Sunday, July 1, 2012

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! EH!!

I AM CANADIAN, AND I AM PROUD TO BE PART OF THIS AMAZING COUNTRY!


A few facts about being Canadian. 


Canadian Confederation date was July 1,1867.

We speak the Queen's English  and spell things funny like -  colour - others spell it color.  


We say we are out and about (pronounced aboot)  


When we say the alphabet at the end we don't say 'zee', we say 'zed'.  


We are a friendly people and wave at strangers, sometimes albeit it may be a 1 fingered wave, but its a wave just the same.


We don't live in igloos and it is NOT winter all year long.


Hockey is not our official National Sport, Lacrosse is. 


* But hockey is one of our passions. "He shoots! He scores!"
Shinny refers to an informal game of hockey that is played on streets, neighborhood ice rinks, ponds and at rec centres.  


Most Canadians can hum a few bars of the original Hockey Night in Canada theme song.


Our constitutional head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, whom I affectionately call Betty Windsor.  


We have a Prime Minister and our parliamentary system is based on the British constitutional parliamentary system.  


Our National Police Force  is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who are famous for their musical ride and red serge dress uniforms. 


We have 10 provinces; British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick.  There are three territories Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. (Most kids know this in grade school)


We have two official languages, English and French.


We are a very multicultural country and we welcome diversity.


We don't have a dollar bill or two dollar bill instead we have coins $1 is a looney, $2 is a toonie.  


We like poutine, which is french fries with cheese curds and gravy - OMG!


The beaver is our national animal.  


We aren't 'hosers' like Bob & Doug McKenzie. "Good Day Eh!"


Our flag is red and white with a maple leaf in the centre <--Cdn spelling :)


We have the best maple syrup and Canadian back bacon.


When you say I'll have a "Double Double" Canadians know you are ordering a Tim Horton's coffee! (hopefully with a Canadian Maple donut on the side) 


Tim Horton's was around before Starbucks.  Timmies opened up in 1964.


In 2011 according to census statistics Canada's population was 34.6 million.


We have universal healthcare for all Canadians.


We love kitschy oversize figurines in our cities; Mr. P.G in Prince George, a giant Ukrainian Easter Egg in Vegreville Alberta, giant Nickel in Sudbury, Giant Canada Goose in Wawa, Ontario.  


We share Niagara Falls with the United States.


Our National anthem is O Canada and we sing it in both English and French.


But most importantly we don't say 'Eh'.


11 comments:

RichardM said...

Happy Canada Day! Everything I need to remember when going through Canada... E.g. Look for poutine!!!

Dar said...

Richard the best place to have poutine is in La Belle Province (Quebec) but we make a pretty tasty one here in Esquimalt at La Belle Patate.

Deb said...

Well, Happy Canada Day to you too!

And now I must confess that for a while I've strongly thought about Canadian citizenship, for a variety of what shall remain unspoken reasons!

But I think I'm too old and could not make a living there, so I will have to figure out how to visit sometime!

Anyway, I'm proud for you all and envious at the same time!

Salute!

SonjaM said...

Happy Canada Day! And thanks for the fun facts. I had to learn them all to prepare for the citizenship test.

Trobairitz said...

Happy Canada Day.

I was born in the USA! But schooled in Canada. The poor teachers in BC could never ger me to say zed, but on the flip side, I still try to spell a ton of words with the U in them and when drafting pleadings for court I get funny looks.

VStar Lady said...

Happy Canada Day - eh!

Dar said...

Deb - You can be an honorary Canuck any day! Your country is going to be celebrating their Birthday in a few days too. Good things happen in July!

Sonja - It took me awhile to fact check this as I was writing it. Its funny how much of it I remember from school. You are lucky because I think when you choose to be a Canadian you are learning more about the country than those of us who live here and take it for granted.

Trobairitz - The U thing messes me up from time to time, because I find with blogging and reading posts from all over the world you forget the grammar rules. It still will be zed for me.

V-star lady Happy Canada Day - eh!

Dar said...

Deb - You can be an honorary Canuck any day! Your country is going to be celebrating their Birthday in a few days too. Good things happen in July!

Sonja - It took me awhile to fact check this as I was writing it. Its funny how much of it I remember from school. You are lucky because I think when you choose to be a Canadian you are learning more about the country than those of us who live here and take it for granted.

Trobairitz - The U thing messes me up from time to time, because I find with blogging and reading posts from all over the world you forget the grammar rules. It still will be zed for me.

V-star lady Happy Canada Day - eh!

Shybiker said...

Glad to see your national pride. I've visited and admire your country. The people are friendlier than here and less violent, too. The coffee at Tim Horton's is just right.

Canajun said...

"We don't say 'Eh'"???

A belated Happy Canada Day to you from Ontario, eh?.

Pam said...

Enjoy the celebration! You are definitely one of my favorite Candanians!