Timmins, ON.

Ladies and gents, I present to you; Timmins, Ontario! (Don’t ask me why I am here. Long story. Let’s call it a holiday.) At the moment it is a whooping 7 degrees celsius here, which is quite different from the 36 degree weather I left back in Tokyo. In any case – Timmins life is probably as opposite of Tokyo life as I could get at this point, and it is just what I need. Tokyo life was going faster and faster, so what better remedy than going to a small town with 45.000 people in Northern Ontario. Life here is sloooooow (and I’m lovin’ it atm). Now, let me give you a tour of this fine little town and its eh… unique establishments.

…this is the airport…

…and this is downtown! They have karaoke in all parts of the world, it seems.

And this was taken right outside a Wal-Mart! Check out my exotic location! I am at a Wal-Mart! Now, for the North Americans reading this blog it is probably not very exciting with a Wal-Mart,  but we don’t have those things in Scandinavia, nor in the middle of Tokyo. I even saw the electric wheelie-cart-thingies for overweight and disabled people at the entrance, but I was told you need a special license to drive one of those. (Is that true? In that case, what a bummer, I really wanted to try out one of those things.) I was ready and excited to experience some real North-American culture! And oh boy, the sizes of food here is insane. Everything comes in twelve-packs and bags weighing in at several kg. This wouldn’t have worked in Japan. Where would we store all of the food after we bought it? My trip to Wal-Mart ended with me being excited to the point where I forgot to take pictures inside the Wal-Mart. Oh well. Next time.

And here we have… uh… empty space? Oh Cananda(!), and all of your space! And cars. And a factory in the background. Scenery is complete!

I am please to show you little golden gems like “The Pita Pit” and “Joanne’s art and gift centre”. I don’t think I have ever seen more terrible typography mashed together in one place. This is not all bad though. It is kind of like the Eurovision Song Contest, there is so much ugly it kind of implodes and turns out to be a pretty exotic and funky sight. I am sure Joanne at the “art and gift centre” agrees with me.

More taverns. I didn’t know they were that popular. I also realized that the only type of bars in this town are sport bars. What a refreshing change. I haven’t sat my foot in one of those in years. And if I were to get tired of the sport bars, I can always buy myself an edible fruit bouquet. After all, it is the perfect gift for any occasion. And advertising never lies. Not in Timmins.

Hey Norwegians! We have Vinmonopolet, but Ontario has THE BEER STORE. How can we compete with that?! That is like ten times cooler than the Norwegian Wine Monopoly. The Beer store has a wonderful logo which I doubt they have changed or renewed in at least 30 years. Beautiful. And well thought through advertising, with the phone number covered up by shrubbery.

Look, more space. And another beauty bar that will open soon. This town is booming. Ok. Maybe it isn’t. But this town is really charming, the people here are real, the barbecue parties are awesome, and people know how to party even harder than the Norwegians. And the best part is – I have time to sleep in. (Look! I actually look kind of fresh in the picture below!) Northern Ontario bliss.

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  1. Jason Cobill says:

    You are over 700km away, but this is the closest you’ve ever been to my home in Ottawa. It feels like you’re right next door. 😉 How exciting!

    I hope you have a great visit – we have a lot of big empty spaces to see!

  2. Sophie says:

    Walmart is amazing I love how they roll back the prices sadly we don’t have one of those where I live but whenever I go to the States I always make sure to stop by one. I think in Canada they have more taverns in the US. Enjoy your stay and be safe!

  3. Gitte says:

    Wow! Det virker ufattelig deilig å være på en lite tettsted en stund. Mindre folksomt, mindre voldsomt, klokker som går saktere enn vanlig (ikke egentlig, men det virker sånn) og generelt at ting (skilt, butikker) har forblitt uendret over lenger tid. Bare tanken gir meg mer ro.

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