Beginners tips from the beginner vol.2

Three months have passed since the first installment of this series. In the meantime I didn't found out about any magical shortcuts unfortunately. Instead I'll layout some stuff that will maybe sound pretty dull, but there are many things that seem normal / common sense stuff to me and not to the guy next to me and vice versa.

Doing some calculations for the monthly pass for public transport. One thing is for sure, if you are coming after 10th of the month or something don't buy monthly pass. For those who are traveling only occasionally to work with public transport don't buy monthly pass. Either if you are buying 1 or 2 zone monthly passes, price of the pass is approximately price equivalent of 40 rides when buying with stored value (putting money on your "public transport card"). Meaning there is almost no price difference between those two if you are just going to work with public transport. Rest of the details are up for individual cases and it is 10 min work to do the math depending on your life style.

While on the subject there are a lot of people here using bikes for transport. Even in the rain there are bunch of people driving to work like nothing is happening. Don't have anything to compare it with but I've been told that infrastructure for bikes is pretty good here. My friend is currently searching to buy a used one but now demand is high. Best time to buy one is at the end of the season. For instance now is the time to buy skiis and equipment related to them. Lots of people will look to get rid of them and you can get much better prices now. 

Friend's analogue (heavy) beast

For those filing a tax return for the first time in Canada, you have to do it by sending it in a paper form. Everybody else can do it online which is obviously easier. For people like me (WH newcomers) it is fairly simple to do your own tax return. You receive your T4 slip from all of the employers from 2016, which is the base document you need to file your return telling you how much did you payed income taxes, medical, retirement fund etc. All of the documents and informational material can be found on CRA website. I suggest starting from here. You need to be careful to choose needed documents for the province you were residing on 31st od December 2016. 

It took me couple of hours to do it. 95% stuff you don't need to fill in. Doing it alone you can miss something and get few bucks less on your return but it is kind of educational process where you see all of the thing that are important for future filing your tax returns (medical expenses, firefighter's credits, relocation expenses, income brackets, child care credits, monthly passes, gifts to charity and many many other things). It is recommended to file your tax return by 30th of April but if I understand it correctly you can do it even later but some restrictions.

Or you can pay somebody from 40 and up dollars and forget about this hassle :D .

Stalingrad 1943 (snowy Richmond)

When I initially tried to follow weather forecasts I was kind of confused how can one be so wrong all the time. After some time I realized that first month I came was completely chaotic and simple, rainy and rainy and rainy. Reliable web page for forecast is yr.no. For some weather forecast means nothing. If you want to plan your weekend, plan when are you going to nearby park for a run or simply plan what shoes you are going to wear today weather forecast is a thing you need to make your life easier.

There is a different type of forecast which is not important for most of the people. But it is good to check it out if you decide to go to the mountains in winter or spring. Last week there were pretty bad avalanches (one guy was found dead) and it was very dangerous to be in the mountains without sufficient knowledge. 

I do my groceries in Canadian Superstore and Safeway. Reason for doing that is because those are only 2 big ones which are the walking distance from my house. I'm more and more leaning towards the Canadian Superstore because it is cheaper and...that's it. Some of the usual stuff that I use and it can be stored for a longer time I buy only when there are some discounts. And there are always some discounts to lure you in when you go to (only) buy bread and milk :D

Chinese vegeterian restaurant and it was good (coming from not so vegetable guy)

When eating outside almost every place has happy hours. People who want to save extra bucks just need to spend few minutes online and explore stuff. I said it in my first month and saying it again after 5 months, eating in Vancouver can be very good and very cheap. To put it in a context there are 2 bars in downtown where you can eat burgers, tortillas, chilies, poutines and similar not perfect and not too healthy stuff for 5$ all day every day. Eating on a budget can mean eating bento boxes (sushi, some teriyaki meat, tempura, soup, salad) for 10$ or Chinese lunch boxes for 10$.

Regular restaurants have prices for main dishes I would say from 12$ to usually 20$. Of course, there are much more expensive restaurants but for thoughts on them you'll have to ask somebody else :D. Thing I need to start using is Groupon. They offer very good discount deals, mostly for food, but you can find for example 2 Whistler passes for price of 1.

When in search for an apartment my suggestion is to give yourself a couple of days more than planed to explore more options. Room or the apartment is the place that you'll spend a lot of your new life. When you come from work from shitty day of work or you had a bad date or whatever, you want to be in a place you feel comfortable. If you are looking just a place to sleep and try to save 100$ a month that way, that's fine. But as soon as you find work (again I think) you'll appreciate much more comfy and a relatively nice place than 100$ a month extra. 

Sunny winter days in NP Paklenica, Croatia

I payed a half of the rent as a deposit. By the experiences of people around me, usual case is deposit of one rent and all utilities are included. Rooms usually come with all needed furniture. I suggest to stick closer to Vancouver itself, Burnaby, Richmond, N. Vancouver. I think there is a big difference in terms of social life when you are living 1:30h from downtown comparing to 30 min. You don't have to be a party animal or something but (especially in the beginning) option to go for a beer, concert, museum or just walk with somebody is a important piece of the puzzle to adapt to new environment smoothly. Google maps gives you fast and good information about distances via car/public transport. Car of course gives you much more options for everything but for now I won't discuss it.

It will sound very profound and deep (sarcasm) but best way to meet people and make new friends is to do things you like to do and meet people who share to same extend same values as you do. If you like soccer (or football as would normal people put it), go play soccer with some random people. If you like hiking go hiking. If you like to dance go dancing. If you like to drink beers in the pub enter the next pub and do it. 

There are meetups (online app) for every activity you can imagine. Just join and attend next meetup and you'll meet people. Canada is a land of immigrants, 20% of its population if foreign-born. And that number is just going to increase. That means there are a lot of people with similar or same situation like yours. People here are very open for a conversations and activities of any kind. Unlike popular thought that people here are "cold" or something, I think that you have to want it to not find friends here. 

Night skiing on Kupres (as Mario B. likes to call Cypress mountain)

One more obvious thing is that for most people easiest way to find friends is to meet people with same nationality. You can speak your language, discus politics, sports and do everything you did back home. Personally I'm not a fan of that because there is a danger that in a long term you may be stuck in a home land mentality in a foreign country. To not get me wrong, one of the best friends is Croatian (even though I'm friends with him just because burek). I prefer to practice my language, learn other cultures and spend time with people I like, not because they are Canadians, Croatians, Polish or Chinese.

I see Canada as a country who is polite enough to give us an easy way in to try to immigrate. Polite way to response on that is to try to embrace Canadian culture to some extent. I didn't leave Croatia because I adore it, on the contrary. Yes, I'll have hard time get used to "hi how are you, good, how our you, good, thanks" introduction to the talk. Yes, I prefer more of an direct approach and less PC but I'll live with it. 

One random thought is that by Federal law you as a legal worker should be payed for Statutory holidays. Last information I got is that you have to work at least a month before getting a right to be payed for it. Not really sure about it, but in any case, always ask for it and don't worry about law. If it is against the law and company want's to nitpick than you'll not get it. If they don't care you'll get it.

I don't have anything new or smart to write about immigration stuff. I'm working, earning, banking my Canadian working experience and putting ears on other people's experience. WES, IETLS and other immigration necessities I'll leave for later, most probably for my second year. For second year plan for now is either to obtain open work permit based on LMIA or apply for WH or YP with (f***king) 3 months brake after expiry of the first WH permit. Not the smartest thing to do probably but I don't want to rush too much and loose my nerves over something like this. I really like it here and I would like to stay here for life, but if I don't succeed there are other fishes in the sea.

More time I spend here more and more I'm convinced that anyone should come and try it (Vancouver is just an example), especially if you have never lived outside Croatia (like me).