Friendly People

Soon after I knew that I was coming to Canada, one thing I was equally excited and nervous about was meeting new people in Canada. I have always liked meeting new people and making friends even within Sri Lanka. Therefore, I was undoubtedly excited to meet new people in a new country from different backgrounds. But at the same time, I always asked myself “Will I be able to fit in?” 

But from the moment I came here, I realized that people here are very friendly. For the three months that I lived here, I realized that Canadian people are nice and polite. Especially, if you are a newcomer here, they would always warmly welcome you and appreciate your efforts in coming here. Canadians would always greet you with a “Hello! How’s it going?”

However, even in Sri Lanka people are very friendly. Even though Sri Lankans wouldn’t greet you vocally they would always greet you with the warmest smile. 

One difference I noticed in people in Sri Lanka are Canada is how they greet others. I noticed that Canadians are more vocal while Sri Lankans are relatively less vocal. It’s in the mornings that, Sri Lankans greet each other with a simple “morning” or “good morning” other than a smile. But in Sri Lanka, if someone is visiting your house, Sri Lankans would greet you with the palms of their hands pressed together whilst slightly bowing the head by saying either “Ayubowan” or “Vanakkam”.  Ayubowan is in Sinhala whereas Vanakkam is in Tamil.

Image Source: Roar Media

Being a popular tourist destination, thousands of tourists visit Sri Lanka every year. Most of them identify Sri Lankans as very hospitable and welcoming. Often, Sri Lankans do not hesitate to invite you to their homes and offer you food. I have seen many times that my parents do the same. 

Coming from a place like that, I always wondered about the nature of the people here in Canada. Anyway, according to what I have experienced up to now, I can say that both Sri Lankans and Canadians are friendly people even though they might express it differently.