# Non-Canadians who have visited Canada - what surprised you about the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364 "2015-03-06T15:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/161 "2015-03-10T23:31:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Don’t the Metro trains run on tires, not railway wheels, and that’s why it’s quieter? Yes. Though I nearly always wear earplugs on public transit, so it always seems quiet-ish to me. Of course, now that we have cell phone reception in some parts of the metro network, it may be less quiet, for a different reason. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/162 "2015-03-11T04:52:55Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Lucky you. Canada has, so far, been the place I had the worst time getting in to (although the worst time full stop was getting out of Romania). > > I was going there on business, basically to install a test version of our EDI solution, set up some test flows and show people how to use it. My first mistake was bringing the CDs with me. My second mistake was being truthful when asked how much a full version cost (about 100k USD). My third mistake was not having a ticket showing I was leaving Canada (I had a ticket back to London from Atlanta and was going to be given the ticket for Toronto to Atlanta by someone I was meeting. Apparently having a ticket from somewhere else on the continent back home was not proof that I was leaving Canada). > > It was horrible. God knows how long we were discussing it, but I eventually got in. And the chap certainly was not polite. The time I went up to Canada they spent about an hour looking me and my stuff over. They even xrayed my guitar. I guess they thought a young man travelling alone might be a drug dealer. I also heard that the border guys at that crossing point try hard to get a bust because a bust means a promotion to a better location. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/163 "2015-03-11T13:02:59Z")
I took the train to NYC from Montreal last May, and had a bit of a hard time with the border guard/customs guy getting into the US, mostly because I sort of messed up the answer to one of his questions. It was really stressful. Getting back into Canada, I was a bit worried, since I was bringing my newly-purchased, fairly valuable musical instrument with me, but I knew exactly what I was going to say, and it went very smoothly, and I didn’t even get any questions about my instrument, so that was good. Though I don’t know, or think, that one can generalize from these two experiences. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/164 "2015-03-11T13:35:58Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I took the train to NYC from Montreal last May, and had a bit of a hard time with the border guard/customs guy getting into the US, mostly because I sort of messed up the answer to one of his questions. It was really stressful. When we were kids, my little brother went to Canada with two of his buddies. They had a _very_ good time, but made sure the car was legal for the return trip. When the US guy said, “do you have any illegal drugs?” one of my brother’s friends answered, “sure, whatcha need?” They had to wait while the car’s backseat was removed, etc. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/165 "2015-03-11T13:56:31Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Same experience at Toronto. I was like, “Wow, the Canadian border officers are even more hostile than U.S. border officers.” I usually have more trouble returning home to Canada than I do entering the USA. Border guard is not a job generally filled by society’s best and brightest. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/166 "2015-03-11T15:04:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I usually have more trouble returning home to Canada than I do entering the USA. Same here. On my way home from a concert in Atlantic City the Canadian customs guy said “Pfft, why didn’t you just go see them in Toronto?” Because I wouldn’t have had a vacation with my best friend and been 5th row centre for the show, that’s why! ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/167 "2015-03-11T15:11:00Z")
I’ve long suspected that under heavy pressure to tighten border security after 9/11, from our U.S. cousins, what the Canadian response most closely resembled was telling the border guards to start acting like their cousins more. “Knock off that polite shit and start being pricks! And that’s an order!”😃 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/168 "2015-03-11T16:24:25Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’ve long suspected that under heavy pressure to tighten border security after 9/11, from our U.S. cousins, what the Canadian response most closely resembled was telling the border guards to start acting like their cousins more. “Knock off that polite shit and start being pricks! And that’s an order!”😃 For the record, my bad experience was in 1998. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/169 "2015-03-11T16:58:00Z")
It’s interesting how many Americans notice differences in terms of driving. Kind of speaks to the centrality of the automobile in North American culture. Europeans, in my personal experience, are always taken aback by the country’s size and emptiness, and the severity of its weather (including the summers, which strike people from northern Europe as very hot.) ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/170 "2015-03-11T17:28:20Z")
A Californian by birth and Canadian by choice, my first time to Canada I was amazed and surprised by so much water. The countryside was so green it almost hurt the eyes. BTW at least here in BC we don’t have milk in bags any more, we buy it by the 1 liter, 2 liter or 4 liter cartons or plastic jugs. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/171 "2015-03-11T17:41:49Z")
[Ontario now permits 3 litre milk containers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18198326&postcount=57) (there has been no restriction on type, e.g. bag, box, jug, bottle, can), so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a reincarnation of 3 litre jugs here over the next few months. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/172 "2015-03-11T18:49:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s interesting how many Americans notice differences in terms of driving. Kind of speaks to the centrality of the automobile in North American culture. > > Europeans, in my personal experience, are always taken aback by the country’s size and emptiness, and the severity of its weather (including the summers, which strike people from northern Europe as very hot.) I don’t drive much here in Canada, and have never driven in the US, so I haven’t notice many driving differences. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/173 "2015-03-11T19:48:14Z")
I grew up across the border and couldn’t think of any surprises, mostly given that I’d been exposed to any quirks of culture from a young age. However, I did just think of one thing that surprised me as a teenager, and yes it’s another driving one. From around the time I was 10 my parents always let me pump the gas whenever we filled one of our cars. The first time I did that in Canada the attendant came running out of his booth yelling at us for me to get away from the pump. Apparently it’s a felony or something in Canada for a minor to pump gas. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/174 "2015-03-11T20:31:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s interesting how many Americans notice differences in terms of driving. Kind of speaks to the centrality of the automobile in North American culture. It’s not the Centrality of Driving to the American Experience – it’s that every time I visited Canada I drove there, and had to drive through quite a bit of Canada, as well. After driving through a chunk of the US, followed by driving through a chunk of Canada, the differences become highlighted. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/175 "2015-03-11T20:41:07Z")
At least if you’re from Canada and driving in the US, or the other way around, you don’t have to drive on a different side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/176 "2015-03-11T21:12:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s interesting how many Americans notice differences in terms of driving. Kind of speaks to the centrality of the automobile in North American culture. I think it’s maybe more that US and Canadian culture are so similar that it’s easy to forget you’re in a foreign country if you’re just strolling around sightseeing and talking to people. Other than obviously crossing the border itself, driving is the only thing a typical tourist does where it’s abundantly clear they’re in a foreign country following the rules of a foreign government. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/177 "2015-03-12T01:35:35Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There are at least four: Quinby, SC; Morrow, GA; Naples, FL; San Jose, CA. > > I didn’t look to see whether these occurred in tract-housing developments, but I’ve certainly seen plenty of such neighborhoods with absurd street names referencing British royalty. Too many “Buckingham Courts” to count, for example. Developers often like to pick ‘themes’ to fancify their dead little cul-de-sacs and access roads. More likely than not, “Buckingham Court” attaches to “Windsor Lane,” and so on. Also, we are a proud nation, forged in the fires of war wherein we threw off the yoke of British tyranny and struck a blow for freedom and democracy that echoes to this day. So of course we are all _raving_ royalists and Anglophiles. Seriously. William could probably get elected president. Kate _definitely_ could. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/178 "2015-03-12T01:58:00Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I think it’s maybe more that US and Canadian culture are so similar that it’s easy to forget you’re in a foreign country if you’re just strolling around sightseeing and talking to people. Other than obviously crossing the border itself, driving is the only thing a typical tourist does where it’s abundantly clear they’re in a foreign country following the rules of a foreign government. I dunno. I’ve driven in lots of states, and the rules of the road are pretty universal. I’ve never encountered a sign, situation, or enforcement that I didn’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/179 "2015-03-12T04:24:06Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Different tasting soda? Though that might’ve been a bad batch at the place I had lunch in Vancouver… In addition to the possible differences in sugar, in Canada (at least it was around 2000) it was illegal include caffeine in any soda that wasn’t brown. I think this was health-based, maybe a ‘think of the children’ law, though I have no idea why color made such a difference. I suspected that was one of the reasons Mountain Dew tasted funny in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/180 "2015-03-12T04:38:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s interesting how many Americans notice differences in terms of driving. Kind of speaks to the centrality of the automobile in North American culture. > > Europeans, in my personal experience, are always taken aback by the country’s size and emptiness, and the severity of its weather (including the summers, which strike people from northern Europe as very hot.) To me, other than the metrics (speed limit was 100 km/hr) and the fact one could not use radar detectors, I didnt find driving in Canada to be that different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364.md?page=10)