Stray Observations about All Things Canadian

Thought I'd take a minute to note some things I find interesting in Toronto/Canada.

Diversity here (Toronto) is off the hook. In a day, it's no big deal to see:

• 4-5 different accents on the local news, including Scottish, Pakistani, and Latin-American 
• A special on TVO about the history of Chinese Canadians 
• More non-white people than white people in the stores (and all the accompanying languages, as well as some people with no accent at all)
• A young Muslim girl giggling at a mime holding the door for customers at a Mexican restaurant

As far as I can see, there's a huge Muslim population here, and the women in their headscarves defy every stereotype you could imagine. We've been helped at stores by Muslim women with every type of personality, from cool, friendly teenagers to the serious, reserved personality I'd come to expect from my minimal exposure to this population.

Every venture out of the house brings a surprise. My favorite so far is the two Chinese women of similar age, both working the lawn and garden section at Canadian Tire. We asked for gravel and the one woman called out to her coworker: "(Mandarin here)........ 'gravel'........?" The coworker replied in Mandarin, and the first woman turned to us to ask, "gravel is stones?" We replied yes and were pointed in the right direction. In Ohio it's one thing to hear people speak Mandarin at a Chinese restaurant, but to hear it in the daily operations of a big box store is really something to my suburban mind!

Here's some other things I notice/have learned about Canadians.

• They like to say "bucks" instead of dollars. This surprised me because growing up, I thought "bucks" was a uniquely American term, that underscored American greed with its coarse sound: "buck". When I hear it used here, it doesn't quite have the same ring.... though as Toronto becomes one of the wealthiest cities in North America, perhaps it should.
• They like to vacation in the States. A U.S. tourism commercial is a regular appearance on prime time TV, featuring the Grand Canyon and a field full of sunflowers.
• As most people know, U.S. television is a mainstay here, as well as news from the U.S.A.
• People in Canada are surprised by corruption. (A recent scandal involving a Canadian bank using low-wage programers from India invoked shock and dismay from the public.) That's pretty awesome, compared to the U.S. where government mishaps and unethical business practices are just part of daily life.

That's all for now, more to come later I'm sure! :)