Top 10 Things Canadians could have Koreans do while being photographed by the press to show they love 'Canadian culture' when they visit Canada

I was blog surfing this morning and came across Brian's comment from this post,

"If [a Korean person] ever comes to the US, and if I'm charged with giving her a tour, the first thing we're going to do is dress her in Pilgrim clothes and photograph her churning butter."

NOTE: I changed the quote slightly here. I am going to write about 'blog discourse and the use of "Korean" vs. "person" in a future blog. Sometimes there is a negative aspect to one's word choice. Whether it is deliberate or unconscious I think it's something that needs to be considered . . .

Brian's post got my blog juices flowing . . . and I decided to create a blog about the 'Top 10 Things Canadians could have Koreans do while being photographed by the press to show they love Canadian culture if they Visit Canada' . . .

#10. Making and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QsMUxJldPRM&feature=related

Dude, your video is TEN MINUTES LONG--must be a genetic thing--Could this be Brian's younger brother? lol

If you actually made it through all 10 minutes then you probably won't mind watching this . . . I can't handle watching speeches on the 'topic-which-shall-never-be-named-in-my-presence again' after having adjudicated nearly 100 speeches on the 'topic-which-shall-never-be-named-in-my-presence again' during my 3 year tenure in public school teaching . . . seriously, if you're a Korean English teacher or Korean student reading this and want to know how to win a speech contest let me give you a hint: if the judges are native English speakers DO NOT GIVE A SPEECH ABOUT King-you-know-who . . . !!! If all 70 or 80 speeches are on the 'topic-which-shall-never-be-named-in-my-presence again' imagine your odds of winning . . .

#9. Going to a hockey game . . .

#8. Playing street hockey . . .

#7. Tapping trees to make maple syrup and making pancakes at a maple syrup farm (see #17) . . .

#6. Going to Niagara Falls . . .

#5. Go skiing at Blue Mountain or Whistler . . .

#4. Get your picture taken with a mountie . . .

#3. Eskimo kiss with an Eskimo . . .

#2. Learning how to add "eh?" to the ends of sentences instead of "ee" and "uh"

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=79T_Honhewc
(You gotta love the dude's fur hat, eh?!)

You never know what you'll find (hint: it involves the letter "F", lol) on youtube when watching one video and looking at the list of other possible video titles on the right side of the screen.

#1. Kissing a beaver . . . lol.

The top ten list is pretty arbitrary and I did not put hours of thought into the content but rather just took the general international stereotypes about Canada and slapped together a list. Some alternative items are below . . .

#11 Put on "Canadian traditional dress"--though what this would actually be is rather controversial . . . the list of criteria for defining 'what is Canadian' is so long I won't even get into it. Suffice it to say that my post-colonial-post-modern-feminist-queer theoretical perspective could write something about it . . . but for those that 'get it' I'd be 'preaching to the choir' and that don't I'd just be banging my head against a brick wall . . .

Jacques Cartier

John Cabot

John Cabot

"The departure of John and Sebastian Cabot from Bristol on their first voyage of discovery, 1497." Oil on canvas by Ernest Board, 1906.

Blackfoot chief Aatsista-Mahkan.

Crowfoot, Head Chief of the Blackfoot Nation, 1887.

While writing this blog I did some surfing to see what other stereotypes are on the Net about Canadians and came up with the following . . .

#12 Living in an igloo


#13 eating a donut and drinking a coffee at Tim Hortons (my American girlfriend just said, "What's Tim Hortons?"

From wikipedia.com,

"Tim Hortons Inc. is a fast food restaurant chain based in Canada known for its coffee-and-doughnuts. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario by hockey player Tim Horton."

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=NuFLon26nMw

I seriously don't get why Koreans haven't already opened drive-thru coffee places. Though considering the early morning driving culture I've witnessed in Korea I think I know why . . .

NOTE: This is one cultural phenomenon that CANADIANS began--not Americans: In America "The original Starbucks was opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker."(wikipedia.com)

"The original Starbucks location was at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971-1976." (wikipedia.com)

#14 Smoking 'whacky tobaccy'

I wonder if tourists who don't know a lot about Canada would notice if their picture was taken under a flag with the wrong leaf . . . hmmmmm.

I also wonder how this might look if said tourists were smoking while having their picture taken under said flag with the wrong leaf?


If you've never heard Noam Chomsky talk about its criminalization you'll find this very interesting. "Historically when a drug has become criminalized it's generally class related" (Chomsky). I'd also add "race" to his quote and I think it's implied in the larger context of his perspective.

#15 Live with polar bears--this is probably connected to the next idea that we . . .

#16 . . . live in a country with an arctic climate with snow and freezing winds all year long--WRONG! See here for a description of the climate in Canada.

#17 All Canadians are fat (somewhat true) . . .

Unfortunately this is true . . . see this article, Canada earns title of being the fifth-fattest nation (November 10, 2008), for more info.

#16 We are more polite/nicer than Americans . . . hence this American wearing a backpack with a Canadian flag while traveling.

However, I did some research while making this post and came across this site . . .

#17 There is a common stereotype that Canadian food is steak and potatoes, bread and butter, hamburgers and french fries (and one 'teacher' I worked with last year actually did a power point where she told Korean students that PANCAKES are a traditional Canadian food--how "white" and upper-middle class can you be?) and that we never eat anything spicy, with seafood, or 'exotic'--check out our demographics and multiculturalism.

If you're an English teacher in Korea and you are teaching Koreans this stereotype SHAME ON YOU. From wikipedia.com, "Canadian cuisine varies widely from region to region. Generally, the traditional cuisine of English Canada is closely related to British and American cuisine, while the traditional cuisine of French Canada has evolved from French cuisine and the winter provisions of fur traders."

In the 21st century context of "Canadian" food it's probably a good idea to consider that we have so many different ethnic groups within the term "Canadian" that the only real answer to "What do Canadians eat?" and "What is Canadian food?" is this: IT DEPENDS ON WHO IS EATING!

#18 We love Walmart yet hate American economic hegemony

#19 Moose roam our streets . . .

I don't know if this pic was 'photoshopped' or not . . . you decide. I think it's real, lol.

#20 We are always polite and friendly . . .

Pamela Anderson

Jim Carrey

Michael J. Fox

Kandyse McClure

And on that note . . . this blog has gone on for way too long, eh (see #2 for an explanation).

J