Doing Canadian Things

We’ve posted many articles that highlight the differences between the U.S. and Canada, and we’ve posted even more about the difference between the U.S. and Britain. And we’ve also posted about how cool it is to see the U.S. through the eyes of people from various other countries. Now we get a sideways view of how a British person sees Canadian culture.

James O’Malley is from Leicester, England, and when he visited Ontario for three weeks, he recorded himself doing as many "Canadian" things as possible. Although some things he did were quite Canadian to our American eyes: hockey, Tim Horton’s, ice roads, others seemed altogether American: Walmart, shooting guns, driving on the right, welding, diners. And Canadians were just as perplexed, as O’Malley did not record many things they consider typically Canadian: poutine, maple syrup, Canadian Tire. It just goes to show that all the English-speaking nations are primed to notice their differences more than their commonalities.

At the same time, many folks at reddit and YouTube said, "I’ve lived in Canada all my life and you’ve done more Canadian things than I ever have." O’Malley wrote about his trip to an ice fishing spot where he traveled on a snowmobile.

It was at this point that I mentally reflected on how far I had come. “I’m a long way from London now”, I thought as I looked out across the endless nothing in every direction. I’d made it to my destination, and was still alive — which when you think about it makes me even better than Scott of the Antarctic.

A good time was had by all. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)