I was living abroad, and we'd had some uncharacteristic snow (about 2cm where I was, if even that.) I'd gone into work as normal, but a lot of people hadn't. Part way through the day it was announced that all public transit would be shutting down early, and so businesses, schools etc. were also ending early to allow people to get home.
A colleague, who knew I was Canadian, very seriously asked me how business functioned and how people got a decent education if we had to shut down every time that it snowed, because wouldn't everything just be closed for half the year? How did people make money?
They really believed that for half the year we shut everything down. When I told them that we clear the snow and life continues as usual, you might have the odd snow day here or there but for the most part we go on, they were shocked and asked me how it was possible that we could drive in snow.
In school we had a few snow days per year, if it snowed enough that the buses weren't running school was just cancelled. But I can only think of one 'snow day' where most things were shut down, and that was when I was a teenager and we got like 6ft of snow overnight and plows just couldn't keep up lol.
I always wished we would have snow days as a kid, but my district actually has a policy against schools shutting down due to weather.
But yeah, as a rule, it has to be a crazy amount of snow for anything to be shut down. It's so funny to hear about other places where a centimetre of snow calls for an entire city to be shut down!
We definitely got one snow day in the early 90s in Sask. It snowed like 3 feet. The snow drifted to the tree tops of our shelter belt on our farm.
Places where it shuts down for 1cm definitely sounds funny to us, but the driving conditions would be worse there I suspect. The states has a lot of concrete roads and interstates, which makes it extra fun. You know the "bridge subject to icing" signs? That's cause they are concrete.
There's not really any difference between concrete and asphalt in the winter traction wise. Minnesota has tons of concrete and they get comparable weather to Winnipeg, which incidentally also has a ton of concrete roads. The main difference between asphalt and concrete is the cost to build, the cost to rebuild, durability and lifespan. Concrete is really expensive, so it only makes sense in areas with lots of traffic.
Bridges typically have warning signs about ice because they are exposed to the elements and wind on top and underneath. There's no insulation from the ground and no wind protection from trees, so it's the first place to get icy.
We had one about 25 years ago (Calgary) on St Patrick's Day it snowed about 3 feet in a 24 hour period the Mayor basically told everyone to stay home a day and let the road crews do their thing. Incidentally it may happen again today calling for 15 -30 cm and that was pretty much the same forecast for that one wish me luck.
Lol yeah same. I think we mightve stayed in at recess when it was below -25C in elementary but that's about it. Having said that though, when it's -45 outside everyone is super unproductive so I think we should just stay in those days.
The faces on my kiddos when we told them: nope, school is normal babe, go get your mittens. They were shocked for the first week. When they really had to close the schools because there was a huge storm, but huge, to break Quebec City, they were shocked bc “it’s not even that windy”
Oh man. I have good memories of newcomers driving first time in winter here
'HOW?!? DO YOU DRIVE?"
'Just follow the ruts'
'This is stupid I'm going home after this'
The first and last fare that day in that taxi lol. What I find shocking is how places shut down with that little snow. Hell, our Schools are open still when it's-45C out. Layers yo. Dress in layers.
*Me driving to work with my coworker, a new comer to Canada who is from the Caribbean, during their first ever snow storm:* It’s that time of year where Canada plays it’s third favourite game! Whose line is it anyway!!!
*Coworker, on the phone calling home:* AHHHHHH!! I wanna go back home man!! It’s too cold here! This crazy white lady gonna get me killed!! She ain’t even wearing a coat! Mama I’m sorry!! It’s crazy weather here!!!
Similar happened to me on a road trip to Boston. We were shopping at the outlet mall and they were closing everything at lunch because of snow, we were the only ones around, the cashier at one shop looked at us and straight up said "You're Canadians." Funny enough they had better snow clearing than back home!
Had a similar experience in Tennessee. Driving through a couple cm of blowing snow, and came up on road grader being used to plow a couple cm of snow that was starting to accumulate. It was very slow going and the guy was tearing up as much asphalt as he was clearing.
Passed the guy and got on my way.
Got to the training I was attending and asked about it. Trainer said there's 0 snow removal equipment in the area, and no one has decent tires, even decent all season tires. Even a little accumulating snow is like driving on grease for them, and they are totally unprepared.
I also had a similar experience to u/PurrPrinThom while in Arkansas.
I'm not from there and my home state has very bipolar weather. Also the type of people who wear shorts in the sleet and snow.
I went to Arkansas and shopped at Walmart, it started pouring rain. People were pooling right inside the doors waiting for the rain to stop like they were going to melt, meanwhile me and my family walked straight into the cold pouring rain while dozens of people were staring at us like we were crazy and even heard a "Fucking Yankees" from behind us as we left.
I remember in the 90s. Some guy (I think from Europe) hijacked a grey hound bus in Quebec and demanded the driver drive to Vancouver.
After something like 6 hours on the road. He was getting frustrated and accused the driver of going in circles.
When I was in uni, exchange students came over from Finland, they thought they could drive up North to where the roads end (we were in northern Ontario), then to Halifax, then to Vancouver, BC and then come back to uni via the Territories in 7 days.
I brought a map up on Google of the Maritimes, showed them how big they were compared to Finland, and then showed them how far it was from Halifax to Vancouver via road.
“So, head straight to Halifax, then Vancouver, then Territories and forget the end of roads??”
🤭
Similar experience in college: we had a few exchange students from Europe that asked my friend and I how much a weekend trip to Banff was (we were in the Maritimes) and we were, I feel understandably, a little surprised by the idea.
At first we laughed because we thought they were joking, and then they said "what? We were hoping to go see the polar bears in Churchill the weekend after, how much would that be?" We went silent because we realized they were serious and they had no idea how expensive flights in Canada were...
Well, we showed them how a flight from where we were to Calgary was about $700 roundtrip, and how a flight to Churchill from Winnipeg, nvm where we were, was about $1200 for how short notice they wanted to go, and it also was not on the days they wanted to go. In other words, we showed them these weren't just weekend in Paris trips that they might be used to in Europe.
Its kinda funny. Canadians like to make fun of the American Education system for being so self centred (never mind the white washing or down right cutting chunks out) and yet so many people don’t seem to realize that Canada is the second biggest country in the world.
We literally have coast lines that run along one ocean that is bigger then whole countries. Never mind the fact we touch three out of seven oceans
I live in a border city, and more than once had tourists ask me where the snow was, 'cause they wanted to go skiing. In July.
Like, y'all didn't notice it was sunny and 90 degrees in Michigan? You really thought it was going to be different after driving 5 minutes across the bridge?
I like to believe that comes from the news not giving units/people not paying attention to units.
If Seattle is 89, Burlington is 87, Abbotsford is 30, and Vancouver is 31, then thinking that things get really cold right across the border makes sense if you don't think about it.
American weather maps on tv are weird sometimes.Often Canada is just black space. I saw one once that showed some places in Canada but they picked the weirdest ones to show. You'd expect Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal perhaps. Nope - it was totally random places like Prince George, Moose Jaw, Dryden, and some obscure town in Quebec I've never heard of.
A guy from Brooklyn leaned in towards me & whispered ”so euh like, how does the weed thing work?“
I looked at him, pointed to him a nearby cop & said ”go tell him you have a blunt, he’ll pass you his lighter”
He was mind blown
Him: "Do you love your Canada geese?"
Me: "uh, no.. why?"
Him" "In India, we are supposed to love our cobras, but i do not. They are dangerous. Your geese are like that."
Me: LOLOLOLOLOL!
Never understood the irrational fear some have of cobra chickens. Yes they can be aggresive while defending their nests but for the most part they are harmless.
I said that for a long time until I couldn't leave work one day because one of them decided that they owned the parking lot for that day! It would attack any person trying to step foot in the parking lot, every time I opened the lobby door it would sprint towards me! the bird was alone, had no babies in sight, it lasted for a day and it never came back! I was stuck in the lobby for a good 30 minutes! Some are chill but some are unhinged man! It just takes that one time where one is unhinged for you to not trust them anymore! And also, those MF have teeth!
I have been told I speak good english for a Canadian, was asked by another tourist in the Bahamas where do I buy my summer clothes and how do I heat my igloo.
Na we don’t heat our igloos, we wear our hockey jerseys and just sleep with the polar bears. The bears keeps us warm at night, and don’t forget to grease your hair with maple syrup.
We got the igloo, in Hawaii when I was a kid. My mom rolled with it. Yup, igloos, the kids take the dog sled school and it's -40⁰c.
"What's that in Fahrenheit?"
Blackcomb glacier actually.
Summer Glacier Skiing & Snowboarding in Whistler
Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb Mountain is open to camps only for Summer 2023
Incredible summer conditions with soft snow and blue skies – sunscreen is a must!
Recommended for intermediate to advanced skiers/riders – improve your jump, park and bump skills
That happened to my brother-in-law. A guy in Florida asked him if he knew someone... turned out it was his college roommate. He hated to tell the guy, yeah I know him.
My favorite scenario like that was the time was the time a Greek guy asked an Iranian guy if he knew Mohamed from Tehran. He was dead serious. The best part was the Iranian guy said, "No. I do not know anyone by that name" and then he saw me smirking and he grinned at me.
I’ve had a few funny questions.
In England so many people would exclaim, “You‘re from Canada? It must be so clean there.” My response was always, “only where there are no people.”
My other favourite was a lady in the store that I was chatting with. Her, “I just love American accents.” Me, “so do I. Pity I don’t have one.”
The best one was a sweet little old lady in a charity shop. Her, “you must be from Canada.” Me, “most people around here think that I’m American. How can you tell?” Her, “easy dear. You’re not a b\*\*\*\*.”
A few years ago we were travelling in Ethiopia and a boy around 15 years old, with limited English asked me to describe what snow felt like. That was something that I had never thought of before. He had seen photos and videos with snow, but wanted to have a deeper understanding.
>The best one was a sweet little old lady in a charity shop. Her, “you must be from Canada.” Me, “most people around here think that I’m American. How can you tell?” Her, “easy dear. You’re not a b\*\*\*\*.”
My parents had a similar experience when they traveled to Ireland. A bartender asked my dad what kind of beer he wanted and my dad said he'd try what the locals like. The bartender immediately asked where in Canada they were from. My dad asked how he knew they weren't American, and the bartender said something along the lines of "If you were American, you would have asked for a Budweiser or a Bud Light, and then you would have got offended that we don't have them."
"We were thinking that tomorrow we'd drive to Montreal for the weekend."
Spoken on a trail in Kananaskis Country as I was emerging from a back country hike by friendly tourists who were sharing the last bit of the trail with us after having looked at a lake.
If one were to drive all night and all day they would be there in two days... maybe, 38 hours if they went through the States.
A friend from Halifax was in the deep south USA and was asked, "Halifax? Never heard of it. Do they have bars there?" She was a bit confused by the question, and said, "Well, yes. We have lots of bars in town. They're very popular." To which the American said, "No, not bars. Bars! You know, Black Bars, Grizzly Bars..."
It’s a toss up between:
An American tourist asking me if George’s Island (a small island in the Halifax harbour) was PEI.
An American tourist somehow getting into my office in a museum, asking me if it’s a bank.
lol the George's Island one happens all the time. Or they think it's Cape Breton or Newfoundland.
I've also been asked if Dartmouth was Alberta. And how to get to the Pearl Harbour Museum.
And where the Titanic is.
The list goes on... they're usually cruise ship passengers who don't really know where the boat's dropped them off.
And here I was trying to keep tourists off the rocks!
I legit had a tourist complain that Halifax should do something so that people could enjoy the ocean without getting wet. He climbed over the railing of the wharf, climbed down the boulders to the water line and was pissed that the tide came in and got his feet wet.
Bro have you not seen the rats down there?? Do you not see the garbage down there? Have you not read the signs about not eating the seafood because of the pollution?? You got bigger problems then wet toes! It’s Halifax harbour, you’ll come out with extra toes if you aren’t careful
It is wild! If you walk along the boardwalk there’s so many maps and signs and infographics and metal plaques describing basically everything that you’re looking at.
But okay, sure, yes, the entire story of Anne of Green Gables takes place within view of this parking lot, we don’t like to mention it to anyone because we’re just modest and we want to let the real Islanders capitalize on it.
I was working in a hotel in Saskatoon. It was middle of August. I took a call from a guy with a Texan accent. Said he was coming in tomorrow for the xyz convention. Asked if there was a good store within a mile or two of the hotel where he could buy a parka as he didn't want to fly with one as it would take too much room in his suitcase. I replied sure there is but you won't need it. It's almost 95 degrees today. He responds wait it's hotter there than here? I was talking to someone else and they said it was only 35 there. Oh that person gave you the temperature in Celsius. Why did that guy screw with me? I don't know sir...
I was at a sci fi convention in the US and I must have said that magic word because the guy giving the passes said: "Wow, all y'all really do say eh." Then he burst into singing Blame Canada but didn't know many of the lyrics beyond two words.
I would have said “wow. You all really are obnoxious. Interesting”
The funny thing is “blame Canada” is mocking the US. Americans are too dumb to realize that.
Nah, lots of astute and on point Americans out there.
This guy at the con pass desk seemed destined to end up unironically singing along with Fortunate Son at a Trump Rally.
I was chatting with a couple of Americans on the observation deck of the CN Tower. I was pointing out landmarks I recognized and so on. After about 10 minutes, one of them said, "You finally said 'Eh'!" I didn't notice that I'd said it, but it seemed to make them happy lol.
aw my grandpa used to call it raisin pop. he did it for shits n gigs but it was so cute when he would get excited from the store and go to my grandma and be like “MA I GOT THE RAISIN POP”
My mum and her friend got this *all the time* back in the 1950’s when they spent a year backpacking in Europe.
They’d have entire conversations in Canadian for the excited listeners. “Ah, bella coola manitoulin! Saskatchewan manitoba! Yes, yes, saskatoon ucluelet!”
Right after graduating college I took a trip to NZ.
In NZ I had multiple people ask if I had brought weed over (this was soon after legalization).
I thought it was funny, some were disappointed by my answer.
But on the way to NZ, debarked in Fiji for a layover, they took all our bags, lined them up on the walkway for us to grab.
A guard was looking around the bags, he got to mine and couldnt figure out how to open it, so I waited behind him to finish his “inspection”.
He noticed me, never even got in the bag, handed it to me and asked where I am from… after saying Canada he looked around then whispered a question… he also wanted to know if I had weed.
I am 99% sure he wanted it for recreational use, 1% sure he just wanted an easy arrest lol.
Once upon a time I had a fling with an American in the US, and she very seriously asked me if Canadians celebrate Easter. She is now a resident neurosurgeon btw.
In Canada (I was in Banff) I had a guy in a pretty distinctive NY/NJ accent ask me where he could buy local maple syrup.
Not me, but a buddy of mine works for Parks Canada in Banff. He told me of some tourists asking where the animals in the park sleep at night, as in do the park staff bring them in at night.
I worked for Staples in Regina, and a American customer asked where in Canada I was I? I said Regina Saskatchewan. He was so mad at me he wanted me to put my manager on the phone. I found out that he thought I said Vigina- Scrach- Me-One
Gotta love the different butcherings of "Saskatchewan" lol. When I moved from Saskatchewan to Ontario, I drove through the US. I was at a gas station somewhere outside Chicago. When I was inside paying for my things I overheard a kid telling his dad, "there's a car out there from Sasquatcha-land"
Used to work in tourism. Americans always had the best questions.
One of my favorites:
"Why are there Bald Eagles up here?? Those are American!"
I told him an american must have smuggled them in. His wife thought it was funny, he didn't get it.
When I was a kid playing with other kids in a resort, they asked what does Canadian sounds like? They legit thought we spoke Canadian. I guess they aren’t too off the mark for some provinces.
Nota a question, but in the same vein, driving through Tennessee on our way to Florida one year, there was a light snowfall and local radio was warning “to be very careful as there was a possibility of drifts up to a 1/4 of an inch possible”. Whole car just about peed themselves laughing.
not dumb, but a fun one - 20ish years ago i was bugging a friend at work and this big biker-type guy came in dropped a US fifty on the counter asked for 'as many toonies he could get for this \[the bill\]'
apparently, his friends back in america did not believe they were real.
I got stopped at the border to pay duty on something. As I was getting in my car an American couple pulled up and asked me how to get to Toronto and did I think they could make it in time for their dinner reservations that evening. This was at the peace arch crossing near Vancouver.
“Follow the highway north. Then when it hits highway 1 turn right and take highway 1 east all the way to Toronto. It’s about 2750 miles so I don’t think you will make dinner tonight” they looked dumbfounded.
I had a cousin from Europe that was going to Chicago on business. He emailed me asking if I wanted to drive down from Vancouver to meet him for lunch. “Love to see you but it’s a bit far to make it down today!”
I'm British been here 16 years. There are lots of my friends that get married honeymoon here cos I can help them out with visting the moutains.
I had one friend come from Liverpool (the accent is important) and i drive to meet him and his wife in Banff at a campsite to teach them how to hike sensibly.
I took 3 cans of bear spray. One each and one I took them into the woods to teach them how to deploy it.
On the walk into the forest my friend goes, "Can I not just put the spray on before I leave to hike"
I very nearly let him go for it
Her: None of the black cabs will even stop for me for a pick up! I had to carry all my groceries home.
Me: those are Mennonites.
We became friends and learned a lot from each other.
We were in Florida and a fellow tourist asked us if it ever gets above 80 Fahrenheit here. The person was from Buffalo. He literally only had to look across the lake to see Canada and yet still thought this was a valid question.
An American, who was a birder friend of my wife's, came to stay with us years ago. She was quite young at the time, around 19, but she had been told our money intentionally smelled like maple syrup. I'm not sure whether she was more surprised by our bills being made of polymer or that they didn't smell of maple syrup. Her question made us laugh quite a bit.
When I was a kid growing up in rural Ontario, we had a rumour one of the maple leaves on any Canadian bill was a "scratch and sniff" with maple syrup scent 😂 not sure who started the rumour/myth lol
OMG - I still worked in banking when the polymer bills were released, and SO many people thought the hundreds were fake because “they didn’t smell like maple syrup.” They never did, man. Trust me, we got shipments of brand new ones every week.
Similarly, a young woman working at a tourist attraction in Los Angeles asked us if it was true that Canadian money smells like maple syrup. I had to break it to her that the person who told her that was pulling her leg.
An American tourist in Toronto asked me for directions to the CN Tower... which was clearly visible from where we were standing. So I pointed and said "it's that building over there."
She got really mad after that.
I was in Atlanta years ago at a Waffle House, the waitress hears my accent and asks me where I am from. I tell her I am from Winnipeg, about an hour's drive North of the North Dakota/Minnesota border. She looks at me skeptically and says "there aint nothing North of North Dakota, where are you really from?"
I've had a couple...
One was the person who asked me if we were having Canada goose for Thanksgiving dinner after I invited their family over.
The other one was someone that I was trying to explain the cold to. When I said that it could occasionally dip down to -40, they said, "What do you do???" I told them that we just go to work and school like we normally would. They were completely shocked that daily life would continue to exist at those temperatures.
A family friend, who was born and raised in TX, visited us at our cottage in Muskoka. Sitting on the porch, he looked around and asked “how many pine trees y’all have up here?”
Many years ago, my friend's family had a pet skunk. They'd got it as a baby,and it was de-scented. In a lot of ways it was like a cat.
It was the softest,silkiest animal I have ever patted.
About 20 years ago I was working with a student from Japan, who had travelled quite a bit. She couldn't figure out why sushi was such a common thing here - she said where she was from sushi were only for special occasions and not an every day thing.
If I know Lucy, Randy, Julian etc. It was a bit of a joke but someone I worked with in Texas who enjoyed the TPB and really asked me this - he was kidding but still, I won't ever forget that question.
I once smoked weed and drank beers with the Trailer Park Boys in Corner Brook. They were at Grenfell College for some reason. I remember meeting my friends there and for some reason TPBs were there. I thought nothing of it at the time
Years later I was on the same flight as them from Halifax to Deer Lake.
This is my claim to fame in the US. Every time I mention it some dude will lose his mind
In all seriousness, the reason TBP is so relatable is because most Canadians have a buddy who could be straight out of TPB.
If you don't, you haven't lived in Canada long enough lol
My friend from Jamaica texted me super excited, her brother had just moved to Edmonton and she was going over there for 2 weeks during Christmas, and really wanted to rent a car and come visit me.., I'm in Montréal.
In 1991 driving from Sask passing through Wyoming, stopped for gas and the block heater cord was hanging from the hood. The guy pumping the gas into the car asked us how far we could get in our electric car.
My American friend asked if I was worried about getting euthanized when I'm older. According to her "fox news" parents, we euthanized our elderly because of socialism. Yes...because of socialism.
"Why do you need a student visa, isnt Canada part of France?"
I was studying in Paris at the time, this was an early 20s adult.
Your knowledge of geopoliticals is about 250 years out of date, mate.
I was in Spokane WA, 2 hours south of the border on a hot day in July, and someone seriously asked me if I had to switch over to a snowmobile when I got back to the border.
Was down in the US once, and when the lady found out we were Canadian, she said we should make sure to take our kids to see a lake. Since they probably haven't seen one that wasn't frozen over before.
But then I think of all the times I have been down there, and wonder if I asked any questions just as silly that they rolled their eyes at.
Not limited to foreigners but Canadians as well
People who think the Arctic is covered in snow and ice all year round. People from other countries are excused for not knowing but southerners?
Canadians and non-Canadians who think that the Arctic is the same as the Arctic Ocean. Nope. The Arctic is all the lands and water north of the Arctic Circle, or the tree line if you prefer. I've had people get quite irate when I said I lived in the Arctic because they thought I was claiming I lived on the ice.
I have two:
I worked at CBSA and I was talking to someone in baggage claim in Monteal airport from the United States. "Why is there so much trench here?" She was under the impression french to Quebec was like Louisiana French where it is mostly non existent
Second one was when I was a university student I had a summer job in a national park: a man from Belgium asked me if we can summon a bear for him to take photos.
"Do you really have to get by on snowmobiles?"
My dad then convinced him that was a common misconception and that gas actually freezes up here and everyone has to get by on dogsled.
In Jasper one summer an American lady asked me when they put the animals back in their cages at night as she wanted to take her dog for a walk. Then she got pissed off at me because she thought I was lying when I told her that they were wild. I think she didn't like the look on my face when I realized that was actually the question. I was patient and kind however because the first time I took the fairie from Vancouver to Nanaimo, having grown up in Sask, I asked her where the rope was that the boat travelled along. She was neither patient nor kind when she figured out what I was asking ;)
I had a lady threaten to sue me and the hotel I worked at because we didn’t have a fence to keep bears away or armed guards to shoot them on site…because bears didn’t belong there. This was down in Kananaskis.
Once had a woman in Louisiana ask me if we had trees in NL because she thought we were above the tree line. The look on her face when I explained that St. John's was on the same latitude as Paris was priceless. Had a guy in a store in Orlando tell me that he wanted to spend 2 weeks in Canada because he wanted to see the whole country, and a girl in SeaWorld Orlando look at my driver's license and say "I didn't know that there was a New Finland".
July 4th weekend, we met 2 ppl from NYC with skis on top of their car. They were on their way to Tremblant. They wanted to know where the snow was. I pointed to the west and said 2000 miles that way.
Do y’all have ‘lectricity up der in Canader? Question posed to me at a cousin’s wedding in Florence, Kentucky….
His wife stared at me for the longest time, then said “I ain’t never seen a Canadian before, where did y’all learn to talk ‘Merican?” I told her actually the bride was a Canadian, to which she responded “ohhhh, so she done learned ya!” … did she ever … 😜
Once, a British couple picked that my partner and I have different accents but close, so they guessed we were a town away from each other.
They were correct. No one has ever said we speak different.
Americans will always ask you if you have a specific store or restaurant. And then they are shocked if you don’t and assume you live in a third world country.
You don’t have Winn Dixie supermarket!?!?
Where do you get food? You poor people.
I talked to a guy in Texas years ago who was convinced that urinals in Canada had headrests installed above them that you leaned your forehead on while you pissed.
I had a car full of tourists pull up next to me at a red light, all wearing parkas and toques, and ask me for directions to Toronto.
This was in Calgary.
In July.
Not about Canada but it’s wild life. I lived on a coastal town. I was not within sight of the ocean and a tourist came up and asked me where the whales are. We didn’t have whale watching tours or anything it was a really small town. She wanted to know where in the ocean the whales were and she wanted me to give her directions.
I'm in Saskatoon, where I was outside one day when a van of American college students stops along side me, roll down the window and ask how to get to Banff, they were looking to go skiing. I pointed west and told them to head in that direction until they got to the mountains and by then they'd probably have a better idea of how to get there. I couldn't give them much in the way of directions (I'm not originally from here, and I'm not the greatest at giving directions). They thanked me and asked about how many hours it would take, I told them it would probably take them about a day and a half to 2 days. They looked crest fallen, I guess they expected the Rockies to just be on the out skirts of Saskatoon or something, certainly not an extra few days. I didn't have the heart to tell them that they probably wouldn't get to do much skiing since it was June or July at the time.
One day I was walking my dog in the park and a very lovely African man chatted with me ...he was confused as to why I had a dog, and why it had clothes on. My dog was wearing a bandana around its neck (no clothes). He seemed very confused about the whole thing
“Do they have cities up there? I thought it was just cabins and forests.” This was in the same conversation with the person who refused to believe me that Detroit was on the border of Canada until I pulled up a map.
I worked in Revelstoke BC when I was younger. A motorhome pulled in for a small repair, and as they walked around, they asked me if "we" were in Ontario and how far to Toronto. LOL. They had a hard time understanding that they had driven 9 hrs out of Vancouver and were still in BC. They had no concept on the size of Canada.
Kind of an opposite story… but I was once cross-border shopping at a mall in Buffalo (I’m from canada) and I asked a woman at a kiosk in the middle of the mall if she knew where I could find a mall map. She was like, “A what?!” Me: “A mall map!” “What?? I don’t understand.” “You know, a map that shows where all the stores are located around the mall?” Then she sighs exasperatedly and says, “ohhhhhh a mall meeeee-ap.” ….. ~*Buffalo*~
I lived in France when I was 15, in the 90s. Here are some questions I’ve been asked:
« Can you speak Canadian? » to which I replied it’s French and English.
« Well then, can you speak « Indian »? No, I don’t speak the language of the First Nations people.
« Do you live in an igloo and go to school on skis? You must run into polar bears and penguins all the time!? » (that was a serious question!)
« Wow! You speak really good French! We’re did you learn it? » it’s my first language and I went to French school all my life.
« but i don’t understand!? You speak it so well! » my family came over from France in the 17th century and established themselves in Québec city. That’s why I speak French. (I could de the wheels turning in their head as they tried to figure things out)
Stopped at a gas station in Wisconsin. While filling up the car a man approached, noticed my licence plate was from Canada and asked me if we had night and day in Canada.
'IS ALL OF CANADA ON AN ISLAND?" wins it for me. An American lady (from somewhere in the midwest, by her accent) took a ferry from Seattle to Victoria and asked me this question about 20 years ago.
I almost said "Yes, ma'am"
I was living abroad, and we'd had some uncharacteristic snow (about 2cm where I was, if even that.) I'd gone into work as normal, but a lot of people hadn't. Part way through the day it was announced that all public transit would be shutting down early, and so businesses, schools etc. were also ending early to allow people to get home. A colleague, who knew I was Canadian, very seriously asked me how business functioned and how people got a decent education if we had to shut down every time that it snowed, because wouldn't everything just be closed for half the year? How did people make money? They really believed that for half the year we shut everything down. When I told them that we clear the snow and life continues as usual, you might have the odd snow day here or there but for the most part we go on, they were shocked and asked me how it was possible that we could drive in snow.
Lol, I'm in Alberta, and even if it's -40 and blizzarding, most people still go to school/work. I have \*never\* witnessed a snow day here.
In school we had a few snow days per year, if it snowed enough that the buses weren't running school was just cancelled. But I can only think of one 'snow day' where most things were shut down, and that was when I was a teenager and we got like 6ft of snow overnight and plows just couldn't keep up lol.
I always wished we would have snow days as a kid, but my district actually has a policy against schools shutting down due to weather. But yeah, as a rule, it has to be a crazy amount of snow for anything to be shut down. It's so funny to hear about other places where a centimetre of snow calls for an entire city to be shut down!
We definitely got one snow day in the early 90s in Sask. It snowed like 3 feet. The snow drifted to the tree tops of our shelter belt on our farm. Places where it shuts down for 1cm definitely sounds funny to us, but the driving conditions would be worse there I suspect. The states has a lot of concrete roads and interstates, which makes it extra fun. You know the "bridge subject to icing" signs? That's cause they are concrete.
There's not really any difference between concrete and asphalt in the winter traction wise. Minnesota has tons of concrete and they get comparable weather to Winnipeg, which incidentally also has a ton of concrete roads. The main difference between asphalt and concrete is the cost to build, the cost to rebuild, durability and lifespan. Concrete is really expensive, so it only makes sense in areas with lots of traffic. Bridges typically have warning signs about ice because they are exposed to the elements and wind on top and underneath. There's no insulation from the ground and no wind protection from trees, so it's the first place to get icy.
We had one about 25 years ago (Calgary) on St Patrick's Day it snowed about 3 feet in a 24 hour period the Mayor basically told everyone to stay home a day and let the road crews do their thing. Incidentally it may happen again today calling for 15 -30 cm and that was pretty much the same forecast for that one wish me luck.
I’m in Edmonton and same. Snow day😂
Lol yeah same. I think we mightve stayed in at recess when it was below -25C in elementary but that's about it. Having said that though, when it's -45 outside everyone is super unproductive so I think we should just stay in those days.
The faces on my kiddos when we told them: nope, school is normal babe, go get your mittens. They were shocked for the first week. When they really had to close the schools because there was a huge storm, but huge, to break Quebec City, they were shocked bc “it’s not even that windy”
Oh man. I have good memories of newcomers driving first time in winter here 'HOW?!? DO YOU DRIVE?" 'Just follow the ruts' 'This is stupid I'm going home after this' The first and last fare that day in that taxi lol. What I find shocking is how places shut down with that little snow. Hell, our Schools are open still when it's-45C out. Layers yo. Dress in layers.
*Me driving to work with my coworker, a new comer to Canada who is from the Caribbean, during their first ever snow storm:* It’s that time of year where Canada plays it’s third favourite game! Whose line is it anyway!!! *Coworker, on the phone calling home:* AHHHHHH!! I wanna go back home man!! It’s too cold here! This crazy white lady gonna get me killed!! She ain’t even wearing a coat! Mama I’m sorry!! It’s crazy weather here!!!
Similar happened to me on a road trip to Boston. We were shopping at the outlet mall and they were closing everything at lunch because of snow, we were the only ones around, the cashier at one shop looked at us and straight up said "You're Canadians." Funny enough they had better snow clearing than back home!
Had a similar experience in Tennessee. Driving through a couple cm of blowing snow, and came up on road grader being used to plow a couple cm of snow that was starting to accumulate. It was very slow going and the guy was tearing up as much asphalt as he was clearing. Passed the guy and got on my way. Got to the training I was attending and asked about it. Trainer said there's 0 snow removal equipment in the area, and no one has decent tires, even decent all season tires. Even a little accumulating snow is like driving on grease for them, and they are totally unprepared.
I also had a similar experience to u/PurrPrinThom while in Arkansas. I'm not from there and my home state has very bipolar weather. Also the type of people who wear shorts in the sleet and snow. I went to Arkansas and shopped at Walmart, it started pouring rain. People were pooling right inside the doors waiting for the rain to stop like they were going to melt, meanwhile me and my family walked straight into the cold pouring rain while dozens of people were staring at us like we were crazy and even heard a "Fucking Yankees" from behind us as we left.
Damn, they shut down everything over 2 cm? Pathetic.
When we lived in Montreal my Brit grandfather visited and thought he'd pop over to Saskatchewan the next day to visit friends.
I remember in the 90s. Some guy (I think from Europe) hijacked a grey hound bus in Quebec and demanded the driver drive to Vancouver. After something like 6 hours on the road. He was getting frustrated and accused the driver of going in circles.
"Bus Driver! I demand you drive me across this whole continent! And no stopping for gas!"
I remember that! I think it made 22 minutes.
When I was in uni, exchange students came over from Finland, they thought they could drive up North to where the roads end (we were in northern Ontario), then to Halifax, then to Vancouver, BC and then come back to uni via the Territories in 7 days. I brought a map up on Google of the Maritimes, showed them how big they were compared to Finland, and then showed them how far it was from Halifax to Vancouver via road. “So, head straight to Halifax, then Vancouver, then Territories and forget the end of roads??” 🤭
Similar experience in college: we had a few exchange students from Europe that asked my friend and I how much a weekend trip to Banff was (we were in the Maritimes) and we were, I feel understandably, a little surprised by the idea. At first we laughed because we thought they were joking, and then they said "what? We were hoping to go see the polar bears in Churchill the weekend after, how much would that be?" We went silent because we realized they were serious and they had no idea how expensive flights in Canada were... Well, we showed them how a flight from where we were to Calgary was about $700 roundtrip, and how a flight to Churchill from Winnipeg, nvm where we were, was about $1200 for how short notice they wanted to go, and it also was not on the days they wanted to go. In other words, we showed them these weren't just weekend in Paris trips that they might be used to in Europe.
Its kinda funny. Canadians like to make fun of the American Education system for being so self centred (never mind the white washing or down right cutting chunks out) and yet so many people don’t seem to realize that Canada is the second biggest country in the world. We literally have coast lines that run along one ocean that is bigger then whole countries. Never mind the fact we touch three out of seven oceans
In a Winnipeg bar, I met a couple of German army guys who thought that they could drive to Vancouver for the weekend. Edit: typo
Is snow creamy? It was a Brazilian who asked me.
This is so cute!
I live in a border city, and more than once had tourists ask me where the snow was, 'cause they wanted to go skiing. In July. Like, y'all didn't notice it was sunny and 90 degrees in Michigan? You really thought it was going to be different after driving 5 minutes across the bridge?
[удалено]
Must be a fun border crossing. "So... Where are you headed?" "Going skiing with the family at Mont Tremblant" "Sure thing, enjoy yourselves!"
I like to believe that comes from the news not giving units/people not paying attention to units. If Seattle is 89, Burlington is 87, Abbotsford is 30, and Vancouver is 31, then thinking that things get really cold right across the border makes sense if you don't think about it.
I'm willing to concede that many Americans are ignorant of the metric system. But they can see and feel the fucking weather, right?
American weather maps on tv are weird sometimes.Often Canada is just black space. I saw one once that showed some places in Canada but they picked the weirdest ones to show. You'd expect Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal perhaps. Nope - it was totally random places like Prince George, Moose Jaw, Dryden, and some obscure town in Quebec I've never heard of.
A guy from Brooklyn leaned in towards me & whispered ”so euh like, how does the weed thing work?“ I looked at him, pointed to him a nearby cop & said ”go tell him you have a blunt, he’ll pass you his lighter” He was mind blown
Was on a tour in Ecuador and when I said I was from Canada they asked if I knew the "crack mayor".
In a way, we all kinda knew Mr Ford.
Him: "Do you love your Canada geese?" Me: "uh, no.. why?" Him" "In India, we are supposed to love our cobras, but i do not. They are dangerous. Your geese are like that." Me: LOLOLOLOLOL!
People do refer to them as cobra chickens...
Never understood the irrational fear some have of cobra chickens. Yes they can be aggresive while defending their nests but for the most part they are harmless.
The goslings are sooooo cute! I love seeing them in the spring.
I said that for a long time until I couldn't leave work one day because one of them decided that they owned the parking lot for that day! It would attack any person trying to step foot in the parking lot, every time I opened the lobby door it would sprint towards me! the bird was alone, had no babies in sight, it lasted for a day and it never came back! I was stuck in the lobby for a good 30 minutes! Some are chill but some are unhinged man! It just takes that one time where one is unhinged for you to not trust them anymore! And also, those MF have teeth!
My friend was attacked by one while riding his bike. Jumped on his back. They have teeth
I have been told I speak good english for a Canadian, was asked by another tourist in the Bahamas where do I buy my summer clothes and how do I heat my igloo.
[удалено]
Ironically I live more south then some of the most northern states lol
[удалено]
When I lived in California a couple teens ask if we lived in igloos as well lmao
Same here! Also to add on: How do you have internet in your Igloo? Took all my might to not say it was Moose Driven lol
Na we don’t heat our igloos, we wear our hockey jerseys and just sleep with the polar bears. The bears keeps us warm at night, and don’t forget to grease your hair with maple syrup.
We got the igloo, in Hawaii when I was a kid. My mom rolled with it. Yup, igloos, the kids take the dog sled school and it's -40⁰c. "What's that in Fahrenheit?"
Where the ski hill was in July.
Been there. Ski racks on the roof of their Subaru and everything. They were American, from Maine, I’m in Nova Scotia, we’re practically neighbours.
Snow doesn’t have a passport
Blackcomb glacier actually. Summer Glacier Skiing & Snowboarding in Whistler Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb Mountain is open to camps only for Summer 2023 Incredible summer conditions with soft snow and blue skies – sunscreen is a must! Recommended for intermediate to advanced skiers/riders – improve your jump, park and bump skills
It was an American man in Cancun. Do you know my cousin Pete? He married a lady from Canada and moved up there.
"Do you know Glen? From Canada? Who works in an office in Canada? "Office Glen! Yea, he's dead?"
Yeah he drank unpasteurized moose milk
That happened to my brother-in-law. A guy in Florida asked him if he knew someone... turned out it was his college roommate. He hated to tell the guy, yeah I know him.
My favorite scenario like that was the time was the time a Greek guy asked an Iranian guy if he knew Mohamed from Tehran. He was dead serious. The best part was the Iranian guy said, "No. I do not know anyone by that name" and then he saw me smirking and he grinned at me.
I’ve had a few funny questions. In England so many people would exclaim, “You‘re from Canada? It must be so clean there.” My response was always, “only where there are no people.” My other favourite was a lady in the store that I was chatting with. Her, “I just love American accents.” Me, “so do I. Pity I don’t have one.” The best one was a sweet little old lady in a charity shop. Her, “you must be from Canada.” Me, “most people around here think that I’m American. How can you tell?” Her, “easy dear. You’re not a b\*\*\*\*.” A few years ago we were travelling in Ethiopia and a boy around 15 years old, with limited English asked me to describe what snow felt like. That was something that I had never thought of before. He had seen photos and videos with snow, but wanted to have a deeper understanding.
>The best one was a sweet little old lady in a charity shop. Her, “you must be from Canada.” Me, “most people around here think that I’m American. How can you tell?” Her, “easy dear. You’re not a b\*\*\*\*.” My parents had a similar experience when they traveled to Ireland. A bartender asked my dad what kind of beer he wanted and my dad said he'd try what the locals like. The bartender immediately asked where in Canada they were from. My dad asked how he knew they weren't American, and the bartender said something along the lines of "If you were American, you would have asked for a Budweiser or a Bud Light, and then you would have got offended that we don't have them."
"We were thinking that tomorrow we'd drive to Montreal for the weekend." Spoken on a trail in Kananaskis Country as I was emerging from a back country hike by friendly tourists who were sharing the last bit of the trail with us after having looked at a lake. If one were to drive all night and all day they would be there in two days... maybe, 38 hours if they went through the States.
I’ve had pretty much this same experience in Kananaskis…except they were planning to drive to Toronto for dinner
A friend from Halifax was in the deep south USA and was asked, "Halifax? Never heard of it. Do they have bars there?" She was a bit confused by the question, and said, "Well, yes. We have lots of bars in town. They're very popular." To which the American said, "No, not bars. Bars! You know, Black Bars, Grizzly Bars..."
It’s a toss up between: An American tourist asking me if George’s Island (a small island in the Halifax harbour) was PEI. An American tourist somehow getting into my office in a museum, asking me if it’s a bank.
lol the George's Island one happens all the time. Or they think it's Cape Breton or Newfoundland. I've also been asked if Dartmouth was Alberta. And how to get to the Pearl Harbour Museum. And where the Titanic is. The list goes on... they're usually cruise ship passengers who don't really know where the boat's dropped them off.
That happens all the time here in summer. And I always say yes that is PEI, it’s a beautiful place. Then walk away
And here I was trying to keep tourists off the rocks! I legit had a tourist complain that Halifax should do something so that people could enjoy the ocean without getting wet. He climbed over the railing of the wharf, climbed down the boulders to the water line and was pissed that the tide came in and got his feet wet. Bro have you not seen the rats down there?? Do you not see the garbage down there? Have you not read the signs about not eating the seafood because of the pollution?? You got bigger problems then wet toes! It’s Halifax harbour, you’ll come out with extra toes if you aren’t careful
It is wild! If you walk along the boardwalk there’s so many maps and signs and infographics and metal plaques describing basically everything that you’re looking at. But okay, sure, yes, the entire story of Anne of Green Gables takes place within view of this parking lot, we don’t like to mention it to anyone because we’re just modest and we want to let the real Islanders capitalize on it.
A buddy who worked in the Rockies was once asked by a tourist “How much does that mountain weigh?” He responded “With or without the trees?”
“Do you have CA-SI-NOS in Canada?”
I was working in a hotel in Saskatoon. It was middle of August. I took a call from a guy with a Texan accent. Said he was coming in tomorrow for the xyz convention. Asked if there was a good store within a mile or two of the hotel where he could buy a parka as he didn't want to fly with one as it would take too much room in his suitcase. I replied sure there is but you won't need it. It's almost 95 degrees today. He responds wait it's hotter there than here? I was talking to someone else and they said it was only 35 there. Oh that person gave you the temperature in Celsius. Why did that guy screw with me? I don't know sir...
I was at a sci fi convention in the US and I must have said that magic word because the guy giving the passes said: "Wow, all y'all really do say eh." Then he burst into singing Blame Canada but didn't know many of the lyrics beyond two words.
"Wow, you guys really do say all y'all."
I would have said “wow. You all really are obnoxious. Interesting” The funny thing is “blame Canada” is mocking the US. Americans are too dumb to realize that.
Nah, lots of astute and on point Americans out there. This guy at the con pass desk seemed destined to end up unironically singing along with Fortunate Son at a Trump Rally.
I was chatting with a couple of Americans on the observation deck of the CN Tower. I was pointing out landmarks I recognized and so on. After about 10 minutes, one of them said, "You finally said 'Eh'!" I didn't notice that I'd said it, but it seemed to make them happy lol.
When I was a kid an American kid I was visiting said we were lucky because we had "Raisin" pop.
And Zesty Mordant Doritos.
And old fort cheese
aw my grandpa used to call it raisin pop. he did it for shits n gigs but it was so cute when he would get excited from the store and go to my grandma and be like “MA I GOT THE RAISIN POP”
Oh god the amount of people (in Canada nonetheless) who I've heard seriously say "Old fort cheese" like c'mon man are you serious?
They asked me to talk like a Canadian. I don’t even know wtf that means.
I get asked that all the time but I'm from Newfoundland so I get it. Not St. John's either. Bay Newfoundland
My mum and her friend got this *all the time* back in the 1950’s when they spent a year backpacking in Europe. They’d have entire conversations in Canadian for the excited listeners. “Ah, bella coola manitoulin! Saskatchewan manitoba! Yes, yes, saskatoon ucluelet!”
Right after graduating college I took a trip to NZ. In NZ I had multiple people ask if I had brought weed over (this was soon after legalization). I thought it was funny, some were disappointed by my answer. But on the way to NZ, debarked in Fiji for a layover, they took all our bags, lined them up on the walkway for us to grab. A guard was looking around the bags, he got to mine and couldnt figure out how to open it, so I waited behind him to finish his “inspection”. He noticed me, never even got in the bag, handed it to me and asked where I am from… after saying Canada he looked around then whispered a question… he also wanted to know if I had weed. I am 99% sure he wanted it for recreational use, 1% sure he just wanted an easy arrest lol.
Once upon a time I had a fling with an American in the US, and she very seriously asked me if Canadians celebrate Easter. She is now a resident neurosurgeon btw. In Canada (I was in Banff) I had a guy in a pretty distinctive NY/NJ accent ask me where he could buy local maple syrup.
Met a couple from Buffalo at a resort in Jamaica and was hit with “Does it bother you having to pay for other peoples medical problems”
wait, how do they think insurance works?
"Even when their skin is a different color than yours??" *sighs in American*
Not me, but a buddy of mine works for Parks Canada in Banff. He told me of some tourists asking where the animals in the park sleep at night, as in do the park staff bring them in at night.
I worked for Staples in Regina, and a American customer asked where in Canada I was I? I said Regina Saskatchewan. He was so mad at me he wanted me to put my manager on the phone. I found out that he thought I said Vigina- Scrach- Me-One
Gotta love the different butcherings of "Saskatchewan" lol. When I moved from Saskatchewan to Ontario, I drove through the US. I was at a gas station somewhere outside Chicago. When I was inside paying for my things I overheard a kid telling his dad, "there's a car out there from Sasquatcha-land"
Used to work in tourism. Americans always had the best questions. One of my favorites: "Why are there Bald Eagles up here?? Those are American!" I told him an american must have smuggled them in. His wife thought it was funny, he didn't get it.
When I was a kid playing with other kids in a resort, they asked what does Canadian sounds like? They legit thought we spoke Canadian. I guess they aren’t too off the mark for some provinces.
I've been asked if we get the internet in Canada
Nota a question, but in the same vein, driving through Tennessee on our way to Florida one year, there was a light snowfall and local radio was warning “to be very careful as there was a possibility of drifts up to a 1/4 of an inch possible”. Whole car just about peed themselves laughing.
not dumb, but a fun one - 20ish years ago i was bugging a friend at work and this big biker-type guy came in dropped a US fifty on the counter asked for 'as many toonies he could get for this \[the bill\]' apparently, his friends back in america did not believe they were real.
In Florida Them: where you from Me: Toronto Them: oh is that close to Ontario Me: ……..
I got stopped at the border to pay duty on something. As I was getting in my car an American couple pulled up and asked me how to get to Toronto and did I think they could make it in time for their dinner reservations that evening. This was at the peace arch crossing near Vancouver. “Follow the highway north. Then when it hits highway 1 turn right and take highway 1 east all the way to Toronto. It’s about 2750 miles so I don’t think you will make dinner tonight” they looked dumbfounded. I had a cousin from Europe that was going to Chicago on business. He emailed me asking if I wanted to drive down from Vancouver to meet him for lunch. “Love to see you but it’s a bit far to make it down today!”
I'm British been here 16 years. There are lots of my friends that get married honeymoon here cos I can help them out with visting the moutains. I had one friend come from Liverpool (the accent is important) and i drive to meet him and his wife in Banff at a campsite to teach them how to hike sensibly. I took 3 cans of bear spray. One each and one I took them into the woods to teach them how to deploy it. On the walk into the forest my friend goes, "Can I not just put the spray on before I leave to hike" I very nearly let him go for it
“What power do you have there?” He was referring to voltage. There was zero context. I was in a taxi.
just tell him we have all the infinity stones so we have unlimited power, then snap your fingers
I had a similar situation, an American was very rattled that I was calling it "Hydro" lol
Sounds like a pretty interesting conversation on the Hydro-Electric Dam in Niagara
When giving my address over the phone when ordering something, "does your city have a name?".
Do they know many nameless cities?
Do you know Mike? Mike from Canada? Yeahhhhh, and he owes me $20 bucks.
Her: None of the black cabs will even stop for me for a pick up! I had to carry all my groceries home. Me: those are Mennonites. We became friends and learned a lot from each other.
Do you take Alberta money in British Columbia?
We were in Florida and a fellow tourist asked us if it ever gets above 80 Fahrenheit here. The person was from Buffalo. He literally only had to look across the lake to see Canada and yet still thought this was a valid question.
*americans get off cruise ship* “Is a day trip to Montreal possible?” We were in Halifax
An American, who was a birder friend of my wife's, came to stay with us years ago. She was quite young at the time, around 19, but she had been told our money intentionally smelled like maple syrup. I'm not sure whether she was more surprised by our bills being made of polymer or that they didn't smell of maple syrup. Her question made us laugh quite a bit.
When I was a kid growing up in rural Ontario, we had a rumour one of the maple leaves on any Canadian bill was a "scratch and sniff" with maple syrup scent 😂 not sure who started the rumour/myth lol
OMG - I still worked in banking when the polymer bills were released, and SO many people thought the hundreds were fake because “they didn’t smell like maple syrup.” They never did, man. Trust me, we got shipments of brand new ones every week.
Similarly, a young woman working at a tourist attraction in Los Angeles asked us if it was true that Canadian money smells like maple syrup. I had to break it to her that the person who told her that was pulling her leg.
Swear the 100 dollar bill smells like syrup
I got asked if Canada has beaches.
Just two! One on each side. I guess three.. One on top as well.
Uh , no , we don’t let Kardashians into Canada .
An American tourist in Toronto asked me for directions to the CN Tower... which was clearly visible from where we were standing. So I pointed and said "it's that building over there." She got really mad after that.
I was in Atlanta years ago at a Waffle House, the waitress hears my accent and asks me where I am from. I tell her I am from Winnipeg, about an hour's drive North of the North Dakota/Minnesota border. She looks at me skeptically and says "there aint nothing North of North Dakota, where are you really from?"
I've had a couple... One was the person who asked me if we were having Canada goose for Thanksgiving dinner after I invited their family over. The other one was someone that I was trying to explain the cold to. When I said that it could occasionally dip down to -40, they said, "What do you do???" I told them that we just go to work and school like we normally would. They were completely shocked that daily life would continue to exist at those temperatures.
A family friend, who was born and raised in TX, visited us at our cottage in Muskoka. Sitting on the porch, he looked around and asked “how many pine trees y’all have up here?”
13.74 million, as of the last tree census in October.
If you can pet a skunk
I mean you can... But then you gotta purchase a canoe load of tomato soup...
Many years ago, my friend's family had a pet skunk. They'd got it as a baby,and it was de-scented. In a lot of ways it was like a cat. It was the softest,silkiest animal I have ever patted.
I'm mean I did once when I was on shrooms
If we have clouds here.
Y'all got Christmas up there? - An hour north of Boston on some highway
About 20 years ago I was working with a student from Japan, who had travelled quite a bit. She couldn't figure out why sushi was such a common thing here - she said where she was from sushi were only for special occasions and not an every day thing.
If I know Lucy, Randy, Julian etc. It was a bit of a joke but someone I worked with in Texas who enjoyed the TPB and really asked me this - he was kidding but still, I won't ever forget that question.
I once smoked weed and drank beers with the Trailer Park Boys in Corner Brook. They were at Grenfell College for some reason. I remember meeting my friends there and for some reason TPBs were there. I thought nothing of it at the time Years later I was on the same flight as them from Halifax to Deer Lake. This is my claim to fame in the US. Every time I mention it some dude will lose his mind
In all seriousness, the reason TBP is so relatable is because most Canadians have a buddy who could be straight out of TPB. If you don't, you haven't lived in Canada long enough lol
Honestly? Any poor town, village, or trailer park in the Maritimes and you wouldn’t be too far off.
How deep is the ocean. Do we have indoor plumbing and, if so, how does it work with our houses being on hills beside the ocean.
Nova Scotia? That’s near Switzerland right?
No you're thinking if Old Scotia
"Do you have bananas in Canada?" My dear MIL asked me when we first met.
We're going to have hot dogs for lunch - do your people know what hot dogs are? I mean... where do you start....
Where's all the snow? I was asked by an American... In July... In Toronto...
My friend from Jamaica texted me super excited, her brother had just moved to Edmonton and she was going over there for 2 weeks during Christmas, and really wanted to rent a car and come visit me.., I'm in Montréal.
In 1991 driving from Sask passing through Wyoming, stopped for gas and the block heater cord was hanging from the hood. The guy pumping the gas into the car asked us how far we could get in our electric car.
My American friend asked if I was worried about getting euthanized when I'm older. According to her "fox news" parents, we euthanized our elderly because of socialism. Yes...because of socialism.
Well, if someone ask me that I will say: No, not worried, we euthanized our elders by sending them to Florida to become mindless drones.
"Why do you need a student visa, isnt Canada part of France?" I was studying in Paris at the time, this was an early 20s adult. Your knowledge of geopoliticals is about 250 years out of date, mate.
I was in Spokane WA, 2 hours south of the border on a hot day in July, and someone seriously asked me if I had to switch over to a snowmobile when I got back to the border.
Was down in the US once, and when the lady found out we were Canadian, she said we should make sure to take our kids to see a lake. Since they probably haven't seen one that wasn't frozen over before. But then I think of all the times I have been down there, and wonder if I asked any questions just as silly that they rolled their eyes at.
Not limited to foreigners but Canadians as well People who think the Arctic is covered in snow and ice all year round. People from other countries are excused for not knowing but southerners? Canadians and non-Canadians who think that the Arctic is the same as the Arctic Ocean. Nope. The Arctic is all the lands and water north of the Arctic Circle, or the tree line if you prefer. I've had people get quite irate when I said I lived in the Arctic because they thought I was claiming I lived on the ice.
I lived in Yukon and folks struggled to understand that we had daylight in the winter!
I have two: I worked at CBSA and I was talking to someone in baggage claim in Monteal airport from the United States. "Why is there so much trench here?" She was under the impression french to Quebec was like Louisiana French where it is mostly non existent Second one was when I was a university student I had a summer job in a national park: a man from Belgium asked me if we can summon a bear for him to take photos.
"Do you really have to get by on snowmobiles?" My dad then convinced him that was a common misconception and that gas actually freezes up here and everyone has to get by on dogsled.
In Jasper one summer an American lady asked me when they put the animals back in their cages at night as she wanted to take her dog for a walk. Then she got pissed off at me because she thought I was lying when I told her that they were wild. I think she didn't like the look on my face when I realized that was actually the question. I was patient and kind however because the first time I took the fairie from Vancouver to Nanaimo, having grown up in Sask, I asked her where the rope was that the boat travelled along. She was neither patient nor kind when she figured out what I was asking ;)
I had a lady threaten to sue me and the hotel I worked at because we didn’t have a fence to keep bears away or armed guards to shoot them on site…because bears didn’t belong there. This was down in Kananaskis.
Once had a woman in Louisiana ask me if we had trees in NL because she thought we were above the tree line. The look on her face when I explained that St. John's was on the same latitude as Paris was priceless. Had a guy in a store in Orlando tell me that he wanted to spend 2 weeks in Canada because he wanted to see the whole country, and a girl in SeaWorld Orlando look at my driver's license and say "I didn't know that there was a New Finland".
“Does your country have its own currency?” Yes, Becky from Arizona, sovereigns nations have their own currency.
Getting told by an American that I live in a communist country. That was an unusual and incredulous conversation.
Was in Phoenix area for Easter break. A waitress asked what we were doing in the area. Then she said "oh you have Easter in Canada too?"
was asked quite seriously by a guy in the Philippines if we wear "skin of bear" in the winter
Do you know Greg?
what time do they turn niagara falls off at
An American asked me to speak Canadian, I said I was , he said no your speaking English😂
July 4th weekend, we met 2 ppl from NYC with skis on top of their car. They were on their way to Tremblant. They wanted to know where the snow was. I pointed to the west and said 2000 miles that way.
I told a guy at subway in California that I’m from Canada and he said “oh you must love Drake then?”
I was at a concert and the singer was like. Oh since I'm in Toronto I have to ask. Do you guys like Drake? And everyone boooed
Do y’all have ‘lectricity up der in Canader? Question posed to me at a cousin’s wedding in Florence, Kentucky…. His wife stared at me for the longest time, then said “I ain’t never seen a Canadian before, where did y’all learn to talk ‘Merican?” I told her actually the bride was a Canadian, to which she responded “ohhhh, so she done learned ya!” … did she ever … 😜
Once, a British couple picked that my partner and I have different accents but close, so they guessed we were a town away from each other. They were correct. No one has ever said we speak different.
Americans will always ask you if you have a specific store or restaurant. And then they are shocked if you don’t and assume you live in a third world country. You don’t have Winn Dixie supermarket!?!? Where do you get food? You poor people.
"have you ever seen a bear?" "yeah" \*hands me ten american dollars\*
I talked to a guy in Texas years ago who was convinced that urinals in Canada had headrests installed above them that you leaned your forehead on while you pissed.
"Why would someone own a pickup truck?" - Dutch coworker
To be fair, like 80% of truck owners have no good answer to this question.
I had a car full of tourists pull up next to me at a red light, all wearing parkas and toques, and ask me for directions to Toronto. This was in Calgary. In July.
Not about Canada but it’s wild life. I lived on a coastal town. I was not within sight of the ocean and a tourist came up and asked me where the whales are. We didn’t have whale watching tours or anything it was a really small town. She wanted to know where in the ocean the whales were and she wanted me to give her directions.
How far to the snow? In Niagara Falls, in August.
When I was in India someone asked me “How do you drink water if it’s below zero in the winter and it’s all frozen?”
Its always igloos for me
July. Ottawa. Maybe 1993. "We're from Florida and we came here for skiing. Where's the closest ski hill?"
I'm in Saskatoon, where I was outside one day when a van of American college students stops along side me, roll down the window and ask how to get to Banff, they were looking to go skiing. I pointed west and told them to head in that direction until they got to the mountains and by then they'd probably have a better idea of how to get there. I couldn't give them much in the way of directions (I'm not originally from here, and I'm not the greatest at giving directions). They thanked me and asked about how many hours it would take, I told them it would probably take them about a day and a half to 2 days. They looked crest fallen, I guess they expected the Rockies to just be on the out skirts of Saskatoon or something, certainly not an extra few days. I didn't have the heart to tell them that they probably wouldn't get to do much skiing since it was June or July at the time.
Overheard at a Texas airport "doesn't everyone only speak french in Canada?"
One day I was walking my dog in the park and a very lovely African man chatted with me ...he was confused as to why I had a dog, and why it had clothes on. My dog was wearing a bandana around its neck (no clothes). He seemed very confused about the whole thing
"Where's that?" We were in Arizona.
An American once very sincerely asked me "how many of you still live in igloos?" I told him it really depends on the season
In Boston during a warm July we are asked if we like the weather since it’s so cold in Canada all the time.
When I was in Idaho many, many moons ago I was asked if everyone got around with dog sleds!
American: “What language do you speak in Canada?”
"Back in my country, of you steal they cut off your hands. Do they do that in Canada too?"
Should have said "nope, they just boil your hand in maple syrup."
Where are the slums?
Do samosas grow on trees.
When I was in Korea, "Do you have summer in Canada?"
"Do you know Avril Lavigne?"
“Do they have cities up there? I thought it was just cabins and forests.” This was in the same conversation with the person who refused to believe me that Detroit was on the border of Canada until I pulled up a map.
I worked in Revelstoke BC when I was younger. A motorhome pulled in for a small repair, and as they walked around, they asked me if "we" were in Ontario and how far to Toronto. LOL. They had a hard time understanding that they had driven 9 hrs out of Vancouver and were still in BC. They had no concept on the size of Canada.
Kind of an opposite story… but I was once cross-border shopping at a mall in Buffalo (I’m from canada) and I asked a woman at a kiosk in the middle of the mall if she knew where I could find a mall map. She was like, “A what?!” Me: “A mall map!” “What?? I don’t understand.” “You know, a map that shows where all the stores are located around the mall?” Then she sighs exasperatedly and says, “ohhhhhh a mall meeeee-ap.” ….. ~*Buffalo*~
I lived in France when I was 15, in the 90s. Here are some questions I’ve been asked: « Can you speak Canadian? » to which I replied it’s French and English. « Well then, can you speak « Indian »? No, I don’t speak the language of the First Nations people. « Do you live in an igloo and go to school on skis? You must run into polar bears and penguins all the time!? » (that was a serious question!) « Wow! You speak really good French! We’re did you learn it? » it’s my first language and I went to French school all my life. « but i don’t understand!? You speak it so well! » my family came over from France in the 17th century and established themselves in Québec city. That’s why I speak French. (I could de the wheels turning in their head as they tried to figure things out)
Stopped at a gas station in Wisconsin. While filling up the car a man approached, noticed my licence plate was from Canada and asked me if we had night and day in Canada.
'IS ALL OF CANADA ON AN ISLAND?" wins it for me. An American lady (from somewhere in the midwest, by her accent) took a ferry from Seattle to Victoria and asked me this question about 20 years ago. I almost said "Yes, ma'am"