Canada Day!

July 1st, 2011


Today is Canada's 144th birthday - that's 144 years of not being a British colony.  Of course, Canada is still part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, meaning Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state here, holding aboot as much power as she does over in the UK - not much.  This Canada Day was especially "exciting" for Canadians as it marked the start of Prince William & the new wifey's tour of Canada.  All CBC (the Canadian Broadcast Company - much like the BBC) can talk aboot is the royal visit.

 
But not every swath of Canada is thrilled by the presence of the monarchy - Quebecois are notorious for thumbing their pseudo-Gallic noses at Britain's direction, further exemplifying the odd cultural arrangement here in Canada:   a Commonwealth nation with an English Queen as head of state, that hosts the largest French community outside of Europe, and where everything from potato chip bags to government documents are written in both French and English.  The dichotomy is quite something.  But it does make for some interesting packaging - like this:

Yes, those are Chips Ahoy.  And they taste better here.  Seriously.

So, yeah, Canada Day. 

We went down to the lakefront (that's Lake Okanagan) for the Kelowna Canada Day festivities.  The big thing we were looking forward to was the Taste of Canada area.

Eleven whole booths dedicated to the cuisine of the 2nd largest country in the world.  Yes, eleven.  Now two of those booths were dedicated to hamburgers, one to pre-packaged chips and soda (they do call them chips here, not crisps as they would in England, even though Canada is a Commonwealth country like we just discussed - again, the whole cultural thing is totally discombobulated).  The longest line was not for the national dish of Canada - poutine (french fries covered in gravy and cheese curds), but for buckets of mini donuts.  Donuts seem to be big here (a good thing for me, eh).  Tim Horton's, the Canadian answer (though not a great one) to Starbucks, serves up TimBits, small donut holes akin to the Dunkin' Donut Munchkin.  People go to Tim Horton's for the donuts, not for the coffee.  So the line for the bucket of donuts as at least 40 people long.  Being an impatient American, my hatred of standing in queue (the Canadian word for 'line') trumped my insatiable love of donuts, and alas, we did not have any.  Nor did we have any poutine, simply b/c eating french fries at a fest should only be done with fingers.

The best part of walking aboot was seeing how patriotic our fellow Kelownans are (Kelownans?  Kelownians?  Kelownites?).  Everyone was wearing red and white. 

Tents were set up every few meters (yes, meters - Canada is on the metric system, remember?  America tried it once, in the '70s, for aboot 15 minutes, but gave up b/c there was math involved - just like the Carter administration not to try harder (but that's a story for another day)) where Canadians young and old could get maple leafs painted on their cheek (face cheek, not butt cheek, though I'm guessing a few went that direction), or go the full face-paint-monty with red and white, not unlike a rabid hockey fan.  Everyone was carrying miniature Canadian flags, some wore maple leaf-emblazoned Dr Seuss hats... 

...or hockey jerseys, or anything else with the word 'Canada' on it.  The show of patriotism was stronger than what I have seen in the US where the Star Spangled Banner is usually worn only by bikers and strippers via bandana or bikini.  Everyone was wishing everyone else a "Happy Canada Day!

One of the most glaring things we noticed was the lack of drunken debauchery.  There were no Molson-fueled mobs of Kid Rock wannabes lurching through the crowds, yelling obscenities, throwing cigarette butts on the ground, and generally acting like white trash.  True to the Canadian stereotype, the masses were quiet, orderly, and, for lack of a better term, Canadian.  It was mostly couples walking hand in hand along the lakefront (like the missus and I), or parents pulling their kids behind them in wagons bedecked in red and white streamers and bunting.  There were plenty of play areas for the kids - I counted 3 bouncy castles, and there was a climbing wall set up for them also - without the requisite caution signs you'd see in the States:

For me, the best part of the day was getting a chance to walk around the downtown/lakefront area of my new hometown.  It really is gorgeous.  A marina covers most of the lakefront, and the water's edge is all parkland, with winding canals for paddle boats

The lake is surrounded by all sides by mountains, and you can't help but feel happy and relaxed. 

                  (yes, that's a Canadian Pot Flag - it's pretty liberal aboot that up here)

After our fest walkaboot, we ventured to the downtown area of town to check oot the shops and restaurants, this one in particular caught my eye:

Unlike on American Independence Day, most of the shops here for Canada Day were closed.  I know - how weird is that?  I mean, actually honoring the nature of the holiday and not using it as an excuse for a linen sale?  It's like being in another country!

But of course, I am still, technically, an American, meaning I get to celebrate Independence Day again on the 4th!  This year, though, and much to my delight, I do not have redneck neighbors (or toothless trolls - yes I lived across the street from a toothless troll) to contend with on the 4th - trolls and rednecks who like to stay up until 3am lighting dime-store firecrackers, much to the terror and horror of my kitty cats - trolls and rednecks who let small, fat, obnoxious, uncoordinated children (this kid in particular was especially, um, "special") play unsupervised with matches and fireworks.  Instead, I get to spend this 4th of July quietly perched upon our mountaintop retreat, eating crock-pot beer-beef sandwiches and drinking Sam Adams, and enjoying a weekend with 2 major holidays. 

Looks like we picked a good time to move to Canada, eh?