How do non-Canadians view Canadians or life in Canada?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TreeHugger
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
40.png
puzzleannie:
Eh? I grew up in Detroit, Windsor was one of my favorite cities til you brought in the casinos, now I would not waste my time sitting in bridge traffic (tunnel makes me claustrophobic). Go Wings (hold that thought)
Click to expand...
And now we have three casinos in downtown Detroit. šŸ˜¦

Iā€™ve always liked Canada very much. Iā€™ve spent a great deal of time in Windsor, and have visited both Toronto (probably my favorite vacation spot) and Montreal. The people are friendly, public transportation is abundant and reliable (which if youā€™ve lived in Detroit, you understand why we marvel at this), and everything is clean and safe. I donā€™t agree with a lot of the liberal policies, but I second the person who commented that despite the liberal government, Canadian Masses are very reverent. I had the opportunity to attend Ash Wed. Mass in Toronto (I believe at St. Michaelā€™s Cathedral), and it was an amazing experience.

I also have a soft-spot for Canadians, as my maternal grandfather hailed from Alberta. My mom still uses ā€œehā€ when speaking. And people who love hockey so much canā€™t be bad! šŸ˜ƒ
 
LIving in the NW I do have quite a bit of interaction with Canadians. I do wonder though as itā€™s a large country, if there are differences depending on which Province someone hails from. IOW someone from Oregon isnā€™t the same as someone from Alabama in a number of ways. There are conservative and liberal areas here and I wonder about Canada.

The Canadians I have come to know are warm, witty, fun, kind hearted folks. The Canadians I read about are rabid and rather hateful sounding secularists who want to stifle free speech if there is even a hint of negativism regarding one of their sacred cows. The Canadians I know are very live and let live. The Canadians I read about want the state involved in managing your life and thoughts. Which is the real Canada?

Lisa N

PS Most of my Canadian friends are from BC or Alberta. Does that make a difference?
 
Interesting thread!

My mom is from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and our family vacations growing up were always the 3 day drive from Wisconsin to visit relatives in Canada, then 3 days home again! I have a deep love of the Celtic Music distinct to the Maritime Provinces.

My basic over-all observations from years of contact with my Canadian Cousins (51 of them!) is that Canadians get a good majority of their media from American sources, and the general Canadian culture is very similar to the US. Although- Canada seems to be ahead of the US in liberalism- and this is kind of scary considering how liberal the US seems to be becoming!

Canadians also tend to know a whole lot more about the US- especially politics, than Americans know about Canada.

These are my thoughts for now. Maybe I will be back later with some more!
 
In one of my law classes, we talked about the differences btwn how Americans and Canadians view the law. My professor believes that Canadians generally trust more in the law to provide them with what they need, while American law seems to be made to ensure that the individual gets the final word on things, and that the law doesnā€™t prevent him/her from the pursuit of happiness.

Iā€™m no specialist, but i think there are more conservative pockets of Canada. Iā€™ve heard that those on the East and West think Ontarions believe they are the be all end all of the country, and iā€™ve heard that those on the East and West are a lot more laid back. Nova Scotia is the only province that doesnā€™t allow Sunday shopping from what iā€™ve heard, and they just recently held a vote to secure this law. Few provinces still have a Catholic school system that is free, Ontario being one.

What is Canadian food? When i think Canadian, i think Poutine, Maple syrup. i canā€™t think of any canadian dishes persay. i think our cuisine is influenced by everyone. here in toronto, you can get just about any kind of foodā€¦from Thai, to Ethiopian, to Greek to bah!
 
British Columbia. There is a small catholic college that shares the capmus with TWU called Redeemer Pacific College. It is a WONDERFUL orthodox catholic college. Scott Hahn is on the board of directors. Itā€™s very small and very unique in that it is in partnership with TWU, an evangelical school. I highly recommend anyone who wants a small campus and orthodox education sending their children there. Check it out on the web. Iā€™ll post the website later.

As far as what canadians are like. In a nutshell my daughter would say that they donā€™t like Americans per se. They are much more polite and friendly than Americans. And the churches that Iā€™ve been to have always seemed more orthodox and the congregation more reverant.
They are more liberal as well. But of course she attends a christian college and so the kids she is in contact with are very nice, and have high moral standards and are as liberal as the general public would be.
KellyEr
 
The only time Iā€™ve ever been in Canada was almost 10 years agoā€¦

When I was in high school, I went with our French class to France and my friend and I always vowed to go back. Well, after high school, we wanted to take a little trip, but we couldnā€™t afford to go back to Franceā€¦ so we decided to go to the next best place and went to Montreal! šŸ™‚

It was a great trip and I LOVE poutine!! (Now that Iā€™ve been reminded of it, I do think I need to make some with dinner tonight!) šŸ˜‰

Anyways, I guess Iā€™ve never really thought about what I think of Canadians. Itā€™s an interesting questionā€¦ one that leads me to believe Canadians must have a definite view of Americans??

Also, I heard once, way back when, that Canadians get upset when we called ourselves ā€œAmericansā€ because Canadians are on the continent of North America and are therefore, technically ā€œAmericansā€ too. Any thoughts???
 
Just some rambling things I have noted for what its worth:
I have always enjoyed my trips to Canada. Must say I never met anyone in Canada I didnā€™t like. My coworkers in Ontario are very hardworking and industrious. They seem to be off just about every other Monday though.
I hear that the Prime Minister makes great donuts and I love visiting the chip trucks.

The last time I was in Montreal the temperature was the same in Farenheight and Celsius (-40) Burr.

I have trouble figuring out how fast I can drive.

I listen to the CBC occasionally and am usually shocked by how left leaning it seams to be.

I was annoyed by the government seeming to protect our military deserters.

I was also shocked by the high sales tax.
šŸ™‚
 
If I am in an elevator, and bump into someone (giving you a theoretical scenario) and we are both Canadians, chances are we will both apologize. We are pretty polite, and perhaps this is where our acceptance and tolerance of diff cultures comes from. however, itā€™s unfortunate that something so beautiful gets taken to an extreme when lefties push for homosexual marriage, etc. Thing iā€™ve found strange when iā€™ve talked to americans on the phone is that (at least the ones iā€™ve talked to) donā€™t say goodbye before hanging up. very strange.
we do get a lot of coverage of the US, which is no surprise. The US is the superpower when it comes to military, economics, etc., and plays a crucial role in global politics.
I think some of the resentment Canadians have of being called Americans comes f/our national identity. Many like to think of Canadian as peacemakers, and take pride in our multicultural identity. A lot of people here are also uncomfortable with the right to bear arms Americans have (probably goes w/the peace making view), and so, I guess you could look at it like this: We do share a lot of similarities, like siblings, but we Canadians still like to be recognized for our differences, and not lie in the shadow of American culture. This is just what i gather, so other canucks might have a diff view than my own,
BTW, we no longer have $1 bills in circulation, and very few $2 are in circulation šŸ˜‰
We also carry a lot of change lol with our loonies and toonies.
 
40.png
TreeHugger:
What is Canadian food? When i think Canadian, i think Poutine, Maple syrup. i canā€™t think of any canadian dishes persay. i think our cuisine is influenced by everyone. here in toronto, you can get just about any kind of foodā€¦from Thai, to Ethiopian, to Greek to bah!
Click to expand...
Code:
How about tourtieres and porkā€™beans? 'Tis the bestā€¦šŸ™‚

Blessings,
Shoshana
 
40.png
TreeHugger:
BTW, we no longer have $1 bills in circulation, and very few $2 are in circulation šŸ˜‰
We also carry a lot of change lol with our loonies and toonies.
Click to expand...
lol- this always drives me nuts! I realize it is probably more practical from a government point of view (coins are quite a bit hardier than bills), but I always feel like my purse and my pockets weigh a ton if I donā€™t haul out my loose change at every cash register! It accumulates really fast!
 
40.png
Shoshana:
Code:
How about tourtieres and porkā€™beans? 'Tis the bestā€¦šŸ™‚

Blessings,
Shoshana
Click to expand...
Good call! I never realized pork 'n beans were a canadian thing. lol. makes senseā€¦good for campingā€¦they donā€™t even need to be heated!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top