Originally posted by sulawesigirl4:
I have lots of Canadian friends, and since I live in Minnesota, I get mistaken for one often enough as well. The thing is...most Americans don't think about Canada as much as Canada seems to think about us. Let me illustrate.
I was recently travelling in Europe. Whenever I met other native English speakers (ie. British, Australian, etc.) and they heard my North American accent, they ALWAYS asked if I was from Canada. The reason? They've learned in their travels that if you accidentally ask a Canadian if they're American they get very offended and state proudly that they are CANADIAN!...while if you mistakenly ask an American if they're Canadian they will most likely shrug, say "no, I'm from the States" and the conversation moves on. My point? It's more or less a non-issue for Americans. Canadians have an inferiority complex. But that's ok. We love you anyways.
-sula
p.s. Before you flame me for this, believe me...I've had this conversation countless times with friends from coast to coast...and I mean that in terms of Vancouver to Halifax.
why would i flame you for that sula?
i apologize if i'm wrong but i think you are mistakenly assuming that the hostility that you have heard of in some canadian's is present in me, well i am glad to report it is not. i think the somewhat hasty responses that are in this thread is also an indication many american's assume canadian's to be hostile regarding this issue. yes i love my country and i would not want to live any where else but i have travelled across the states and it is also a great country with great people.
there is a reason for the fact that many canadian's are apprehensive regarding canadian-american relations. it is part of a canadian discourse that we are 'smothered', for lack of a better term, by american culture and values. someone else mentioned that there is not much of a difference and i would agree there isn't. the battle against american culture has been going on for ages now in canada, back to the days when urban areas close to the border would be 'corrupted' with american broadcast signals. the fact of the matter is our culture was at one time different and we were very proud of it. we were *different*. however, as always happens with as much free trade as we have between ourselves, canadian culture eventually eroded. much of the same effect is now playing itself out throughout quebecois society, provincialists there however enjoy one significant advantage: a language barrier, not an overly significant one but a barrier regardless.
america has recieved some deal of criticism for it's patriotism, especially in the last few months, however i for one admire it for the most part. here in canada our main source of pride is beer commercials-a sad day it is.
it is still my opinion that a large portion of your population don't know canada nearly as well as they should-but once again it is not neccessarily their fault as canada and the rest of the world for that matter is under represented in your media as well as my own.
that is certainly the longest message i've ever typed.
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but everybody wanna live
don't nobody really wanna die
you feelin' me, right?
fred durst
[This message has been edited by kobayashi (edited 11-28-2001).]
[This message has been edited by kobayashi (edited 11-28-2001).]