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Canadians and Americans
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thepeel



Joined: 08 Aug 2004

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow,
who cares?

Are we a bit bored today OP?
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Neil



Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The major similarity is a tendancy to drone on about how wonderful their respective countries are, yet at the same time have a strange reluctance ever to return to them.
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kermo



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Neil wrote:
The major similarity is a tendancy to drone on about how wonderful their respective countries are, yet at the same time have a strange reluctance ever to return to them.


This is a little off-topic, but Neil, I think I've been in Korea too long. I read your name and didn't recognize it as an English name- I thought your username was the Korean word for "Tomorrow" which I found pretty neat, until I did a double take.

Anyway, I threw my hat in the ring back in the beginning of this month in this thread: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=41060&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15


kermo wrote:
It's a little like family pride. I take joy in the accomplishments of my parents and sisters. I'm happy to be associated with them. My victories are their victories and so on.

The Lemon wrote:
Seriously? You identify with the guy who's driving his Chevy in St Stephen, NB and works in the pulp mill more than you do with the guy who's driving his Chevy in Calais, ME, just across the river, and works in a pulp mill?

Canadians have far more in common with the Americans they live within an hour's drive of than they do with their fellow Canadians three or more provinces east or west of them. The border isn't completely meaningless, but it's far less important than the nationalists on both sides of the border want you to believe.

Kermo wrote:
The pride I take in Canada is a lot less intense than in my family, but I feel a vague affinity with a fellow Canuck.

The guy in St Stephen probably grew up watching Mr. Dress-up, while the fellow in Calais would be more into Captain Kangaroo. The CBC has given us a shared history, in a way. In a deeper sense, we have our own national stories which shape the way we feel about ourselves.

Take for instance Neil Postman's notion of "narrative" in education. We share a narrative through our media, and through our school systems. This summary is taken from a book review "The End of Education" from scottlondon.com:

Quote:
For education to be meaningful, Postman contends, young people, their parents, and their teachers must have a common narrative. Narratives are essential because they provide a sense of personal identity, a sense of community life, a basis for moral conduct, and explanations of that which cannot be known. The idea of public education requires not only shared narratives, but also the absence of narratives that lead to alienation and divisiveness. "What makes public schools public," writes Postman, "is not so much that the schools have common goals but that the students have common gods." As Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, John Dewey and other great educators understood, public schools do not serve a public so much as create a public. But in order to do that they depend on the existence of shared narratives and the capacity of such narratives to provide an inspired reason for schooling.

Kermo resumes:
I've thought a lot about Canadian identity this past year, and I've learned more about it by talking to Americans, Indians, Koreans and Australians than in 25 years of living there. There are subtle differences in attitude, language and etiquette that aren't immediately evident unless they are presented in contrast.

I was amazed at the words that Canadians share in common, even many provinces apart, that Americans are oblivious to. I think there's more binding us together than you suspect.
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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:55 pm    Post subject: yes Reply with quote

I said it was to settle an argument with a friend.

It is wayyyyyyyyyyy less than 90%, people. What are you smoking?
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periwinkle



Joined: 08 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I thought all Canadians ate venison, whereas Americans prefer Buffalo (mmm- Bison burgers.......). Canadians all drink Labatt's, but Americans drink Lenie's. Canadians eat Tim Horton's, but Americans eat Krispy Kreme. All Candian people speak French as a 2nd language, but Americans speak Spanish as a second language. Canadians wear Mukluks, but Americans wear Uggs. Canadians have Nunavit, and Americans have. Um, the UP of Michigan?

I think the differences are truly far and wide, as I have CLEARLY illustrated.

(Te he. Should I get a sock? I've found a new way to amuse myself.....)
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jajdude



Joined: 18 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So far out of however many Americans I've met, and other Canadians, must be hundreds of people if not dozens, only one guy, an American said he thought there was quite a difference in cultures. Several others said the difference was negligible. Usually the subject never came up. It was only when there was a group and only one was from the other side of the border. I've been teased about where I'm from by both Americans and CDNs though.

I suppose one difference is that the US is always in the int'l news, unlike Canada or almost any other nation.
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