Day 187: How to speak Canadian

These are words and phrases that I have heard in conversation with actual Canadians.

serviette = napkin

Timbits = doughnut holes at Tim Horton's, used generally for all doughnut holes

washroom = bathroom/restroom

hydro = electricity 

phone =  call, as in "Did you phone her?"

needle = shot/immunization

chocolate bar = any candy bar

knapsack = backpack

line-up = line, as in "Did you see how long the line-ups are?"

pencil crayon = colored pencil

marks = what you get on your report card

timetable = class schedule at school

Smarties = Canada's version of M&M's

toque (tuke) = winter hat. 

cheque =  check. "Did you get your paycheque?"

pop = Pepsi, Coke, Sprite etc.

"Pardon?" = "What? Excuse me, I didn't hear/understand you."

tickety-boo = going well/smoothly "Traffic on the QEW this morning is moving along tickety-boo."

zed = the letter Z
Kraft Dinner = macaroni and cheese
grade 6 = 6th grade

In the church library -

Me - "Can I have some chalk please?" 

Librarian - "Would you like a brush as well?"

Me - "What? I mean pardon? Oh! An eraser! Yes please."

Flavour, colour, neighbour, centre, fibre, metre, litre. (My spell check puts a squiggly red line under each of those words. Obviously my spell check isn't Canadian.)

Say project, process and progress with the emphasis on PRO. PROject.
BUT say produce, the stuff that is grown on a farm prah-duce.

Say adult with the emphasis on the A using the short 'a' sound, like in pass. A-dult

Say been like it's spelled - beeeen. Not bin. 

Also the word again. Just like it's spelled: a-gain

The words pasta, Mazda, drama and llama are pronounced with the short 'a' sound, like the word 'pass'

Say sorry and borrow like soar-y and boar-ow. When I say sorry, it sounds like "Saahhh-ry."

And in closing - I've said it before and I'll say it again. Canadians that I have talked to really do say "eh". They deny it though. I think they don't even realized they do it. It's funny every time :)

Day 183: Six Months

Today we have been in Canada for six months. 

It has been a bit chilly the last couple of days when I ride my bike in the morning.

I am looking forward to Autumn and all those red maple leaves and then a lovely Canadian winter. I have enjoyed the summer weather more than I thought I would. I may just prefer the damp, dank heat and monsoon rains to the dry and thirsty Utah heat!

The kids are going back to school in a few weeks. It will be good to get back on a regular schedule.

Christa is very excited to be starting High School and Seminary. 

We are throwing her to the Tim Horton swilling, cigarette smoking wolves. I am sure she will handle it beautifully. 

Deven will be a senior (hopefully looking out for Christa) Emma will be in 7th grade (here it is still part of Elem. School) and Ethan will be in 5th. Makes me feel old :(

So what will I be doing? Hitting the gym a little bit harder, cleaning the house a little bit better, maybe researching the application process for a study permit or work permit?

Day 181: Bored...waiting on the repair guy

100 (or so) famous Canadians!

1. Bryan Adams
2. Pamela Anderson
3. Paul Anka
4. Dan Aykroyd
5. Sebastian Bach
   
6. Randy Bachman 
7. Tal Bachman
8. Conrad Bain
9. The Barenaked Ladies
10. Jay Baruchel
11. Alexander Graham Bell
12. Justin Bieber
13. Michael Buble
14. Raymond Burr
15. James Cameron
16. Neve Campbell
17. John Candy
18. Jim Carrey
19. Kim Cattrall
20. Michael Cera
21. Emmanuelle Chriqui
22. Hayden Christensen
23. Tommy Chong
24. Rae Dawn Chong
25. Elisha Cuthbert
26. Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily Munster) 
27. Céline Dion
    
28. Drake (rapper)
29. Linda Evangelista
30. Nelly Furtado
    
31. Colin Ferguson
32. Dave Foley
33. Michael J. Fox  
34. Brendan Fraser
35. Frank Gehry (architect)
36. Samuel Goldwyn (MGM founder)
37. Ryan Gosling
38. Robert Goulet
39. Tom Green
40. Lorne Greene
41. Shenae Grimes
42. Natasha Henstridge
43. Corey Hart
    
44. Corey Haim
45. Monty Hall
46. Phil Hartman 
47. Jeff Healey
48. Peter Jennings
49. Jean-Louis (Jack) Kerouak (born in US of French-Canadian parents)
50. Diana Krall
51. Avril Lavigne
    
52. k.d. lang
    
53. Geddy Lee (RUSH)
    
54. Gordon Lightfoot
55. Rachelle Lefevre
56. Eugene Levy
57. Evangeline Lilly
58. Rich Little
59. Sarah McLachlan  
60. Lorne Michaels
61. Joni Mitchell
    
62. Alanis Morissette
    
63. Anne Murray
    
64. Alannah Myles
65. Rachel McAdams
66. Dean McDermott
67. Kevin McDonald
68. Norm MacDonald
69. Howie Mandel
70. Rick Moranis
71. Mike Myers
72. Leslie Nielsen
73. Catherine O'Hara
74. Sandra Oh
75. Ellen Page
76. Anna Paquin
77. Matthew Perry
78. Oscar Peterson
79. Christopher Plummer
80. Jason Priestley
81. Keanu Reeves
82. Ryan Reynolds
83. Caroline Rhea
84. Seth Rogen
85. Buffy Sainte Marie
86. Paul Schaffer
87. William Shatner
88. Martin Short
89. Donald Sutherland
90. Kiefer Sutherland
91. Tegan and Sara
92. Alan Thicke
93. Dave Thomas
94. Meg Tilly
95. Alex Trebek
96. Shania Twain
97. Rufus Wainwright 
98. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41)
99. Nikki Yanovsky (adorable young singer)
100. Neil Young

Day 178: à votre santé

Yay socialized medicine! Our health cards came in the mail today.
(important personal details edited out, naturellement)

 Don't you love the mugshot-quality photo?

Back home, we paid 50 bucks every time we walked into the doctors office. Per person. So if we had strep throat going around, it would be 100+ bucks depending on how many of us got sick - not including prescriptions.  With Christa's strep-harboring tonsils, we usually have several bouts per winter so it gets pretty pricey. Hopefully we can get a Canadian doctor to agree that she needs her tonsils taken out. We could never talk our pediatrician into it...

Day 171: Mantracker and Black History

So there's this TV show that we love called Mantracker. It's a Canadian reality show where two ordinary folks have to out-wit and out-run the Mantracker. They rarely do. Usually they panic and run blindly into the woods and twist an ankle. It's awesome.

From the website:

"Two people take off into the bush with a map, a compass and a head start. The tracker is on horseback, armed with a local guide and an arsenal of forensic skills. The prey have 36 hours to reach a finish line some 40 kilometers away without getting caught. How they escape is up to them."

The last episode featured two black guys from Toronto as the prey. They described themselves as city boys who never spent much time outdoors.  As they made their way through the wilderness, they talked about how this experience was similar to their ancestors running from white slave owners on horseback, traveling toward Canada and freedom on the Underground Railroad.

That got me thinking. Were there many slaves that escaped into Canada? Apparently the answer is yes - 
between 1840 and 1860, approximately 30,000 American slaves did just that. You don't hear much about Black History outside of the United States. I certainly hadn't. I had heard of the Underground Railroad, of course, but didn't realize it went all the way to Canada.

Isn't that the mindset of a lot of Americans? We're just not aware of much of anything that happens (past or present) in Canada. Or anywhere outside our own country...or state, or town, come to think of it. Unless it benefits us, of course ;)

Turns out, there's a lot of Black History in Canada.
A few days after the Mantracker episode, there was a very interesting lecture on public TV about Canada's connection with the Underground Railroad. That got me Google-ing and reading about Black Canadians (sometimes referred to as African-Canadians, though Wikipedia told me 'Black Canadian' is generally preferred)

Much good stuff here or here check it out. It's quite interesting :)

Day 165: Current Events - Zero Tolerance

This is a very good thing, but seems like sort of a no-brainer. Legal drinking age in Canada varies by province, but is generally 18 or 19 years old.

"As of Sunday, (according to new legislation in Canada) drivers aged 16 to 21 will have to have a zero blood-alcohol level when they drive.

"We are trying to obviously put a safety net around our youth," said Gregg Thomson, a volunteer and director-at-large with MADD.

The current permissible blood alcohol level for drivers with full G-class licenses is 0.05 per cent. Anyone within the 0.05 to 0.08 range is considered impaired or in the "warn" range.

Thomson said the new law is broad, covering 16- to 21-year-olds, regardless of whether they held restricted or full licences."

Full article here or here

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think most States in the US have similar laws for people under 21?

I'm too lazy to do the research :)

Day 164: Civic Holiday

From Wikipedia -

Civic Holiday is the most widely used name for a public holiday celebrated in parts of Canada on the first Monday in August.

Unlike most holidays, there is not much of a reason for this holiday to exist, other than its timing. Between Canada Day and Labour Day, there are no recognizable holidays, one of the longest stretches of time on the Canadian calendar without a holiday. (In terms of legal holidays, the winter stretch between Family Day and Easter is occasionally longer, but unofficial holidays such as Saint Patrick's Day and Valentines Day are observed during that time.) 

Thus, the contrived holiday was placed roughly halfway between Canada Day and Labour Day.

So there you have it. An excuse for a day off of work, or a nice long weekend.

We didn't go to the beach, but we did have a nice friends and family picnic at the church.

 Ethan got all painted up

 Matchy matchy Missionaries 

Men vs. Ladies 

 Guys won :(

 Missionaries vs. Primary

The Elders put up a good fight, but the kids finally beat them!