Oh Canada
Having completed my training in at the end of June, I found myself with 2 months of free time before beginning my first job where I will be working on my own. After 1 year of kindergarten, 8 years of grade school, 4 years of high school, about a year of Bible school, a 4 year bachelors degree crammed into 3 years, 4 years of medical school, 6 years of a surgery residency, and a year of fellowship training I was ready for a break.
I am spending a couple of weeks with my parents in Northwestern Ontario near to where I grew up and then am going to Haiti for a couple of weeks to visit Bethanie and some family friends. It is good to spend time with family again.
As someone who grew up in Canada but now resides in the US of A, I cannot help but compare the two places. Canadians clearly have two things in which they are vastly superior to their American neighbors.
The first of these is the design of their money. Rather than having drab green bills, the paper currency is bright and attractive appearing. Apparently international currency traders think so too as demonstrated by their overwhelming urge to exchange drab US currency for bright, appealing Canadian currency thereby propelling the Canadian dollar to ever higher highs in comparison to the US dollar. Furthermore, those annoying $1 bills that you get in the States don't exist here. One and two dollar coins truly make your change worth something.
The other area Canadians clearly have attained superiority in is their ability to creatively flavor potato products. As a child, I remember visiting the States and having one flavor, regular, of potato chips to choose from. At that time Canadians already had numerous potato chip flavors to choose from. Eventually the slower Americans south of the border caught on to the idea.
However, Americans clearly lag behind Canadians when it comes to knowing what to do with French Fries. The most creative thing Americans could think of doing with French Fries in the last decade was to rename them "Freedom Fries" when the French wouldn't buy in to the concept of the Iraq War being a smart thing to do, but I digress. Here in Canada, you are not limited to putting Ketchup on your fries. All restaurants offer vinegar packets which turn French Fries into something heavenly when combined with salt. If you are at a restaurant in any way more sophisticated than McDonalds, chances are that you can get things like gravy and maybe even some cheese, sour cream, or bacon bits added on to your fries.
Clearly, short trips to Canada are probably better for the waistline and cholesterol count than long ones for this Canadian returning from exile.
I am spending a couple of weeks with my parents in Northwestern Ontario near to where I grew up and then am going to Haiti for a couple of weeks to visit Bethanie and some family friends. It is good to spend time with family again.
As someone who grew up in Canada but now resides in the US of A, I cannot help but compare the two places. Canadians clearly have two things in which they are vastly superior to their American neighbors.
The first of these is the design of their money. Rather than having drab green bills, the paper currency is bright and attractive appearing. Apparently international currency traders think so too as demonstrated by their overwhelming urge to exchange drab US currency for bright, appealing Canadian currency thereby propelling the Canadian dollar to ever higher highs in comparison to the US dollar. Furthermore, those annoying $1 bills that you get in the States don't exist here. One and two dollar coins truly make your change worth something.
The other area Canadians clearly have attained superiority in is their ability to creatively flavor potato products. As a child, I remember visiting the States and having one flavor, regular, of potato chips to choose from. At that time Canadians already had numerous potato chip flavors to choose from. Eventually the slower Americans south of the border caught on to the idea.
However, Americans clearly lag behind Canadians when it comes to knowing what to do with French Fries. The most creative thing Americans could think of doing with French Fries in the last decade was to rename them "Freedom Fries" when the French wouldn't buy in to the concept of the Iraq War being a smart thing to do, but I digress. Here in Canada, you are not limited to putting Ketchup on your fries. All restaurants offer vinegar packets which turn French Fries into something heavenly when combined with salt. If you are at a restaurant in any way more sophisticated than McDonalds, chances are that you can get things like gravy and maybe even some cheese, sour cream, or bacon bits added on to your fries.
Clearly, short trips to Canada are probably better for the waistline and cholesterol count than long ones for this Canadian returning from exile.
posted by The Mad Hatter at 1:45 PM
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