What Americans know and Canadians just don't get.

In My Humble Opinion
81

There was a Canadian exchange student in my class last year. She was great fun and a good friend, but she was constantly mistaken for being American and it really bothered her. (The people here aren’t really exposed to Canadian culture, like much of the rest of the world.) After the umpteenth time of being referred to as an American, she threw a temper tantrum in a quiet and overcrowded statistics computer tutorial. Heads turned as she screamed “I AM NOT AN AMERICAN!!! GOD!!!” The trouble was that she drew so much attention to the fact that she resented being mistaken for an American, the people here started doing it to provoke her (taking the piss, the national British hobby). So she just made it worse. I and the one other American in the class were most amused. :slight_smile:

That said, when I hear a familiar accent over here, I am now careful to refer to them as North American, rather than assuming they’re from the States.

82

I don’t distinguish myself from the americans to bolster any patriotism. I make fun of americans because it’s fun (and easy, too :smiley: ).

I think a few people are missing the point about Canadian identity. Many people say there is no such thing as Canadian culture. I would submit that there is no such thing as american culture either. If you go to any industrialized nation in the world (Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Singapore, Italy, Japan, Ireland, etc.), you’ll find that aside from languages and a few very minor differences, they’re the same. Am I to believe that these countries are all americanized? No way. The best description for most cultures is “generic modern”. I doubt that anything “cultural” makes any one of those countries that I mentioned distinct from the others.

Canada simply uses the U.S. as a foil for comparison because it’s the only country we’re adjacent to. In my experience, british comedians make fun of scotland, france, and the like more than they make fun of anyone on our side of the pond. Going around saying “Damn, I sure glad I’m not Swiss!” to express patriotic feelings doesn’t have the same meaning for a Canadian as it would for, say, an Austrian, but that’s only because of geographic reasons.

That’s all I have to say for now on this topic, except one more thing: QuickSilver, if you’re serious about anything you’ve said in this post, don’t come back. Ever.

83

I think the word you’re looking for is “English”. Scotland is part of Britain. One would expect a Canadian to be a bit more sensitive to these issues :wink:

84

See, this is what bugs me: “This country” doesn’t have some straaaange political views; some people have some straaaange political views. In case you hadn’t noticed, more than half the people in the United States did not vote for the current President, and there is a largish contingent of the American left that wants to make the country more like Canada in terms of social services. Do not assume that we are as homogeneous as people like to assume we are.

And, honestly, I feel a little bit insulted that you would think an American educational institution like CalTech is good enough for you to pursue a graduate education there, then turn around and give Americans the back of your hand. You could have easily stayed in Canada and left one of what I can only assume are limited enrollment slots in the graduate program for an American student who intended to contribute to our economy later.

85

Bingo.

86

Well, I suppose few of our american ( and european) friends have seen the new $10 bill? As far as patriotism goes, I think that shows pride where it is due at long last.
On the back of the bill there is poem “Flanders fields”, Canadian Peacekeeper keeping watch, cenotaph with guard of honour and a white dove of peace. It is very pretty bill, and the message on the back is long time overdue. (yeah, I am bit partial, done two UN tours).

There is a lot of National Pride in Canada, most of it is kept where it counts - close to our own hearts. We do not flaunt it, like our friend down south, it is not us.

Quick Silver - Do me a personal favour…Start telling your daughter what Canada is, it’s history, achievements and what we (you and I ) stand for. After all Winnie the Pooh was a Canadian!. Three cheers for the Royal Winnipeg Rifles!

87

Please name some stuff that we have laws about that Americans don’t.

Apart from the old whipping-horses like the CanCon regulations, you won’t find that it’s a very long list.

88

Canadians are a funny bunch aren’t they? Who else has a marijuana leaf on their flag?

We love our beer and a few like me are as fanatical about hockey as many Yanks are about football, a game I consider a sport for pussies as one can always run out of bounds. :slight_smile:

So what else is there to be proud about?

Canadians have won the nobel prize for science 8 times in the last twenty years and these Canadians have contributed greatly to the well being of millions.

Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best - If you’re a diabetic you may very well owe these two Canucks your life.

D. Harold Copp - If you are being treated for oseoporosis, Paget’s disease, or rhumatoid arthritus say a little thank you to this man.

Sylvia Fedoruck - Helped create the first cobalt 60 unit to treat cancer and was a pioneer in the field of nuclear imaging.

Other stuff…

Charles Fenerty - If you still read newspapers he is the man who invented newsprint way back in 1841. He never patented his process.

James Gosling - Invented Java programming language.

Women all over can curse James Naismith for inventing basketball.

The CFL is older than the NFL and in my humble opinion a far superior game.

I know a few who would say that Alexander Graham Bell was a great Canadian but he was really a great Scotsman who lived in the U.S. and summered in Nova Scotia. The telephone was merely invented IN Canada.

Then there’s hockey, Gretzky, Howe, Lemieux, The Rocket, Roy, LaFleur… my heart swells.

I like coloured money. It’s easy to sort and I can count.

Canada is a beautiful country. My grandparents came from Scotland, Sweden, and the United States. They chose to become Canadian citizens and if it was good for them it is good for me.

I could easily gain American citizenship and can trace part of my ancestry all the way back to colonial America.
I could but I won’t. There really isn’t enough money out there to entice me to move. Anyone who would suggest that I could be bought really deserves a Canadian bitch slap. I love Canada and love the fact I was blessed to be be born here.

I hear that many Americans feel the same way about their country. Good for them.

89

Quicksilver, for the love of all that is holy, please become an United States citizen and raise your children as United States citizens and never let anyone even suspect that you were once a Canadian. Thank you.

ps Math Geek, they’re changing Harvey’s fries; messing with perfection! Now that’s something to get my panties in a bunch about!

pps StephenG, I believe T.O. is short for Toronto, Ontario. That makes it an official acronym.

90

Fair enough; I shouldn’t overgeneralize about one country when I don’t want people to overgeneralize about another.

But it would still take a lot more than just equivalent pay in U.S. dollars to get me to join this country permanently, which was the point I was trying to make to QuickSilver.

Oh boy.

First, my views on Canada vs. the United States have changed since I first entered this country. I find that I am a lot more patriotic now than I was then. Maybe it took an extended stay out of the country to get me to stop taking Canada for granted. Make of that what you will.

Secondly, while some of my reasons for coming to this country are personal, this one isn’t: there are simply more top-flight topologists in the U.S. than in Canada. I’m not saying there aren’t top-flight topologists in Canada; I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of them. But topology (particularly the field within topology in which I specialize) is an obscure academic discipline, to say the least. The number of schools in Canada with really, really good topology programs is small…maybe three at most, and for various other reasons those three programs weren’t what I felt I needed at the time. Whereas the United States, having ten times as many people as Canada, had a lot more programs to choose from. (Did that bug me? Yes. Hopefully I will be able to change that to some small degree after I graduate.) I also felt that a little experience beyond the borders of my home country might make me a more well-rounded person.

Thirdly, (and this is related to the previous point) when I applied to graduate school in the States it didn’t seem like there were any academic positions to be had in Canada, least of all in topology. Everywhere I looked, Canadian schools were cutting back budgets and offering early retirement programs to anyone who would take them. So it seemed that if I wanted to study in my chosen field, necessity would force me across the border. That, thankfully, has changed: everyone now seems to think that the staff cuts were too deep, and at the same time high schools are graduating students in record numbers (in my home province especially, since they recently switched Ontario high schools from five-year programs to four-year ones).

Fourthly, I’m not stealing limited enrollment slots from your well-deserving countryfolk. In a typical year, the Caltech mathematics graduate program will offer spaces to 15-20 students, but only 6-8 of those will accept. Despite its famous name, certain programs in Caltech have to fight for students.

Fifthly, Caltech is a private institution, not a state school like Berkeley or UCLA. And they seem to feel that the march of science is actually helped, not hindered, by teaching people who aren’t necessarily going to contribute to the U.S. economy afterword. And quite frankly, more power to them.

We are now well and truly off-topic, so I’m going to stop now…

91

Fair 'nough, Math Geek. At least you’re honest. Still, when you’re eating at someone else’s house, it’s considered discourteous to call them names, you know?

Sure, the whole “U.S. v. Canada” thing can be cute sometimes, but a lot of people take it really seriously, and frankly I don’t feel it does much to enrich either nation. They are different places with different histories and different cultures. Let’s all get over it.

92

Well said, pldennison.

I DO like Alanis Morissette. And Smithfield’s Canadian Maple Ham. And The Kids In The Hall. And every Canadian I’ve ever met (5 or 6).

And the McKenzie Brothers.

I also like Florida’s 80-degree weather in November. And trips to the beach!

I have a question – do Canadians respect their school teachers more than Floridians do?

93

Well, I still think the OP asked an interesting question,
the meat of which was largely overlooked.

To me, the question was about Americans, and why we’re the
way we are, not why Canadians aren’t that way. In other
words, I read it as Canadians are more like the rest of the
world - quiet in their patriotism, while Americans talk
about it a lot.

I think it’s a valid point, too…I never considered myself
patriotic, but I couldn’t believe how hard it was the year
I was in Italy for the 4th of July (that’s a big day for
us, BTW).

And I think the answer is like I said before - there is no
Yank-ethnicity, and there is a concept of being un-American.
There’s something called the “American way,” and most of
you furriners would be mad to find out it just means doing
something the morally upright way.

Slightly off-topic, there’s a similar thing I’ve noticed
with Texas. They won’t shut up about being Texan. I had
to go to San Antonio a few times, and there were dumb
souvenirs everywhere. San Antonio is about 8 hours or more
in any direction from not-Texas, and yet you’re bombarded
with “Don’t Mess With Texas,” “On the Eighth Day, God
Created Texas,” and the like, like we might forget we’re in
Texas. What the hell is that about?

94

Why not celebrate it anyway? We do.

My wife and I, that is. I’m Canadian, born and bred. My wife is an American. We live in Canada, and celebrate the Fourth every year by hanging Old Glory outside and having a backyard barbecue for our friends–all of whom are Canadian. They’re glad to come, and we all have a good time.

Of course, the Fourth of July not being a holiday here, we have it on a weekend close to the Fourth. Mind, we do have the holiday on the first of July, Canada Day, and my wife and I celebrate that with our friends too.

Just because you’re not in the US is no reason not to celebrate your traditions. The same goes for Canadian expats–there’s no reason not to teach your children or your friends about your country and heritage.

95

Although I respect my Canadian values, too many Candians take themselves far too seriously. I myself like Americans and wish Canadians were more like them in some ways. I would certainly go to the States for some time if it was worth my while financially. I think most Canadians my age would too. None of us want to raise kids there, though. I mean, what is life without road hockey? :slight_smile:

96

And once again, thanks to bup. One of the few people in this thread, it seems, who got the real essence of my OP. To you bup, I award a million points and declare you the uncontested winner of this little table ronde. Unfortunately there will be no cash or prizes associated with this award.

To my fellow Canadians, for whom I have the utmost respect and admiration, I offer my appologies if I’ve offended your deeply patriotic sensabilities. But I must urge many of you to take a refresher course in “Taking things less seriously”. On the other hand, having spent many years outside Canada (except for occasional visits with family and friends) I must admit that I’ve lost some of that fire that you feel about being Canadian. Then again, perhaps I’ve never been as deeply nationalistic as many of you. I dare say that I don’t feel any particular affinity towards the US, nor do I wax poetic about any other country in the world. For me, home is where ever my wife, kids and I are together, safe and thriving. I suppose that moving from eastern Europe to Canada at the tender age of 10 has taught me that I can live pretty much anywhere (with plumbing and hydro) as long as I’m with people that are closest to me.

Finally, to those who insist that America is not a place to raise kids or get heart transplants, I urge you to refrain from that kind of scare mongering. Consider the fact that millions of people in America raise perfectly well adjusted children on a daily basis. Also, plenty of people in America get excellent health care on a daily basis. In fact, incidents of Canadians going to the US for emergency treatment are very common. I don’t think that sitting around in Canadian emergency rooms is that much better than doing so in the US. I’ve had the displeasure of having to do both and they were equally unpleasant but ultimately successful experiences.

Thank you all for participating in this interesting (and intentionally lite hearted) thread.

97

What Americans know and Canadians just don’t get

Toilets.

Several men’s rooms I’ve been in whilst visiting the Great White North have been outfitted with American Standard brand urinals. When I saw that icon proudly stamped in the ceramic, I swelled over with American pride and got a warm feeling all over. Of course the warm feeling was because I had a few Canadian beers and was a bit unsteady and had very bad aim. But the pride was still there, Wet shoes and all!

98

Ah, our national pastime. Discussing why we Canadians are far superior to our neighbors to the south.

Far be it for me to get in the way.

Besides, our beer is better, our football is more entertaining to watch than the NFL (but I have to say the XFL is quite the spectacle), and we are masters of building snow forts in the front lawn.

If that doesn’t give Americans reason to be jelous, nothing will.

99

I heard a guy say that the real Canadian national sport is Armchair Cynicism (usually while watching American TV).

100

This is a dumb thread. If anyone posts a single message after this, I’ll punch them in the face. Really!