Random observations

Ah! At long last, an internet connection. No cell phone reception, much less internet, while crossing the prairie regions. That goes for the U.S. as well as Canada.

Ok, here's a wierd post. A listing of some things I've learned about Canada, either through being here previously (I was born here, and I've been back to visit twice), research before leaving this time, or things I've noted during this trip:

Knew/learned before leaving:

There are no $1 bills. You have $1 coins (loonies - due to the image of a loon on the back) and $2 coins (toonies - well, it just made sense somehow).

$1 US ~ $1.20 CAN

Even English teachers say, "eh?"

Most French-speakers are in Quebec. In rural areas especially, there are many who don't know English at all. In main city centres like Montreal, there are more who are bilingual.

Quebec has expressed the desire to cede from Canada and become its own nation. Canada has tried to placate it and satisfy its needs while still remaining one nation.

"Out" is pronounced "oot" (as in "boot"), not "owwt." "About" is "aboot." "Been," as in "Where have you been?" is "bean."

Spelling differences: Such as favour, colour, centre, cheque, catalogue, splendour, favourite.

Tim Horton's (coffee and donuts, essentially) is to Canada what McDonalds, sports bars, popcorn at the movies, and apple pie are to the U.S. - but all wrapped up into one. There, they sell Timbits, their hottest selling item. You probably know them as "donut holes."

Canada is generally much cleaner than the U.S. - in terms of litter, air quality, water quality, etc.

Canada has adopted the metric system. The U.S., if memory serves, is the only remaining country still using the old English system. (I don't think even England is still using the English system.)

Learned during this trip:

I was told that the reason Toronto has grown exponentially into the most populous city of Canada, is that Quebec passed laws insisting on French as the language of choice. At this point, many English-speaking citizens left and most of the English-speaking businesses took their business elsewhere. That elsewhere was Toronto.

I've only previously been to Alberta, but when I was there, I remember the place being immaculate. No litter, no graffiti, no homeless on the street. I didn't get a chance to see much of urban Alberta this time, but I did see urban areas of other provinces, and I report with some sadness that this is not true for them. Of these, graffiti is the main problem I've seen. Still, it's not as bad as in the States.

Canadians are used to having a pretty good mass transit system. They think nothing of walking a few blocks so you can catch the bus or hoof it to where you're going.

Maybe as a direct result of the above, there are definitely less people here with overweight problems.

There are stairs *everywhere*. I've often found myself wondering how people in wheelchairs get around this country, because I've seen comparatively few ramps.

There are recycling bins everywhere. In the train stations, inside the trains, on the street corners. They're pretty committed here to getting people to recycle.

There is a Chinatown in every major city. Not just west coast, not just east coast. Every major city we've seen.

There are something like 50 different ethnic groups represented in Edmonton and 42 in Toronto, if I remember right. Including restaurants for all their traditional foods. Mmmmmm!

There are way more vegetarian restaurants and vegetarian options than you'd think, in all the major cities we've seen.

If you're avoiding MSG, you really have to watch it here. It's in most soups, flavored crackers, and flavored chips.

The richness of First Nations (what we usually call "Native American") cultures are to be seen everywhere. Carvings, paintings, instruments, clothing, and all manner of other household items, arts, and crafts can easily be found. They are so beautiful.

Canada is a lot bigger than you'd think just looking at a typical U.S.-centric map.

Southern... Saskatchewan I think, actually has cactus-filled desert areas.

Here you don't add "creamer" to your coffee; you add "whitener."