I want to know what Canadians think of americans.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

The table below pretty sums up why. It's actually pretty hard being a middle class American.



Average Number of Vacation Days Around the World Per Year

Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days

EDIT:
There is NO statutory minimum vacation in the US and 25% of employees receive no vacation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statutory_minimum_employment_leave_by_coun try

Wow..that is pretty alarming. Not sure how anyone could go without any vacation time.

[TheDragon]

I've been to the US about 6 times in the last 4 years, and nearly every time I tend to forget I am in another country. Usually it's the subtle things that remind me I'm in the States, like a different coloured currency, different pronounciations of certain words or different license plates, but even then I have to consciously remind myself that this is the US. Up to and until then, though, it's pretty easy for me to forget it's a different country.

I've made a lot of great American friends, too. It's weird that I actually tend to get a long with them better than some of my Canadian ones, the few and far between times I actually get to talk, meet or speak with them.

Everyone once and awhile you'll come across a real sack of ###### who is just mindfully ignorant and will have nothing to do with anything that isn't red white and blue, but then again I know plenty of Canadians who act exactly the same way towards Americans and anybody else. I think that's just a human condition. By and large most Americans I've met are friendly, easy to get along with and generous people. Very easy to talk to, so long as you're willing to break the ice.

Plus, I always think it's funny when I tell people from the US that I am from Canada. It's like it causes them to do a double take or something.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

One thing I think you'd say a lot of Canadians notice when traveling to/in the US is that people are fatter and ruder. Those would be the easiest generalizations to make.

[PsYcNeT]

Low-budget American commercials are the most unintentionally screamingly hilarious thing ever.

Makes every trip worth it.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

I find rural America to be a scary place.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Low-budget American commercials are the most unintentionally screamingly hilarious thing ever.

Makes every trip worth it.

I would say this was more true a few years ago, back when it was just some businesses trying to be quirky and get attention. Then those funny commercials got the youtube treatment, and now there's a million small businesses trying to get in on the craze for the free advertising, and now you just see a whole bunch of idiots screaming at the top of their lungs and doing over the top skits, and clowning around. MOst of them reek of trying too hard to be funny.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by TheDragon

Everyone once and awhile you'll come across a real sack of ###### who is just mindfully ignorant and will have nothing to do with anything that isn't red white and blue, but then again I know plenty of Canadians who act exactly the same way towards Americans and anybody else.

We call them Torontonians!!!!

I kid, I kid.




kinda

[WesternCanadaKing]

Now that I think about it, the biggest prick I've ever encountered travelling was actually a Canadian from Leduc. I was reading a book on my hostel bed in Cairns when he barged in around 10 at night drunk as hell with a girl who was already half naked. They completely ignored me and started getting into the foreplay while I watched stunned from the other side of the room. A few of the things he said during the encounter:
"Easy access... I like it."
"Instead of sucking on the beer, why don't you suck on my c**k"
"Are you ready to get spread like a whore in a church?" ????? what!?

And then finally he pulled out a red condom, and the girl expressing an unimpressed surprise said "Seriously... a flavoured condom?" to which he grinned and said "Yeah babe... it'll make your p***y taste sweet". At this point I lost it and was outside the room barely able to breathe I was laughing so hard. I think I heard the girl saying rather loudly from inside the room "Well what do you expect, Twizzlers!?".

But then again, he was from a town by Edmonton, so its not really fair to group him with other Canadians.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

The best thing about that photo ... Messier has a stubby!!!

And he is holding a beer!!

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

Average Number of Vacation Days Around the World Per Year

Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days

EDIT:
There is NO statutory minimum vacation in the US and 25% of employees receive no vacation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ave_by_country

All I can say is that is horrible.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

I find rural America to be a scary place.

That's a rather vague, geogrpahic category. Can you elaborate?

[Flashpoint]

As a Canadian, I wouldn't want to generalize about 350 million people living in the 4th largest country in the world. They're all different, and tend to move around a fair bit.

[Jedi Ninja]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

All I can say is that is horrible.

They also receive no paid maternity leave of any kind, and are only entitled to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave. This is actually worse than most third world countries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ma...aveAmerica.png

[blankall]

One thing I can say about Americans of University Age, they tend to fit much more into the frat boy stereotype. From my experience in Thailand, where I met people of all nationalities the Americans definitely stood out. Everything was a competition, and the guys were constantly trying to establish themselves as Alpha.

It happens at Universities here too, but from what I've noticed not to the same extent.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

They also receive no paid maternity leave of any kind, and are only entitled to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave. This is actually worse than most third world countries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ma...aveAmerica.png

Actually we get paid for a minimum of four weeks before the birth and a minimum of six weeks after. You can get paid for 12 weeks total the first year following birth, whether you want that immediately following the birth or split it up throughout the first year. It might not be as much as your normal salary (its roughly half), but its paid by the government and non-taxable. My benefits were such that my employer made up the difference between what my disablity payment was and my salary, so I was at full pay for 10 weeks before (due to bedrest) and six weeks after.

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

The table below pretty sums up why. It's actually pretty hard being a middle class American.



Average Number of Vacation Days Around the World Per Year

Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days

EDIT:
There is NO statutory minimum vacation in the US and 25% of employees receive no vacation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ave_by_country

I would bet that doesn't take into account the people that get "personal time" which can be used for sick leave as well as vacation. I worked for a bank which gave all of their employees 120 hours of personal time per year to do as they see fit.

I've personally never heard of any job that doesn't have vacation/personal time unless it would be a seasonal job like construction, wildland firefighting, etc.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

I would bet that doesn't take into account the people that get "personal time" which can be used for sick leave as well as vacation. I worked for a bank which gave all of their employees 120 hours of personal time per year to do as they see fit.

I've personally never heard of any job that doesn't have vacation/personal time unless it would be a seasonal job like construction, wildland firefighting, etc.

Having worked in Iceland for many years, I had 5 weeks paid vacation, we had at least 3-4 more long weekends than we don in Canada, we had sick day allowances, maternity leave was 6 months full pay, 12 months half pay, and the husband was given 1 month full pay leave to help out for the 1st month.

I mean, most of my family lives in Iceland, and over Europe, and an Aunt in Australia. The vacation, overworked, topic comes up all the time for even Canada and especially if America is ever mentioned. The fact is what do we value, work until you are popping anti depressants, fat and miserable or have at least reasonable vacation time.

I know in Iceland because of the 5 week mandatory vacation time people do a lot of travelling, there is a lot more time spent on family, and ironically even though America's religious right thinks that family values is hating gays and stem cells, in Iceland a very irreligious nation more is done to make families strong, lots of free time to spend with your kids, full healthcare, excellent education, excellent daycare...

I mean America to me is an example of what we can achieve if we are selfish, don't care about our fellow citizens and are too religious. I know that many states within America are very much like Canada or even like many of the liberal parts of Europe, but unfortunately a solid part of the nation is full of people that make the rest of the good American's seem bad by association.

For me its always been that Americans don't travel, they have a poor educational system, and their news media is horribly bad at showing world news and informing their citizenry that a world exists outside the US borders.

Probably why Canadians are so frustrated with America, we know so much about them, they know nothing about us.

American arrogance about being #1 is laughed at in the rest of the western world, especially Europe and Scandinavia, I don't think many Americans have a clue that there are nations that most would agree are better places to live, unless you want a cutthroat selfish capitalism or bust type nation.

[Weiser Wonder]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

I find rural America to be a scary place.

Meh. If you talking Idaho and Montana type rural, it's more boring than anything. People are conservative but friendly and helpful. I hate it a lot of the time because of how anti-intellectual and intolerant it can be but nobody is going to hurt you or get in your face. It's very peaceful. Which is nice.

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by Thor

Having worked in Iceland for many years, I had 5 weeks paid vacation, we had at least 3-4 more long weekends than we don in Canada, we had sick day allowances, maternity leave was 6 months full pay, 12 months half pay, and the husband was given 1 month full pay leave to help out for the 1st month.

I mean, most of my family lives in Iceland, and over Europe, and an Aunt in Australia. The vacation, overworked, topic comes up all the time for even Canada and especially if America is ever mentioned. The fact is what do we value, work until you are popping anti depressants, fat and miserable or have at least reasonable vacation time.

I know in Iceland because of the 5 week mandatory vacation time people do a lot of travelling, there is a lot more time spent on family, and ironically even though America's religious right thinks that family values is hating gays and stem cells, in Iceland a very irreligious nation more is done to make families strong, lots of free time to spend with your kids, full healthcare, excellent education, excellent daycare...

I mean America to me is an example of what we can achieve if we are selfish, don't care about our fellow citizens and are too religious. I know that many states within America are very much like Canada or even like many of the liberal parts of Europe, but unfortunately a solid part of the nation is full of people that make the rest of the good American's seem bad by association.

For me its always been that Americans don't travel, they have a poor educational system, and their news media is horribly bad at showing world news and informing their citizenry that a world exists outside the US borders.

Probably why Canadians are so frustrated with America, we know so much about them, they know nothing about us.

American arrogance about being #1 is laughed at in the rest of the western world, especially Europe and Scandinavia, I don't think many Americans have a clue that there are nations that most would agree are better places to live, unless you want a cutthroat selfish capitalism or bust type nation.

I hate long posts, but this subject interests me greatly, so here it is...

I think unintentional ignorance/arrogance has something to do with it. I was educated in a border state and we learned next to nothing about Canada other than they had a lower drinking age, and the money looked strange...

I've learned more about Canada, Canadians, and Canadian perception in the past year and a half on this board than I had in my first 30 years of existence, which is scary because you guys are idiots!

On the flip side, we are taught from day one that the U.S. is the greatest nation in the world. This of course being due to it being a "nation of immigrants," "The American Dream," economic/military superpower, etc. I held this mindset for some time, especially after being in the Marine Corps where you are taught to think that you are the best, period.

Today, as I am a bit older and a bit wiser, I still think the U.S. is great, but I've entertained the thought of moving to Canada at some point. My wife is not Canadian, but her dad is a landed immigrant and she has many siblings there as well. I also look forward to traveling to other continents as I have not done so.

One thing I was grateful for being stationed in New Orleans was being able to meet people from around the world without having to pay for a plane ticket. I think people are great in general, so meeting new people every week was a fantastic experience. (Especially that nanny from Norway, Silje )

The U.S. is really made up of pockets of like minded people, with a few shouts in the dark amongst them. I would be considered a left-centrist politically here in Billings, but a right winger in New Orleans. I think this is why "we" are sometimes baffled by national election results. Add that to being able to basically choose what news you want to hear through different media outlets, and many a U.S. citizen are in a shell of their own design.

As for religion, I'm an atheist and I agree that the influence it has on American politics is unfortunate. I'm just not quite as enthusiastic about it as you are, Thor.

Concerning the amount of work the average U.S. worker puts in, there are ways around that if people choose to follow those routes. I put in my 40 hours in a 3 day period, and I essentially have 5 days off per week due to one shift being overnight. That was a choice I made when I decided on a career path. Add that to 10 days of sick time, 3 weeks of vacation, and I'm one of the least workingest Yankees you'll ever meet!

Bottom line, I've changed my mindset greatly in the past 5-7 years. Much of the credit goes to experiences meeting and discussing issues with new people on message boards, but some of it comes with age as well. We all may be a bit different, with our own little quirks, but we're really very similar to each other.

[RogerWilco]

The two countries are pretty similar. I grew up in Calgary but went to school in Montana for five years and lived in Denver CO. for a little over three years. Came back home to Calgary because of family, and it is just home to me.

Living in the US for a little over eight years brought me to one conclusion, we are pretty much the same.

I must say though, at times the US protectionist mentality was hard on me. My work place was great. But there was an incident one time where some fishing ships in the Vancouver area blockaded a passenger ship from the US in some sort of fishing rights dispute. I had nothing to do with it but a few people in my office hated me for weeks. They told me I should go home. It was the only time in my life I had real discrimination in my face, over something I had no control over.