You Know You're Canadian When....

I found this great list about Canadians....

You Know You're Canadian When....

1) You're not offended by the term, "Homo Milk."

2) You understand the phrase, "Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine, on the chesterfield."

3) You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.

4) You drink pop, not soda.

5) You know what a Mickey and 2-4 mean.

6) You don't care about the fuss with Cuba. It's a cheap place to go for your holidays, with good cigars.

7) You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.

8) You drive on a highway, not a freeway.

9) You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.

10) You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.

11) You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.

12) You brag to Americans that: Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion and many more are Canadians.

13) You know that the C.E.O. of American Airlines is a Canadian!

14) You know what a touque is.

15) You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced "Zed" not "Zee".

16) You understand the Labatt Blue commercials.

17) You know how to pronounce and spell "Saskatchewan."

18) You perk up when you hear the theme song from "Hockey Night in Canada."

19) You were in grade 12, not the 12th grade.

20) "Eh?" is a very important part of your vocabulary and more polite than, "Huh?"

21) Winter. Whenever you want it. And then some.

22) There's German food, Italian food, Chinese food, Armenian food, American food, but NO Canadian food.

23) You call a "mouse" a "moose".

24) You like the Americans a little because they don't want Quebec either.

25) Contests run by anyone other than the government have "skill-testing questions" that winners must answer correctly before they can claim a prize.

26) Everything is labelled in English and French.

27) Milk comes in plastic bags as well as cartons and plastic jugs.

28) Mountain Dew has no caffeine.

29)You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Canada.

To my fellow Canadians.... admit it.... that was pretty darn accurate.

To my non-Canadian readers.... c'mon, you have strange things that you say/do, too!

Hitchin' a Ride

So, I'm heading down South for the long weekend.... well, for me, "down South" is comprised of Grand Forks/Fargo, and other such shopping destinations, popular among Canadians.

It's time for my Bloomingdale's, Marshall's, Target, TJ Maxx, Panda, and Krispy Kreme fix!

I'll keep you updated on any great finds, or any strange Canadian-American interactions....eh!

So I've been busy.... deal with it.

Been way too busy these days.... school and work combined are taking up 50-60 hours of my week.... can't wait until this French course is finished! Two days to go.... c'est la vie!

So, not too much has been happening.... just a few things worthy of note (or not.... you can decide).

1) We're having an encan (translation: auction) in my French course with the Beginner 1 class. That'll be interesting.... we have to bring in an object "belonging to" a celebrity for them to bid on.... which reminds me, I have to go sign Cyndi Lauper's crimper. That should garner a few extra bucks.

2) As he was leaving, the new Purolator pick-up guy (who doesn't know my name) said "See ya later, Trouble!". Hmmm.... I'm still contemplating whether I should be offended or flattered....

3) Decided that it might be easier to burn my room than clean it.

4) Went to another Chinese buffet.... it never fails to amaze me that, no matter how much one eats, as soon as you step out the door, you are somehow just as famished as when you went in....

5) Am becoming increasingly more aware that it truly is all about "who you know".... talent shmalent.

Retail can sure bring in the oddest of the odd, sometimes...

Here are descriptions of some of the more interesting individuals that I have had the "pleasure" (and I use the term loosely) of encountering at my workplace over the last little while.

1) This guy came in today and he was wearing his t-shirt draped over his head.... he was practically peeking out through the arm hole.... I thought he was going to rob us.... turned out he was just a weirdo (maybe a weirdo with a t-shirt underarm fetish).... big surprise there.

2) Some guy walked in when we were closing up and told me that I didn't know how to sweep the floor.... I asked him if he wanted to do it for me.... he shut up.

3) Two little wannabe thugs came in today. Their pants were almost falling off, their shirts reached their knees, and they had their hats on backwards with the tags still dangling off.... then they asked how likely it would be for them to get hired (at a men's store which sells business suits, among other things).... I'd give 'em an E for effort.

4) Guys who ask IF we have changerooms, rather than WHERE the changerooms are.... I tell them no and that we insist that our male clientele try on their potential purchases in the middle of the sales floor.... too many seem to accept such a response and begin to unbutton.

5) People that feel the need to unfold every t-shirt in order to compare a medium to a medium.... apparently, they need to see which is the "small medium" and which is the "large medium".

.... To be continued.... Because there are many more oddballs that deserve recognition!

Bonne Fete a Moi!

Oui, c'est mon anniversaire, aujourd'hui!
Translation: Yes, it is my birthday, today!

My Birthday Thus Far....

1) Woke up at approximately 6:30 am to go to my 3-hour Conversational French course. Worked then had to do my French homework last night, so I was running on fumes....

2) Went to a Chinese buffet with a girlfriend.... great food, but, as per the "Rules of Chinese Food", I was hungry again by the time I got home.... ah, well.

3) Blah, Blah, Blah, Blogged for a few minutes....

4) Treated myself to an afternoon nap.... an all-too-rare indulgence, these days.

.... To be continued....

5) Attended a family barbeque. It's quite amusing to see my grandma downing the alcohol.... she's built up quite the tolerance....

6) Secretly wished that my parents hired a maid to clean up my room.... got a headboard for my bed, instead. Ah, well. I needed that, too.

7) Ate chocolate cake AND chocolate ice cream.... quite the delectable combination!

8) Found out that Salt Water Taffy does not, in fact, taste salty.

9) Attempted to be pleasant in a non-air conditioned house, in 32 degree celsius weather (89.6 fahrenheit). Then, got devoured by mosquitos when I tried to beat the heat by going outside to bask in the faint warm breeze. There's really no winning in such a situation.

10) Resigned myself to tackling my French homework in the quasi-coolness of my basement, then heading to bed. No wild birthday celebrations for me.... early morning French course pour moi!

Parlez-vous francais?....Neither do I....

And that is what is making this Conversational French course that I signed up for all the more interesting.

The instructor speaks maybe five words of English during a three-hour span of time.... the rest of the time, we are "immersed in Francais", as they like to say. Apparently, this is the best way to learn to speak the language.... so they say.

I'm not really sure who "they" are, but "they" seem to be a bunch of know-it-alls, whom, I'm convinced, never took a two-week condensed Conversational French course before.

Wish me the best of luck.... it's only been one day.

I'll keep ya updated on the progression of my French language proficiency over the next two weeks....

Au revoir!

P.S. If anyone happens to know who the elusive "they" are, I'd love to know, so I could write them a very sternly-worded letter....

One of the Select Few.... Yah, Sure....

So, I get a phone call this evening.... the woman on the phone sounds quite excited.... she launches into a speech about how I am one of the select few people chosen for this promotion....

Wait, I'll back the boat up for a minute, so this makes sense.

If you scroll down my blog, you'll notice that I attended the Red River Exhibition (a large carnival-type thing -- rides, games, kiosks, prize draws, etc. -- for those of you who are unfamiliar) a week or two ago. Anyways, at the Ex, I was in a "winning mood".... I paid 5 bucks for 4 tickets to put in for a draw for my choice of one of 4 vehicles, or $35,000 cash. And, boy, did I hope I'd win that! I spent the night internally debating whether I'd choose the car or the cash. (I eventually decided upon the cash, as the car would devalue to less than $35,000 as soon as I drove it off the lot.... smart girl, I am!) Anyways, while debating what I would do with my winnings, in passing, I entered another draw (this one was free to enter.... that probably should've tipped me off, right there). This one was some vacation package. It was getting late and I was getting tired thinking about all of the splendid plans I'd have with my soon-to-be $35,000. So, I filled in only the necessities (name, age, phone number) and very momentarily skimmed over the "fine print" on the form. And by "skimmed", I mean that I saw that there were letters (presumably forming words) typed on the page.... but that's about as far as I got....

Back to the present....

So, the phone rings and this lady starts going off on how I am so lucky to be one of the very few people who "fit the demographic" and am eligible to receive this "incredible" vacation package. Then she tells me to get a pen and paper to write down some details of the trip. So, I grab my pen and a small scrap of paper, expecting to write down a name, place, phone number, and other such vital pieces of information. Well, lo and behold.... the lady launches into this obviously scripted speech touting the wonders of this vacation (cruise, Ft. Lauderdale, Bahamas, Daytona Beach, etc.,etc.). As my mind is reeling and my hand hurts from trying to scribble down information, one "insignificant" piece of information that she breezes by jumps out at me.... "of course, contest winners will be expected to take care of a few small costs...."

Whoa, slow down lady....

Those insignificant costs turned out to be $399 US (which is, like, $150,000 worth of my humble CDN money) per person to start, along with additional fees if I want to go on the cruise (hey, I thought that was the whole point of the trip!), and any airport fees that may be applied, and blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc.... and $798 US of all that had to be paid by credit card over the phone right then and there.... yah, good luck lady.

Man alive, can't a free trip ever really just be a FREE trip?!

Every time you point your finger, three more point right back at you....

The Epitome of Bravery

Went to the beach today.

It was windy and cold and, in my opinion, not really the ideal "beach day". The water was practically icing over.... well, not quite, but pretty darn close!

But seeing as I do not get out to the beach nearly as often as I would like to, I garnered my confidence, prayed that I wouldn't develop pneumonia, and dove right in.... okay, fine...so I crept my way in, inch by inch, trembling, with my arms raised over my head (I'm under the misguided perception that, somehow, this manouevre keeps me warmer for longer....).

I did dive in eventually.... when the waves were already lapping up to my neck.... but I did dive in, nonetheless.

Yay for brave Rachel.

Here's a funny little story that I came across....

Where is this place?

A man and his wife were driving their Recreational Vehicle across the country and were nearing a town spelled Kissimee. They noted the strange spelling and tried to figure out how to pronounce it - KISS-a-me; kis-A-me; kis-a-ME.

They grew more perplexed as they drove into the town.
Since they were hungry, they pulled into a place to get something to eat.

At the counter, the man said to the waitress: "My wife and I can't seem to be able to figure out how to pronounce this place. Will you tell me where we are and say it very slowly so that I can understand."

The waitress looked at him and said: "Buuurrrgerrr Kiiiinnnng."

My truck smells like an old lady wearing too much perfume.


Why do I buy so many darn cookboks when I don't even cook?

The Last Day of the Ex

So, Russ and I went to the Red River Ex today.... here are some of the highlights:

1) Went on Niagara Falls -- a roller coaster that takes you through the most wonderful greyish-brown water.... presumably straight from the Red River.

2) Went on something that makes you lay on your stomach and then zooms you around, allowing you to pretend that you do, in fact, possess the ability to fly. Actually, quite fun. It was even more fun being one of the dorky people who holds their arms outstretched in a "flying pose" while gliding through the air. Supplies a few chuckles to the people down below, that's for sure.

3) Went on a "roller coaster" that simply takes you around a complete vertical circle. Fairly frightening -- being strapped in with an ancient looking seatbelt-type contraption and a foamie harness that shifts while you are suspended upside-down who-knows-how-many-stories in the air.

4) Went on a regular roller coaster and hoped that the little girl in front of us didn't have too much junk food before taking the ride.

5) Went on an incredibly fast moving ferris wheel, with a guy with a broken arm and a lady whom I presume was his girlfriend. They kept kissing and whispering to one another. Nah, not awkward at all.... hmmm.... I wonder how he broke his arm?

6) The "Snow-Bowl" (as I like to call it) was definitely a highlight. Crushed ice topped with artificial Blue Raspberry liquid flavouring, piled high in a bowl. The genius who thought that up must be laughing at how much people will pay for ice! Hmmm.... guess I didn't need to say "artificial Blue Raspberry".... there aren't actually blue raspberries out there in nature.... are there?

7) This crazy new ice cream was pretty cool too. I forget the name, but it comes in tiny little ice cream balls. Really cold, though. Really expensive, too.... $5 for a dish smaller than your palm.

8) Mini-doughnuts. Always a DELIGHT!