Posted on 06/29/2019 11:02:55 AM PDT by rickmichaels
I am a recovering American. This is a major admission on my part. Since moving to Canada in 2017, I’ve kept this part of my identity hidden from everyone except my closest friends. It’s a fairly easy sleight-of-hand. I’ve lived in various parts of the United States so I’m not easily pegged by any regionally-identifiable accent. The rest was simply a matter of a few linguistic somersaults: saying washroom instead of restroom; parkade, not parking lot; chatting at dinner parties about stratas rather than condo boards; and casually ordering deli meats by the gram (thanks to the conversion app on my phone). And to my utter delight, if my dirty little secret is revealed the universal response has been: “You’re American? But you seem so nice!”
To address the elephant in the room – quite literally, I suppose, since it’s the mascot of the Republican Party – yes, the tipping point for my relocation was the 2016 presidential election. Yet, I wasn’t one of those people who wrote angry Facebook posts and threatened to leave the country if Hillary Clinton didn’t win. That seemed overly dramatic – until, well, until the unimaginable actually happened.
I know some of my American friends think I took the easy route – the coward’s path, if you will. To the people who question my decision, I respond, “Do you really think it’s that easy to just pick up and leave the country where you were born and lived your entire life?” But the day after the election – and this is actually hard to really put into words – I just felt a seismic shift in my overall sense of well-being and thought, “I’ve got to get out of here.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
When the Iranians seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, about half a dozen Americans associated with the embassy weren’t there at the time and took refuge in the Canadian embassy. After a while the Canadians decided it was better to try to get them out of Iran. In order to pass as Canadians at the airport they had to practice Canadian pronunciations and expressions and bone up on Canadian sports teams (in case some official at the airport got suspicious and started questioning them). There was a very good TV program about the whole thing (Canadian-produced, of course). They all made it out OK while the hostages had to wait until Jan. 20, 1981, to be released.
My wife and I visited our(my step)son and his wife when they left here because she wanted to move back to Calgary. I was a nice city. Kind of reminded me of Texas or Oklahoma, both states I have visited and stayed in twice. Once outside of Calgary though, the place looked like, well, Oklahoma, flat, open prairie. We visited Banf National State Park which was very beautiful. Her parents kind of irked me though. They seemed to take a certain pride in not so subtlety flaunting ‘’free health care’’ and ‘we’re so nice , eh?’’ in our face. As I said though my daughter-in-law has no desire to go back. They left shorty after we visited them. Funny thing is though a few years ago when her step-dad need heart surgery he was told he’d have to wait about two years. He and his wife went to Arizona where , at the time they had a little time-share place. He got the surgery done in a week. I suppose the memory of that visit led me to be a little ... judgemental.
He was wrong about the size, of course.
Alberta isn’t.
Mind you Alberta is not Canada, Ottawa just doesn’t know it yet.
I wish I’d gotten to Banff-Jasper when I had the chance.
Looks like one of the most scenic spots on the planet.
I’m Albertan, and Canadians hate me too. The free healthcare is very expensive, more expensive than US care, and the lack of freedoms is appalling. The list is long, but I don’t have time to get into it all. Essentially, Canada has the same problems as the US. The socialists seized control (or deep state), and they’re trying to run everyone into the ground.
You stay far away from Faith, she’s on my close personal protection file, and I don’t trust you enough yet.
Alberta is far more conservative than even Texas, you would do well to have them, and our vast resources. The resources here are mind staggering, and our oil and gas expertise second to none. Whatever you do though, keep talking. It’s entertaining.
Oh I know about the ‘’free health care’’ bit believe me. I ask Canadians “So your doctors work for nothing’’? They respond that “Our system isn’t driven by profit and greed’’. I tell them neither is ours but if the system isn’t getting at least a decent return at prevailing market rates for the delivery of care it goes broke. And Canad doesn’t do any real R&D. America does.
Oh jeez,I just want to be friends with the lady, eh?
Canada has done it’s share of R&D, and doctors and nurses etc are driven by greed. The amount of people lining up to work for the government disgusts me. The healthcare system here in Canada is beyond a joke. There are lots who realize this, more so in the west obviously.
America is teeming with resources too. Tons of oil, on shore and off. We just haven’t got a Congress that will open it all up.BTW, how is a country that doesn’t allow free speech more conservative then Texas?
You’ll have to pass a lengthy interview. I suggest knowing Hungarian and US and Norway history first, and substantial knowledge of 2PPCLI.
Then why do I see so many Canadians on You Tube going on about how great it is and Dr. Judith Martin is it’s virtual patron saint?
I haven’t managed to get into Canadian football, but if I did I’d probably either pull for the Red Blacks or the Roughriders.
Bet the schmuck writing the article can’t give both meanings of two-four.
You see a bunch of retards running around being retards. You can find that anywhere. Most of us real folk don’t have time for those antics. We’re too busy preparing for the inevitable conflict.
Bet the schmuck writing the article can’t give both meanings of two-four.
They might have been poseurs, but that .50 cal on that roadblock was very very real.
Most commonly without an adjective, it means a case of beer.
As in “We drank a two-four” or “Pick up a two-four”
With an adjective, it can refers to a specific three-day weekend-—
The May two-four is Victoria day weekend.
You need two-fours for a two-four.
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