After One Orbit in the Great White North

07/08/2020

I've now lived in Canada for a full year, so it seemed time to take stock. For sake of a little humor, I'll adopt a slightly exaggerated Amero-centric perspective (with apologies to any offended Canadians)

I'm from Colorado. A world-class documentary series called South Park was born there, and I naturally assumed that it had taught me all that I needed to know about Canada.

What I still haven't gotten used to in Canada/Ontario:

  • Milk in bags. You might like milk in bags if...
  1. You'd rather not recycle the container the milk comes in.
  2. You cry with joy over spilled milk, like when you find that yet another bag has ruptured in the fridge at the grocery story.
  3. You want every pour of milk to be fraught with the real risk that the rigidity of a flimsy bag might give way at any moment and dribble milk over your food/placemat/table.
  4. You always enjoyed water balloon fights but wish there was a terrible smell an hour afterward.
  • Gravy. There's more than one type, and I'm not sure that the runny brown stuff found in Canada counts as any legitimate type. Cream gravy should be regarded as a world treasure, and how else is one supposed to make biscuits and gravy, one of the best breakfast items anywhere? Well, at least the Canadian stuff works for poutine! Speaking of...
  • Poutine is everywhere. I happen to really like poutine, but I found that only about half of my US friends even knew what it was. I'm pretty sure I only became acquainted with it at a Canada Day party thrown by some students when I was in grad school. I somehow did not anticipate that it would be everywhere up here, and I have to say, it's quite wonderful.
  • Bagels. In case Canadians didn't know (and I don't think they do), the "great" bagel debate exists only north of the border. The typical American has no idea Montreal is related to bagels in anyway.
  • Metric system. It's not weird. It's better. But I'm still not used to it and find myself consciously making conversions in my head.
  • Waiting "forever" to get your own doctor. For all the many, many faults with the medical system in the US (and yes, Canada's system is absolutely better on the whole, by a lightyear), the fact that I have a chance of finally getting a primary care physician only after 13 months of waiting is bizarre.
  • All Dressed chips. OK, this technically shouldn't be on the list because I actually am very accustomed to them now. Still, they're wonderful, hands down my favorite potato chips, and I'll be very sad not to have them when I leave Canada.
  • Maple syrup by the liter. I've loved genuine maple syrup for a very long time, and truly, I have finally found my people.
  • Small selections of American brands. Do they have Ben and Jerry's here? Yes. Celestial Seasonings? Yes. MorningStar Veggie burgers? Yes. The problem is, they have a whole three options from both (or thereabouts), and never the options I really want.
  • Pricing of spirits. I don't drink too often, maybe once every week or two. Still, the price of spirits in Ontario is extreme. More than that, though, the price difference between the cheapest options and mid-shelf fare (think Bombay Sapphire, for example) is stupendously small. I suppose it must be because taxes make up so much of the price, but whatever the cause, there seems to be almost no reason hear to buy the "cheap" stuff.
  • Beer miscellany. "No one" in the States knows what a 2-4 is, and it seems like no one in the Great White North knows that ABV is.
Ethan I. Schaefer
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