It's Really Cold

IT'S REALLY COLD

It is really freezing outside, but we are starting to have some warmer days-like -7 degrees Celsius. Anyways, it seems that as the years progress, we get even colder weather and even more snow. So we begin to think about how unfortunate it is that people have to leave 15-30 minutes early to start and warm their cars up and just to get through traffic-no help from the OC Transpo strike that has ended. And while we complain about our hands, toes and faces freezing, some people think of how people many, many years ago survived with the limited things that they had.

I'm talking about the first European settlers-or pioneers. How did they survive? Why would they stay? What did they use? All these questions filled my head as I read the next assignment that was due. Using the website suggestions that were provided and some of my own research , I found out some things...

Different people in those times came to Canada for different reasons.

Here were some:
"-some wanted to own their own land

-some wanted to live in a democracy

-job opportunities

-some poorer people thought that they may be able to prosper in "the new found land"

-some people left their over crowded, dirty and polluted cities for Canada"

Most didn't ask for much-just basic living conditions and a country to call home for their children to grow up and succeed in.

The Atlantic provinces were where the settlers first settled. They went to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. This makes a lot of sense if you think about it. The Atlantic provinces are the closest Canadian provinces to Europe.

HOMES: The pioneer homes were more modern than many people would think. They were usually 1 room homes made of logs, field stone, spruce poles or prairie sod. At the end of pioneer times, brick houses with glass windows and even shingles on roofs began to be built. These homes had to be built to survive the long, cold Canadian winters. Pioneers did work hard to stay warm they had to constantly had to gather wood and constantly burned wood during winter time.

FOOD: The food that the pioneers ate was actually nutritious and good but lacked variety. Food was made, grown or [meat] was slaughtered locally. Diets usually consisted of meats-like pork, fruits-like dried apples, and root vegetables-like potatoes and carrots. But meals became more balanced when fish, wild birds, home gardens and dairy cattle (like cows and goats) began to be used. But most of the fruits and vegetables had to be stored because you can't really plant things during the winter time, especially without the irrigation technology that we have today.

One of the things that the pioneers struggled with was scurvy. Scurvy is a disease that is caused by deficiency or lack of vitamin C-that you can get from citrus fruits (oranges,lemons) and many vegetables. Scurvy gives you swollen, bleeding gums and previously healed wounds would open. As I mentioned before, it is very hard to grow crops during the winter time so scurvy would occur a lot more often during the winter time. Scurvy didn't take mercy on Canada's early settlers,killing many.

When you think about how hard these pioneers tried to survive, it really does make us grateful that we have all the things that we do. We should think more about these kinds of things when we complain about anything from the weather to what you have for lunch.


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My parents were the first in their families to move and live in Canada. They moved to Canada, from Ethiopia in east Africa, to live in a free country. They wanted to be able to make a good living and live a free life, with their own voices heard. Canada was "the land of opportunities".

My father and many other Ethiopians didn't come straight to Canada. My father was in a group when he waked the long journey to Sudan. It was very hard to get out of Ethiopia as a refugee so they went to Sudan (a neighbouring country) and claimed refuge there. This was quite a path but it was harder because this had to be done over night, if the government found you, you could be imprisoned or worse.

My mother was a nurse in Ethiopia and met my father when she treated his father. After my dad came to Canada, he was able to bring my mom to Canada after they got married.

Most of my parents' friends from Ethiopia moved to Washington DC or Virginia. So it was kind of lonely but in the end, it was worth it.

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These websites helped me out-you should take a look at them:
The Canada Page
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Living History Farms;Get Your Grip On History

Photos courtesy of:http://caaneo.ca/about/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/winter-house.jpg and http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/winterstorm_2008_20080305/image10.jpg