Daria from Ukraine

Meet Daria!

She is from Odessa, Ukraine and is studying Aviation Management. We asked her to share a little bit about herself and her experiences in Canada so far.

“I am really good at studying foreign languages. I speak Ukrainian and Russian as my first languages, fluently speak English and I am currently studying French.

I am passionate about travelling. I have been to many European countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Montenegro and Czech Republic. I have also visited Turkey and Egypt a lot for summer vacations.

What surprised me the most was the diversity of cultures and nationalities at Georgian College. Before coming here, I was told that because Barrie is a small Canadian city, there would be mostly Canadians. But when I came here, I met a huge number of international students, which is great, as you can find friends all over the world.

There were two things I didn’t understand at first, but now use them almost every day. The first one, is the Canadian “eh?”, of course. I knew this stereotype before, but I didn’t expect people to say it that often. The other thing was the names of coffees at Tim Hortons. Who would ever think that ‘double-double’ means coffee with two creams and two sugars? It does make sense now, though.

These are my two pieces of advice for newcomers to Canada: the first one is be ready for multiculturalism. Canada is the place where it’s hard to find a real Canadian. It might sound hilarious, but it is true. You will meet people from all the countries you know, and even don’t know. And I find this really interesting. Foreign people share their knowledge and experience, which broadens your mind.

Second piece of advice is be ready for winter! I know, everyone says it, but it is cold. I thought I was used to winter, cold and snow. When I came here, it turned out that I’m not. But don’t be afraid of it. Winter activities are really fun, and if you know how to dress properly, you will be fine.”