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Global Girl: O Canada!
This week in social studies, Ms. O’Reilly told us that her Canadian aunt and uncle are planning to visit her for Thanksgiving. She asked who in the class had family from Canada, and I couldn’t believe how many hands went up! Some people had grandparents or great-grandparents who moved down here from Canada, and others had cousins who live there now. That made me wonder—what’s life like for Canadian kids our age? Are there a lot of differences between growing up in Canada and growing up in the U.S.? Curious? Here are some of the cool things I found out: So what IS Canada? Canada is the great big country north of the United States! Instead of states, Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. From west to east, the provinces are British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island (a lot of people shorten it P.E.I.), Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. The territories, which are up in the Artic, are called the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Canada still has ties with England, and Elizabeth II, the Queen of England, is also the Queen in Canada. In fact, her face is on the backs of all Canadian coins, and twenty-dollar bills; and just like you’ll find Washington Streets in lots of American cities, almost every Canadian city has a Queen Street. But the person who actually runs the Canadian government from day-to-day is called the Prime Minister (that’s like our President). If you want to see some famous Canadian Prime Ministers, check out their five- and ten-dollar bills: the fives feature Sir Wilfred Laurier, and the tens show Sir John A. Macdonald. Turkey first, candy later When Ms. O’Reilly’s aunt and uncle come to Boston, they’ll actually be celebrating Thanksgiving for the second time this year. In Canada, Thanksgiving is mostly about celebrating a good harvest, and because Canada gets winter sooner than the northern U.S., their harvest comes sooner too. So Thanksgiving there is always on the second Monday in October. But other than that, they celebrate pretty much like we do—with lots of family, and lots of turkey! Halloween is as big a holiday for Canadian kids as it is for us. But, if you go trick-or-treating up north, you might find some surprises in your candy stash—candy bars like Crunchies, Sweet Maries, Aeros, and Caramilks are super popular—not to mention Smarties, which in Canada are a candy-coated chocolate a lot like M&Ms! Canada’s animals Canada has a lot of wilderness, and that means a lot of wildlife! Some of Canada’s most common wild animals are black bears, moose, caribou, porcupines—and of course, Canada’s national animal, the beaver. And if you have a sharp eye, you might also spot a few harder-to-find creatures, like the Canadian lynx, or a red fox. There are also some species that you can’t find outside Canada, like Sable Island horses. Sable Island is a small, sandy island off the coast of Nova Scotia, and a long time ago people tried to live there, but gave up when they realized it wasn’t a good place to build farms. But they left some horses behind, and they did a lot better than the humans: they learned how to fend for themselves and began to live as wild animals. Today, Sable Island horses are a protected species because (except for a few wildlife preserves) they don’t exist anywhere off the island. En Française, s’il vous plait Back in the 1600s, explorers from both France and England lived in Canada, so French and English are both official languages of Canada. Quebec, la belle province! Quebec is the only province where French is most people’s first language; but outside Quebec, Canadians speak English and all public school students learn French until the end of junior high. Just like American English and British English are pretty different, the French I learned in Paris is definitely not just like Canadian French. Like, my dad and I sometimes talk about taking a road trip to Montreal, which is a big city in Quebec. But if we had any car trouble, I’d have to make sure he didn’t call a dépanneur—in France, that’s a mechanic, but in Quebec, it means a convenience store! A Canadian buffet Okay, so I’ve had fries with ketchup, chili cheese fries, and even fries with vinegar,… but fries with gravy and cheese curds? In Canada, definitely! It’s a Quebec creation called poutine that people across the country love to eat, and it’s made with fries, lots of gravy, and bits of very fresh cheddar cheese known as curds. (According to poutine fans, you can tell you’re eating cheese curds if the cheese makes a squeaky noise when you chew it!) And for dessert, how about Canada’s answer to Boston Cream Pie—a Nanaimo bar! It’s a three-layer cookie bar: first there’s a cookie-crumb bottom, then a sweet, buttery middle, and it’s all topped off with a thick layer of chocolate. Mmm… sounds delicious! Legend has it they were first made for a recipe contest in a town called Nanaimo, which is in a province called British Columbia. Big Papi, meet The Great One People in Canada like baseball—the Toronto Blue Jays even won the World Series in 1992 and 1993—but if you want to get Canadian sports fans really excited, ask them whether they’re a fan of the Leafs, Canadiens or Oilers! Hockey is as big in Canada as baseball is in the U.S., and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Edmonton Oilers are three of the most popular teams. And Canadians adore their hockey stars—like Wayne Gretzky, whose nickname, “The Great One,” says it all! Avery told me her personal favorite Canadian sport is curling. It’s played by two teams of four that try to slide curling stones (big, round things made of granite) down the ice into the other team’s goal. Avery says it’s a lot harder than it sounds—for one thing, you don’t get to wear ice skates, just a special pair of shoes where one is meant to help you slide on the ice, and the other to help you brake. Me, big rocks, and a sheet of ice… that’s a recipe for disaster I don’t even want to think about! Cool Canada Facts • The first basketball game may have been played in Massachusetts, but did you know it was invented by a Canadian named James Naismith, who was originally from Ontario! • Canada has its own versions of some popular American reality shows, like “Canadian Idol” and “Canada’s Next Top Model.” Most Canadian kids get equally excited about the Canadian and American versions. I think they’re lucky to get to watch both! • Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite novels, takes place on Prince Edward Island. Anne is imaginary, but Green Gables is a real place. If you ever visit P.E.I., be sure to check it out! • Canadians love their Tim Hortons! It’s a super-popular Canadian coffee and doughnut chain (a lot like Dunkin’ Donuts in the U.S.) named after a Tim Horton, a famous hockey player. • Quebec City is one of the oldest cities not just in Canada, but in North America. It will turn 400 in 2008, and there are events planned there all year long to celebrate! • You’ve probably heard of New York–style bagels, but how about Montreal-style bagels? They’re smaller and denser than the New York ones, and always cooked in a wood-fired oven—and some people claim they’re the best in the world! Someday I’ll have to try one to see which kind I like better. • Maeve would never forgive me if I didn’t mention that some of her favorite stars are Canadian. Mike Myers (aka Austin Powers), Shania Twain, Nelly Furtado, Avril Lavigne, and Howie Mandel from “Deal or No Deal” were all born in Canada. • A lot of Canadian kids joke about Canadian Heritage Minutes. They’re one-minute TV ads meant to teach Canadian history, but some are pretty cheesy. One Heritage Minute is about how Canada got its name from “kanata,” the Iroquoi word for “village.” Um… what’s a touque? There are some Canadian words that you don’t hear much in the U.S. Some of my favorites are: • Bunny hug – if you ever hear someone call their hoodie a “bunny hug,” you’ll know you’re talking to someone from the province of Saskatchewan. • Eh? – it may be a cliché, but lots of Canadians really do say this! It’s another word for “huh” or “don’t you think”—as in, “That sure is a cute puppy, eh?” • From away – this is mostly used on Canada’s east coast: a visitor from anywhere outside the east coast is said to be “from away”. • Inuit – you don’t ever want to call a Canadian Aboriginal person from the Arctic an Eskimo: in Canada, “Eskimo” is considered a not-very-nice word, and you could offend someone. Many northern-Canadian Aboriginals people prefer to be called Inuit. • Kerfuffle – something that’s a great big fuss—like trying to give Marty a bath! • Loonie – a one-dollar coin (and a two-dollar coin is a toonie). • Touque – a warm knit hat. • Timbits – Tim Hortons doughnut holes! But Tim Hortons is such so popular most Canadians call doughnut holes Timbits no matter where they buy them. • Washroom – this is what most Canadians call a bathroom. • Zed – the Canadian and American alphabets are exactly the same until you get to the very end. In Canada, the letter Z is pronounced “zed” instead of “zee.”
you tell us ...
Have any of you girls ever been to Canada? Or, do you LIVE there? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
Your friend, 
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