You're kidding me, right?

[milkabum]

Has anyone gone to America and had people treat them differently jsut because you were Canadian? My friend has had an experience with questionings about ahem.. living in igloos, having polar bears as pets, and having one season year long. It was funny when I heard it, but now I see it's just plain sad. I was wondering if something like this has ever happened to anyone else? How'd you react to it?

 

[tone.def]

LOL!!! It happens almost all the time. I react by playing along for awhile and then drop the bomb and tell them how sad their visions are and then point out that the most southern tip of Ontario is very close to the same latitude as northern California. A culture and geography lesson!

 

[SandraC]

You mean you don't live in an igloo??????

What am I going to tell Bobo my pet polar bear?

 

[Applemomma]

I've gone to the States for horticultural confernences almost every year and every time have found someone that knows diddly squat about Canada. Last time one lady thought Nova Scotia was beside England. Haven't had the igloo question though!

California seemed to be the exception...we were amazed how many people there were completly familiar with us. In fact one gentleman we ran into had just the month before done an RV trip through the Maritimes and Quebed and had actually driven down my road! His only complaint was that he had just figured out how to order coffee in Tim Hortons when he hit the Quebec border and didn't realize that we spoke another language! Too funny. Another lady I met at a surf shop in LA had been to a Canada Day celebration on the Bay of Fundy....she thought it was a lake though .

One gentleman we stayed with in CA said that Nova Scotia is as far away as Californians can get and still be in NA so it feels exotic and they all want to get here! Who knew!

When I went to DisneyWorld as a kid (28 years ago and finally going back in Sept '07!) it was just after the American Hostages had been released in Israel (?), when the Canadian ambassader had been instulental in getting them out. When people found out we were Canadians we were treated like royalty! It definitly made an impression on me as a kid.

Sorry about the spellign mistakes...getting late here and eyes and brain don't work too well....must stop...Disney reasearch.....

 

[LdnCpl]

I've experienced some of the above mentioned 'questions' myself and I just let it roll off my back and chalk it up to lack of education. While I would hazzard a guess and say 90% of Americans are aware that we live just like they do unfortuneately due to population differences that 10% is equal to the size of Canada. Imagine 30 million Americans walking around not knowing a thing about us. Odds are you're going to meet some. Can't say as I blame them either, look at our pavilion at Epcot . In Canada we are taught about our surroundings (ie. neighbouring countries) but I think the mentality in the U.S. is that they teach only their own history cause to them nothing else is relevant and no one else's is important.

 

[Miandrea]

I have the same questions asked to me by people in Toronto about Northern Ontario (Sudbury and North Bay). We talk about American's not knowing about their neighbour to the north but there are many Canadians who don't know what is past Barrie, Ontario. When I hear these types of comments, I used to laugh but now I usually comment how ignorant they are (in a nice way of course).

 

[drag n' fly]

I have quite often found people who think it is cold and snowy year round. Someone on another thread recently said that they had no idea that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving at a different time from them.

 

[Scratch42]

I tell them I live in an Ice Castle that looks just like the one at WDW!



Oh and we Eat Blubber too!



I drive a Dog Sled to Work!



j

 

[Boncho]

You mean you don't live in an igloo??????

What am I going to tell Bobo my pet polar bear?

 

[sean-1966]

I worked with a crew that came up from LA a few years ago. They were putting down Canada and basically treating me like a country bumpkin. I finally got a little ticked and asked them "Do you know why the White House is white?" None could answer me. I replied that it was because us Canadians went their in 1813 and burned it. That ended the put downs.

 

[michellev]

I used to be a Hotel Sales Manager and went to a travel agent show in NYC. One travel agent said to me that she'd like to visit Canada but unfortunately she doesn't speak French. I gave her a big smile and told her I didn't speak French either. What was really sad is that she was a travel agent, so was spreading her idiocy to her clients.

 

[dhluvsDisney]

Sadly, we find when an American actually knows even little details about us, like where Winnipeg is or who our Prime Minister is, we are extremely shocked and praise them.

 

[mulanrouge]

Actually it is not just the Americans. I was in Scotland in the summer of 1988 just after the Calgary Winter Olympics. When people found out that I was from Calgary, they were asking me questions like "My cousin lives in Toronto, do you know him?"

 

[laura001]

I find it very frustrating sometimes, but I believe it is due to a lack of education, (ie, we take American history and Geography in Canada). It is too bad that they don't seem to be taught about other countries history and geography. I believe my DS could name all the states by the time he was 5 or 6...lol

There was a thread not too long ago regarding the weather, they were complaining about all the cold weather coming from Canada....lol!!!! I live in Southern Ontario, a lot of our cold weather comes from the Mid West United States..... , and as mentioned already by another poster, we are the same as Northern California...!

It doesn't even stay or get cold enough for my IGLOO to stay frozen through even the winter months...

I guess they forget that Buffalo is part of the states.....now there is place with BAD weather!!!!

I also laugh at the people that think they can travel across Canada in one day. Guess they forgot that we have MORE LAND than the states!

 

[bdtracey]

When we were down on our last trip servers at the restaurants would ask where we were from and I'd say "Calgary, Alberta". I honestly thought that they'd know where it is but I just got incoherent nods. Finally I resorted to saying "Canada" until we got to Le Cellier on our 2nd last day.

We had ADR's for when they opened at 4:30; the host and hostess asked where DW and I were from and I said "Canada". They looked at each other really excited and said "COOL!!! Where abouts?" It was probably the best TS meal that we had on our entire trip! Almost every server in the place came by to ask how we were doing and to talk about 'home' because most of them were Canadians on work Visas! Everyone has a story and since it wasn't very busy they were able to chat for a little while. It was great to have an "imported" Labatt Blue and Alberta Beef! I was totally blown away. To this day, DW even says that it was her favourite restaurant. We're going there again on our next trip, hopefully the servers will be just as nice. This time when they ask where I'm from I'll just say "Calgary" and see what happens!

 

[sean-1966]

I gave up trying to explain to people where I live. Now I just tell them Niagara. everyone seems to know about Niagara Falls.

 

[Rhaine78]

When we went to Vegas years ago, I was 15 and I remember my parents having a conversation with a couple of yankees while we were waiting to be seated at a restaurant... it was the same kind of thing.. they did mention igloos.. and really had no idea about Canada or our geography or anything.. very amusing. Didn't notice it too much when my DH and I were in WDW in 04' tho... we'll see how this trip pans out!

3 days and counting!

 

[bdtracey]

while we were waiting to see IllumiNations I was wearing my Dale Earnhardt Jr. t-**** (Nascar) and this guy from North (maybe south...) Carolina started talking to me. Apparently he overheard me talking with DW and picked up on my accent. Apparently it's thick...even my inlaws tell me I have an accent...but I am from S'katchewan.

Anyways, he was completely floored that I followed Nascar. DW and I must have chatted with him and his DW for a good hour until IllumiNations started. They even gave me their email address but I lost it

The were DVC members and now that I know that I can rent points that would have been the perfect way to do it. Plus they said that if we were ever in their neck of the woods to look them up and they could take us for a tour of all the Nascar team headquarters near them. They were very nice people and knew quite a bit about Canada. I had to correct them on a couple of things and they were very apologetic when it happened.

I can't even think of one person that we ran into that was ignorant on our entire trip.

 

[merfsko]

There's quite a long, hilarious list here..
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=701491

 

[Rhaine78]

while we were waiting to see IllumiNations I was wearing my Dale Earnhardt Jr. t-**** (Nascar) and this guy from North (maybe south...) Carolina started talking to me. Apparently he overheard me talking with DW and picked up on my accent. Apparently it's thick...even my inlaws tell me I have an accent...but I am from S'katchewan.QUOTE]


Yay! A fellow Saskatchewanite!! I'm originally a Toon girl myself!

3 days and counting!!