Living my life on the interwebs has taught me new things about living in Canada. I don’t currently live in Canada, but if McCain wins in November, we’re packing up and moving. I promise(ish).
note: please don’t judge me on my lack of Canadian knowledge prior to living on the web. i’ve lived in florida my whole life. all we know about canada is that it’s our 51st state and it’s covered in snow 11 months out of the year. and hockey rules. and all Canadian men have mullets.
•Canada has free healthcare. I learned that a few years ago, but what I originally learned was incorrect. What I learned years ago was it may be free, but unless your eyeball has fallen out of its socket, you’re gonna wait 18 months to see a doc. I recently learned that is not entirely true. You’re only gonna wait 4 months. Which, if you compare that to the waiting time I experience at my kids’ pediatrician’s office, it’s about equal.
•Canada does not have Target. ERM - exsqueeze me? NO TARGET? For serious, this was almost a deal breaker. I may have to compromise by living near the border and drive over to visit my dear store.
•Canada has places where it doesn’t snow. Seeing as I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, I’ve never experienced living in, or being in, snow. I know I’m missing out on sledding, ice skating, snow angels, and white Christmases, but I’m NOT missing out on slipping on ice, snow drifts, frostbitten nipples, and (so-I’ve-heard) warming my car up for 20 min before getting in. I’m actually kind of afraid of snow because it’s so foreign to me. But then I discovered VANCOUVER. Oh, Vancouver. Only 5 (maybe 20) days of snow a year and actual SUMMERS? I may have found my new home.
•Canada has kickass bloggers. Huckdoll, Mr. Lady, and ZoeyJane are a very few, but some of the very best. Bonus - they’re in the Vancouver area, so we have built-in friends when we move!
•Canada has decriminalized prostitution. Thanks to Mr. Lady for passing along this nugget of infomation. Mama will have a job when we move.
If you can pass along any more nuggets of Canadian information my way on living in Canada, please let me know. I’m hoping/praying/wishinguponastar that Obama wins, but if McCan wins, we’re moving.
I’m going to learn the Canadian fight song. “O Canada! Our home and native land!…”
There’s a year of paid maternity/paternity leave too… That was almost enough to get me to move right there.
The idea of moving further north, toward even more snow than we get here, is the main thing that kept me from seriously considering it though.
Deb - Mom of 3 Girls’s last blog post..Yes, I am still here!
do you need any Kentucky history? because that’s all you learn in the 4th grade here. The state history of Kentucky.
Shamelessly Sassy’s last blog post..I’ll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours
Don’t forget The Mckenzie Brothers!
Hockeyman’s last blog post..I Did It!!!
Fantastic post!
Sarah’s last blog post..Happy 4th of July!
Don’t go learning that song before I do. You’ll just make me look
worsebad.PS: ANNE MURRAY. GORDON LIGHTFOOT. Oh, wait, that’s NOT incentive?
Mr Lady’s last blog post..Weekly Last Place All Star Team Winners
Well, didn’t you know that hockey hair is a Canadian rite of passage?! We do have Canadian back bacon, but Canadians don’t really eat it; and we’ve got beer with actual alcohol in it; the music scene is pretty good, if you don’t count Celine or Shania (oh I know, but I’ve never been a fan).
But seriously, you probably would love it up here.
Karen MEG’s last blog post..Weekly Winners # 27
Psst. I’ll teach it to you in french, too, so you can REALLY show some people up. MrLady also forgot to mention two things:
1) we’re responsible for Pam Anderson, Ryan Reynolds, Bryan Adams, Michael J. Fox, Mike Myers, Jim Carey, Corey Hart, Wayne Gretsky, Keanu Reeves (sort of), Estella Warren, Jennifer Tilly and MORE.
2) Did you ever watch 21 Jump Street? Filmed HERE. Gave JOhnny Depp to the WORLD. (you’re welcome and yes, I was an extra on it, once)
Zoeyjane’s last blog post..She Ain’t Heavy
If you come up, I will refer my long lost sister and nieces from Florida to my female doctor who only sees woman and has a 4 year waiting list to her practice. You can basically call her the DAY OF and get in no matter what if the little ones are sick and barely any waits.
Hockeyman is on his own.
Oh yeah, and she does Botox, lasers and fillers a few evenings a week, too at a huge discount.
Sold?
Huckdoll’s last blog post..Eleventy Hundred (bitten from my biatch, Kelley) Questions For me - Part 3
PS. We will carpool to Target every other week. It’s quite close.
PPS. Remember, there’s the 420 thing, too.
Huckdoll’s last blog post..Eleventy Hundred (bitten from my biatch, Kelley) Questions For me - Part 3
OMFG, YOU are a Cracker. Not sure what that is in Canada though. I might have to start calling you a biscuit or some shit.
Bwahahahaha!
VDog’s last blog post..Weekly Winners ~ First Week of July
You’d have to open up a different online store.
Good for the Mooses.
Xbox4NappyRash’s last blog post..As I sit in a pool of my own estrogen
Ah Canada!!! I love Canada!!! And Vancouver is an amazing city! When we lived in Seattle we would visit all the time and we would move there in a heartbeat!
Amy’s last blog post..The Imaginations of Babes!!
Funny my first exposure to Canadians came when I moved to Florida. You’ll be able to hitch a ride back and forth pretty easily I would guess.
Melizzard’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday - Summer Lovin’ Happens So Fast..
We have an amazing array of fatty fried treats such as Beaver Tails (deep fried donut batter shaped into a flat beaver tail type shape covered in cinnamon and brown sugar containing no actual beaver), mini-donuts (deep fried donut batter shaped into donuts covered in brown sugar and cinnamon) and funnel cakes (deep fried donut batter dripped through a funnel into the deep fryer and shaped into a round wire mesh shape covered in brown sugar and cinnamon AND ice cream).
Doesn’t that make you want to hop a plane right now?
Tara R’s last blog post..CFBA book review
You know, if it was THAT good, living in Canada, everybody would be there. Just sayin’.
lceel’s last blog post..Short and sweet
Canada whore.
Miss’s last blog post..Cluster*bleep*
ok so after readung the comment about the funnel cakes and beaver things i am fairly certain i will be saying good bye to my precious nieces!! But hey, I do have a work thing in toronto in March so head on up sista!
Christine Lynch’s last blog post..Edrama?
I’m delurking myself…
Canadians say “eh” all the time. I love it. Makes me want to say “eh” all the time, eh.
Home of Mike Holmes…from Holmes on Homes. Or as I call it Holmes is a Hottie.
Another great blogger, the Almighty Yarn Harlot. I love that lady.
Sky’s last blog post..Polka Dot Tot Spot
I was doing fine, reading with quiet dignity, until I got to the part about the “Canadian fight song”, at which point milk came out of my nose. Now I have to go change my shirt.
feefifoto’s last blog post..Teachable Moment
ALL of my ancestors are from Canada. Here’s what I know.
Tim Horton’s…better than Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks all rolled into one.
When you put things in a row, my grandfather used to call it “side by each”.
Canadian side of Niagara Falls… Rocks the Socks off the American side.
Pleeeaaassseeeee…. Let Obama win.
Little Miss Sunshine State’s last blog post..What I Learned On The 4th of July
Legal prostitution? I’m rich! I’m rich!
Tootsie Farklepants’s last blog post..Little Known Facts About Independence Day (Like How to Spell Independence)
You know what I was picturing? A frozen hooker standing on a corner in Vancouver with her eyeball hanging out . . .
LaskiGal’s last blog post..And Let Freedom Ring . . .
LOL (in Vancouver). You guys crack me up.
(Btw, I was an extra on 21 Jump Street too
JEANNE’s last blog post..I Can’t Even Remember What The Fight Was About…
I am moving with your ass.. you can’t leave me alone.
Kim’s last blog post..Weekly Winners June 30 - July 6
Did you know the day after the last election in 2004 the Canadian government had an incredible amount of hits on its website from Americans?!?!?
other Canadian things…
-The spelling… colour, favourite, behaviour
-The poutine…french fries, covered in cheese curds and gravy!! Too die for!!!!
-Smarties & jelly tots!!
-Gun Control Laws
-Freedom; ex. same sex marriage
-Anne of Green Gables
-the longest coastline of any country belongs to Canada.
-Canada is the second largest country, in size, in the world.
-the Bluenose schooner won the International Fisherman’s Trophy for 18 years, from 1921 to 1938.
-the comic “Superman” was created by a Canadian, Joe Shuster, who was born in Toronto in 1914.
-Winnie the Pooh is Canadian.
-Wayne Gretzky has the most points in NHL history.
-the Canadarm on the Space Shuttle was made by Canadian scientists.
-some Canadian inventions include; the zipper, ginger ale, the washing machine, standard time, goalie mask, retractable beer carton holders, pacemaker, insulin (as used for diabetes), insulation, frozen fish (?), lacrosse, the light bulb, IMAX, electric cooking range, disintegrating plastic, fog horn, heart valve operation, and portable highchair just to name a few.
…can you tell I just recently did a post on Canadian things!?!?!? Also, I live in GA now and have seen more hockey heads here in the last four years than I ever saw in my 27 years in Canada!!!
Helen’s last blog post..What’s with the hole?!?!?
Canadians love beavers. Seriously. And mounties are hot. That’s all I learned on my recent trip to Canada. Beavers and mounties. That may be very useful knowledge given your future line of work.
If he wins, I’ll move with you. I used to live in Seattle and Vancouver is beautiful plus the way cool bloggers I think its the obvious choice. However, I didn’t know that about Target, so I’m with you, we stay close to the border.