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Friday, February 26, 2010

22 Hours in Canada Land

I just returned from a 22 hour trip to Vancouver in the middle of the Olympics.  While some may feel that less than a day is insufficient time to come to any great conclusions, that would be due to the fact that they lack my sharp observation and deductive skills.

1. Canadianese people love Canada: They all (100% of them) wear shirts emblazoned with red maple leaves, slogans of "Go Canada, Go!" and various other patriotic symbols and slogans.

2. Canadianese people hate Americans: Doubt me?  Just bring up the recent hockey game. 

3. Canadianese people don't have freeways:  We commuted from Surrey to Vancouver, all on city streets at 40 MPH.

4. Canada has good food: I had a cajun chicken burger that was delicious.

5. Vancouver looks and feels like Seattle: Seriously...it's rainy and gray.  AND the buildings, streets and general lay-out has a very strong resemblance to downtown Seattle.

6. Canadistani's love to insist that "they have crime too:"  This usually is in regards to the corner of Main and Hastings, where a few homeless people gathered.  This is reputed as the absolute slums of Canada and it looked like a suburb in Southern California.  

7. Canadi's are very orderly: We were able to drive within just a few short blocks of the Olympic Village.  There was some traffic, but the roads weren't closed, it wasn't grid-locked, and there was hardly any chaos.  Compare that to Beijing's policy of only letting in half the population commute per day for the 2008 Summer Olympics.  If your license plate started with an even number, you could commute half the week.  Those with odd numbers could commute in during the other half.

8. Vancouver is surrounded by mountains:  Or so I was told.  I couldn't see any of them because of the fog.

Informative, eh?

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The more you don't indeed. Don't mock my travels! Have a great time and good luck on sowing your lineage abroad ;)

Ms. C said...

they probably just wear all that patriotic stuff b/c of the olympics right now.

Tracie said...

Guess that's one place you don't need to go to again, eh??

Holly Renee said...

Good to know. Nice observations. Gray and cloudy like Seattle? Guess I won't move there.
-Holly Renee
http://loveimaginecreate.blogspot.com

Martin said...

Clara - Mocking your travels? How did I do that?

Ms. C - Yeah...you're probably right.

Momma - Actually, I'd love to go back to Vancouver. Seems like a really cool city.

Holly - Thanks for coming by. It's actually a really cool city from what I can tell. I have a few friends in Canada and this post was mostly meant to piss them off.

Legal Nomads said...

I mean, we DID kick your asses in the finals...so there's that. And there are expressways outside Vancouver. But next time: go east, where I am from - Montreal in the summer is a great place to be.

Also, +10 for use of The More You Know, but -5 because now I have the jingle in my head.

-Jodi

Allison said...

Also, what you call a freeway is just called a highway in Canada.

Allison said...

I live on the other side of Canada, but I can tell you that Canadians don't walk around wearing Canada themed clothing all year round. Just during the Olympics and Canada Day (July 1st).

We don't *Hate* Americans, but we do enjoy beating you guys in sporting events. Mostly because for most of the year we are bombarded by American culture. TV shows, movies, clothing, cars - it's all "American." It's nice to have something to be proud of. That game was intense. Give us a break :P

That said, I am from Ontario, and have never been to Vancouver - so I can't speak for any of that stuff.

Allison said...

Canadians are also really good at laughing at ourselves - our closing ceremonies spoke to that. So don't take my previous comments too seriously...but I do feel the need to defend my country :P

Trouble said...

Oh that's rich! And yes very informative! You should stay longer next time & you might get to tour an igloo! Nahhh, we don't hate Americans..... hate is such a strong word... but boy, we really did kick ass in that game, EH! Go CANADA Go!