Canada - The True North Strong and Free...

Obviously, a lot of attention has been on Canada lately. Some myths were broken, some truths discovered, we even got some digs in. I have done a post on Canada and where I live IN THE PAST if you are so inclined to wonder.

I have heard a lot of *gasps* and confusion over why Celine Dion and Shania Twain were not at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Well my friends, Canada has a lot of talent. More than you probably realize. I myself am not a fan of Celine Dion or Shania Twain and am happy they weren't there. I think KD Lang did an AMAZING job of Leonard Cohen's (also Canadian) Hallelujah.

Canada has also brought you Pamela Anderson, Bachman Turner Overdrive, The Barenaked Ladies, Michael Buble, Jim Carey, Hayden Christensen, Douglas Coupland (if you don't know who that is you need to go to the bookstore and get some stuff), Michael J Fox, David Foster, The Guess Who, Avril Lavigne, Rachel McAdams, Sarah McLachlan, Mike Myers, Alanis Morissette, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Perry, Keanu Reeves, Rush, Alex Trebek, and Neil Young to name a few.

Some famous SNL-ers come from Canada: Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, Martin Short, Rick Moranis and even Lorne Michaels.

My husband’s hero, William Shatner, also Canadian. James Cameron is Canadian (what would we do without Avatar, Terminator, Titanic). Cirque de Soleil and IMAX also originate from Canada.

There are a lot of stereotypes surrounding Canada – some true – some false.

Canadians are polite. We do say please and thank you a million times a day. We have a great education system. We learn about every country, every leader of every country, capitals, populations - of literally everywhere. I always find it shocking that our neighbors, even directly across the border, know nothing about us really.

We don't carry guns. We don't have guns for protection - all our guns are registered and used mainly for hunting. We can't just go out and get a gun, nor do we want to really. I have never seen a real gun. If, for some reason I was shot, I could go to the hospital, free of charge, and be treated.

A doctor that worked with us for a while was offered a job in the US. He took it as they get paid better in the states. After 2 weeks of having to turn people away who absolutely needed medical intervention in order to survive because they did not have insurance. He returned to Canada. Universal health care is the way to go. I don't understand what everyone is waiting for.

The weather is a big misconception. I have been here in a colder Canadian climate in the dead of winter, and I have been in Minneapolis in the dead of winter, and yah... Minneapolis was rough. Really rough. I would say it was worse than anywhere I have ever been in Canada - and I have lived in the Yukon. I fortunately, live on the west coast. We have had no snow at all this year and generally experience mild temperatures year round. Two years ago we had a hard winter - that means that the snow stuck around for a week. Usually it just falls prettily onto the ground and melts - if it snows at all.

We do not live in Igloos. We have big cities and small towns like everywhere else. We have big shopping centres (yes, we spell centre, metre, and other words differently), we learn on the metric system, we say ZED and not ZEE. We have an over abundance of wildlife that happily walks through the downtown core of some of our towns.

I can see the Pacific Ocean from my backyard (literally). And our Cherry Blossom tree's are already in full bloom!