Since Canada has been spoken a lot about by many, I’ll take another route, talk about some history, of course, and have some information because there’s a quiz for you to get a stamp from, but it’s not gonna be too heavy (hopefully).

And Quebec is another thing I’m going to talk a lot about here so there’s a bit of diversity.

Canada is a country situated in North America, just above the USA, and yes, we’re a real country, we don’t live in igloos, we don’t ride polar bears (or any moose for that matter) and we don’t go to work on dog sleds (it’d be cool however I’m not saying the opposite). And yes, we do have internet. We don’t wear only plaid (shhh it’s great fashion don’t even dare) and not everyone is lost in a forest cutting wood.

And we have bagged milk. What about it?

Unicorns don’t exist by the way.

Our money smells like maple syrup, it’s water proof, it takes some willpower to try and tear it in two and our Prime Minister (much like his country) is a meme.

Meanwhile in Canada:

I think that speaks of most Canadian stereotypes, nah? If I forgot something, I apologize (no I didn’t forget the ‘sorry’ part of the stereotype, but I have to admit many Canadians I know (me included) do apologize a lot).





We have four seasons: autumn, winter, spring and summer. Yes, our winters are cold and most of our sports are on ice or snow (ice-skating, hockey (it’s our national sport), skiing, curling, snowboarding, dog sledding, ice fishing, snowmobiling and luge), but our summers can be annoyingly hot as well (we too have most weather you can find everywhere else from rain, to hail, to snow, to sunny days, to cold, to hot, to temperate, etc. It's not only snow). And we destroy everyone else in winter Olympics, shhh.

Canada is a nation that was build from French, English and First Nations identities. Nowadays, however, it’s harder to pinpoint what it is to be a Canadian as the borders are open to a large scale of immigration. But our art, architecture, and overall culture, are really kind of only based on our dominion origins and on our First Nations old traditions.

English and French are mandatory in Quebec from elementary to CEGEP (it's something between high school and college/university) while French is mandatory everywhere else only in elementary school and English from elementary to college.



O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

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Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Quebec is referred to as "a nation within a nation"...but would it become an actual nation someday? World history shown me there have been bygone nations and some places become nations (again). And indigenous First Nations are tribes with sovereignty and heritage going back thousands of years. Like the GC world fair exhibit on the two Germanies (1945-90) before reunification (East Germany once a Soviet, 1917-91 Russian ally) and the current EU (European Union), the world map constantly changes. My father's hometown in northernmost France was historically Dutch until around 1660 when France finally annexed it and where I live-Southern CA was once Spanish (1769-1821)/Mexican land (1821-48).

And let's switch topics onto sports...Quebec has the Montreal Canadiens NHL team, boosts 24 stanley cups in its glorious history. The bygone Quebec Nordiques NHL and Montreal Expos MLB teams aren't forgotten, the Expos were the first major league baseball team outside the US. And oui, the Senators NHL team across the Ottawa River in Ottawa, Ontario and the Montreal Impact in major league soccer.

I am really hoping to go to Canada someday.