As a Canadian traveling abroad I can't help being labeled as a stereotypical adventurer from "the Great White North." The first few times I heard this term I didn't understand how true it was. The first thing that came to mind was fleece and denim and that was certainly true of Canada, but I didn't realize how strange of a place it must be to not know of Chobani yogurt or Uniqlo clothes.
Things really started to click after my first trip abroad. We traveled to Paris, France during a Summer break from University. I loved seeing the window displays filled with royal blue outfits and ornaments and watched as the turn of the season brought out fabrics of emerald green. I bought some over priced blue stockings and was excited to wear them when I got home.
It's been almost five years since that trip and I've worn the stockings only once. Unfortunately royal blue stockings only remind people in the Great White North of one thing...and that's the SMURFS. Not Champs-Élysées, not perfectly tailored skirt-suits with cute collars or vibrant cushions that provide the dreamiest pop of colour, nope, just so ugly they're cute cartoon characters. I saw a few scraps of the blue I loved filter down through some designer cast-off department stores but they were still out of my price range and at that point years out of season. Also to my disdain, emerald green never even made an appearance in Canada. My dream of being up to date in the fashion world died shortly after this realization. I'll forever be a classics girl.
Here is Parisian Kitty
As time went on I became more and more aware of how rarely we as Canadians updated our Columbia jackets. Our culture says they have a life span of at least five to ten years and our denim jeans never die so basically we always wear the same thing. Our shoes and boots get switched up more cause of our seasonal weather changes but again overall I'd say they stay the same.
We now know how Canadians differ from Parisians and any other fashion forward country, now how does the Great White North differ from our Southern neighbours the United States? The USA is a country I never expected to spend so much time in. I was never a child who wanted to move to Hollywood, see palm trees or discover NYC instead I dreamed of airplanes, clouds that were made of happiness and what it would be like to laugh all day everyday. You'd think with dreams like these I'd never encounter the USA but for one reason or another, I continue to find myself in America. Does this mean Canada and the US are as similar as the rest of the world thinks? No.
So what makes the Great White North sufficiently different from the USA? Well first off, Canadians identify as being closer to royalty than those of the South. I could say this is because it took us 100+ years longer to gain independence and therefore we are closer to Royalty but really it's because our house hold to debt ratio is better. What I mean by this is that consumerism is a large driver in the US and it's obvious in our cultures.
Franchised stores and fast food are much bigger in the US. Towns and communities are built around strip malls with all the same stores in them. The main stores are Target, Best Buy, Marshalls, TJMaxx, Wal Mart, Mcdonalds, Taco Bell and KFC. There's even a cheese called "American Cheese" that is like the nacho cheese that comes out of the dispenser at 711 gas stations. It's also similar to Velveeta cheese if you've ever had that. Oh yes or melted Cheese Whiz.
I didn't make an American Cat, but I did make a Russian Cat. I feel they are similar enough to use interchangeably. I know hot dogs aren't exactly a Russian thing but I thought a Russian would look good with a hot dog. (Note I've never been to Russia)
Let's do our last comparison against Mexican Cat since I've been to Mexico a few times.
Mexico kitty calls the Great White North, the Great White North CAUSE IT'S SO DAMN COLD.
Parisian Kitty is so cute
Yep, we definitely have our own culture and style. I noticed when I lived in Costa Rica sometimes people would ask me weird questions about living in Canada. If we lived in Igloos, or had to worry about polar bears. Often people there assumed all Canadians are incredibly wealthy. I guess mainly because they only ever meet the ones who can afford to travel.. lol Oh well, I assumed Costa Rican food would be spicy like in Mexico (it isn't) and that there would be creepy spiders and bugs that would find their way inside (there aren't really, geckos are further up the food chain).
haha those questions are funny! It does make sense though. If you look at a map Canada it looks pretty icy. The North West Territories are huge and we're connected to Alaska.... Odd that they thought all of Canada was wealthy but yea the reasoning would make sense. I definitely saw a lot of bugs and creepy spiders..but in those places I also saw a lot more ghekkos and they were larger in size as well. What area of Costa Rica did you live again?
I lived in San Jose, the capital. I lived in a few different parts of town over the 5 years I lived in CR. Most of the places I lived it was pretty rare I saw any type of bug inside though, except for LITTLE tiny ants - but I saw geckos pretty often lol
Ah I really liked San Jose. The art scene is more free flowing than in Canada and a lot of other parts of the world. I haven't spent much time in Montreal so I'm not sure about there. I didn't go into the art gallery but the art I did notice was easily more impacting than a lot of other stuff around right now. I saw some tiny ants in Jaco. I would have been more alarmed but I could also see light through the cracks of our wood flooring.
I found the art scene there weird. It was fun, but, I found the attitude I faced when I told people I was an artist in Costa Rica was like "Oh, so you're probably poor" - where in Mexico when I told people I was an artist they were more like "Oh really? Awesome what do you do? Show me! Artists are like magicians" Of course all of that changes for a week or 2 around Envision lol
good post
Thanks ^^
are you welcome@economistkerri
Touching, naughty, wise, playful and many other words that can be said about cats and cats. They come to our house and become family members. They say that the cat is absolutely independent and does not care about its owners. But this is perfect nonsense and a phenomenal lie. The cat knows perfectly well who lives with her in the house. And she certainly loves her owners. Of course, not as people do, but loves, misses, rejoices when you come into the house. She does it completely in her own way, but we understand this.
Hi, take a look at my best of tech blog and consider following if you find it interesting.
Hahaha cute, I live in a teepee 😸