Have Americans ever asked you about Canadian stereotypes?

[murcor]

Every year we go to Disney we put a map on our door. The map includes North & South America, provinces, states, cities etc.

At the top of the poster we print "Where are you from?"

We write our names (Murphys) and Halifax, Nova Scotia on the border of the map and draw a line to our city.

Its amazing how many people do it and it is so interesting to see the new additions to the map when we return to our room each day.

This year one stood out in our mind and it was hilarious

We came back to our room and a family from Anchorage, Alaska signed our map. Instead of drawing a line up to Alaska, they drew a little island north of the state of Washington and the line went there. My kids age 9 & 8 knew the line should go up near the Yukon so they extended the line. A few days later, the same family must have seen the change and they scratched it out and re-drew the line to "Their Alaska"

 

[PrincessMom4]

American's lack of knowledge about Canada is hilarious!! OK TRUE STORY!!! No kidding!! Growing up I used to sell corn off the highway near Lakefield Ont. One day in the heat of July this station wagon pulls up at our corn stand, with skiis attached to the roof, mom and dad in the front and 3 kids in the back seat. They asked us where Canada was. No kidding!! (and it was no joke with no hidden cameras or anything like that) Being teenagers we started to laugh and asked them how they got through the border. They looked at us dumbfounded and asked where all of the snow was. We told them to come back in 6 months and then there would be snow. ANOTHER TRUE STORY!! Same corn stand- it's not only Americans- we had this guy from Toronto convinced that brown cows gave chocolate milk and white cows white milk. He also belived us when we told him that you only eat Black cows hence the name Black Angus. Good times down on the farm!

Your making me bust a gut.

 

[digskat]

we have had a couple experiences like this.
Our first trip down, we stayed in Macon, Georgia for the night. We were sitting by the hotel pool, and a nice lady from Tennesee struck up a conversation with my wife. She asked where we were from, my wife told her Ontario, and she said she had just met a family from Manitoba. She was shocked that we were also from Canada, and didn't know the other family. I politely stated that Canada had over 25 million people, and was the second largest country in area......she didn't believe me.
A couple trips later, after several comments about "eh" and "abooot", and references to year-round snow (at DTD), I finally snapped as we waited for the Hoop-de-doo. We were chatting with a couple from Florida, while our kids played on the equipment. A couple from the Boston area, sat near us, and the husband couldn't risk getting a few shots in about our money, our weather, and my accent (in the strongest nasal twang I had ever heard). I stood up, informed him that my hometown was almost directly west of his, and said "I don't have an accent, I enunciate."

 

[digskat]

American's lack of knowledge about Canada is hilarious!! OK TRUE STORY!!! No kidding!! Growing up I used to sell corn off the highway near Lakefield Ont. One day in the heat of July this station wagon pulls up at our corn stand, with skiis attached to the roof, mom and dad in the front and 3 kids in the back seat. They asked us where Canada was. No kidding!! (and it was no joke with no hidden cameras or anything like that) Being teenagers we started to laugh and asked them how they got through the border. They looked at us dumbfounded and asked where all of the snow was. We told them to come back in 6 months and then there would be snow. ANOTHER TRUE STORY!! Same corn stand- it's not only Americans- we had this guy from Toronto convinced that brown cows gave chocolate milk and white cows white milk. He also belived us when we told him that you only eat Black cows hence the name Black Angus. Good times down on the farm!

Similar story. During highschool, I worked at a gas station in a small southern Ontario town. One August, a car from Georgia pulled in, and a very nice family asked how far they would have to drive to see snow. It was over 30c, and humid as can be, and I had to break their hearts, and tell them that even if they drove 3 hours, got on the ferry (Tobermory) for a couple hours, and then drove for more days.......they probably wouldn't see snow in August.

 

[rewok]

Americans and geography sometimes... Love your world map Ham Ham! Here's a little story to build on this stereotype.

This summer, in Virginia Beach, while we were at the red light, the guys in the car next to us take a look at our license plate and ask:

"Hey, where is Quebec?" Unsure about their seriousness, we prudently answer: "Well, about 1000 miles up north". Them: "Oh, would that be close to Canada?" Us, trying nor to laugh "Yes, it is IN Canada!!" Then the light turned green! To this day, I still don't know if I should be desperate they didn't know the names of Canadian provinces, or just glad they had a vague idea where Canada was!

 

[MCFADDEN5]

We were in Holllywood studios this December and I was waiting for a table to clear. I asked the man if he would mind if I waiting for his table, he said no and started chatting. He asked if we had been on toy story mania yet and I said yes and told him great it was.... Then he said are from Canada and I said yes (we had no Canadian attire on) he said "you just eh three times in that sentence"
Oops,I guess I'm not helping the stereotypes eh.
As we were talking he was also shocked that we being from Canada made the long trip to Disney every year.
Oh well.

 

[PrincessMom4]

I was sitting on serenity bay at Castaway Cay enjoying the beautiful sunshine, and a man next to me started to talk to me. He asked where i was from and I replied Ontario, Canada. He then asked how did you hear about disney world all the way there! I could not belive it.
I live 10 minutes from the boarder of the NY! I laughed pretty hard in my head and just said ive been to disney world 7 times.
I still dont think he belived me. lol

We live close to the border too. Its about a 30minute drive for us, but we live along the water.

I've had Americans look at me funny and know I am Canadian when i ask for either a serviette (aka Napkin) or if we need a washroom (aka restroom). When I am down south I usually pick up the "y'all" accent, but I was born in Germany and came to Canada as a young child and picked up the language quite quickly.

 

[Harlie]

I too used to work for a call centre and most of our calls came from the Southern states. They were the ones that would point out I was Canadian, I asked once how they could tell (I never say eh) and I was told it was because I speak too fast. I would occasionally get calls from California and they would ask were I was from and I would cay Canada, and they would reply Whoa....I totally thought you werre local! So from my experience in Disneyland the only time it was pointed out that we were from Saskatchewan was when we were wearing our pride! (rider gear) it was fun though we had a lot of great conversations with americans because of our Rider gear.

Another story from Disneyland was we went to a 7-11 and they sold beer there we thought this was sooo funny we had to buy some. The store clerk ID'd me (I was 29), he commented on my Sask ID and then totally thought it was fake. He said he wouldn't belive that I was over 20 in a million years...I then I commented that he should see how young I look in my "touque" which i had to explain was a knitted hat for the winter cold. He then said oh your Canadian

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

So enjoyed Chipoltes (downtown TO) ~ thanks HAM HAM!! ~ that I wanted to pass this on:

From sweetspot.ca:



Holy Smoke's


We like French fries. Gravy? You bet. And while we can take or leave cheese curds, when you add them to French fries and gravy you essentially have our culinary equivalent of catnip.

And while we were once satisfied to keep poutine as a long distance affair (our trips to La Belle Province invariably include a trip to "La Belle Province"), now that Smoke's Poutinerie is bringing authentic Quebec poutine to Toronto as a stand-alone shop, we can finally satisfy our craving on home turf.


After checking out the menu’s four sauces and 16 toppings, we vowed to return and create a bespoke poutine that would undoubtedly satisfy both our hunger and our creativity.

Purr.

Smoke’s Poutinerie
smokespoutinerie.com
218 Adelaide St. W. (at Duncan St.)
416-599-2873

 

[sympatico]

I live in Nova Scotia and have had the Americans with skis on the top of the car thing also.
They seem to get a kick out of us saying "pop" instead of "soda".
We spoke to some people in Florida a few years ago and when they found out we were from NS they asked if we had very much snow and I said no there wasn't any when we left. She said she lived in Alaska for a time and sometimes it was too cold to snow and wanted it know if that was why we didn't have any snow. I said "No, it's too warm to snow." It floored her.
We were returning from Maine one summer on the CAT ferry and people from Georgia started asking us questions about NS. They wanted to know how many hours of daylight we had, they had been told at home that we only had 6 hrs of daylight in the summer. I told them the same as they have in Georgia.
Sometimes when we tell those in Florida that NS isn't too much different from coastal part of Maine, they don't know where Maine is or what it's like either.

 

[momdad4kids]

Once, a few years ago myself and 3 friends were in an elevator laughing and kidding around when the woman behind us said "Wow,its so nice to hear an accent from home" I had to ask...wheres home m'am she said "Nebraska" to which I replied "Oh cool ,but we're not from Nebraska,sorry" "oh, where are you from then?" Canada, I said ,thinking she'd have no clue where New Brunswick was. I was right, "Oh ,how nice Ive been there before" she said....We were in the CN Tower Now the best part was the next night we stayed in London and when the kid behind the desk asked me for my lisc plate number I told him 0000(forget number) N.B. and he said ,wheres NB , Nebraska ???

 

[Ham Ham]

Here's a primer for the southern North Americans aboot Canada. Found it on the internets eh!

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

1. Vancouver: 1.5 million people and two bridges. You do the math.
2. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just 5 hours from downtown.
3. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
4. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on.
5. Weed

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA

1. Big rock between you and B.C.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 5% instead of approximately 200% as it is for the rest of the
country.
4. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.
5. You live in the only province that could actually afford to be
its own
country.
6. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN

1. You never run out of wheat.
2. Your province is really easy to draw.
3. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
4. People will assume you live on a farm.


TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA

1. You wake up one morning to find that you suddenly have a beachfront
property.
2. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
3. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
4. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.
5. You can pass the time watching trucks and barns float by.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO

1. You live in the centre of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. The only province with hard-core American-style crime.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC

1. Racism is socially acceptable
2. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbor
will move out next.
3. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada
4. You can blame all your problems on the 'Anglo *#!%!'
5. All the poutine you can eat

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK

1. One way or another, the government gets 98% of your income.
2. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
3. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick ..
4. Everybody has a grandfather who runs a lighthouse.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA

1. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
2. You can pretend to have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get
drunk and
wear a kilt.
3. You are the only reason Anne Murray makes money.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island , you still got
the big,
new bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
4. Everyone has been an extra on 'Road to Avonlea.'
5. This is where all those tiny, red potatoes come from.
6. You can confuse ships by turning your porch lights on and off at
night.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND

1. If Quebec separates, you will float off to sea.
2. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
3. The workday is about two hours long.
4. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders to your wedding.

Pass this along to Canadians who need a laugh and foreigners who can
Learn something about Canada and then laugh. Let's face it - we're a
rare breed.

 

[barkley]

there's hope for the future generations of americans!

just to let you know-we received a new copy of the academic organizer (time tracker/calendar/school handbook) given to all students at our local public high school. in the back where they have the reference materials (periodic table, physics equations, proper way to cite a reference in a paper...) along side the u.s. map is printed a map of canada, along side the list of u.s. presidents dating back to 1789 is the list of canadian prime ministers dating back to 1867, along side the population stats for the u.s. states are the population stats for the canadian provinces and territories.

before you ask-i already checked to see if maybe this was included by virtue of printing outside the u.s.-but no, it is a mass manufactured product made in southern california.

baby steps, baby steps.....

 

[NJR]

Once while in Montreal, I told a foreign tourist (who I can't state for sure was American) that I was originally from New Brunswick. He nodded and asked, "Oh, is that near Vancouver?".

My reply? Smiled cheerfully and said "Yup, pretty close, only separated by the WHOLE FRICKIN' COUNTRY!". I still don't think he got it.

 

[roscoepc1]

I grew up near a Great Lake town....we often had boaters come across the Lake from the U.S., in July and August, with their snowmobiles on board!

They'd sail into the harbour, walk up to main street, and yell at random people about "Where the (&^*&%*( is the snow? You're supposed to have )*&)(*^)^ snow!"

Ummm...well, you wouldn't have been able to get into the harbour if we had snow, and it's about 1000 miles north right now!

 

[LSmith]

We came back to our room and a family from Anchorage, Alaska signed our map. Instead of drawing a line up to Alaska, they drew a little island north of the state of Washington and the line went there. My kids age 9 & 8 knew the line should go up near the Yukon so they extended the line. A few days later, the same family must have seen the change and they scratched it out and re-drew the line to "Their Alaska"

Part of Alaska is south of Yukon (including the captial city, Juneau) with some of Alaska's islands scattered not too far north of Washington.

 

[puppyears]

I once briefly dated a guy from New York who was doing some work for a friend who was doing a major rebuilding of his house. He was staying there for a year...some work, some play time in the Great White North. The guy I dated was a mechanical engineer. His mother was coming up to visit him at this new house he was staying in. She arrived promptly on time in her 1978 Honda with her ski equipment and she was wearing all her winter garb. The date? July 1983. City? Hamilton, Ontario.
She expelled herself from her car, gasping, sweating and swearing about why it was so friggin hot and where the hell was all the snow???!!
New York!!!!

 

[5boyz]

Ok 2 yrs ago we were on the Ferry at MK and there was a nice youth group from Philly. They were talking to us and when they asked my kids where we were from and my kids said CANADA...the one girl said "Is that is the States?" What's with that..by the way have nothing against Americans....I am married to one....

 

[Ham Ham]

Ok for all us smug Canadians are disappointed the southern North Americans know little about us.

Choose our 3rd largest trading partner from the list of countries and complete the test.

No using the internet or other research tools.

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/

 

[LSmith]

My score on the test was 110/150. Anyone else want to confess?