Comments on: All You Americans Come Here And Watch This. Texans Too.

By: Dawn~Canada

Dawn~Canada — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:40:04 +0000

Well, there is a difference between the two countries. however, there’s also a huge difference between the cultures that exist within each province up here. We do call things by a different title than our neighbors to the south and perhaps we are slightly less outspoken than many Americans.
But the bottom line is we’re all people living on the same clump of dirt. I am proud to be Canadian but going overboard with patriotism reeks of “hey my country’s better than yours”-ness. Some of the differences are good, they benefit me and my family but others really suck…we have no Chick-Fil-A, or Target.

By: Mark Geil

Mark Geil — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:53:09 +0000

So, I arrive in Vancouver for a conference. I get on the shuttle and eventually make it to my hotel. As I’m checking in, I am momentarily distracted by a horde of people on bicycles rounding the corner outside the hotel. Completely Naked.

The hotel guy couldn’t be less suprised but notices my attempt to hide my shock and amusement. “Oh, yah,” he says, “They come around every week or so to protest something about bike riding. Welcome to Canada.”

By: Happy Geek

Happy Geek — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:14:43 +0000

There is a difference, I’ve lived in both Texas and Canada and the difference is more pronounced there. It’s rather subtle, but shows up a bit more in the Christian context.
I was recently at a Christian conference and after about 2 minutes of talking (accents aside) could tell if the person I was talking to was from the South, Canada or The Northeast. The cultural differences aren’t just limited to going across the border.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:22:20 +0000

http://stuffandthingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/canada-americas-hat-tshirt-1.jpg

By: Angie in Tejas

Angie in Tejas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:51:58 +0000

I meant “secede” darnit! LOL

By: Angie in Tejas

Angie in Tejas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:51:36 +0000

I laughed out loud at your Texan comment. You and Gov. Rick Perry must be good friends then (succeed!!) hahaaha!

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:30:12 +0000

We just came back from an extended weekend in Toronto. Loved it! Just like Chicago, but cleaner. =) They even took our American money at every place we went.

By: Carly

Carly — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:54:23 +0000

I may get flack for this, but I’m not sure we ever had one distinct culture in the first place. I mean, Canada is as much a “new world” as the US and aside from the aboriginals, everyone came from somewhere else to begin with.

It’s funny you would mention that you’d like to buy us all a Coke, except for Quebec. While I don’t agree with the separatists who want to yank Quebec out of the country, I do admire their commitment in holding onto a distinct culture with everything they’ve got.

In High School we learned that while the US was more of a melting pot, Canada was … (grrr – I’ve forgotten the opposite term (dang Mommy brain) … was the opposite of a melting pot.

I’m not so sure that’s true anymore, especially with what Kelly terms our media-saturated lives.

There is much about my country I’m very proud of (and some things I’m not). Some of those things that make us distinct – the size of the country being one, the dense population to the south, along the US border another – speak more to the nature of our land mass than to the people.

Enough rambling…I hope those grey skies clear up!

By: Texas in Africa

Texas in Africa — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:04:03 +0000

This reminds me of a song about Texas that contains the line “We’re proud of our pride and we’re proud of that pride, too.”

I saw a documentary last week about Gallup polling on attitudes in the Muslim world (out-nerd that!). One of the interesting things they looked at is whether many global Muslims perceive American culture negatively, or whether it’s something else. So they compared us to Canada. When asked about whether they had an unfavorable impression of Canada, only 3% of Egyptians agreed. The same question about America elicited something in the high 70%’s among Egyptians surveyed. The conclusion Gallup reached is that it’s not American culture that bothers many Muslims; it’s America’s foreign policy. Apparently Canada makes for a pretty good survey control mechanism.

By: Kelly @ Love Well

Kelly @ Love Well — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:14:28 +0000

Being a Minnesotan, I sometimes feel like I’m part Canadian. We’re similar in so many ways. (Hockey anyone?)

The times I’ve crossed the border, I’ve found Canada to be much as you described — cleaner, more polite and more heavily taxed America. (Although if was comparing Texas to Canada, those differences would mount.)

For what it’s worth, I think many cultural distinctives blur in this media-saturated day.