc. We're missing out on all of that, but we also get better control over our day to day lives. What use to be exclusively weekend events now occur daily.


My wanderlust is satisfied by the volume of things I've learned to do online. I've reclaimed the weekdays and parts of my weekend. I can now do laundry while in the middle of the work day. I can now go for exercise in the middle of my work day. I've figured I am saving a solid 3 hours a day with all these flexibilitys. No traveling to work, no shopping trips, no choosing between going out and doing laundry. No wasting my weekends doing catch up for all the things I didn't get done during the week.

I prefer VR gaming because I get in a physical space with people. There's a real physical aspect, where you can feel people heavy breathing when the game gets tense, you can figure out who drags their vr gun and who keeps it in position. You also get a spot in people's living rooms. You can hear everything in the background for better or worst. Sometimes you want to get away from people for that reason and sometimes it pulls you in. Most relevantly you get exposed to large numbers of people from all over. The barriers for personal interaction are eroded. You no longer worry about class, geography, etc. You also have control over how exposed or withdrawn you are. You can cycle through large numbers of people by match hopping or alternatively you can stick with a small number of people on your friends list.

I know this might seem like something exclusive to myself or gamers. But I assure you I am absolutely not a gamer. I simply cannot game offline, It feels like a total waste of time. The beauty of VR gaming is it can be completely spontaneous and happen at any time in my day to day routine. There's also an aspect where people are much more polite than they are in regular online gaming. VR gaming circles are somewhat more communal and small. Being a dick doesn't get you anywhere, and because interactions are so personal people tend to show their best, unlike a lot of social media which tends to drag out one sided versions of people's personality. My point is I strongly suggest you get a VR gaming set up before they sell out before Christmas.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

After the first month and a half/two months of horrible fear and being destitute, my life has never been better since late April/May. I've always had mental illness, so have had years of practice developing coping skills to deal with the perpetual uncertainty of my own brain and its reactions. So when the pandemic hit and neurotypical people had to deal with uncertainty and actual existential fear for the first time ever, I felt normal for the first time in my life. That has carried on into this "new normal" for whatever reason, I guess because I've been running every day, taught myself to paint, reading books, and working out at home... but still going out to restaurants when I want and going on my usual photography adventures.

So I can see where you're coming from, just from a different lens. My life is definitely richer now than it has been for me since my last year of high school, which incidentally is the last year I was consistently happy Silver linings.

I think this is largely why I was thinking this felt like living in a foreign country. We now live in a world where pretty much everyone has worked on their own personal shit. The isolation gives you a lot of time for personal introspection.

I really view 2020 as a bit of a rehab. Not just for people who were obviously suffering but for pretty much everyone. I'm optimistic or at least very entitled to the idea that when things go back to normal we have all changed for the better.