Culture shock for Canadians in the US

[CutienPurg 0]

well here in Michigan we have gravy of every type color and consistency.......and asking for it on your fries doesnt ever warrant a confused look......in fact asking for it on anything pretty much is acceptable

[no one 0]

Gravy.

My fiance is so sick of hearing about the gravy. Gravy goes with fries. It's a brownish colour, and thin enough to dip your fry in or pour over poutine. When I was a Cracker Barrel learning about Biscuits (I wonder if things with that many calories per square inch are just illegal in Canada? ) I was gamely testing out my 'grits' when I noticed what appeared to be some sort of white pudding. Ok. Nothing too shocking there.

By then, oh then. His friend picks it up and offers me "gravy". It took me a few seconds to figure out he meant the white stuff. Now, I know that gravy is essentially pure fat but at least it doesn't look like a mound of congealed lard. Made from sausages. I've lived all over, including Montreal, and I can handle weird food, like chicken feet. But white gravy?! Gaah! Gravy shouldn't still look exactly like rendered animal fat.

And my fiance will never let me forget the time I ordered fries at Applebee's and asked for a side of gravy. The girl looked at me blankly, and asked me to repeat myself a few times. She finally offered 'Well, we have some breakfast gravy to go with the biscuits... I guess I could bring that out." Eeeagh! Not the quivering lard of doom!

And people stare at me blankly when I talk about (brown) gravy. "You know, made from turkey at Thanksgiving, or chicken, or beef? Gravy?" *still looking mystified*: "Oh, brown gravy".

And that commercial showing a vat of blubber, I mean sausage gravy, because sucked up through a straw?

Hilariously, my fiance thought that he had a bizzarely small stomach, since he only ever managed to eat 1/3-1/2 of the portions served in restaurants down there. Imagine his surprise when he came up here and managed to finish most of his meal!

And the drinks! I had never seen a Margarita the size of my head before, let alone something that big being served to a single person.

Hey! Chicken feet isn't weird... yummm :-P It's a staple in Chinese "dim sum" restaurants. Speaking of which, the Chinese food around here sucks. In fact, there is fewer "ethnic foods" here than back home in Toronto. Like someone else mentioned earlier in this thread, even if you ask a person of a certain ethnic background where to find authentic ethnic groceries or restaurants, they'll point you to some Americanized stuff half the time.

I thought the white gravy thing was specific to my in-laws.

The chili fries here are good, even though not an exact substitute for poutine.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Actually, that is one thing here that is much better than I experienced back in Canada - and I suspect it may be regional. There are hundreds of different ethnic restaurants in and around Atlanta. My husband and I regularly enjoy experiencing Thai, Lebanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Korean and the more expected Mexican, French and Italian restaurants. These restaurants are usually privately owned and run by people from those localities and the food, so far, has been excellent. Atlanta does have a large immigrant population so I guess it is to be expected. I am certainly appreciative.

[Velvettt 0]

Oh yeah. White "cream" gravy glopped all over a CHICKEN FRIED STEAK. First time I saw one of those I thought "heart attack on a plate". Who the heck thought that it would be a yummy thing to coat a steak in batter and deep fry it??

Hey, come down to Texas and discover RED GRAVY. Yup, the spicy, tomato sauce they use in TexMex cooking (over top of enchiladas, etc) is called red gravy.

I wanna take out an ad in the paper... "Gravy is made from meat drippings, liquid and a starch thickener. It is not made out of lard and milk, nor is it made out of tomatoes and onions. Those sauces are called by other names."

Someone mentioned debit cards. Do you know that people down here use debit cards solely for purchases or withdrawing money from an ATM? And you can pay for anything with a cheque! Even restaurant meals! When I moved down here, I hadn't done any of my banking without a debit card/bank machine in several years. I deposited my paycheques, I paid my bills by debit card, I even renegotiated my loans. I'd forgotten how to write a cheque.

[no one 0]

The use of SSN...

In Canada, I hardly ever used my SIN except for filing taxes and employment purposes. But here? They even ask you for the last four digits of your SSN if you want to switch cell phone plans. Weird.

[Marilyn. 340]

I wouldnt mind trying the white gravy at all......But PLEASE whats wrong with all this ignorance toward THE brown gravy!!!

Poutine, Turkey, fries, Fried chicken, hot chicken sandwich, cant eat any of those without the brown gravy.

Ok american fellows. you dont know poutine, but how the hell do you eat all the rest? Its soooooo dry!

Ill bring these huge containers of mix for Gravy when I move. Specially poutine sauce. Ok I can live without the cheese curds, poutine is always good with mozzarella , but youll never take the poutine sauce away from me!!!!

Mephys

ummm, we use brown gravy with our turkey down here in California

like I mentioned earlier it has a lot more to do with where you live in the US or Canada, then if you live in US or Canada....

Edited January 12, 2007 by MarilynP

[CanuckmeetsYank 0]

For Me I found that it was the small things that have sent me for a loop. Like waiting in line at the post office. Mind you, Canada post is not much better but I seriously watched the clerk come off a break serve one customer then put her sign up for another break. I waited about 25 minutes to get a bloody stamp.

I moved to Chicago from Calgary and I am originally from Halifax. So I went from small city to medium Large city to OMG! Way to many people! That is taking sometime to get use to.

The rudeness I finds varies from time to time. I have encountered some really nice people, and I have had some quite terrible service. My Favorite was when I went to Borders and was looking for this particular book for my fiance, so I asked the guy at the counter for it by name. He asked me to repeat myself about 3 times and finally said "where are you from?!" I gave him my death stare and said I just moved here from Canada, I didn't think I was speaking any other language then english!

Banking here is very different then what I am use to. There it this whole your debit card is sometimes a credit card just depending on the machine at the store. Sometimes you put your PIN # in sometimes you sign.

I have to agree with a few other people here the sales are fantastic! They really do know the meaning of a sale.

[MarieAnastasia 0]

my mom always made "white" gravy.... I make it to sometimes....

We called it cream gravy... although we usually use milk not cream....

It is just margarine melted, mix in some flour and add 2 cups of milk and season with salt and pepper to taste... we sometimes fry up onions in the margarine too... yum!! yum!!

Marilyn, we always called that 'drawn butter'...yummy too.......'Gravy' in my neck of the woods is brown made from the pan drippings (roast, chicken, turkey etc) and add a bit of flour or corn starch and water (and a few tablespoons of liquid that the vegables are cooked in) But this bisquit or chicken gravy that I've seen in the States turns my heart....lol.........to each his own I guess!!............{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[MarieAnastasia 0]

Ditto to the stares when requesting gravy for my fries!!!!!!!!!! I feel like saying, 'I'm only asking for gravy not a weapon!!' We're gravy fearing people....lol

[KarenCee 3]

The use of SSN...

In Canada, I hardly ever used my SIN except for filing taxes and employment purposes. But here? They even ask you for the last four digits of your SSN if you want to switch cell phone plans. Weird.

I would be impossible to count how many times I've been asked for my SSN. The DMV here will automatically use it as your driver's license number if you don't request that they don't. The constant request for my SSN *has* to be one of the most irritating things for me and I'm the USC! Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING hinges on those 9 frickin numbers! One example: we have the occasional parent that comes to register their child for school. Now, the SSN is used as the number to identify the student. This parent may not want to use their child's SSN so they have to sign a paper stating that, and what the reason is.

OK..rant over.

Oh and BTW....there are so many "types" of gravy here in the South, none of which is good for you. That's not to say they don't *taste* good. When I try to recreate Poutine here at home, I use the brown gravy packets, the kind you add water to and cook on the stove. So far my Joel likes it. The white gravy stuff....ewwwwww!

Edited January 13, 2007 by KarenCee

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

I know that this was a post from awhile ago, but I thought I'd give my answer to it now . So my answers are (in no particular order).

The"culture-shock" I experienced were:

1) Moving from a big city in Canada (with a population of a couple of million people) to a small rural town in America (with a population of a couple of thousand people)

2) The friendlier attitudes that Americans have (from my experience anyways)

3) The difference between "Canadian English" and "American English" in terms of spelling (Sorry, words just look better when they are spelt with "-our", "-re", and "grey", not "-or", "-er",

or "gray".). Ditto on the "Metric System" and "Non-Metric System".

4) Having to pay for healthcare and being asked about health insurance, SSN and stuff like that.

5) How challenging the US immigration process and really is (I'm sure many of you can relate).

Ant

[no one 0]

Hi Everyone,

I know that this was a post from awhile ago, but I thought I'd give my answer to it now . So my answers are (in no particular order).

The"culture-shock" I experienced were:

1) Moving from a big city in Canada (with a population of a couple of million people) to a small rural town in America (with a population of a couple of thousand people)

2) The friendlier attitudes that Americans have (from my experience anyways)

3) The difference between "Canadian English" and "American English" in terms of spelling (Sorry, words just look better when they are spelt with "-our", "-re", and "grey", not "-or", "-er",

or "gray".). Ditto on the "Metric System" and "Non-Metric System".

4) Having to pay for healthcare and being asked about health insurance, SSN and stuff like that.

5) How challenging the US immigration process and really is (I'm sure many of you can relate).

Ant

Hi Ant! Nice to see you here ;-) Looks like you've been posting a lot already. I've been offline for the past little while.

I still haven't learned to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Nowadays, I just guess at the temperature...

Back in Canada, I've never had to second-guess doctor's visits... you just drop in, and you don't have to pay any hidden fees. Apparently at our Kaiser here, it's $15 per doctor's visit, even though I know exactly what I need and just want a prescription.

I like pronouncing "route" root, but here it's r-out. "Buoy" is boy to me, but booey to everyone else here

Man, I'm tired. I finally received an email notification today from the gov't telling me that my EAD's on its way. I have no idea where to start in terms of job search. Being dumped back at square one is hard.

[Reba 2]

I've experienced probably all of the above, and even after more than 2 years, nothing really has changed much. I still get people around town and at work who look at me funny when I say something that, I can only guess, is uniquely Canadian, because they have no clue what I'm talking about. And I have yet to make any even casual acquaintances at work, and I've been there 6 months now. The other day, near lunch time I asked one of the ladies who sits near me "hey where you guys going for lunch, take me with you" They left without me, without even a nod, or a "sorry, no room". So much for southern hospitality.

I miss Greek food sooooooo much! In the GTA its pretty much everywhere, not so here. There's even a "Greek" restaurant in town here, the only thing Greek about it is the owner. The food ain't Greek, that's for sure I ate it and wanted to hand it to the chef and ask him if he'd feed it to his Grandmother. bland bland bland. blah.

Even the Thai food isn't really Thai. Its all been blanded down for the sensitive local palete. And its all kinda boring really. Whenever I go home for a visit, I have a list of foods I absolutely *must* eat when I get there. Proper souvlaki, fish n chips (none of that around here either), back bacon (usually at Pickel Barrel with eggs benedict), and of course chocolate. Among others.

I have however found myself lately to be saying "zee" instead of "zed" when I'm around anyone other than my husband, and I've tried my best to figure out how cold is 30F and how hot is 35C. I won't tell you how much I weigh in either pounds or kilos, so don't bother asking

There are no farmer's markets around here either, except maybe up in Asheville (I've heard rumours, I don't know what's there though) but that's an hour long drive. I grew up in Stouffville, north of Toronto and spent Saturdays at The Big Flea (or the Sales Barn as we locals called it). They had everything from local farmers' crops of pretty much everything, to Mormon Bakers, to Cheese mongers (mmmm, cheese), to people trying to sell off their junk. My Dad used to buy all his tools there, and we went at the beginning of summer every year to get new sandals, and at the beginning of winter every year to get new boots or new skates.

And in Canada I don't have to differeniate when I say skates. I don't have to say "ice skates" or "snow skiing". Everyone knows what the heck I'm talking about with context. I might have to say "figure skates" as opposed to "hockey skates" depending on who I'm talking to.

A toque is a knitted cap to wear in the wintertime. A toboggan is something to slide down a snowy hill on. End of point (Canucks who have moved to the South will know what I'm talking about!)

Racial segregation is alive and well down here, no doubt about it. Bigotry and ignorance is a way of life, and people don't think twice about desparaging a particular color of skin, or nation of origin. And that includes Canada and Canadians. According to some down here, we pay 75% in income taxes for our "free" socialist healthcare (socialist being the next best thing to communism as far as some know), we have no civil rights, and we have never faught in *any* war. (ugh...the other night we had one ignorant arrogant American at dinner who said he'd gone to France and insulted a waiter by saying "hey man you'd be speaking German right now if it wasn't for us, so just get me my damn food" er summat. I seriously wanted to hit him, then give him a history lesson. I kept my mouth shut, because I've learned enough down here to know I just can't win because as far as they've learned they *did* win the war, and they were the *only* ones there.) Unfortunately my husband is also a victim of upbringing and has tendencies toward classism and racism that he doesn't even notice most of the time, that make me angry and uncomfortable. I'm not saying it doesn't happen in Canada, because it does. But from my own experience, its usually from the older generations who remember the buses being segregated. Not (usually) people my age or younger. Crazy neo-Nazis aside of course. They're everywhere sadly.

As a Pagan who moved from the Big City to small Extremely Christian city, I've run into more than a few times where I've felt *very* uncomfortable. BUT, I've learned how to dodge the questions, and sound like I know what I'm talking about (8 years of Catholic school helped ) and every now and then will say something that sounds so utterly Christian to the ears here, that I ward off the stake burning for another week or so.

Other than that, its starting to become familiar. But like others, I don't think I'll ever "settle" or really feel at home here. I hope that soon we can move to Canada. That of course requires my husband to do more paperwork, and he's still got a bad taste in his mouth, so I have to figure out how to trick him into going to the police station for fingerprints

[jg_am 0]

I still haven't learned to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Nowadays, I just guess at the temperature...

I like pronouncing "route" root, but here it's r-out. "Buoy" is boy to me, but booey to everyone else here

Route being pronouced "root" ot "r-out" is a regional thing. I'm from Philadelphia and if varries for people. Most of us say it like "root". We also say creek like "eek" or "ick" depending on which part of PA you're from our which stream you're talking about, but that's not what this post is about.

I have a quick unscientific way to convert farenheight to Celsius. It works both ways. 50F is 10C. For each degree of Celcius you go, figure two degress Farenheight. ie: 15C = 60F, 5C = 40F. Keep in mind this is a rough estimate so it's not quite those temps but close enough.

Edited January 28, 2007 by jg_am

[warlord 73]

Well with the conversion something I've had to do to get from Farenheit to Celcius is just do a simple, subtract 30 and divide by two. So to go from Celcius to Farenheit just take your number, double it and add 30 and there's a simple rough estimate...