Random Culture Thread

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Prowler
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby Prowler » 2016-11-21, 6:40

Saim wrote:
Prowler wrote:Just like American customer service tends to be friendly due to waiters living off tips?


In Australia waiting staff are paid normal wages but they're still often expected by their employer to be nice and smile and stuff.

Well, that's good. Here, service is kinda lousy. You almost have to remind waiters at restaurants that you're there, and if you ask for a dish and happen to say something like "but without the fired egg, please"... they forget that 9 times out of 10. :roll:

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby linguoboy » 2016-11-21, 14:10

Saim wrote:
Prowler wrote:Just like American customer service tends to be friendly due to waiters living off tips?

In Australia waiting staff are paid normal wages but they're still often expected by their employer to be nice and smile and stuff.

Studies show that there's no real correlation between good service and good tipping anyway. It's all just cultural. Americans are simply more outgoing in general. (They used to tell us in Germany that they could always pick out the Americans on the trains. They were the ones smiling.) So anything less than friendly solicitousness strikes us as rude.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby Varislintu » 2016-11-21, 18:44

vijayjohn wrote:A lot of Indian kids even in India don't eat spicy food.


Thanks, that's really interesting. I almost expected this spice avoidance to be some kind of a Northern European thing. :)

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-11-22, 0:43

Varislintu wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:A lot of Indian kids even in India don't eat spicy food.


Thanks, that's really interesting. I almost expected this spice avoidance to be some kind of a Northern European thing. :)

It's really just an individual thing. Different people just have different levels of tolerance for hot food. As this guy said, "the world is divided not between rich and poor, or male and female, or East and West, but between those who like spicy food and those who do not." :) (That's a short, fun article to read btw. :D I think I might have linked to it before).

My grandmother hated spicy food. She would complain bitterly if anyone made her anything even remotely spicy. However, her own son, my dad, loves spicy food and would never travel anywhere without his trusty green chilies. I like spicy food, too, but not really as much as he does. My mom seems to like her food a bit milder. Her sister and brother-in-law seem to hate it as much as my grandmother does.

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby dEhiN » 2016-12-09, 14:25

vijayjohn wrote:
Varislintu wrote:Thanks, that's really interesting. I almost expected this spice avoidance to be some kind of a Northern European thing. :)

It's really just an individual thing. Different people just have different levels of tolerance for hot food. As this guy said, "the world is divided not between rich and poor, or male and female, or East and West, but between those who like spicy food and those who do not." :) (That's a short, fun article to read btw. :D I think I might have linked to it before).

My grandmother hated spicy food. She would complain bitterly if anyone made her anything even remotely spicy. However, her own son, my dad, loves spicy food and would never travel anywhere without his trusty green chilies. I like spicy food, too, but not really as much as he does. My mom seems to like her food a bit milder. Her sister and brother-in-law seem to hate it as much as my grandmother does.

Yeah I agree with Vijay. In my own family, my dad and I love spice a lot. My brother does a little as well, but I don't think he can handle it as hot as us two (though lately that might be changing). My sister can't stand a lot of spice, and neither can my mom. It is true though that you can build up your tolerance for spice. I've found even for myself that I go through periods: when I start to eat spice all the time, my tolerance level builds up; when I haven't eaten it in a while, I can't handle as much.

PS. I use spice here the way a lot of South Asians do: to refer to chili spice.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-09, 16:03

When referring to food, I can't say "spice" but have to say "spices". To me, "spice" is an illegal drug from the Star Wars universe.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby dEhiN » 2016-12-09, 16:43

mōdgethanc wrote:To me, "spice" is an illegal drug from the Star Wars universe.

:rotfl: :rotfl:
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-09, 16:44

dEhiN wrote:It is true though that you can build up your tolerance for spice.

Of course. I think this is what everybody who has a tolerance for spice does. :) (Yes, I mean food, not drugs in sci-fi :P). Breast milk isn't spicy, after all. :D

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-09, 17:14

Green is true, red is false, grey is irrelevant.

If you're Canadian...
...you are of course not American. You're fascinated by minute differences between the U.S. and Canada, and a bit annoyed at Europeans who can't tell you apart.
You are vaguely familiar with the charters of rights and freedoms in the constitution but really have no idea of what it's about.
It seems perfectly normal for your country's Queen to live on another continent. You don't really think about it since it's not like it makes any difference; and if you're Quebecois, she's not really your Queen anyway.
You might not even know the words to the National Anthem (in either language). You like that beer commercial though.
You're familiar with virtually all of the American personalities on TV and movies, as well as a number of Canadian ones if you watch the CBC, like Graeme Green, Paul Gross, John Candy, Jim Carrie Jim Carrey, Tom Jackson, Patrick McKenna, Eric Peterson, William Shatner, Megan Follows, Bruno Gerussi.
You're familiar with Kids In The Hall, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made In Canada, Red Green, North of 60, Anne of Green Gables, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Due South, Road to Avonlea, Raccoons, Danger Bay, Spirit Bay, Kids of Degrassi Street, Street Legal and maybe Traders, or if you're older, The Beachcombers, Wayne and Schuster, Don Messer's Jubilee, Front Page Challenge, and King of Kensington, even if you haven't watched them personally.
You either watch or listen to CBC television and radio, or you don't. That fact tends to make a difference in your view of the world.


Our football fields go up to 110

Hockey is the sport of passion and (if you're male) you know almost every Canadian player in the NHL and what team they play for. If you're over 40 you remember the 1972 series with Russia and how we won and probably remember what you were doing when it happened.
You also know baseball, basketball, and both American and Canadian football (which has 10 extra yards on the field; unfortunately, the CFL has been something of a disaster). You know what curling is, and know at least one person who plays it. In Québec, Formula One is more important. On the other hand (and unless you're under about 20), you don't care that much for soccer. Cricket is a mystery.
You expect two weeks of vacation a year (possibly more-- it depends on your province).
You're fairly likely to believe in God, though you don't take it to extremes like the Americans do. There are more Catholics in Quebec, more Protestants elsewhere, but differences between different churches and religions aren't that important.
You think of McDonald's, KFC, and A&W as cheap food. You can get poutine at most of these places, even the American chains. Canada may or may not make the best doughnuts in the world, but it's gone the farthest in perfecting doughnut shops as a lifestyle.
You probably own a telephone, a TV, and you do your laundry in a machine. You probably have a car, and a place in the garage to plug it in. Your place is heated in the winter and has its own bathroom.
You don't kill your own food. You don't have a dirt floor. You eat at a table, sitting on chairs.
You don't consider insects, dogs, cats, monkeys, or guinea pigs to be food.
A bathroom may not have a bathtub in it, but it certainly has a toilet.
The railroads, and auto manufacturers are privately run; utilities (telephone, electric, gas) used to be all run by the provinces, but many of them have been privatised. Opinions differ on whether this is a good thing. Air Canada is technically a private company, but it's subsidized by the federal government.
You expect, as a matter of course, that the phones will work. Getting a new phone is routine. You may live for years, however, with just a cellular phone.
The train system, by contrast, isn't very good. The bus system reaches more places
, and it's cheaper. Planes are the best if you can afford them, since distances can be so large.

A planet where Liberals run the government?

You find a multi-party system natural: everyone's viewpoint is represented politically, for better or worse, even if only the major parties ever get members elected. You know what Tory and Grit mean. You think politicians mean well, but are better at generating hot air than solving problems.
You probably don't think the Senate does anything useful, and would like to see it abolished.
Although you might hold socialist views, you wouldn't call it that-- except in provinces like B.C., Manitoba and especially Saskatchewan. Communism is kind of old-fashioned though.
There are a number of races, but thankfully it's not the huge problem it is in the U.S. Someone with one white and one black parent isn't necessarily white or black-- maybe something in the middle. If there's a persistent racial underclass, it's the Natives.
You think most problems could be solved if only the three levels of government would put aside their differences and work together.
You take a strong court system for granted, even if you don't use it. You know that if you went into business and had problems with a customer, partner, or supplier, you could take them to court.
You're well aware that your country speaks two major languages-- but you yourself don't, unless you live in Ottawa or Montreal, or one of the francophone communities outside Quebec. You probably learned some of the other language (French or English) in school, but don't remember much of it. If you live in English Canada, you find French interesting but irrelevant
; if you live in French Canada you find English useful but annoying.
You don't speak a language other than those two, unless you're a Native or an immigrant. You respect people who do.
You think an income tax level of 45% is ridiculously high and a sales tax of 15% is way too much. You may blame this for educated people moving to the States. On the other hand, you're afraid of losing government services if its cut too much.
School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school). Colleges and universities are subsidized by the government, but they're by no means free (tuition can be up to $5000 $7000 a year). You can get a scholarship, but only an academic one, not for athletics.
University is (normally, and excluding graduate study) four years long. Colleges are schools where people learn trades and the like.
Mustard comes in jars or squeezable bottles. Shaving cream comes in cans. Milk comes in plastic jugs or cardboard boxes , or in some areas, in bags.

The date comes second: 07/01/1867. Or maybe (especially on government forms) first: 28/9/1972. Or occasionally, as on the tax forms, third (year first). (And you know what happened on those dates.)
The decimal point is a dot. Certainly not a comma.
A billion is a thousand times a million


Over there first, twice

World War II began in 1939 when Britain and Germany went to war-- Canada didn't wait to be attacked like some nations to the south. Granted all the suffering, it was a just war which brought the country and its allies together, and ended all right.
(World War I was a terrible war, but one in which Canada fought proudly as an equal among the allies for the first time. And again got there before the Americans did.)
You expect marriages to be made for love, not arranged by third parties. Getting married by a judge is an option, but not a requirement; most marriages happen in church. You have a best man and a maid or matron of honour at the wedding-- a friend or a sibling. And, naturally, a man gets only one wife at a time.
If a man has sex with another man, he's a homosexual. Gay and lesbian couples aren't considered "married", but they're are considered married and entitled to spousal benefits. This seems reasonable to you.
If you're introduced to someone your own age, you can call them by their first name. With superiors and older people it's better to use a title.
If you're a woman, you have the right to go to the beach topless, but you don't.
A hotel room has a private bath.
In English Canada, you'd rather a film be subtitled than dubbed (if you go to foreign films at all). If you're French Canadian, you're more used to dubbed movies.
You seriously expect to be able to transact business, or deal with the government, without paying bribes.
If a politican has been cheating on his wife, that's his business.
Most stores will take your credit card, and if they don't, they'll accept your debit (ATM) card. If you've been in the U.S., you may have found that the same sort of places that would accept your debit card back home demand cash instead.
A private company can fire just about anybody it wants, unless it discriminates by doing so-- but occasionally its decision will be reversed by the provincial labour review board.


And it's not (quite) "aboot", either

You like side bacon crisp, and back bacon less so. You have no idea what it is about back bacon that make Americans think it's "Canadian".
Labour Day (mind the "u") is in the fall. summer
You know why everyone wears plastic poppies pinned to their jackets at the beginning of November.
You may know little about purely Canadian films (as opposed to Hollywood films with Canadian connections, like Ghostbusters and Titanic). If you do, you've seen
Crash, Exotica, Last Night, Hard Core Logo, The Red Violin, and many others, and you know directors David Cronenberg, Bruce McDonald, Denys Arcand, Atom Egoyan, actor/director Don McKellar, and actors Callum Keith Rennie, Paul Gross, Pat McKenna, Sandra Oh, and Sarah Polley.
You know Bryan Adams, Colin James, Celine Dion, Susan Aglukark, Tragically Hip, Tom Cochrane, Anne Murray, Great Big Sea, Rankin Family, Ashley McIsaac, Alanis Morissette, Crash Test Dummies, Amanda Marshall, K.D. Lang, Jann Arden, Blue Rodeo, Glass Tiger, Roch Voisine, Barenaked Ladies, Soul Decision, Jack Soul, Sara Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Shania Twain, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, and others. Some of these became popular here before in the States, due to "CanCon" laws requiring a percentage of Canadian content on the radio. Not that you can generally tell Canadian from American performers, except that their videos look cheap.
You count on excellent medical treatment. You wouldn't think of privatizing health care... though non-emergency care does seem to take a long time. Well, you can always go pay for it in the States. You know you're not going to die of cholera or other Third World diseases... except perhaps if you're a Native living on a reserve. You expect very strong measures to be taken to save very ill babies or people in their eighties. You think dying at 65 would be a tragedy.
You went over Canadian history in school. You're also used to seeing those 30-second government sponsored "Heritage Minutes" on TV, and maybe watched the CBC History of Canada series. You also got some U.S. and European history. You get a kick out of the fact that Canada (OK, well, Britain) is the only nation besides Viet Nam to win a war against the U.S.-- in 1812, when the U.S. tried and failed to invade Canada, and the White House was burned down.
You know authors Pierre Burton, Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, and Farley Mowat. You know political figures John A. MacDonald, John Diefenbaker, Pierre Trudeau, René Levesque, William Lyon MacKenzie King, Lester B. Pearson, and Métis leader Louis Riel.
Elvis lives!
You know hockey legends from Maurice "Rocket" Richard to Wayne Gretzky, and sports announcer Don Cherry (and Blue, of course). You've heard of ballerina Karen Cain, pianist Glen Glenn Gould and figure skater Elvis Stojko.
You expect the military do peacekeeping, not fight wars. (It's way too underfunded to do any fighting.) Peacekeeping missions have produced some stars
-- Lewis MacKenzie (Bosnia), Romeo Dallaire (Rwanda), John de Chastelain (Ireland)-- but you probably can't name any other top Canadian officers.
Your country has never been conquered by a foreign nation
-- though if you're Quebecois you may take the British conquest in 1759 personally. If you're a Newfoundlander, you might still be suspicious of the referendum for joining confederation.
You're used to a wide variety of choices for almost anything you buy-- though you think there's more choice in the U.S. On the other hand, over there they don't have Aero or Coffee Crisp bars, or dill pickle flavoured potato chips, or butter tarts, or Nanaimo bars they are both disgusting , or Sleeman beer.
You measure things in litres, kilograms, and kilometres, except when you use feet, pounds, and gallons. Usually the older generation uses the imperial system, and the younger generation uses the metric system. Most things are labelled both ways anyway.
You are not a farmer-- though it seems like there's more farmers than there really are, with the noise they make about unfair American and European farm subsidies driving them out of business.
Comics in English Canada basically come in two varieties: newspaper comics and magazines; the latter pretty much all feature American superheroes. (One American publisher did come up with a Canadian super-group, Alpha Flight, created by Canadian artist John Byrne. There was briefly a Canadian-published Captain Canuck, which was better than it sounds.)
French Canada is more likely to be familiar with French BDs. they're dumb
The most popular talk shows are the American ones; Canadians generally don't even bother competing with them. At least one American-style talk show has managed to be was mildly successful on Canadian TV, Open Mike.
You drive on the right side of the road. You stop at red lights even if nobody's around.
(In Saskatchewan, you might wait for the light even as a pedestrian, in freezing weather.) If you're a pedestrian and cars are stopped at a red light, you will fearlessly cross the street in front of them. good way to get smoked by an idiot driver

Our 800-pound neighbors

You think of the U.S. as a powerful neighbour with a lot of money, but rather ignorant about Canada and generally the outside world. Individually they're very friendly people though, but their government is a stupid bully. You've probably seen and enjoyed Rick Mercer's "Talking To Americans" special, even if you realize they only used the funniest bits.
During the Cold War, you never viewed the Russians as "the enemy", and were frankly baffled as to what America's problem with them was. You're glad they both came to their senses. Now if only the Americans would get some sense when thinking about Cuba. they have been lately
You think of Europeans as being more civilized than Americans or even Canadians in some ways. You still identify somewhat with England or France.
You remember learning about the seal hunt a long time ago, and you're glad that they outlawed it, or something, and it's not a problem anymore. (In fact it still happens.)
You consider the Volkswagen Beetle to be a small car.
The police are armed, but not with submachine guns.

If a woman is plumper than the average, it doesn't improve her looks.

The biggest meal of the day is in the evening.
The people that you most often hear jokes about are the Newfies.
There's parts of the city you definitely want to avoid at night.
You feel that your kind of people aren't being listened to enough in Ottawa. Nor in your provincial capital.
You wouldn't expect both inflation and unemployment to be very high (say, over 15%) at the same time.
You don't care very much what family someone comes from.
The normal thing, when a couple dies, is for their estate to be divided equally between their children.


Early fireworks

You think of opera and ballet as rather elite entertainments. It's likely you don't see that many plays, either.
Christmas is in the winter. You spend it with your family, give presents, and put up a tree, unless you're not Christian.
The day for fireworks is July 1 (Canada Day, used to be Dominion Day)
, or June 24 (Fête Nationale de Québec, also known as St-Jean Baptiste Day) in Quebec. Also New Year's Eve, though it's a bit cold for watching them.
You may think the church is too powerful, or the state is; but you are used to not having a state church and don't think that it would be a good idea. (But the Catholic Church had extraordinary influence in Quebec till the middle of the last century; and until recently the entire education system in Newfoundland was government-funded but church-run, and in many provinces Catholic schools are supported with government money.) this is stupid
You'd be hard pressed to name the capitals or the leaders of all the nations of Europe. You can probably name all the capitals of the provinces and territories, though... except for Nunavut. (What's that? Vancouver, Calgary, and Saskatoon aren't capitals?)
You've left a message at the beep.
Taxis are generally operated by recent immigrants to Canada, who may have PhDs in their own country
but are often deplorably ignorant about the city.
You think that welfare and unemployment payments are a good idea, but you think that a lot of people abuse the system. On the east coast where a lot of work is seasonal, you see Employment Insurance as completely different, kind of like a bank-- you pay into it in the summer, and get paid back during the winter.
If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first.
There sure are a lot of lawyers. They wear robes in courts, and in some provinces wigs
-- which seems odd to you, since that's not what they wear on American TV.

Space and time

If you have an appointment, you'll mutter an excuse if you're five minutes late, and apologize profusely if it's fifteen minutes. An hour late is almost inexcusable. You get more leeway in the winter, however.
If you're talking to someone, you get uncomfortable if they approach closer than about two feet. Maybe three feet would be better.
About the only things you expect to bargain for are houses, cars, antiques, and produce sold in open markets. Haggling is largely a matter of finding the hidden point that's the buyer's minimum.
Once you're past college, you very rarely simply show up at someone's place. People have to invite each other over-- especially if a meal is involved.
When you negotiate, you are polite, of course, but it's only good business to 'play hardball'. Some foreigners pay excessive attention to status, or don't say what they mean, and that's exasperating.
If you have a business appointment or interview with someone, you expect to have that person to yourself, and the business shouldn't take more than an hour or so.

Last edited by mōdgethanc on 2016-12-09, 23:17, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-09, 19:26

Thanks for all this, mōdgethanc! :) I wonder whether some of what you quoted might be outdated (and I wonder how recently it was written) and that's why you say it's false.

My family actually seems kind of oddly attached to baseball. My parents probably watch every World Series game, and my dad also likes to keep up with the scores at least for football games and seems to appreciate any information he can get about cricket games. My grandfather played all kinds of sports, and IIRC one of his uncles was a big athlete.
mōdgethanc wrote:Green is true, red is false, grey is irrelevant.

By "grey" you mean "black"?
You are vaguely familiar with the charters of rights and freedoms in the constitution but really have no idea of what it's about.

I can believe the false parts there really are false for you, but are they for most Canadians? I have trouble imagining most people in any country being intimately familiar with their own laws, tbh.
You're familiar with Kids In The Hall, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made In Canada, Red Green, North of 60, Anne of Green Gables, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Due South, Road to Avonlea, Raccoons, Danger Bay, Spirit Bay, Kids of Degrassi Street, Street Legal and maybe Traders, or if you're older, The Beachcombers, Wayne and Schuster, Don Messer's Jubilee, Front Page Challenge, and King of Kensington, even if you haven't watched them personally.

I'm kind of familiar with Kids In The Hall, too! :) (Well, sort of, if only thanks to this YouTube clip I randomly came across once years ago, and I'm sure I've posted this before, but)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JinJ7NY5_E
:P
You have no idea what it is about back bacon that make Americans think it's "Canadian".

Lol, idk either. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's apparently a big thing in Britain, and y'all bear certain resemblances to the British that we don't.
Elvis lives!

Lol again. I don't think I'll ever understand why so many people seem to care so much specifically about Elvis Presley.
French Canada is more likely to be familiar with French BDs. they're dumb

and in many provinces Catholic schools are supported with government money.) this is stupid

Were those parts in red supposed to be in green?

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-09, 22:04

vijayjohn wrote:Thanks for all this, mōdgethanc! :) I wonder whether some of what you quoted might be outdated (and I wonder how recently it was written) and that's why you say it's false.
Definitely at least ten years ago because it was before same-sex marriage was legalized. A lot of the pop culture references would be familiar to my parents' generation but not necessarily mine. I wasn't around for the 80s.
My family actually seems kind of oddly attached to baseball. My parents probably watch every World Series game, and my dad also likes to keep up with the scores at least for football games and seems to appreciate any information he can get about cricket games. My grandfather played all kinds of sports, and IIRC one of his uncles was a big athlete.
Well, baseball = full 'Mercan and cricket is full Indian. Canadians don't give a shit about cricket and only care about baseball when the Blue Jays are doing well.
By "grey" you mean "black"?
I guess. It looks more like grey, probably because of the white background. It's an optical illusion, the name of which I forget at the moment (I'm very tired).
I can believe the false parts there really are false for you, but are they for most Canadians? I have trouble imagining most people in any country being intimately familiar with their own laws, tbh.
I can only speak for myself. I know the Charter in the sense that I've read the thing, but I don't know the law that well. I didn't even take law in high school (though I did take Canadian politics).
Lol, idk either. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's apparently a big thing in Britain, and y'all bear certain resemblances to the British that we don't.
We do, but I don't associate it with Britain either. To me it's just something that you put on a kaiser roll. I don't even think of it as bacon, more like ham.
Lol again. I don't think I'll ever understand why so many people seem to care so much specifically about Elvis Presley.
I was tempted to say it in my original post, so I'll say it now: I hate Elvis Presley's stupid music. I hate his voice and his punchable face. Also, he is definitely dead.
Were those parts in red supposed to be in green?
No. Why would you think that? I put them in red to signify my disapproval of them and to show that they aren't part of how I see Canadian society.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-09, 22:38

mōdgethanc wrote:Well, baseball = full 'Mercan and cricket is full Indian.

I just realized that I forgot to mention that my grandmother was studying here (I think in Boston) at one point and used to be on an all-women's(?) baseball team. (Not actually relevant to what you were saying, just something I remembered when I saw your post)
I'm very tired

Is there any chance you can get some sleep?
I didn't even take law in high school (though I did take Canadian politics).

We didn't even have law or politics in high school, and my high school is supposed to be one of the best (I think 100) in the entire country. We went through the Constitution in US History class in middle school (specifically 8th grade, at least in my case) and had to take a class on (American) Government in our last year of high school (in my case, a class that I could get college credit for since I took AP US Government).
We do, but I don't associate it with Britain either.

Apparently, British people eat sandwiches made out of it all the time. I don't know whether they do this as often with other types of meat (including other cuts of pork or whatever).
To me it's just something that you put on a kaiser roll.

I haven't heard "kaiser roll" in years!
I don't even think of it as bacon, more like ham.

Same!
Were those parts in red supposed to be in green?
No. Why would you think that? I put them in red to signify my disapproval of them and to show that they aren't part of how I see Canadian society.

Because you said "red is false"! :D

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-09, 23:24

vijayjohn wrote:I just realized that I forgot to mention that my grandmother was studying here (I think in Boston) at one point and used to be on an all-women's(?) baseball team. (Not actually relevant to what you were saying, just something I remembered when I saw your post)
Basketball was invented by a Canadian.
Is there any chance you can get some sleep?
I can sleep any time I want, but I want to go to bed at around 10-12. I'm trying to reset my circadian rhythm after it got fucked up this week and also, if I study for a few hours before bed, I'll retain the information better because the memories will consolidate during sleep.
We didn't even have law or politics in high school, and my high school is supposed to be one of the best (I think 100) in the entire country. We went through the Constitution in US History class in middle school (specifically 8th grade, at least in my case) and had to take a class on (American) Government in our last year of high school (in my case, a class that I could get college credit for since I took AP US Government).
The fuck? My high school didn't even have any languages other than French and it still had lots of law and politics classes.
Apparently, British people eat sandwiches made out of it all the time. I don't know whether they do this as often with other types of meat (including other cuts of pork or whatever).
They eat sandwiches with all kinds of disgusting shit. Greasy bacon (American-style, not Canadian) and french fries with butter, it's revolting.
I haven't heard "kaiser roll" in years!
What the fuck do you call them then?
Because you said "red is false"! :D
You're right, but I meant "false" as in "this is not something I identify with as a Canadian" not "this is literally false". That's because the whole point of the test is to see how many items you personally identify with. I also highlighted "butter tarts and Nanaimo bars" in red even though for all I know they are in fact available in America. I did that to show that I don't think of them as quintessential Canadian food like a lot of people do but rather as disgusting sugary vomit suitable only for children and old ladies.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-10, 1:23

mōdgethanc wrote:Basketball was invented by a Canadian.

Huh, I feel like you might've said that before, but even if you did, I forgot. That's cool. :)
The fuck? My high school didn't even have any languages other than French and it still had lots of law and politics classes.

I'm not sure whether this varies depending on which part of the US you're in, and I'm not sure whether this is related, but with the last election, I've started learning just how difficult it is in Texas to find out about local politics. Apparently, powerful conservatives here deliberately withhold information about it just to prevent liberals from changing anything about the system. They also do a lot of other tricks, like gerrymandering and requiring voter ID. (This house I have spent almost my entire life in used to be in a majority Democrat district. Now, it's in a majority Republican one. Every time I go to vote (with my dad at a local supermarket), I have to bring both my voter registration card and my wallet, because it has my driver's license, and be careful not to lose either of them. Luckily, at least it never takes very long).
What the fuck do you call them then?

I'm not sure I've ever called them anything. I'm not even 100% sure I've ever seen one (let alone eaten one).
You're right, but I meant "false" as in "this is not something I identify with as a Canadian" not "this is literally false".

Oh, OK. :)

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-10, 1:35

vijayjohn wrote:Huh, I feel like you might've said that before, but even if you did, I forgot. That's cool. :)
Yes, and it's even in one of our government-funded educational Heritage Minutes (they're all on YouTube and are classic kitchy Canadiana).
I'm not sure whether this varies depending on which part of the US you're in, and I'm not sure whether this is related, but with the last election, I've started learning just how difficult it is in Texas to find out about local politics. Apparently, powerful conservatives here deliberately withhold information about it just to prevent liberals from changing anything about the system. They also do a lot of other tricks, like gerrymandering and requiring voter ID. (This house I have spent almost my entire life in used to be in a majority Democrat district. Now, it's in a majority Republican one. Every time I go to vote (with my dad at a local supermarket), I have to bring both my voter registration card and my wallet, because it has my driver's license, and be careful not to lose either of them. Luckily, at least it never takes very long).
I never understood what the fuck this voter registration thing in America is or how it works. Even more confusing is how some states apparently require you to register as a Democrat or Republican and they you have to vote for the party you're registered with (?). I really don't understand how your voting works, except something about hanging chads and voting machines that allegedly were vulnerable to hacking (but probably weren't in real life). In Canada the way it works is pretty simple: you show up to the polling station with one piece of ID which can be pretty much anything, and you're already registered on a list which is probably based on the census or something, and you vote. If you aren't on the list because it's not your designated polling station, then you can get someone to vouch for you (I had to do this once) and confirm your identity. No fuss, no muss.
I'm not sure I've ever called them anything. I'm not even 100% sure I've ever seen one (let alone eaten one).
You don't have kaiser rolls in Texas? They have them at every grocery store I've ever been to in Canada and the northern United States.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-10, 4:11

mōdgethanc wrote:Yes, and it's even in one of our government-funded educational Heritage Minutes (they're all on YouTube and are classic kitchy Canadiana).

I just watched this, and...holy shit, that looks awesome. :lol: It looks like Histeria! but a bit less silly and hopefully more historically accurate (and way more well-known).
I never understood what the fuck this voter registration thing in America is or how it works. Even more confusing is how some states apparently require you to register as a Democrat or Republican and they you have to vote for the party you're registered with (?). I really don't understand how your voting works, except something about hanging chads and voting machines that allegedly were vulnerable to hacking (but probably weren't in real life).

I would attempt to explain this, but it would take a long time, and I'm no expert on politics just in general anyway. You get the idea, though. American politics is shitty; Texan politics, even more so.
You don't have kaiser rolls in Texas? They have them at every grocery store I've ever been to in Canada and the northern United States.

Oh, I'm sure we do, but I'm not usually the one who goes to the store, and we don't eat them. I just don't recall eating that particular variety of bread. Except maybe on the plane to Croatia when one of my cousins got married.

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby Osias » 2016-12-10, 13:30

mōdgethanc wrote: In Canada the way it works is pretty simple: you show up to the polling station with one piece of ID which can be pretty much anything, and you're already registered on a list which is probably based on the census or something, and you vote.

In Brazil is the same, except voting is mandatory. Except if it's raining and you decide don't go voting, you pay a fine of 3.50 reais. That must be a dollar. I have yet to pay mine this year.
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-11, 5:24

vijayjohn wrote:I just watched this, and...holy shit, that looks awesome.
They are! A lot of them generated popular memes in Canada, like the one about Jennie Trout (the woman in anatomy class who gets pissed off because the men think she can't tolerate a drawing of a human dick) and the Wilder Penfield one (the patient having a seizure and screaming "I smell burnt toast!"). They got parodied a lot.
:lol: It looks like Histeria! but a bit less silly and hopefully more historically accurate (and way more well-known).
That show looks similar to Animaniacs, which I loved as a kid, so I would probably like it.

For a silly and humourous take on history for adults, I recommend Drunk History.
Oh, I'm sure we do, but I'm not usually the one who goes to the store, and we don't eat them. I just don't recall eating that particular variety of bread. Except maybe on the plane to Croatia when one of my cousins got married.
What kind of bread do you eat? Dosa?
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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-11, 6:00

mōdgethanc wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:I just watched this, and...holy shit, that looks awesome.
They are! A lot of them generated popular memes in Canada, like the one about Jennie Trout (the woman in anatomy class who gets pissed off because the men think she can't tolerate a drawing of a human dick) and the Wilder Penfield one (the patient having a seizure and screaming "I smell burnt toast!"). They got parodied a lot.

Tbh, I still think it's kind of hilarious that "I smell burnt toast!" is a Canadian meme. :rotfl: Complete with "burnt."
That show looks similar to Animaniacs, which I loved as a kid, so I would probably like it.

It is! It's another Warner Bros. show. I liked Animaniacs and always watched it, too, but I honestly felt like this one was way funnier. :P Especially when they say anything about China:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaOgCMs3vtE
For a silly and humourous take on history for adults, I recommend Drunk History.

That sounds vaguely familiar (but I'm probably thinking of something completely different. The History of Farting comes to mind. One time, at Half-Price Books, there were a lot of copies of that being sold really cheap).
What kind of bread do you eat? Dosa?

:lol: :lol: Sorry, no offense, but this just sounds like such a North Indian stereotype of what we eat all the time, like how we're always eating dosas and sambar when in reality, I have that like maybe once a year(?) when some special guest comes over or my mom's having an unusual sort of party. :D

Nah, I've had a lot of different kinds of bread. The ones I eat most commonly are bolillos (with nothing but shredded wheat and a cup of tea, bearing in mind that my tea isn't really tea...), wheat tortillas (with yellow split peas (and a cup of tea again) because it's easier than getting real chapatis and dal and my dad prefers American wholewheat flour anyway), and plain raisin bagels (with a glass of milk, yeah yeah I'm sure it's wonderful with cream cheese and all that but fuck it :P). I used to pick one of those options for breakfast every day, but I stopped a few weeks ago because I have lunch just four hours after I get to work, and if I eat breakfast like right before that, I obviously won't be hungry for lunch. I have no problem staying hungry for a few hours and have done this many times throughout my life because I'd rather do something I enjoy than eat/sleep/shower/whatever else. I've also had what they call pan francés here (which is basically like a bolillo except bigger and more filling and always brushed with olive oil(?) and dusted with a little bit of unbleached flour), breadsticks, plain bagels, French bread, wholewheat bread, flour tortillas, corn tortillas, focaccia, 叉烧包, baguettes, cornbread (yech), oh screw it I'm not going to list everything lol (and I haven't even mentioned Indian breads yet). Just not sure about Kaiser rolls!

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Re: Random Culture Thread

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-12-11, 8:03

vijayjohn wrote:Tbh, I still think it's kind of hilarious that "I smell burnt toast!" is a Canadian meme. :rotfl:
I think it's great! Especially since Wilder Penfield was awesome. I was taught about him and his neurosurgical procedures in some of my classes and there's a building at McGill named after him or something (he was affiliated with McGill and they're known for their medical school being one of the best in the world and blah blah blah only keeners with 4.5 GPAs can get in and whatever. The University of Toronto is the same way and they have a building named after Frederick Banting, the doctor who discovered insulin and was a Canadian too. But I would rather have one named after the toast/brain guy.)
Complete with "burnt."
Wait, you would say "burned"? Because to me "burned" is the past tense of "burn" and "burnt" is an adjective. "Burned toast" just sounds weird unless it's in a context like "he burned toast while making it". Think of the semantic distinction between "turned" and "turnt".
It is! It's another Warner Bros. show. I liked Animaniacs and always watched it, too, but I honestly felt like this one was way funnier. :P Especially when they say anything about China
That just reminded me that there was a song from Animaniacs that I remembered as being a parody of "Macarena" which I thought was about Macedonia. I tried to look it up and apparently it was actually about macademia nuts. Weird.

Also, everyone seems to remember the nations of the world song and loves it for some reason, and I just think it's hilarious because of how outdated the map is (and I think it may have been outdated even when it was made) and how it refers to Tibet and Palestine as independent nations. I'm sure it was banned in China.
That sounds vaguely familiar (but I'm probably thinking of something completely different.
It's exactly what it sounds like: the hosts of the show get drunk and try to narrate historical episodes while actors (who are often well-known stars which makes it even funnier) act them out in period costume. It's hilarious.
:lol: :lol: Sorry, no offense, but this just sounds like such a North Indian stereotype of what we eat all the time, like how we're always eating dosas and sambar when in reality, I have that like maybe once a year(?) when some special guest comes over or my mom's having an unusual sort of party. :D
As a North Indian, I am offended!
Nah, I've had a lot of different kinds of bread. The ones I eat most commonly are bolillos (with nothing but shredded wheat and a cup of tea, bearing in mind that my tea isn't really tea...), wheat tortillas (with yellow split peas (and a cup of tea again) because it's easier than getting real chapatis and dal and my dad prefers American wholewheat flour anyway), and plain raisin bagels (with a glass of milk, yeah yeah I'm sure it's wonderful with cream cheese and all that but fuck it :P).
Raisin bagels are disgusting, but if we assume the premise is true that they aren't disgusting in one of many possible universes, they wouldn't go well with cream cheese. I would put butter on them.
I used to pick one of those options for breakfast every day, but I stopped a few weeks ago because I have lunch just four hours after I get to work, and if I eat breakfast like right before that, I obviously won't be hungry for lunch. I have no problem staying hungry for a few hours and have done this many times throughout my life because I'd rather do something I enjoy than eat/sleep/shower/whatever else.
You think four hours isn't enough time to be hungry enough to eat again? I would have to eat a huge meal to not be hungry by lunchtime. Most mornings during this semester I woke up at 8, got to the lab at 9, then finished at 12, and I rarely ate breakfast. By 12 I was usually starving and couldn't wait to eat something (eating in a lab, even if you're just waiting around for half an hour for something to happen, is a capital offence).

Oh, and you would have time to eat breakfast if it didn't take you three goddamn hours to eat a single meal. :wink:
I've also had what they call pan francés here (which is basically like a bolillo except bigger and more filling and always brushed with olive oil(?) and dusted with a little bit of unbleached flour), breadsticks, plain bagels, French bread, wholewheat bread, flour tortillas, corn tortillas, focaccia, 叉烧包, baguettes, cornbread (yech), oh screw it I'm not going to list everything lol (and I haven't even mentioned Indian breads yet). Just not sure about Kaiser rolls!
...so you eat dosas, right?

Next time your parents go to the grocery store, ask for kaiser rolls. They're cheap and are great for sandwiches!
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