Does US have/Does Canada have...?

[Microcell]

Poutine is cheese curds and gravy on the fries.


Never heard about Freedom Fest. LOL - I'm not even sure where Detroit is! I live in eastern Ontario - about 3 hours north of Syracuse.

I think you are 6 hours or so away. Detroit is just across the Ambassidor bridge to Windsor, Ontario. If you look at the US map you will see a mitten, and in the bottom of the thumb is Detroit. My favorite usless trivia is "What country is directly south of Detroit?"



Canada!

Freedom Fest is done on July 1st and is a huge party and fireworks display coordinated by the US and Canada (Detroit and Windsor). You can see fireworks all around the border.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Oh my gosh. It's 1:00 am!! I'm going to be hurting later today! Must...get...sleep...

Enjoyed chatting with everyone! I'll check in on the thread later "today".

Good night er morning, all.

 

[Albertan mom]

What amazed me last time I shopped in Montana, is that the dollar stores actually have nothing over one dollar! I bought 27 items, and it was $27.00. And it was good stuff too! A pair of flipflops that I have had for 4 years! Hair dye! Toys! Clothes! Here, at the dollar stores, everything is over a dollar! Some are up to $20.00 items. Plus the 7% tax here in Alberta. I did see a new store going up the other day that said 'nothing over a dollar'-I will have to go in and see it to believe it!

 

[N.Bailey]

I have heard of Lacrosse, is it like what we call Field Hockey here? Hit a ball with a stick, but in a field and not on ice.

No, field hockey is like ice hockey. You keep the ball on the ground, cept you're not on ice. Lacrosse is played with a stick you cradle as you run up and down the field and it has a net on the top for catching the ball.

 

[Microcell]

Good to know!

 

[N.Bailey]

Does the US have music styles by regions of the country? For example, here we have Quebec french music and music from the Eastern Coast (lots of fiddles).

Not really, but anything coming out of Tennessee is COUNTRY. Home of the Grand Ole Opry. Dollyville and Graceland (Elvis's home - he's not country though) too. Kentucky is blue grass, so I guess maybe we do? I really don't listen to either of these types though.

 

[Albertan mom]

What do you call it a couch or a chesterfield or a sofa?
Are your mattress sizes twin, double, full, queen and king?
Stove, Oven or Range?
BBQ or Grill?

 

[Sandy22]

Freedom Fest is done on July 1st and is a huge party and fireworks display coordinated by the US and Canada (Detroit and Windsor). You can see fireworks all around the border.

\

That sounds like a great event! I haven't been out to Toronto and that whole area since I was a child so I'm really not familiar with it.


Does the US have boxing day sales? I heard you had some kind of Thanksgiving day sale instead.

 

[Microcell]

What's the average paid vacation leave in the US? I think here it's about 2 to 3 weeks for a fairly good job. I heard in some european countries they get months! I wish!


How long is your maternity/parental leave? Here it's a full paid year! And that can be split between either parent.

DH works for a retailer and gets two weeks paid. YOu get more based on how long you work for a company sometimes. I get PTO and it is based on how many hours I work in a pay period. It is only three hours a month because I work VERY part time.

Maternity is subjective to employers. The government only says if you have worked someplace over a year, they have to keep a position (any postition, not just the one you had) for up to twelve weeks. Does not have to be paid time off either. Generous employers sometimes do more.

 

[minkydog]

What do you call it a couch or a chesterfield or a sofa?
Are your mattress sizes twin, double, full, queen and king?
Stove, Oven or Range?
BBQ or Grill?

here in the Deep south we call it a sofa, but up north I have heard it called a couch and a settee.

Mattress sizes are the same.

We cook on the stove, in the oven--home is on the range(sorry, i couldn't help it)

We grill our food--a barbeque is what you go to to eat slow-roasted pig, cole slaw and cornbread

 

[bizybea]

What do you call it a couch or a chesterfield or a sofa?
Are your mattress sizes twin, double, full, queen and king?
Stove, Oven or Range?
BBQ or Grill?

I call mine a couch, but some people call them davenports, too! We don't have boxing day sales cuz we don't celebrate boxing day. What is boxing day anyways??

 

[Microcell]

\

That sounds like a great event! I haven't been out to Toronto and that whole area since I was a child so I'm really not familiar with it.


Does the US have boxing day sales? I heard you had some kind of Thanksgiving day sale instead.

Toronto is still six hours away too. Great lakes makes it tricky gettting to some places in Canada.


What is Boxing Day? We have Black Friday- the day after Thanksgiving. Busiest shopping day of the year. Starts our Christmas season.

 

[N.Bailey]

What's the average paid vacation leave in the US? I think here it's about 2 to 3 weeks for a fairly good job. I heard in some european countries they get months! I wish!

How long is your maternity/parental leave? Here it's a full paid year! And that can be split between either parent.

In the US, vacation can vary so much. Most companies you start out with a week the 1st year, then at 5 years you might get 2 weeks, 10 years 3, 15 years 4 weeks etc... Not always though. Some companies you can't get past 2 weeks, and some go as high as 8 weeks (more rare though). I think it depends on the type of job you have really.

As for paid maternity. I can't really say. I think my company gave like 6 weeks back when I was pregnant, but I don't think legally they have to give you anything. I could be wrong about that though.

Edit: We work on a 40 hour work week (for the most part). Is it the same in Canada?

 

[Sandy22]

here in the Deep south we call it a sofa, but up north I have heard it called a couch and a settee.

Mattress sizes are the same.

We cook on the stove, in the oven--home is on the range(sorry, i couldn't help it)

We grill our food--a barbeque is what you go to to eat slow-roasted pig, cole slaw and cornbread

In my area of Canada we call it a couch, also cook on the stove and in the oven. But we BBQ! The grill is just a part of the BBQ. It's also pop and chocolate bars for any kind of 'candy' bar.

 

[Albertan mom]

We don't have Black Friday. Because our thanksgiving is in October, people aren't into Christmas and shopping too much yet.
Boxing Day is December 26th. There is huge sales all over the place. Stores open early, stay open late. There are lots of 50% off sales, and huge door-crasher sales. It is insane to shop that day. But I do! I buy all my wrapping paper, gift bags, tags etc.. for the next Christmas. And toys for birthday gifts.

 

[Sandy22]

Boxing Day is December 26th. It's the best sale day of the year. Stores are mobbed with people out for the great bargains.

 

[Microcell]

here in the Deep south we call it a sofa, but up north I have heard it called a couch and a settee.

Mattress sizes are the same.

We cook on the stove, in the oven--home is on the range(sorry, i couldn't help it)

We grill our food--a barbeque is what you go to to eat slow-roasted pig, cole slaw and cornbread

Well said! I guess Kansas City is pretty far south if I agree with that. Except we call it a couch here. In gerneral we call the thing you cook on and in a stove, like my DH keeps saying "I really want a gas stove already. He means oven too!

 

[Microcell]

Boxing Day is December 26th. It's the best sale day of the year. Stores are mobbed with people out for the great bargains.

Nope, we just have many sales returns that day. We can't recover from Christmas eve shopping fast enough to set up sales. Now New Years has some big sales, but that is not hugely widespread.

 

[Sandy22]

Edit: We work on a 40 hour work week (for the most part). Is it the same in Canada?

I think so. I and most of my friends work around 37.5 hours per week (7.5 a day)

Does the US use the term university? I've always heard the term college to refer to what we call university.

 

[Albertan mom]

This is so cool!
But it is 11:00 here, and I must get to bed.
Anxious to talk to you all in the morning, I will meet you here with my bowl of mini-wheats....(do you have those?)