On schedules, cultural differences and the summer

When I moved to Canada and started to get to know more people, one thing I always wondered about was the hectic schedules. There was always something going on. I mean always. Have to meet this person and another is coming to town, then there's a birthday party and a dinner date, not to mention weddings and then the associated showers.

Good luck planning to hang out over a weekend in the summer, you should book a month in advance. I was wondering about it and laughing a bit. Not in a mean kind of a way, just a bit puzzled. I can definitely confirm that Canadians are more social creatures than us Finns are. (well, I've only lived in Montreal, so maybe it's just the Montrealers. However, from the few Americans I know, they tend to be that way too, so maybe it's North Americans in general)

After living here for 6 years, I am slowly starting to realize that my calendar is getting more and more full as the summer approaches. Right now it looks like I have one free weekend a month for until September. And this is when there are some plans that don't have a set date yet, but will still happen in the next few months. I understand that as we get older, there will be more people in our lives and therefore more events to attend, a few more weddings and then a lot more birthday parties for the kids.

This weekend was no exception, but it was a good, efficient one. My friend, the bride-to-be, came over and we spent about 10 hours making things for her wedding. I love doing that, so it didn't seem like a chore at all. Then we went shopping for bridesmaids dresses. We found the dresses, made an initial order and even got the measurements taken. We attended a barbecue to meet people who we don't get to see that often. And to top it off, today's father's day in North-America (not so in Finland and quite a few other places... We have ours on November), so we'll go out for dinner with my father-in-law.

This has becoming a more regular occurrence recently (not those exact events, but several things going on over the same weekend). I'm not complaining about this, all of these have been a lot of fun and I feel so accomplished after a weekend like this, so please don't think I'm trying to sound dramatic. I'm just stopping to compare my summers to those I had when I still lived in Finland. I think the way people spend their free time is one of the big differences between my old and new home countries.

Have you lived in two or more countries or visited for a longer time? Have you experienced this?

Photos in this post are random snippets from the weekend so far.