Tuesday, February 21, 2012

re: Oh, Canada

We decided to dust off our passports over the long weekend and journey across the border to visit our friendly neighbors to the north in Vancouver, Canada! Everything was green, the people were friendly, and the tourist attractions were exceptionally pretty.



(Capilano Suspension Bridge)

The thing is, aside from the fact that my phone stopped working when we crossed the border, it didn't really feel like we were in a foreign country. Everyone still spoke English, there were McDonald's and Starbucks around, and the currency was in dollars (even if they were referring to Canadian dollars).

I suppose there were hints. They officially referred to soda as "pop" in all the restaurants, hockey jerseys were more prevalent, KM/H took the place or MPH, and the "walk" signs on the street corners displayed a walker with a much more aggressive stride than we encourage in the US.


However, after much research, we figured out that the number one way to know that you were in a foreign country was to visit the candy section of the grocery stores. Your taste buds will immediately recognize the superior chocolate that US chocolate makers must think we'd never miss, and you will know: you are far from home.


We tried to smuggle some malt balls that didn't taste like wax over the border with us, but they were devoured before we even made it back to US soil.

5 comments:

robin marie said...

i feel the same way about canada!! totally feels like you're still in the US. christian always smuggles back their crazy flavored potato chips (like ketchup and dill).

M. Wright said...

the wonder bars are the best! We haven't had those in years...next time you go bring us some ;)

bex said...

We'll hide weird potato chips and wunderbars in the spare tire section of the trunk and hope the border police don't smell our fear as we smuggle the treats back into the US.

ne said...

Glad you enjoyed my hometown. Had no idea we had a superior selection of chocolate!

bex said...

Malteasers have totally ruined american malted milk balls for me. Forever.