We live in igloos. We live in houses, and they are very well built houses.
Canadians do not have the same technology as Americans. Canadians have access to the
same technology as Americans and the rest of the civilized world.
There is snow everywhere all year long. Anyone who has spent a summer in Vancouver,
Toronto, or Montreal will strongly disagree with this.
We don't get the same movies Americans do. We get the same movies, on the same day,
and our censorship is less severe. Furthermore, the Paramount theater in Montreal is
the most attended and most lucrative movie theater in North-America.
Canada does not have a film industry. We have a thriving film industry, and many of the
syndicated US TV shows, not to mention major studio motion pictures are filmed here. Canada is
renowned to have some of the best production crews in the world.
Canadians all say "eh" and "aboot". Sure, some of us do, but Canada is a big country with
many different people who speak many different languages with different dialects.
Everyone in Quebec speaks French. Although a large percentage of the Province's
population is Francophone, there is also a large number of Anglophones and Allophones.
Canadians have fewer guns than Americans. Canadians have just as many, if not more; we just
have fewer murders.
Canada's national sport is Hockey. Not completely true. While Hockey is very popular, and considered
our national pastime, our national sport is Lacrosse. Oh, and we invented Baseball too.
In 1994, the Federal Government introduced Bill C-212 that officially made Hockey Canada’s National Winter Sport and Lacrosse Canada’s National Summer Sport. So the answer is both!
Canadians policemen are all Mounties dressed in red uniforms. Our cops are the same
as American cops. The Mounties usually only dress up in red for for special occasions.
Here is a map of Canada:
Pretty big eh? (I had to say that as everyone expects us to say eh at the end of our sentences!) Most of our population of about 30 million (compared to 200 million in the US) live within 2 hours of the US border. It gets pretty cold as you go farther North- some pretty harsh weather conditions, but that is not everywhere! Southern Ontario, where our capital city, Ottawa, is found, is the most populated, I would say. I live in the southern West Coast area, and people in BC, Alberta, and even Sasketchewan can feel left out of federal decision making, as it seems that Ontario can control the vote. We have a Conservative Prime Minister in office right now, who is from Alberta, so that helped ease that situation a bit. He is a Christian, which doesn't go over too well with our liberal country, but, hey, he got voted in, so there must be more conservative people here than the media would have us believe. That, and the last government got things pretty messed up! It seems at times that we are trying to be the next Sweden or something, as we have legalized same-sex marriage and people are now pushing for the legalization of marijuana.
Only about 25% of the population speaks French. We are required to learn it as a second language, but out here in the West, we don't use it. It would be more effective to learn Mandarin or something as we have a lot of seaports that do trade there, and a lot of business in the city near me involves that culture it seems.
We became a country in 1867. Our bd is on July 1st.
Our national symbols are: the beaver, the maple tree, and the Canadian horse.
You may notice that we Canadians spell some words a bit differently in our blogs- "u" in neighbour, etc- that is because we follow the British spelling of most words.
We do love our hockey here, and consider it our most loved sport. We like to say that even though an American team may win the Stanley Cup, it was because of all the Canadians on the team.
I am going to end this soon, as I could talk about this forever, but realize that it could get a little boring to you all. I guess the main thing I wanted to say, was that because this is such a big country, we have many different cultures and climates in it. As a West Coast girl, my experience of Canada is much different that someone in the Prairies, or the Maritimes (East Coast). I think that out here, we are a bit more laid back and environmental than farther east. The area I live in is quite "green", literally and in the environmental sense, and we have a lot of organic, holistic products at our disposal. The main industries would be pulp and paper, logging, fishing, and tourism. Blah, blah, blah, here I am going on again- if you have any questions, just ask! Don't be shy, eh? ( by the way, we don't really speak that way here, but I think you would hear "aboot" on the East Coast.)
Hey, I was going to tell you about some spots to visit if you come here, but that will have to wait for another time!
11 comments:
Great info!
Oh yeah - if you live in W Canada - I am thinking we can meet somewhere around North Dakota for a girls movie night. However, I was thinking - I was in the Dakotas once - I don't think there are any theaters there! :)
I am going to have to get my map out to see where that is Julie.
I agree with almost everything you said. There are a few things that are regional, I think. For instance, Mandarin would do me absolutely no good at all!! LOL The school district here doesn't teach French, but it does teach German. However for our predominantly Mennonite population this works. I don't speak a bit of German, but I am bilingual in French and English and am teaching French to our children. I was in the french immersion program in school. There is a large french district in Winnipeg where I grew up and many french towns in the province. My hubby has picked up on some German since we moved here but doesn't speak French which is surprising since his dad was a french teacher.
My cousin who is fluent in five languages said that these days the government isn't as interested in whether or not you can speak French (if you're looking for a gov't job), but they do want you to be fluent in another language.
From my perspective it's hilarious that lacrosse is our national sport. Hockey is huge where we live, as is baseball, but I don't know of a single lacrosse team. My only exposure to the sport was having to do a unit on it in gym in school.
Our riding is the Conservative parties strongest riding in the nation. So we're all Stephen Harper supporters.
I definitely spell words using British spelling, as we were taught in school. I find it vastly annoying that Microsoft automatically corrects my "mistakes" and changes it to American spelling. :-)
I understand the whole misconception idea.
When I went away to college in Tennessee there were students from all over. When I told them I was from Louisiana they thought I lived in the swamp and lived in the backwoods.
I live in the country compared to some but the church I go to is filled with real country people. They speak with a twang and if I am not careful I find myself speaking the same way.
I will come back and catch up more later.
NO, no, no, I didn't make the Michael Moore comment- I copied that stuff in italics from a website. That was not my opinion. I am gonna go erase that right now as I could see how it could be misinterpreted.
I have several Canadian friends now thanks to the blogs and I have to say I fall more in love with Canada all the time! I really want to visit. I have never been! It is a crime! I am just waiting for the money! Great job with this post. I think my kids and I are going to study Canada one year and then just take off and head north!
So, Happy National Birthday coming up!!
What do you guys do to celebrate??
I did not know that about lacrosse. :-) Good to know.
You mean you all don't really live in igloos? I'm so dissapointed.
I was wondering how you kept your fingers warm while blogging in your igloo. LOL! Thanks for all the info!
And for some information about China or Chinese language:
http://www.chinese-tools.com
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