As an American, I entered Canada with my passport, and while I have the ability to stay up to six months without a visa or permit, it is important to note that without a visa or permit, I cannot work anywhere in Canada. Culturally, Montréal is a highly diverse city, and thus I have only met a few Quebec-Canadian citizens. The majority of those I have met are immigrants from other countries. Due to this, I am unsure how the Quebecois greet each other or what their customs are like. A couple of interesting cultural differences to note are that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in early October instead of late November and that in Montréal, drivers are not allowed to turn right if the light is red. You can find popular U.S. fast food chains such as McDonald's and Taco Bell, but there are also some Canadian ones such as Tim Horton's, and Mr.Puffs. The grocery stores are also mostly different, with the exceptions being Walmart and Costco.
Truthfully, my assimilation in Montréal was not very difficult and I did not experience much of a culture shock. If anything, I have mostly experienced climate shocks since the sun rises late and sets earlier than I'm used to. The weather has also started to get very cold, and it snowed on Monday, October 30th!
