Today, my dear readers (yes - I know it's called "followers" in the blog-world, but let's be honest here, it's basically my parents and a couple of other loyal friends reading this blog, and if I called you followers, my mom would think I've started a cult, so readers it is!),
So - today, my dear readers is a day of another list. I've noted down a few things that are puzzling me about life in Canada and Newfoundland, and I wanted to share them with you. Many of these issues I've already discussed with our Canadian friends, or heard being discussed, so I might have sneaked in some comments made by others into the text as well.
1. Do Canadian babies have crooked backs?
One of the things that has puzzled me the whole time since we moved here, is how babies are transported around the city. What I find very good, is that a lot of kids are simply transported on their parents' backs in different types of babycarriers until they are about 2 years old. This is understandable looking at the conditions of the sidewalks in the winter, where a stroller is a no-go 4-5 months of the year.
However, what puzzles me the most, is that newborns and up to 1-year-olds are taken around in strollers, where the parents have simply attached their car seat. Here's a picture of what that would look like:
There is no bassinet in the stroller where the kid can lie down and sleep, but the babies are kept in the car-seat. I do know this construction from Finland, where you have to take your car everywhere and parents would use it to go to the supermarket. Here, however, it seems that this is the way children are taken for walks on a general basis, as I have not seen any other kind of strollers for smalle babies. In Denmark, a completely other extreme is in use, see an example here:
I used to call these Danish monstertrucks. It's like a bed on wheels. Difficult to put in your car, but if your baby is sleeping outside much of the day (like Danish babies do), you get why this cat-proof version is a good idea.
I'm wondering if the "studies" that are quoted to us parents in Europe, where they tell us not to let our kids sit in the car seat for longer than 45 minutes at the time, have not reached Canada? Or have they been proven wrong here and parents here are actually better educated than the European parents, who are hysterical about not letting their kid sit for too long in a sitter or car-seat out of a fear of giving their kids a bad back or, what's worse, lack of oxygen? Happy to hear your insights about this, as it's really something I'm wondering about.
2. Why doesn't everyone microwave their bacon?
I have learnt the most amazing thing from our friend JC - you can microwave your bacon! Not that I eat a lot of bacon, but whenever I'd like to, I don't, because of the discusting amount of fat that's left over on the frying pan. You can just place your slices of bacon on a piece of kitchen towel, cover it with another one and put it into the microwave for two minutes. Crispy bacon and all the fat is left in the kitchen towel! Genious!
3. What do the people transport in their trucks?
Living in St. John's, you see lots of trucks on the streets. Well, we'd call them pick-ups, but here it's just "trucks" in general. All kinds of people have one, and I've heard some women discuss this as well, just saying "Oh, I'd love me a truck". "What would you do with it?" "Just have it to drive around! It's so cool!". Quite a contrast to the favourite car of all women in Denmark - the Volkswagen Up. So, I'm wondering: what is it that they are transporting in their trucks? To be fair, the trucks here are so big, that you have a back seat, where your kids can go and often the trucks even have four doors. I've seen ski-doos being transported on them (fair enough), I've seen dogs on the back (not cool!) and I've seen all kinds of construction equipment (again, fair enough). But the majority of the trucks have nothing at all at the back. Is it a status symbol? Again, happy to hear your thoughts.
4. Were all the Canadians born with a cup of Timmy's double-double in their hand?
I know it's a cliche, but Tim Hortons really is one of the most Canadian things, I've learnt. There is one in most corners of the city, and they always have a drive-in. Yes - drive-in coffee!!! Have you ever heard about that before? However, most people I talk to never confess going to Timmy's. The coffee there is simply unbearably bad, if you're used to anything like a barista-made coffee. But: on an average day on the street, every second person you meet is carrying their large Tim Horton's, and I've now learnt that the most beloved way to drink it is: double-double - two sugars, two creams (shout out to Ms SF for explaining this concept to me).
I have scientific proof that this is correct. This spring, while cleaning my garden, I found (without exaggeration) 25 lids of Tim Hortons' cups in the bushes. 25! This is not, because people throw them in my yard, I have to say, but because it is VERY windy in St. John's and on a windy day, you can easily lose your cup of Timmy's to the power of the wind. But, each lid has a marking on the top showing what whas in the cup, and it was lots of double-doubles, I can tell you! There was also one with 4s 4c, which I'm afraid might mean four sugars and four creams. I wonder if the person is still alive...?
Anyhow, I've recently read in The Overcast that the reason why people go to Tim Horton's in St. John's is not their coffee, but the convenience, which makes it easy to drop by and get a cup on the way to work, as you're driving past it anyway. This means a) that people always drive to work (true), that b) people are too lazy to get out of their cars for getting their morning cup of coffee (true), but also that c) Tim Horton's has been very intelligent in the way they've placed their shops and obviously know how Canadians think about their coffee - it needs to be fast and easily accessible. It does not need to taste like good coffee, just give me my caffeine.
5. Finally: Why isn't Newfoundland more of a holiday destination
The best tourist season of the year is upon us and the first icebergs and whales have landed in the coasts of Newfoundland. There has even been a polar bear on Fogo Island!
This is a perfect place to experience natural wonders like nowhere else. Last week, I drove 10km from our house, hiked about 500m and saw this:
Isn't that just unbelievable? I know St. John's isn't the most easily accessible place on earth in terms of prices of tickets, but there are plenty of nature lovers in this world who've got the money to spend on flights to get here. I know the province is trying to reprofile itself as a holiday destination, but I think there is still a long way to go. How many of you have heard about the East Coast Trail so far? (if not counting from us!) Or that we get icebergs? And we have whales right off the coast? I know, not many of you had ever heard about this place before we moved here. I'm hoping we'll be able to spread the word, as seriously, this place is full of amazing nature to explore. We haven't even started yet, properly, so I'm very excited about the summer coming.
6. And a final remark: what's up with the beards, dudes?
In Denmark, many men have recently grown out their beards in an attempt to look more viking-like. It works very well and there's a limit to the beard - you cut it, when it gets too long. Here, though, I have a feeling that the concept "the longer, the better" is now in fashion. Yesterday I saw a chap jogging in the city with very normal jogging clothes on, but his beard was seriously 15 cm long. It was swaying in the wind while he was jogging. Is it a kind of a "return to the man from the logging community"-thing they've got going on? It's like a play-off beard, if the play-offs were VERY long. I need to follow up on this when the weather gets warmer and the NHL season is over. We're due to have 16 degrees tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be a bunch of bathing suits, shorts and t-shirts visible. Are the beards gone when it gets hot?
