Thoughts on being the Sole Canuck

It's appropriate that I'm writing this on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. - or as President Obama called it, the most "quintessential" of American holidays.

Umm, ok.... Canada celebrates Thanksgiving too. Only it falls on the second Monday of October, not the last Thursday of November. And granted, it's not nearly as big a deal in Canada as it is here. I've had some classmates ask me why Canada has a different Thanksgiving and I tell them that I'm not certain, but I believe it has to do with the earlier harvest. After all, late November is practically winter in Canada. Hopefully I'm not perpetuating a myth!

Anyway, I'm the "go-to" person for questions on Canada namely because, well, I'm the only Canadian in the first-year class. Given Canada's proximity to the U.S., this at first seemed odd. There are about 10 Indian students here and 6 or 7 Chinese/Taiwanese. Now, we have a small class size (about 120), so perhaps there are more Canadians in the larger programs, though proportionally they still might be insignificant.

I have a few theories for why this is the case: (1) Canada has some excellent MBA programs; and (2) those programs cost much less than they do in the U.S. Canada's most expensive program is probably about half the cost of a comparable program in the U.S. - which is not to say that the quality of the programs in Canada is lower. The U.S., of course, has the public-private divide between universities. A state school is much less expensive than a private institution, but is often (but not always) seen as second tier. GW, a private school, is actually one of the most expensive schools in the U.S. for undergraduates.

Being the sole representative of the Great White North is an interesting experience. You really become shorthand for the country as a whole. Whenever Canada is mentioned in class, people tend to look at me to see my reaction or to see if I have anything to say. Though I'm not much better! When a prof mentions Mexico, I immediately wonder what Harry (the sole Mexican with the decidedly "un-Mexican" name) thinks about that. Of course, I field a lot of comments/questions on stereotypes. One of my favourites is: "You don't sound like a Canadian!" By this, they generally mean I don't say "a-boot" for "about", nor stick "eh" at the end of my questions. I haven't spent enough time on the mainland to know whether mainland Canadians do this a lot, so I generally just say that I'm from Newfoundland, where people have a different accent. Few Americans are familiar with Newfoundland, so they don't really appreciate just how different the NF accent is - or that I don't have a Newfoundland accent either!

On the subject of Americans not knowing Newfoundland: I occasionally meet one who does and that's usually when I get the "Newfie" label attached to me. For instance, this past weekend I went to a club with a friend. We got IDed (as apparently anyone under 40 does here) and I showed my NL driver's license, as usual. The bouncer made a comment about not having seen a "Newfie" in a while. He used it very innocently, I'm sure, not knowing the mixed feelings Newfoundlanders have about the term. For too long, "stupid" has preceded "Newfie". I generally don't like it, and I don't refer to myself as a "Newfie", but my feeling is that if you do use it, you should at least be a Newfoundlander. It's like how a woman can call refer to herself as a "b*?@*" but God help the man who calls her that. The same applies to pejorative names that have been "re-claimed" by minority groups - there's a certain empowerment in taking back a term that was once used to oppress.

Back to me being the only Canadian in my class.... it's not even just my class. I can count on one hand the number of Canadians I've met since moving to the U.S. Again, surprising, given the proximity of the countries. In fact, I think I've met no more Canadians here than I did in China. I joined an expat meet-up group, but haven't had the time to attend any of their events. Life here is very similar to life at home, so I never felt any culture shock - but still, it would be nice to meet others who know what "loonies and toonies" are and miss Tim Horton's.

Now, It's possible I've met Canadians and not known they're Canadian. This is the difference with China. Foreigners are so rare in China, that when you meet them, of course you talk about where you're from. That's the cool thing about being here: We are the only nationality who can pull off being American. Joel, the only Brit in our class, opens his mouth and everyone knows where he comes from. I go to the Career Center to ask for paperwork for my part-time job, and the receptionist immediately hands me the domestic student package. When I tell her I need the international package, I get the double-take. Yes, I'm international!

A writing sample is the only thing that would give me away. As the title of my last post reveals, I haven't given up my "u"s. After more than 20 years of spelling a certain way, it's hard to give them up! I love "colour" and "favourite". And in Statistics, I learned how to do a "zed-statistic" - not a "zee-statistic". It will always be "centre", not "center"! I Americanize my spelling for papers and exams because I figure there are benefits to downplaying differences with profs when it comes to your mark (oops, I mean "grade"). Plus, I am in the States, so I figure I should conform to their spelling rules for anything official.

That's it from here on this Thanksgiving Day. In less than three weeks, I'll be one of many Canadians when I cross the border and see those six beautiful English/French words: Welcome to Canada / Bievenue au Canada.