1. We don’t advertise our Canadian-ness and we don’t feel compelled to sew a flag onto our bags.
While we appreciate that nearly everyone wants to be a Canadian traveller, if you see someone with a Canadian flag sewn onto their bag, it is almost certainly not an actual Canadian; but more likely someone who can masquerade easily enough, and who just wants to pretend for a while. We get it. We’re pretty well-liked nearly everywhere.
My trusty backpack. No flag needed.
2. We do feel the cold and we don’t swim in any lake and river.
Recently, someone commented to me that ‘the ocean is 10° today, but you can go for a dip, you’re Canadian! Don’t you not feel the cold?!’
Sorry. But that water is FREEZING and I’d much rather have a hot beverage on the side than jump into a cold ocean just to say I’ve done it.
The chilly 10° water in Swakopmund, Namibia. Notice the lack of swimmers…
Sure, we wear shorts and t-shirts in 15°C weather. But that doesn’t mean we don’t feel the cold. We just need to celebrate whatever warm days come our way.
Also; we’re not totally crazy.
3. Justin Trudeau is reasonably good-looking, but if you can name ANYTHING ELSE (literally) about our country, we’ll like and respect you much more.
I really can’t tell you how many times in the last few years since Trudeau became our PM that I’ve met a fellow traveller, and, upon hearing that I was Canadian, they immediately say ‘ooo, Justin Trudeau! He’s gorgeous!’
This photo of a (younger) J. Trudeau circled the globes media outlets soon after his election. You can see why people talk…
If you follow this by calling him our president, you will be lightly judged.
Literally ask us/tell us anything else about our country. Please. Even ask us if we know your cousin Tom in Toronto. It’s better.
4. We have at least a dozen ways to say ‘sorry’, and not all of them are polite. But we won’t be outwardly rude. To your face.
Bump into a Canadian abroad and they will likely apologize to you. It’s in our nature. We’re generally a polite, good-natured bunch. But we have over a dozen ways to say ‘sorry’, and probably only half are polite.
You don’t want to be on the receiving end of a Canadian ‘sorry’ (that you’re an idiot) ‘apology’. (But if you find yourself in this situation, you probably won’t even notice until long after it’s over. We’re just that polite, even when we’re insulting your intelligence).
Also. FYI. The proper response to a Canadian apology, is an apology of your own. English or French are equally acceptable.
^^^true story. Sorry for not saying sorry. Sorry for saying it too much. Eeep.
5. Mostly, we’ll embrace our latest culture
Canadian is a wildly multicultural country. All of our best ‘national dishes’ are from other countries (except Poutine, which was created in Quebec). Some of the best restaurants in the country specialize in other countries native dishes. Children/parents can choose to go to school in a wide array of languages. You can practice pretty much any religion you like.
Poutine in Montreal, Quebec
Therefore, it’s really only natural, when we travel, that we embrace our ‘new’ culture. You won’t ever heard a Canadian lament a locals inability to speak English (you’re much more likely to hear the Canadian try out the local language with hilarious results).
While it’s true that complaining about our country’s weather is a national pastime, you’ll rarely hear the same while we’re abroad.
We may have our favourite teams at home (come on, Habs!), but while traveling, you’ll probably find us cheering for what ever sport and local team we find ourselves watching/participating in (though this may be more born of a desire not to cause public disturbances by cheering for the other/wrong team…)
6. We will likely extend the invitation to visit us in Canada
We get it. Canada is huge and it’s relatively expensive, compared to many places you can travel to. There’s also a rather large bit in the middle that is a little boring to drive through (🙋 also where yours truly lives!)
We are though, usually keen to show off our big beautiful country to anyone who visits. We’ll readily offer a couch, an airport pick up, a beer or a local tour.
But here’s a secret. We would love a return invite. Because the majority of Canada is very cold for 8 months of the year. And we go to sometimes great extremes to get out of the country for a period of time when possible. So if you offer a Canadian a bed anywhere south of the 49th-parallel, be prepared to host your polite, apologetic house guest. Because we also collectively have travelled 32-million over-night-or-longer-trips outside of the country in the past year alone. That’s a lot of Canadian tourists.
So there you have it. Next time you meet a Canadian traveller, you’ll be fully prepared to join us in our adventuring, and even, maybe, pick up exactly the right tone of the sarcastic apology. 😉
Leave a Reply