On my first trip across the Montreal border I was greeted by a Border Guard with a thick French accent and zero sense of humor. She asked me where I was going and I replied, "Kanata."
"Where?"
"Kanata."
"No really, where are you going?"
"I'm going to Kanata."
"Miss- you need to tell me where you are headed."
"I'm going to Kanata- with a 'K' "
I saw the light flicker on in her head as she looked embarrassed saying, "Oh. With your accent I couldn't tell the difference between you saying 'Kah-Nah-Tah" and "Kahnahtah". I felt like telling her that she had just pronounced the same word twice only the second time she said it more quickly. Instead I just smiled realizing that she thought I was being a smart ass- there we were at the Canadian Border and when she asked me where I was headed- I kept saying, "I'm going to Canada." Yeah- clearly. Lesson learned. From now on, "I'm going to Ottawa."
While Canada is our neighbor and it's been a pretty easy transition when it comes to living in a different country- there a few things that I still struggle to get used to:
- The Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion. There doesn't seem to be a logical formula to calculating this. So I've just started taking the Celsius number multiplying it by two and adding approximately 30 - it gets me pretty close to the Fahrenheit temp and close enough to know that we are talking "eff-ing hot", "fall-like", or "frigid".
- The date format is different as well- for example on September 8th the date in the paper was 8/9/11 and I'm looking at it thinking- what the...? Is it still August?
- Milk is sold in plastic bags here. You buy a "bag" of milk- place it in a plastic pitcher and snip the corner of the bag.
- You have to buy deli meat in grammes- I look like an idiot at the counter trying to convert my 1/2 and 1/4 pounds into grammes- I've since downloaded a conversion app onto my phone.
- And finally there are many things that are "the same" but called different things: Brown Sugar is called "yellow sugar", the restroom is the "washroom", and when I mentioned to a friend the other day that my Mom was promoted from the Dean of Students to the Superintendent- I was informed that I should just say "School Principal" - as Superintendant in Canada means "Janitor."
As a side note: I had my frist encounter with the Health Care system a few weeks ago - as a companion on a trip to the emergency room- post surfing accent that required a few stitches. Here's what I can tell you: We waited no longer than we would have in an ER in the US. You go, you sign in, you get triaged, you wait your turn. The difference is there isn't a lot of pesky paperwork. They look at your health card- type it into the system and that's it. There's no discharge paperwork, no "I'll have the doctor come in and see you again before you are able to leave." The other thing is that they didn't even ask who I was! I'm used to being given bit a of a hard time when accompanying someone to the ER. There was no "Family Only" policy enforced.
There are many things that I really like about Canada- first and foremost the potato chip flavors are out of control! Sour Cream and Bacon, Dill Pickle, Ketchup, Chili Cheese Fries, Greek Salad, All Dressed... and surprisingly - they are all delicious. They also have "Beaver Tail" stands everywhere! A Beaver Tail is a GIANT fried dough and you don't have to wait for the country fair to come to town to have it! But enough about the food. The PEOPLE that I have met have all been amazingly friendly. Now, I've had friends of mine back home introduce me to their friends, siblings, significant others, what have you and I'm certainly pleasant enough- but I can't say that I go out of my way to be overly accommodating or to make sure that they are at ease in a new situation... not the case here. For the most part- everyone I've met has gone out of their way to make me feel welcome. In the past few months I've been called "beautiful" and "vibrant" more times than I can recall. I was speaking to an old co-worker the other day who wanted to know all about the "new man in my life" and when I mentioned that he is from the Ottawa area she gasped and said "Oh, Canadians make such wonderful husbands!"
A bit caught off guard "Hmmmm." is all I could mange to respond with.
It's been interesting to hear all of the stereotypes that people have about Americans and realizing that- well, of course you think all Americans are stuck up and cold- because compared to you- we are! Who knew? While confusing at first, I must say that I like how most places I've seen feel clean and safe. There's no trash on the streets, people don't lock their front doors (and yes I am guilty of sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night and throwing the deadbolt on as it somehow makes me feel safer), and on many occasions I've seen people park their cars, get out, and leave the keys IN the ignition while they go into a store or restaurant. This is usually when my mouth falls open and just before I go to protest I am gently reminded that "This is Canada."
Now, I don't mean to generalize or stereotype- Canada is a massive country and I've explored very little of it- but from where I sit- I'm loving that the pace is slightly slower, the communities are welcoming and the snacks are tasty. I was even mistaken for a Canadian the other day. I went to the bank to exchange some money and got to chatting about the exchange rate when the teller mentioned the recent mess with the debt ceiling and how you just can't predict the future of the US dollar because "Well, you know how those Americans can be."
"Yes" I said, feeling a wicked grin cross my lips, "I do."
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