Cultural Discrepancies (4): Eating Habits

People eat differently here from how I used to eat. I better say the Caucasian people eat differently. The foreigners  mostly, most of the time keep their original eating habits and cuisines. Breakfast is an important meal here and while people eat out mostly, breakfast, I assume is the meal that most of the time is eaten outside. There is no single day you pass a Tim Horton's, McDonald's, Starbucks or any other coffee chain or fast food without a line of people waiting for their coffee and breakfast sandwich or something else. And they are mostly Caucasians and the people of other generations who are born here plus at times cab drivers who have nowhere else to eat and have nothing else cheaper than this to eat! 

I used to go to McDonald's regularly eating the full of fat, carbohydrate and cholesterol breakfast sandwich but know that I have less activity and also more aware of the harm these sandwiches so, I barely go, may be once a month or even less. 

Unlike here breakfast is very limited in the old country mainly because people want to rush to work and there is no place that they can get their breakfast from. So it is mostly skipped or limited to a cup pf tea and a small piece of bread with Feta Cheese which in fact is disgusting in taste especially most of the breads which are all made of White Flour but people are used to it because it's the cheapest and fastest breakfast and the most common. Fried Egg or Omelet is common for the time that you are not late and for people who can afford. And of course Bread, Butter and Honey which is another combination. Why I'm saying this because it's a reminder for me and as well I think there might be people who are not familiar with the breakfasts of the old country and might want to know. Of course there are the other ones which are fancier and more expensive and those are the ones that you have to go out with. I very rarely went out back to the time I lived there because I did not consider them healthy and sanitary, which in fact are not, just like most of the restaurants in the West. Among them are Head and Feet (of Sheep) and a kind of thick soup called Haleem and that in fact a bit better compare to the first one. 

Then lunch is just a sandwich here for most of the people or they drop at a Sushi place paying may be $10 for 3 pieces of warped vegetable for raw fish in cold cheap rice! Depending on the weather people might have soup and that always is a powered soup dissolved in hot (not even boiled!) water or made and frozen soup which is thawed in a big pot. Recently people have learnt to eat salad mainly because they consider it healthy. So you may see salad bars in supermarkets and restaurants and notice that people add big pieces of croutons or boiled egg and a whole lot of creamy, fatty sauce at the end, not knowing that has more harm than good! 

And the last but not the least is dinner which has the same importance as breakfast may be even more but the good thing about dinner here is its eaten normally early evening so unlike the old country you would most of the time have no problem sleeping. Dinner has three courses but is usually light because people make themselves full with the combination of three courses and drinking wine while in the old country the dinner while is as important as lunch is mostly served very late, especially at the family parties and very heavily, I would say. 

But regardless of all the above when I saw the organizations reimbursing policy for the meals today, I realized it has a complete conformance(!) with the eating habits of North America. The company reimburses the employees for the meals in this manner:

$x for breakfast, $(x+5) for lunch and almost $(x+5)*2 for dinner!  

You pay not much for the breakfast because you are in rush to get to the destination or catch your plane so you get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the most. Then at the lunch time you have to rush back to the meeting or your visit but in case of dinner you are allowed to have a double digit bill which not many employees get that chance! 

After years I have adopted myself with both the old country's eating habits and the West's! I don't eat most of  the meals of both sides especially tons and tons of white, bleached rice and pots of different types of stew and different sorts of Kababs (in fact I don't even remember when was the last time I had Kabab) in the meantime I stay away from daily sausage, Pepperoni crap Pizza with disgusting white flour thick crust and other sorts of trash like Subway, Arby's, etc. I stick with salad and once a week a home made meaty meal  or  other light healthy choices but generally its hard to get good food, especially fruit in here. I was watching this movie's trailer, Food Inc. and added more to what I already had known about the food business here but I have to get the movie and watch it. 

(Photo: Oven pink fresh salmon with onions, herbs and cut potato, this home made is a good and very delicious chose which gave us a very good feeling and we enjoyed a lot after eating)

Disappointing Experience With Ralph Klein Park

I had heard about Ralph Klein Park before going there this morning but I gotta say: It was a very disappointing trip to the south east side of the City. I always admired Ralph Klein although I didn't know him very much and had very little experience with him but it was interesting to me to have a park named after somebody who was alive at the time. So I decided to go this morning to see what it was about. 

First off this park is far away from any neighbourhood so I really see no reason why the City should spend money to build a park where all the surrounding is industrial places. The other problem is the City of Calgary website says that the park is closed Mondays and holidays but the gate was wide open. I don't think anybody could steal anything but there are always sick people who could cause damage. There was only one SUV parked in the park and I didn't see anyone around. 

The construction of the park is not finished yet. I saw what looked liked Bobcats and pile of stones which showed work had not been finished yet. I certainly believe that the City could have finished the park first and then advertise for it. I understand that the City of Calgary's authorities are working hard to make a modern city but looks like they either lack intellectual resources or a good management. Another example of that is building a bridge over Bow River which already have enough! Millions of dollars was spent, not to mention the asshole who was hired to design it, just because someone in the City had though it would have been cool to have another bridge, a fancy one while that money could have been used much smarter. 

(Photo: Construction vehicles are still seen at the other side of this pond like water in Ralph Klein Park. I really liked these glass information signs that the City has put here and there but didn't get a nice shot. May be I will when the park's construction is finished!)

Moving for New Customers

I saw this woman's advertisement a few times, back to the time I resided in British Columbia in the local papers advertising for the service she provided. She indicated each time that she was leaving the country and I guess for that reason she was giving break in her service price. It was kind of strange because once someone is here in Canada especially the one who had a miserable life in his or her original country, they barely want to leave unless they go to Australia, the US or somewhere in Europe. The first one rarely happens and for the second one the person should be really lucky to get a better position in there to go and Europe is only the destination for the western Europeans, for example Germans who are going back to their own country. Other than the mentioned ones, people barely go back to their hometown of the original country unless their situation is really bad or they have made good money so they go and retire over there. It is common within African guys here. They come as refugees, get the Government money for years and then work hard without spending much, save a lot and considering the exchange rate, they go back and live a life of dreams! For a Chinese woman who came to Canada on what basis, I don't know, and gives massage and maybe more, I can see her going back only if she has made enough money to go and start a small business in a small town over there.
Anyways I saw the woman's advertisement a few times in Calgary Sun and that was her! She had not gone back to China but moving to Alberta to make money, probably. I didn't see the same advertisement in the passed few weekends that I spent in a McDonald's for my coffee so I assume the new business has not grown for her, may be here. I remember part of the advertisement in the B. C. paper was that she would not provide any sexual pleasure, which I believe it means she would(!) but here I didn't see that. May be she shows up in the paper again or may be she's running the business with no need for an advertisement on a local paper. 

Tracing Back the Steps

I told myself to go and find the route that I used to take to go to South Glenmore Park back to 2003 every weekend, today. I used to ride my now stolen mountain bike from 17A St. to the park even in cold winter days. So I drive to road that is parallel to Glenmore Dr. and park there. For information it is adjacent to the close-by Golf course(!) So I parked there and passed over Glenmore from the overpass and then I tried to remember where I used to go. So step by step and gradually I followed the Glenmore Pathway parallel to the beautiful  Earl Grey Golf Club and after about 25 minutes may be I was there. The closer I got, the more familiar my surrounding looked like. I realized that the reservoir does not have as much water as it used to, or may be it was just a feeling. I just took a few photos and ran the way back to the vehicle which only took 10 minutes. 

From left Pahlavi II, the King of Iran, Houari Boumedianne the then Algerian Foreign Minister and one of the biggest criminals of the history, Saddam at the time of signing the 1975 Algeria Treaty which determined the Iranian-Iraqi border. Saddam later in 1980 tore the treaty paper as a symbolic gesture on TV and invaded Iran on 22-Sep-1980 , starting a war which as Iran refused the ceasefire after more than a year, caused more than 1,000,000 casualties and billions of dollar damages to both nations. Why Iran refused the end of the war after the libation of Khoram-shahr is a big dispute which should be subject of another post. 

(Photo, top: Golf courses all have a very relaxing and beautiful environment. That is why many elderly choose this sport for their spare time. This is part of the Earl Grey Golf Club close to Glenmore Park which remind me of the very famous Earl Grey Tea. That was very popular and was considered a good gift back to the time I was a little kid in the old country. I remember my aunt's husband used to bring a box every time he visited us. He was an army officer serving in a border town. I guess this memory goes back to 1975 when there was conflicts between Iran and Iraq, It was a border disputes which resulted in signing of the famous 1975 Algeria Treaty between the King of Iran, Pahlavi and Saddam)

Passed the APEGA NPPE

I had this doomed N. P. P. E. last Apr. and to the date I had read those damn books and sample questions and talked to a few people because I certainly didn't want to fail again. I had made a stupid mistake by not writing right after the failing time and had to compensate. 

So went to the session early and sat and waited. The usual instruction was given and the usual assholes came and went and needed guidance like grade 5 kids. As soon as I opened the question book and read the first one I realised that I would experience something different from what I had expected. I'm not allowed to reveal the questions and I'm not going to do that but I had busted my hump over complicated topics such as Tort Law, Bonds, Contracts, Common Contract Issues, Insurance, Lien, Claims and other subjects similar to those but most of the questions had come from Safety, Ethics, Environment, Registration, Practice and similar subjects, the ones that I had barely studied! So I went on and on to the time that I had almost 15 min. to the end and finished and then went back and answered a few that I had skipped and answered those ones too and realized that I did not have anything else to do while still 10 minutes were left! I walked out and handed my answer sheet and left. When I saw the letter today, I almost felt joy and relief, both. I had already started studying for another exam so if I had failed this, there would have not been much motivation today to carry on.

I still have to wait 3 to 4 weeks to get another letter from APEGA to gain the right of the title, I guess, officially. And I had to study hard to pass ASQ CQE because that's no joke either. So remember I passed because I'm The Seeker and I won't get to give what I'm after, till the day I die! What I also have to point at is I had and still have a problem with concentrating and focusing. I overcame that by writing, more specifically typing notes. It help but didn't fix the problem completely. I guess whoever have multiple problems in life, will face the same issue. Strong people are just not distracted by the problems. I had to read parts multiple times for that reason. I remind me of that TV series years ago in the old country called Aviccena. He was a Persian scientist of 10th century. In the series there is this episode that on his trip (He was on travel most of his life) he sits somewhere to take a rest and there is this shepherd and his herd around him. The shepherd sees him sitting in a dark and gloomy humour and walks up to him and asks him what his trouble is. Aviccena tells him that there is this book that he has read but has not understand much of it. The shepherd advises him to read for the 2nd, 3rd and maybe even 4th time and eventually as many time as needed until he understands. The scientist overwhelmed by the grunt's advice takes it and follows for the passion of his life, learning! If anyone needs to but APEGA used material such as books, notes, booklets, sample questions, etc, please leave a message with your e-mail address. I'll get in touch with you.
(Photo: These two books are the main sources for studying NPPE. There are a few other handouts which should be obtained. The books should be read thoroughly and completely) 

Data Collection

I was studying the CQE sample examination as part of my preparation for the ASQ CQE exam. and this is the 3rd time I attempt writing it since I failed for the second time in 2006 and I have lost two payments without even writing it, the last two times(!), when I came across this question:

An important aspect of data collection is that the data collector should:

a- Know how the data are to be used.

b- Use a stratified sampling plan.

c- Use a control chart to analyse data.

d- Determine the dispersion of the data.

I quickly analysed the answers and decided to have answers b and c out and then thought of a and b. At the time to my understanding the data collector does not need to know how the data are to be used because they simply are a tool(!) for the others to use, analyse and process it and probably issue the result. So I chose answer b. I learnt though that answer a is actually the correct one! The rationale behind that is simply if the data collector knows how the data is to be used later, they can have a better understanding as how to gather the data to be useful for the processor or analyzer and eventually the end user.

At the same time it reminded me of the data collection I was involved in, years ago, in the university days and now I realize how stupid it was! The training was good although I do not recall barely anything. We were doing data collection for urban traffic studies and part of it was simply filling out the forms by knocking at the doors and asking questions. The problem with that was people were mostly surprised as how we knew them, their information as they probably had never been informed of that! It was not like here that the city sends letters and notifications to everyone. The other issue was that I guess many people were not honest in their interview because they simply didn't care or were not interested in the results especially because the interview was about their daily commute. For example it's at time common in the old country to get a free ride from someone. It happens to the girls and young women and the driver does that with the hope of having a date later on! As weird as it might sound, many people do that and at the end they give out their telephone number or hope for a quickie, if not at the time, may be later! Even the families and men might get that. Sometime there is a kind person who feels bad for the passengers hanging out at the side of the street and gives them a lift. Once we were interviewing a young girl and she was not so firm on a few of her answers. My partner who was a young girl as well said that she had realized that the interviewee was lying at parts and in fact she had gotten free rides from here to there!

The most stupid part of those few days of data collection was the we were parked beside a highway and our job was to count the passing cars and the number of their passengers! That could be a tough thing to do because for a minute, two or even three cars might pass at the same time! We had a recorder and we had to yell the number of each vehicle's passenger to it and we had to do it continuously for, I do not recall how long by saying: 1 ... 3 ... 1 ...2 and so on to the microphone! 

How would you expect people to be honest while they are standing at the side of a highway and looking inside the passing cars to find out how many are in it!? The funny part was some of the drivers, I remember exactly, would stop to ask questions and addresses they were going to!! And I had to point at them to leave while talking to the recorder or direct them if someone else was doing that!

I never knew what the result of the data collection was and none of us knew how those were used but we made good money and we all receive a certification for our participation, at the end! I remember there were another group (there were several groups) consisted of two boys and two girls, as far as I remember and I heard that they spent most of their time together having a good time eating here and there and chatting and then filled out all of the forms with fabricated data! Our group consisted of me, three other boys and a girl, led by me and I was honest and all and the boys were too but two of them and more specifically one didn't like me for different reasons including I spending most of my time with the girl and sending them as a team but overall it was a fun time. I guess I missed a few classes and right after that semester I fell into a big trouble, of course not as a result of that data collection but thought better to mention that. I struggled for a few months and then a year or two until I finally graduated.

(Photo: A collector of data at an intersection. She seemed to be well equipped)