There's a War Going on By Grace Kuo What’s the difference between Canada and America? Most non-Canadians and non-Americans can’t really tell. Perhaps those who are more concerned with international issues will know something about the countries’ different positions toward the Iraq war. But other than that we must admit that we really couldn’t care less. For insiders, however, it’s another story. Even though Canadians may mutter when asked the same question, those who are more patriotic would by no means admit their similarity to their southern neighbor. Whatever America is, Canada is not. For most Americans, it would be an insult to say that America is like Canada, because it should be the other way round. Canada needs them, they don’t need Canada, almost as if Canada were just another state in the US.
From a Canuck point of view though, Americans are arrogant, bossy warmongers. Here are some excerpts from an apology made by a Canadian to the US: “On behalf of Canadians everywhere I’d like to offer an apology to the United States of America. We haven’t been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry. I’m sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron, but it wasn’t nice of us to point it out. If it’s any consolation, the fact that he’s a moron shouldn’t reflect poorly on the people of America. After all, it’s not like you actually elected him. And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I’m sorry that we’re constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you’re not upset over this. Because we’ve seen what you do to countries you get upset with.” Moreover, Canadians have never lost interest in poking fun at George Bush. Here is an example. After numerous rounds of “We don’t even know if Osama is still alive.” Osama himself decided to send George W. a letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still in the game. Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a coded message: 370HSSV-0773H. With no clue as to it’s meaning, they eventually asked Canada for help. They soon cabled the White House as follows: “Tell the President he is looking at the message upside down.” Canadians, on the other hand, with their strong sense of patriotism, with tales of hockey, comprehensive health care, Molson beer, and Canadian peace-keepers are above Americans’ comprehension. Nothing about Canada seems normal: their accent (adding the interrogative “eh” after every sentence; saying “aboat” for “about,” etc.), having provinces instead of states, and even their geographical names. For instance, one joke goes that an American couple went to Canada for their holidays. Unfortunately, they got lost. They found a small city and pulled over to ask a pedestrian for directions. “Hey buddy, can you tell us where we are?” The pedestrian smiled, said “Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,” and went on his way. The driver turned to his wife and said, “Well, we still don’t know where we are. He doesn’t even speak English.” Of course, a series of Canadian jokes would not be complete without the familiar light bulb joke. How many Canadians does it take to change a light bulb? Ten: one to hold the bulb and the other nine to turn the ladder. As adjacent neighbors, Canada and America have shared a long and enduring relationship. They are closely bound as trading partners and are hardly separable. The people of the two countries must learn to deal with each other. But maybe they aren’t as different as they think. Why do they seem to hate each other so much? a
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
|