Having lived at fairly homogeneous Estonia for the past 9 years, the variety of Calgary is refreshing. I hear Spanish, Chinese and Russian being spoken every day. (The latter is, of course, being spoken in Estonia every day as well). Most people we speak to have an accent that is not Canadian. Quite many have lived here for longer than just a few years. According to Census of Canada in 2006, the most spoken languages in Alberta were English, French, Chinese, German and Spanish. I believe that by now there is less French and German being spoken here.

Calgary is not a big city compared to London and Atlanta (the biggest cities where I have lived), but it has the population of all of Estonia – 1.26 mill (2011 figures). The Core – downtown has quite a few highrises, but doesn’t feel like a concrete jungle. The development and immigration is expected to continue, though, given the natural resources of oil and gas and the world’s demand for both of them. The economic growth has been better in Alberta than other areas of Canada. The taxes are also lower than other areas of Canada and even US.

There is a Chinese part of the town – right next to where we live. Most likely we will also discover similar parts for other nationalities. But in Downtown everybody mixes and mingles in the Plus 15 Walkways (built between the highrises so that you can walk from one end of Downtown to the other without stepping outside), drinks Starbucks and goes jogging on the many trails around the Bow river. It is interesting to start talking to people and try to guess their accent.