Canada Dry - well mostly.... summary of last week
Actually last week was possibly the wettest since i have been here.. with the flow of water coming from everywhere from the sky to, well, my eyes. The procedure suitably successful, i was recovered by Friday morning. Thursday night on the train was my sole moment of potential embarrassment - "mommy. whys that man crying?" Joy.
All better by friday, but I missed the baseball. Apparently the Tornadoes failed to blow and were killed off 26-13. Riveting stuff i am sure. Still, i have been earmarked to play in a game over the coming weeks, so i may not have escaped entirely. Its a weird game with some weird rules... but that's for another post.
The best thing about this country is that there are tiny differences that, when you think about them, are actually funny. My driving not being one of them! But i am still getting a laugh out of trying to understand the Canadian for bin liners or cling film....
What you forget, is that the locals are getting the same laugh out of you. For example, i have commented on this blog that it is going to be very cold in a few months time, and, given the appearance of rain, I thought a preliminary search for a coat would be in order... so i went to Eaton centre and Don Mills, but couldnt find much evidence of winter coats... i thought i'd leave it, and went back to work... and thought i'd ask the receptionist.
It was 29 degrees, and with humidex felt like 36. In this context, you can perhaps understand her sheer confusion when i asked where i might go shopping for a winter coat. Staring blankly for a split second, her reply was short, and totally to the point. 'Are you cold? I would have thought coming from England you would be hot in this weather...' Yeah thanks. She reminded me that Canada has 'seasons' and that, when the appropriate season arrives, I will be surrounded by plenty of coats! How thick did I feel? Well never mind.. She is right though. Why sell coats now? Its not been below 30 for basically 2 months, so why would you want one. Canadian Common sense 1-0.
Of course, some times you just put your own foot in it too. On Friday, at the end of a hard week, the whole team and client went out for lunch together, choosing an English pub to go to. All in my honour. I was touched. But instead of being flattered and then just getting on with it and ordering a sandwich, when the guys decided they were sitting down for a meal, i thought i'd get something cooked.... so i ordered bangers and mash. Cue volume from the client:
"BANGERS AND MASH? GET OUTTA HERE! You dooonnnnttt sayyy... it had to be bangers eh?"
The waitress got her 2 cent worth in - 'well i was expecting either bangers or roast beef or shepherds pie or fish and chips..... or curry. You have that in England too, dont you?'
Oh well. They got a laugh. My pleasure. I am here to be ridiculed!
My drink for lunch was Canada dry. Its a ginger ale. In fact, I'm sure we have it at home, although not in the 2 litre diet bottles i saw at the client this week... its fairly unremarkable stuff, but got to be tried when you are here eh? (sorry, Canadianism coming out..)
Canada Dry sells itself on the label, in English and French, as 'the champagne of ginger ales'. Now, that is brave talk, especially in a francophone country. The Quebecois are definitely not French. If they were, they would never accept the word champagne being linked with anything else... and certainly not a fizzy pop.
It got me thinking though. The champagne of ginger ales. Hardly a compliment is it? Like the 'Peter Cech of sunday league keepers', The "Harley Davison of electric bikes", the 'Pepsi of panda pops'.... i am sure some of you can come up with things significantly better..
Speaking of Pepsi - my random Canadian finding of the week is that the standard drink can here is 341ml. Theres a $1 prize for anyone who can explain why?
And random fact picked up while having time to read on the train all week - Birmingham City did not win once in the reign of Pope John Paul I nor in the course of either of the conclaves before or after. Would have been topical a couple of months back, but will interest at least a couple of you...
Next week Oshawa...
All better by friday, but I missed the baseball. Apparently the Tornadoes failed to blow and were killed off 26-13. Riveting stuff i am sure. Still, i have been earmarked to play in a game over the coming weeks, so i may not have escaped entirely. Its a weird game with some weird rules... but that's for another post.
The best thing about this country is that there are tiny differences that, when you think about them, are actually funny. My driving not being one of them! But i am still getting a laugh out of trying to understand the Canadian for bin liners or cling film....
What you forget, is that the locals are getting the same laugh out of you. For example, i have commented on this blog that it is going to be very cold in a few months time, and, given the appearance of rain, I thought a preliminary search for a coat would be in order... so i went to Eaton centre and Don Mills, but couldnt find much evidence of winter coats... i thought i'd leave it, and went back to work... and thought i'd ask the receptionist.
It was 29 degrees, and with humidex felt like 36. In this context, you can perhaps understand her sheer confusion when i asked where i might go shopping for a winter coat. Staring blankly for a split second, her reply was short, and totally to the point. 'Are you cold? I would have thought coming from England you would be hot in this weather...' Yeah thanks. She reminded me that Canada has 'seasons' and that, when the appropriate season arrives, I will be surrounded by plenty of coats! How thick did I feel? Well never mind.. She is right though. Why sell coats now? Its not been below 30 for basically 2 months, so why would you want one. Canadian Common sense 1-0.
Of course, some times you just put your own foot in it too. On Friday, at the end of a hard week, the whole team and client went out for lunch together, choosing an English pub to go to. All in my honour. I was touched. But instead of being flattered and then just getting on with it and ordering a sandwich, when the guys decided they were sitting down for a meal, i thought i'd get something cooked.... so i ordered bangers and mash. Cue volume from the client:
"BANGERS AND MASH? GET OUTTA HERE! You dooonnnnttt sayyy... it had to be bangers eh?"
The waitress got her 2 cent worth in - 'well i was expecting either bangers or roast beef or shepherds pie or fish and chips..... or curry. You have that in England too, dont you?'
Oh well. They got a laugh. My pleasure. I am here to be ridiculed!
My drink for lunch was Canada dry. Its a ginger ale. In fact, I'm sure we have it at home, although not in the 2 litre diet bottles i saw at the client this week... its fairly unremarkable stuff, but got to be tried when you are here eh? (sorry, Canadianism coming out..)
Canada Dry sells itself on the label, in English and French, as 'the champagne of ginger ales'. Now, that is brave talk, especially in a francophone country. The Quebecois are definitely not French. If they were, they would never accept the word champagne being linked with anything else... and certainly not a fizzy pop.
It got me thinking though. The champagne of ginger ales. Hardly a compliment is it? Like the 'Peter Cech of sunday league keepers', The "Harley Davison of electric bikes", the 'Pepsi of panda pops'.... i am sure some of you can come up with things significantly better..
Speaking of Pepsi - my random Canadian finding of the week is that the standard drink can here is 341ml. Theres a $1 prize for anyone who can explain why?
And random fact picked up while having time to read on the train all week - Birmingham City did not win once in the reign of Pope John Paul I nor in the course of either of the conclaves before or after. Would have been topical a couple of months back, but will interest at least a couple of you...
Next week Oshawa...
posted by CBC at 11:37 pm
16 Comments:
Ahhh not to worry yourself with a coat yet - nice coats won't come out until end of September. Even in Toronto winter won't be "that bad". If anything, watch your DRIVING! As a Canuck that grew up 10 hours NORTH of Toronto (now I'm just south of Barrie), I still get peeved off at people on the 401 and the 400 and their winter driving abilities in the winter. I've been known to yell SLOW DOWN ASSHOLES! If anything I've come to realize, southern Ontario has no concept of salting/sanding down roads properly in winter.
As for the 341ml pop, I still don't get that ....
i prefer vernors
Whats vernors? My favourite drinks are stella, becks, hoegaarden, tequila (normally after a few stellas) and quite frankly, anything after that...
vernor's is another ginger ale...vernor's and vodka....
I do like a big fat one, I think it slips down just right
Yes I also like a big fat one. Spiting down my throat mmmmmm guzzlin
old enough to see, old enough to breed
I like a fat one up the arse
I think I know you matt, you paid me that 5 bucks in the back alleyway not long back. mmmmm guzzlin
How is the gay scene over in Toronto? Any fat ones? Wet ones? mmmmmmm guzzlin
Sorry... I've just caught up with your blog posts - you had a piece of metal in your eye and you didn't know? how does that happen? I know when I have an eyelash in my eye, most peope do.
And the lumber thing, well I think... zzzzzzzzzzzzz
You seem to have picked up a low life offering brain dead comments, where do these crap heads come from?
.. not sure about these comments. I have a sneaking suspicion (spelling?!) that a couple of them are from well meaning chaps somewhere back home... oh well! The joy of being anonymous, hey Mr Not Anonymous? And by the way, my drinking capacity is the same as ever. I can get all of the above in, as long as i can do it in 2 hours! After that, as you correctly suggest, sleep (i prefer the term 'pass out' for dramatic effect!) is my final stop on those great evenings....
not_anonymous and surfer do each other up the arse
Do it later then lol
341ml = 12floz
Becca x
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