From Ignorance to Total Immersion

The first time I can remember being in Canada was in 1995. My mom, a few friends and I drove over the border in Sault Ste Marie (didn't need a passport back then), exchanged some money, and went to a McDonalds with a red maple leaf on the golden arches. That was the extent of the visit. All I remember is the McDonalds menu looking somewhat different and there being a few stores that we didn't have in Michigan.

A few years later, a friend from college invited me to go to Stratford, Ontario, with her and her family for the Stratford Theater Festival. It was pretty awesome as there were 12 different theaters with an exorbitant amount of plays to choose from. We stayed there for a few days, and one night we went out to a bar where we were able to buy alcohol legally for the first time ever as we were both still underage at the time. The server took our drink orders and started to walk away when I asked "Don't you want to see our IDs?" She gave me a funky look and said "Do I have to?" and looked at them anyway, just to humor us. Like a lot of people, we got a kick out of being able to drink alcohol in a foreign country while still being too young to drink in our own. It felt scandalous.

These two short and insignificant trips to Canada were the extent of my dealings with and knowledge of the country, except for the fact that it has a universal health care system, over which I drool every time I hear about it. I, as a resident and citizen of the United States, never heard or learned much about the country...ever. I really didn't give a crap about the country, to be honest. I'm sure many Americans can say the same thing. We hear virtually nothing about Canada in the American media; yet, it's right above us and expands our northern border for thousands of miles (believe me, I know).

Despite all of that ignorance and irreverence for the country, I am now living in Canada, probably for good. Falling in love with a Canadian was never my intention--I always thought I'd end up with a European, considering my previous experiences in Europe, and maybe finally plant roots in a German-speaking country. But, like many people I'm sure, I could not resist the Canadian charm that I never knew existed, and the rest is history.

Before entering Canada a week ago, blogging about my experiences here never really crossed my mind. I kept a blog of my adventures in Austria, but that's Austria. However, after spending a few days here, I've had enough "WTF" and "That is so awesome!" moments that I started feeling an urgent need to write about them. I don't necessarily write to entertain others; I mainly write to entertain myself. I love writing, but for some reason I've become lazy about it in the past few months. Anyways, this particular blog is dedicated to my experiences in Canada, my new home. My other blog, And now for something completely different..., is the blog in which I try to push my liberal agenda, although I think that only two or three people have ever read it. Check it out and comment if you feel the need to get fired up about something, even if you don't agree.

On that note, I think I'll end this particular entry as it's getting a bit long. More posts are coming soon as I have so much more to write about.