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Published: October 12th 2007
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We've been in Canada for 6 weeks now, and a number of things have struck me about the place.
The thing we Kiwis have found most alarming is the sheer ruggedness of the wildlife here. I thought it was odd that our flatmate instructed us not to let the cats out of the house during the day. Being cats, they spend most of their day in respective baskets snoozing, but I figured they could probably do with a good run around the yard. At the very least, the cats could use the garden rather than making a mess of the litter tray. Was our flatmate being over cautious about the chance of it being run over by a car? No. It turns out there are a number of wild beasties about that will snatch your family pet and chew it in front of your horrified eyes.
Stories we have been told so far:
- A friend of our flatmate watched an eagle swoop down and pick up her chihuahua, leash and all. It dropped the thing from a great height onto the road, then carried it away to eat.
- Cougars have been known to come down into the
suburbs and munch on pets. Our flatmate told another story about someone she knew that had a cougar bound through her glass sliding door - while she was in the house! I'm not quite sure what the cougar was after, but at least it wasn't her.
- Once a cougar wandered all the way into downtown and found its way into the parking lot under the Empress Hotel. Presumably that one had some taste.
- We also heard a story of someone's children watching in delight as a bunny rabbit bounded happily abound the yard. Some animal - it may have been a racoon - proceeded to rip the bunny rabbit's head off much to the horror of said children.
- Just this morning, our flatmate watched a murder in progress involving two herons. It started out with a bit of a dog fight in the air, and ended up with one heron being held under the lake until it drowned.
Nasty.
We have yet to have any such wild encounters ourselves. Our experiences with wildlife have tended to be on the more fluffy side, mostly watching squirrels race up a trees and seeing deer bound across the
Tramping, Uvic style
BBQ on top of a hill. road during a bike ride.
Another thing I have found amusing is the number of strange place names around. Here are some examples from BC and Alberta:
- Clo-oose
- Hydraulic
- Pouce Coup ("Cut thumb")
- Spuzzum
- Ta ta Creek
- Whiskey Gap
- Westward Ho
- Stand Off
- Seven Persons
- Medicine Hat
- Legal
- Keg River
- Stoner
and my favourite: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
There is also Ochiichagwebabigoining in Ontario. Try saying that 3 times fast.
This time of the year is called 'fall', and now I understand why. All the leaves are turning orange and starting to fall from the trees. Last weekend, we had our first ever Canadian thanksgiving. The purpose is to give thanks for a bountiful harvest, although the original settlers held feasts for getting across the atlantic in one piece. They were so thankful that they went as far as founding an 'Order of Good Cheer'.
We couldn't let the occasion slip by without having an enormous meal. There was the obligatory turkey (apparently a small one in the scheme of things), with everything cranberry and oodles of stuffing. Here, stuffing is not just whatever
"Unbearable" Mounatin
Bear Mountain, a bright idea from a couple of ex Hockey players. Cut down trees and build a shiny development in a Regional Park. you found inside the cavity of a turkey. It is made as a main dish and eaten as such. We also had unfamiliar concoctions such as pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie. I was always a little confused as to where these things fit into the food chain, but apparently they are dessert. I was even more confused by the many names attached to the humble sweet potato. I kept calling it kumara pie, our guests called it sweet potato, and our flatmate (who is from Pensylvania) referred to it as yam. Like Christmas, the best thing is eating the leftovers for days on end. We also experienced Cracker Pudding which is sweet, made from crackers, and quite possibly my "New Favourite Thing".
Oddities we are struggling to deal with:
- Orange cheese
- White butter
- Kraft dinner (an instant macaroni cheese snack, made with fake cheese and fake macaroni)
- Cheese whizz - like orange mayonnaise but made of fake cheese (what is with the cheese over here?)
- Butterball turkey - this is turkey that has been injected with butter, so when you cook it, it is all buttery. Seriously. People deep fry it.
- Oreo
pizza - hmm, pizza base with oreo cookies and vanilla sauce.
Things we love:
- 100% maple syrup, by the litre - I have a feeling Ben has an addiction. I've caught him drinking it straight from the bottle.
- Our neighbour's plums - so sweet they make your eyes bulge.
- Actually, anything from our neighbour - he makes the best green tomato chutney.
We also have trouble with the enormous roads, and strip malls, especially while on a bike. We wandered into the Wal Mart complex (it took 5 minutes just to walk across the parking lot), but only lasted about 10 minutes inside. Ben was overcome with a feeling of dread. He hallucinated about buying the flannel shirts and stretch pants that were on sale or the mega packs of coke that sat tantalisingly by the door. He resisted, bought some socks and left in a hurry.
I shall now take a moment to mark the semi demise of our digital camera. The brave thing got through all of South and Central America, in one piece and in our possession (a great feat of itself). It was accompanying us on a small trek in
a nearby park, when the heavens opened and we got drowned in water. For a while the camera ressembled a fish tank, and was mostly water with a small bubble of air inside the LCD screen. It now struggles with daily demands and we are holding our breath to see if it will survive.
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Ben Fitchett
non-member comment
Lions, tigers and racoons ... oh my!
Hi guys! Orange cheese, homicidal racoons and hungry cougars. I had no idea Canada was such a danderous place! Take care and keep those blogs coming! Cheers, Fitch.