Canada... its kind of like the United States' first cousin. For the most part, I haven't felt at all like I'm in a different country. The language is the same, the value of a Canadian dollar is extremely close to that of a US greenback and I see familiar stores and restaurants all over the place. But there have been a few subtle differences that have caught me off guard.
For starters... there's these guys:
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the "Mounties". Oddly, I haven't seen one mounted on anything. They are considered the National Police force, but I've seen more local Vancouver police force than anything. There are also thousands of policeman from other provinces that have come here to assist during the games.
**Interesting fact - they are staying on a cruise ship that is docked in the port here so that they don't take up any hotel rooms downtown.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575061661652534790.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews
Loonies: This is one Canadian Dollar... its not a bill, its a coin, its bronze plated, it has a duck on it, it has Queen Elizabeth II on the back.
.... and don't forget the "toonie" (or two dollar coin)
Sushi... Okay, we have this, but their sushi is REALLY REALLY good. One, because there is a really big Japanese contingency here and two, because they literally pull the fish out of the ocean ten minutes before you eat it. Well... it tastes that way anyway.
OTHER THINGS THAT HAVE TAKEN SOME GETTING USED TO:
1) The use of "ou" ... favourite, colour, honour, etc. Don't even get me started on "centre" and "entre"!!!!
2) Kilometers, litres (there it is again), centimeters, degrees celcius... my head is spinning right now just thinking about the math conversations.
3) Eh!!! Enough said.
Post a Comment