We have a viewer in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in the Canadian prairies to thank for this week’s podcast.  Laurie brought her quirky little town to our radar and we thought it deserved wider notice.  Who knew that tunnel ran directly from Moose Jaw to Chicago during Prohibition? There are actually two tours of the tunnels:  The other focuses on Chinese migrants who had to live and work in the tunnels in the 1800s.

Speaking of Canada, another Canadian viewer wrote in a while back and wanted to clear up some misconceptions about his country. Here are a few of his thoughts, in his words:

1. Canadians hate when people refer to their towns in city, country format. We prefer city, province format, like Toronto, Ontario. It is like saying “San Jose, USA.” It just doesn’t fit.

 2. Polar bears are not common sights. Unless they belong to the small northern population which makes up less than 1 percent of the population, Canadians have probably never seen a polar bear outside a zoo. In northern villages like Churchill, people lock themselves inside their houses when there is a polar bear in the town.

 3. We do not pronounce words like about “aboot.” The stereotype comes from a Newfoundland accent. When the cod was overfished, many Newfoundlanders moved to southern Ontario in search of jobs. Being closer to the border, the stereotype was picked up by some Americans. The average Canadian accent is similar to a New England accent.

 4. It is not that cold up here. As most Canadians live within 100 miles of the border, the weather tends to be just a little colder than New York City. Our summers are VERY hot, and our winters usually range from +5C to -15C (41F to 5F)

Hmmm, I will confess I did think the “aboot” or “aboat” thing was true and that it was very cold. I have family in Alberta and Toronto and that’s what they keep telling me. I stand corrected.

Interesting how people have stereotypes about folks from other countries or even regions of the same country. And just sometimes, there’s a little truth in the stereotypes.  I’m from Jamaica, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone who is “Jamaican” on a TV show say, “Hey, mon!”   But, I’m not going to pretend we never do it.  It’s just that we don’t do it as often as it appears on TV; we use it more for emphasis than a greeting, and we say “man”, not “mon.”  I will now demonstrate the proper use of “mon”:

“Hey Donovan, you going to the concert?”

“Yeah, man [Of course]!”

How about you? Are there any stereotypes people have about the place you’re from?  Are they true or not?

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