What is it like to live in Canada?

People ask me, "what is it like in Canada" (no they don't, but its a great way to start talking about what I want to talk about). And I tell them that its a lot like it is in the States. Truly, the culture shock would be greater if I moved to a place like New York or California. Its so similar, that when you notice one of the differences you're like "whoa, this is like the twilight zone here!" Imagine everything is the same in your sweet American life, then you wake up one morning and everyone's milk is in a bag. That's it, nothing else is different. You don't even notice it until one of your friends says, "hey honey, could you pass the scissors, I need to cut open this milk."

You know those powerful special interests in America, like oil companies and teachers unions? Well, apparently Canadian scissor makers lobbied to keep dairy products in bags. Canadian usage of scissors is at least 400% higher than American usage. And a higher frequency of accidental foot stabbings keep doctor's wages high!

One day you wake up in the morning, and everyone says zed instead of z. You know that cartoon anime you used to watch? Well now it's called Dragon Ball Zed. You know that couch you sit in? Well it's a Lay-zed-boy. Oh man! you got the zed in scrabble!

One day you're at a movie theater, and your friend asks you if you'd like a smartie. And you're like, "sure", but then you put it in your mouth and it is chocolate. Yeah. I know, trippy isn't it. No joke has been played on you. Smarties are little M&M like candies. And what Americans call smarties are called Rockets in Canada. A few pictures to illustrate the difference:

Rockets in Canada

Smarties in America

Smarties in Canada