How to be a Canadian! HOW TO BE A CANADIAN?
How "to be" Canadian?
Go ... in an unknown country with all the social and cultural rights are foreign to us ... Outside its cultural cocoon, it is sometimes difficult ... Disbelief attitudes and behaviors we do not understand, which combine interest or annoyance ... Evolve in a different culture is never easy, and often the lack of markers which forces many to return home ... To decipher the "skills" of people in our host country - beautifully appointed "indigenous" but I hate this term ... both proactive and learn a little to avoid being rude or insulting without realizing ... and simply to better understand the environment in which it operates now!
Going overseas ... Living in a country Where we do not know all gold Understand social and cultural codes, making gold Mistakes Being rude Without Even Being aware of it, feeling homesick and having trouble to integrate to a New Society and community. Living Abroad is Not Easy. Grass Is not Greener On The Other Side. Well, It Could Be ready to get to open your mind to a new way of thinking / seeing the World. To do so, I like reading books about culture and cultural Issues in the Countries I live in.
I just finished the book by Will Ferguson, who was supposed to teach me how to "be" a good Canadian (see the jacket above) explains with humor the foibles of his fellow citizens and I 'm had a good laugh - and shhh, it's also so true ... because after 10 months in Vancouver, it has started drilling a few mysteries ... Recently I
Will Ferguson's ironic read book "How to be a Canadian" (as seen above) and it made me laugh! This author has a great sense of humor and I Must Say That He Was right on Many Topics ... Let's take a look At What he says about His Fellow Citizens ... Hilarious!
Come on, I wanted to share my discoveries with you ... Anthologies ...
- WORK (work): "8 hours at work, not 8 hours working" (8 hours per day does not mean 8 hours spent working)
40h/sem for a full-time, 2 weeks paid holiday per year (three weeks after several years of seniority) Despite this, it appears that the productivity rate is not more Canadian than that of Europeans. Really?
Go to a cafe or restaurant and place your order ... Well, before I have to wait for the waitress you deign to watch. There she Papotti with his colleague and ... Ah, finally, "then yes, I want a caffe latte and a cookie ... The co-worker runs to make coffee and stops 2 minutes to finish his conversation oh those silly customers constantly interrupting ... In short, 15 minutes for a latte and a cookie, it's almost commonplace ...
Well, I exaggerate, but the service in bars / cafes / restaurants est super lent et parfois on a des envies irrépressibles de les secouer un peu... juste un peu... et pas seulement dans la restauration... (sic!)
40h a week for a full time, 2 weeks of paid vacation each year (3 weeks after a few years) but it seems that the Canadian productivity rate is less important than the European ones... How comes? Just go to a coffee shop and order a latte and cookie... if it takes less than 15 min, wow!! You just find the only efficient coffee shop in the city! You're a lucky man... If not, you just experiment how frustrating It could be to wait for everything ... People are so slow here ... well, let's say they Do not Know What Means Being stressed out, Which is good BUT If They Could just be more efficient at Work That Would Be So Great! And This Is not only about coffee shops ...!
- LANGUAGE (language): "Eh? Is the secret password, The Cross-Canada (...) It must countersign flow Naturally Into the award (...) Howzit goin ', eh? "
(Eh? Is the secret password, the sign-cons of a whole country (...) It should fit naturally in the sentence (...) how it goes eh?)
J 'tries to emerge from time to time to pass for a Canadian ... and it is always impresses ... enfin, sur moi l'effet car je crois que mon accent me trahit toujours un peu eh? J'ai l'impression d'être un peu plus comme eux quoi !
I always feel proud of myself when I add to my questions this typical canadian question marks EH? Well, I'm not sure that I impress my Canadian friends but I know I'm gonna sound more like a Canadian! Don't you agree eh?
- CANADIAN CUISINE (cuisine) : " we are speaking, of course, of... FOOD COURT! hermetically sealed and climate-controlled, where the many varied cultures of the world are reduced to fast-food : is there anything more Canadian Than a shopping mall food court? "
(known, of course, Food Court, where all snack-bars/fast-foods are concentrated in a mall-conditioning and hermetically sealed, it is the place where all the culinary variety of the world are reduced to fast food. Is there anything more Canadian than a food court in a mall?)
No comment! No comment!
- CANADIAN Patriotism (patriotism): "Most important Is What Canadians arent: Americans" (The most important is that Canadians are not : American)
Why do you think they are worth - ALL - sew a Canadian flag on their backpacks when they travel the world? For most, but above all, do not be mistaken for Americans, the supreme disgrace! They are probably also anti-American than the French, even more because they spend their time criticizing them ... The funny thing is still that 90% of Canadians live near the U.S. border and they are immersed in a culture very Americanized ...
So it is not wrong, ok? Never tell a Canadian that he is American because he lives in North America (versus Amérique du Sud) car il va vous faire la gueule na! Vous pas gentils!
As a Canadian, you have to sew the red maple leaf on your backpack when you travel the world because you can't let people mistake you for an American! They hate being told they are American! They despise Americans. It's funny when you know that 90% of Canadians live by the US border and that they have an American-oriented way of life... Angel vs Devil. ..
- CHARITY (les oeuvres de bienfaisance) : " As a Canadian, you will definetely want to chip in and do your part. And why not eh? Charity is a marvellous invention that allows you to assuage your guilt while feeling vaguely miserable afterwards "
(As a Canadian, you probably want to heat your credit card and make your contribution. And why not eh? Charities are a wonderful invention that allows you to appease your guilt when you feel vaguely shabby bottom)
There are "charity" anywhere, on any and all the time. Whenever someone has an idea, it certainly turns into "but we should do a charity, raise money and help the baby seals" It's very Anglo-Saxon this way of throwing challenges on behalf of a cause. It's your support by making a donation. Well, I think I'm going to cross du Canada à cloche-pied pour que les profs de FLE soit mieux considérés et mieux payés. Qui me suit??
There are charities for everything and everyone. Raising and Donating money for Haïti, for developing sport in poor areas, for a new community pool... Running for cancer... It's very popular to hold a charity or to take part of it. We already went to a couple of them. So Canadian, very Anglo-saxon I must say... Well, I will hop accross Canada for the good sake of underpaid/non-respected FFL (French as a Foreign Language) teachers . Who's joining me?
Last but not least (héhé!)
- SEX (vie sexuelle) "Everybody just talks about sex. There's nothing you can not Chat in Canada When It Comes to Sex. (...) Do not talk about love, however. That Makes Canadians uncomfortable."
(Everybody talks about sex. There is nothing you can not talk when it comes to sex (...) however, do not talk of love. It puts Canadians ill at ease)
...
If it made you smile, then I advise you the same kind of exercise, but for yourselves ... because the fact of being abroad, what I like most is to take a step back to my country, my culture because it is healthy not too navel gazing ... Unlike what some people think, I do not leave France because I do not like my country ... On the contrary, I think I love him more since I saw there more because they appreciate even more the good life at the French when they can no longer enjoy ...
If It Makes You Laugh, I Advise you to read more ... about Yourselves! Go to your local library and get a book about your culture seen by foreign authors. That's What I Like About Living Abroad, Taking Some distance about your own culture and country and see it-through different perspectives. Some people Asked Me If I left France because i didn't like it. I do think That I left France because i like my country very much (I spread French language and culture worldwide as a French teacher) and I like it Even More Since I Left! I know All the good and bad points about France and French people to I Miss All the best aspects of life back home That We Have ...
The experience of British in France ... A bestseller hilarious and I bet you do you will look like before ...
The best known of Stephen Clarke: A Year In The Shit "- Stephen Clarke's bestseller about His stay in France - Hilarious!
For my part, I just saw that there is a "Culture Shock Vancouver" (very good collection of books that I recommend to backpackers!) And I will not do this a tour of what could be an equivalent of the local FNAC (it's called Chapters here) and buy me!
I just heard about a book I really like Called "Culture Shock" and There Is one about Vancouver! Vancouver Itself wow! I need to get this book asap! Chapters (bookstores in Canada) here I am!
Awesome eh? :)
