I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Well, we arrived safely to Winterpeg, and believe it or not, all the mental preparation for the -40C weather was unnecessary! Apart from one night where we were all left stranded at a club, waiting for a cab in painful –30C temperatures, the weather has been stellar. We spent the last two days up in Assessippi, snowboarding in beautiful weather. I took a couple spectacular whip outs, but am proud to say I walked away unscathed (can you believe it?!) Seeing M. snowboard was quite the sight--not that many 6, 5”, 230lbs snowboarders out there ;)
We are now back in town just in time for some last minute Christmas shopping. The city is still covered in a blanket of soft snow, which will last well past our stay. Definetly the white Christmas I was looking forward to!
Merry Chirstmas to everyone!
xooo
Throw Mama off the Train!
For all my ranting and raving on tolerance and acceptance, I will admit that I am probably a tad prejudice towards Americans. I just can’t help it. I can’t help that they speak in twelve decibels too loud. I can’t help that they don’t know anything about their bordering countries, and I can’t help they are always asking for directions here in Amsterdam, and then storming away without so much as a simple “thank you”.
I think I will blame it on Canada. Why not, after all didn’t the 911 terrorists come through Canada?! (For those of you who know me well, you will know that this is one of my favorite ignorant statements). I will blame it on the “little brother syndrome”, the “(smaller) rival country complex”, found between the US and Canada, Holland and Germany, Holland and Belgium and of course, Australia and New Zealand.
So, on my supposedly peaceful train ride to Paris I again encounter by favorite breed of American ---the loud-middle aged- fanny pack wearing- tourist from hell. Now I must interrupt my story before I even start this awful rant of mine. Please no offense, I will admit that the woman described in this story could have equally been a Canadian, and that there are many “ugly Canadian tourists” out there as well. But this story wouldn’t be that funny if it was about a Canuk, would it?
So anyways, I am thoroughly enjoying my complimentary breakfast in first class, when I am interrupted by a very loud “Excuse me ma’am”. In front of me decked out in runners, shorts, a hard-rock Hawaii t-shirt (no lie), and fanny pack, is my worst nightmare. “You’re in myyy seat!” I take out my ticket and check my seat again. Hard-rock Hawaii is staring back at me, annoyed with my silence. She says louder than necessary “Please get out of myyy seat!!”. I show her my ticket and just my luck it turns out that the train has overbooked us and we are in fact both entitled to this seat.
The problem isn’t that we have the same seat. The problem is that somehow this woman feels as though she is more entitled to this seat than I am. She has the nerve to ask me to leave since she “booked this seat ages ago in (unknown small town USA)”. Reverting back to my 5 year old self, I refuse to get up. I refuse to leave my seat, and I refuse to discuss the situation any further. In fact, I stare forward and instead think happy thoughts. Something about this woman in really irking me. Is it her florescent t-shirt, circa 1990, scorching my eyeballs, or the fact that she insists on speaking in a volume that is unacceptable by all social standards. She eventually storms off and I am very pleased by my small victory.
Canada 1 point, US 0!
Happy Birthday to you!
As it is now 12:03 am, I can be the first to wish you all a Happy Canada Day!!
Well, lucky us, looks as though our American neighbours have a nice birthday present in store for us...read on....
Today, the Devil's Lake waste disposal project was brought to my attention. Essentially the state of North Dakota plans to pump contaminated water from Devil's Lake into the Red River, thus polluting Manitoba's rivers, lakes, and beaches. The damage is quoted as "irreversible".
As stated on the Friends of the Earth website (yes, cheezy name, very "save the whales"-esque)
"the construction of the Devils Lake Outlet is in violation of the Boundary Water Treaty; the Treaty applies to rivers and lakes shared by the United States and Canada. It bars the United States from polluting Canadian waters...
Canada has been asking the U.S. government for 14 months to stop the Devils Lake project in North Dakota from going ahead as planned on July 1. So far, a decision has not been made.
A friend of mine has put together an online petition. Please visit the site, and sign up.
More info can be found here
and here
We need to stop letting the United States shit all over us....and in this case, literally!
Haha...great minds think alike. Just saw a similar post on his site. I guess it runs in the family....
Oh, Canada!
It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she's something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of.-Emily Carr (1871-1945)
Much to his annoyance, Moe is continually reminded of the virtues of my homeland. I don’t mean to compare everything to Canada or the Canadian way of doing things, it just sorta happens. I hear the words coming out of my mouth, and before I can even stop myself, I am once again starting a sentence with “In Canada…”, and ending with “Isn’t that the way it should be?” He often asks jokingly whether I am receiving a commission from the Canadian Tourism Board and now has taken to clutching his heart and singing the first verse of “Oh, Canada” at the top of his lungs when I start one of my so-called rants.
I am trying to work on this, to only point out the superiority of Canada when truly necessary (and quite frankly undeniably true).But is it my fault that there are so many opportunities to do so? I didn’t think so...
Truth be told, I wasn’t particularly patriotic until I moved abroad. Yes, I always thought Canada was a great to place to live, and yes from the time I could talk I could probably tell you why we are so completely different from our loud obnoxious neighbour, but the longer I live away, the more I realize it is a place I am very very proud to call home. (Mother, is this bringing a tear to your eye?).
Oddly enough, I have learnt more about Canada while living away from it. I have come to appreciate its diversity, openness, and above all tolerance.
Before getting too serious, and submitting you all to an "Oh, Canada" rant (I'll save those for Moe), I will leave you with some funny Canadian facts from the website An American’s Guide to Canada
1)“Cars, especially on the Prairies, have electrical plugs sticking out from under the hoods” (Don’t miss that)
2)“Restaurants serve vinegar with French fries” (god, I miss that)
3)“When you step on someone's foot, he apologizes. This really happened”(I miss this the most!)
And so boys and girls, the lesson of the day is: you can take the girl outta Canada, but you can’t take little old Canada outta the girl!
