Canuck O' The Week: Maverick

For my final Canuck O’ the Week, I decided to talk about a Canadian who I personally think is beautiful, majestic, kind—quite the stud muffin if you ask me. With a stunning black and white coat, vibrant green eyes and weighing a whopping 22 pounds, I introduce to you: Maverick Starbucks.

Before I talk about why Maverick deserves the honorary title of this week’s Canuck O’ the week, let me back track a little bit. First off, you may be wondering as to why I have a picture of Ryan Gosling. Well, firstly this is because Sir Ryan is indeed Canadian. Secondly (and most importantly), I wanted to grab your attention—I mean look at him, he’s beautiful.

I wanted to end my final post with someone who is close to home—although I would mind having Ryan Gosling a little closer to home. So Maverick, if you haven’t put the pieces together yet, is my 8-year-old cat that my family and I adopted from the local humane society back when I was in grade 5.

My brothers complain that Maverick doesn’t really do all that much, he just lounges, walks at a mesmerizingly slow pace, does his own thing and just, (for a lack of a better word) chills. To me, however, because he is able to lounge for hours, in all of his 22 pounds of glory, is exactly why he’s the best cat there is.

At this point you may be thinking, okay what’s the big whoop about this cat? Well, the reason I admire Maverick and his ability to do absolutely everything with the utmost nonchalance is because he has been through quite a lot. He has had not one but two hip replacements. He also has a heart murmur, asthma and a condition call atrophic cardio-myopathy. Despite all of this, he loves nothing more than waking everyone up at 6:30 a.m., laying out in the sun, drinking out of the sink, and taking up more than his fair share of the bed.

So congrats Maverick and keep on lounging!

Also, regarding his weight of 22 pounds—he’s not chubby…just big-boned!

Tim Horton's

While sitting in my personality psychology lecture today and learning about the variety of personality characteristics of humans that derived from higher-order primates, my mind started to wander off and brainstorm about what I should write about next in my blog.

Attentively listening to the lecture—and certainly not on facebook, #whatshouldwecallme or lululemon.com (which actually originated from Vancouver)—I got a brain blast like no other.

Even though the professor kept mumbling things like “important”, “need to know”, “may not pass class if…”—all I could think about was the fact that I had not yet written about the one establishment that embodies everything that is Canada.

I could not believe that I had failed my moral duty, as a Canadian, to shed light on the most magnificent Canadian-made place in the history of ever. Why yes, I am indeed talking about the one, the only, Tim Horton’s.

Before any trip up to the cottage, chalet, airport or hockey rink it customary to make a quick stop at your local Tim Horton’s.

It is known under many names: Timmy’s, Tim’s, Timmy Ho’s, but they all mean the same thing, a great Canadian shop to get real good and real cheap, food.

When explaining Tim Horton’s to my American friends, I get many perplexed looks. “So it’s the same thing as Dunkin’ Donuts?” they ask…to which I reply, no, not even a little bit—it’s so much more.

Obviously Starbucks has the better espresso drinks, but you don’t really go to Tim Horton’s for the fancy shmancy lattes.  You go for a cup of Joe and a box of 20 timbits, all for just a little more than toonie.

Tim Horton’s is such an important facet of Canadian culture, that its menu items have been embedded into our vocabulary.

For example:

·      Timbits: the little donut holes, (known as munchkins at Dunkin Donuts), but they are 10x better than munchkins I can assure you. My favorites are the sour cream glazed ones, but the chocolate ones are usually the first to go in a party pack.

·      Double-double: a coffee with two creams and two sugars (the standard drink order at Tim Horton’s)

·      Ice-cap: The Tim Horton’s version of an iced cappuccino—the drink of choice during the summer. However, if you ask an iced cappuccino instead of an ice cap, they might not know what you’re talking about!

After talking to some people from Rochester, I recently learned that several Tim Horton’s have opened in upstate New York. However, if you want to get the real Canadian experience, the true Tim Horton’s environment—you gotta go north of the border to grab your Tim’s. 

Cottage Country

9:33 a.m.: Wake up naturally with the sun beaming through the panes of your window. The sounds of cicadas and motorboats hum quietly in the background. You lie awake for several minutes, well rested. There’s no rush to get up quite yet….you have nothing but time.

10:16 a.m. : Eat breakfast outside on the deck. A large bowl of fresh fruit from the local market sits in the middle of the table. Wave to boaters as skiers as they pass by. Still lounging in your pajamas, you are reminded by your dad that the lake will be getting choppy if you don’t get out on the water soon.

10:50 a.m.: First run of the day. Took a spill on your first attempt getting up, but your second run was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, the water just warm enough, you look up at the driver and yell “hit it” for your third run.

12:27 p.m.: After a quick dip, you run out of the water to dry off because burgers and watermelon are ready. After eating what may be your 8^th piece of water melon, you get up from the Muskoka chair you’ve been sitting in, look out to the water and think, “can it really get any better than this?”

1:03 p.m.: Feeling a little sleepy from the lunch, you reapply your sunscreen, grab that book you’ve been meaning to read for ages and sit back down on the Muskoka chairs on the dock.  The book rests closed on the armchair—you’ll get to it eventually. Instead you rest your head back, breathe, and relax

3:00 p.m.: Eager to try out the new tube your parents just bought, your little brother wakes you up abruptly from your afternoon siesta. The next forty minutes are filled with loops, figure 8’s, jumps…sheer madness, how does your brother always convince you to go?

3:40 p.m.: Stop at a nearby cliff on the other side of the lake. It’s about 30 feet…but you’ve seen higher. You climb on up, realizing it’s a lot higher than initially thought. You look down, close your eyes and jump out into the sheer, navy water.

4:30 p.m.: Back at the house and dried off, you look at your watch and think to yourself, “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere…”, so you reach into the cooler, (that was just recently replenished), and crack open an ice cold can of…. lemonade.

Sound too good to be true?

            What I just described to you is (in a nutshell) what a typical day in Ontario’s cottage country consists of. During the summer, herds of people migrate to Ontario’s North, leaving the Greater Toronto Area a relatively barren and uneventful place—inhabited only by those who have to work or were unable to make the drive up that weekend.

            It is really hard to explain what the cottage (not lake house) life is to someone who’s never experienced it first hand. People unfamiliar with Lake Joe, Lake Muskoka and Lake Rousseau and the likes probably won’t understand the point of driving two plus hours twice a weekend, every weekend, for an entire summer—but man, is that drive worth it.

            Sure it’s quite the headache getting out of the city, but once you’re on highway 400, listening to country music with the windows open and the smell of Weber’s wafting in the distance—you know it’s going to be a sweet weekend.

            I personally don’t have a cottage, but I am a frequent visitor of many of my friends’ cottages. Also, being a camp counselor, I am “up north” for the majority of the summer soaking up the cottage aroma. I love the outdoors and I would consider myself quite the outdoorsman…outdoorswoman?

Anyways, being up north and on the lake creates an environment that no pool in a backyard can replace. I mean, what other place has a chair—a chair that embodies relaxation and not having a single care in the world—dedicated to it?

So if you’re someone who really wants to get the true Canadian experience this summer, skip the boardwalks, get out your canoe, grab a drink and lie back in a Muskoka chair in Ontario’s cottage country.

La Poutine

When thinking about Canadian cuisine, a variety of items pop into my head: timbits, pemeal bacon, ketchup chips—but there’s one dish above all that really exemplifies Canada at it’s best.

Having come a long way from its French Canadian origins, this dish is the food of choice for those seeking something delicious, filling, greasy and pure-bred Canadian. I present to you, (drumroll please)….POUTINE!!!

You might be thinking pou-what? …but I assure you that aside from maple syrup, this is best of the best of Canadian cuisine.

Poutine consists of fries (often double-fried to make ‘em extra crispy), cheese curds and gravy. The combination sounds a little frightening but you can’t knock it until you try it.

Feeling a little bold the other day, I decided to create a homemade version of poutine in my school’s cafeteria. I even convinced some of my American friends to try it. Although hesitant at first, after the first bite they were forking up poutine like it was nobody’s business.

Because this was such a momentous occasion, I decided to capture it all on film. So enjoy this homemade movie dedicated to this dangerously delicious dish and afterwards…try making some for yourself, you won’t regret it!

ps. feeling un peu francophone, I uploaded a picture of Old Quebec's beautiful Chateau Frotenac (somewhere you should visit at least once in your lifetime!)

Canuck O' The Week: Lauren Howe

For this week’s “Canuck O’ The Week” I thought I would talk about someone who is not only going to save the world one day—but she’s going to look darn good while doing it!

Meet Lauren Howe, a Toronto native who last summer became Ms. Teen Canada-World! Aside from being a industrial engineer, right wing on McGill’s field hockey team and a really awesome dancer (lol), Lauren is also actively involved with the non-profit organization, “Free the Children”.

This past September, she spoke in front of a rather large audience at Toronto’s Air Canada Center for “We Day”. Along with other pageant contestants, she helped raise a whopping $74,000 for the “Free the Children” organization. This summer she will also be participating in a service trip in India.

If that isn’t awesome enough for you—just wait. She has also been on service projects in Ghana and Peru, won the calculus award for our senior class and is bilingual in French and English. When not fundraising, studying or being in some foreign land, you will likely find Lauren watching “How I Met Your Mother”, munching on sushi, or hanging out with her zillion pets. She has one cat, Hunter and two dogs, named Sprinkles and Muffin—or maybe their names are Cupcake and Summer?

Regardless of the names of her two fluffy pals, this girl is definitely going places and I’m proud to call her one of my best friends!

            You go Jwowhowe!

Beauty List of Canadian Jargon

This past Easter weekend, since my school thought it’d be an excellent idea to have classes on Good Friday, I was sadly confined to solitude on campus—as the homeland is just a wee bit too far for a weekend rendezvous.

Lucky for me, one of my dear Canadian friends drove a whopping seven hours to come and pay me a visit (some dedication eh?)

Anyways, as we were walking around the very empty campus, (because everyone left for ‘Jers), he turned to me and said,  “oh man this place is a ghost town eh?”

After hearing this, I paused and thought wow, I totally forgot Canadian’s say weird things—all the time.

Before I get to the infamous Canadian ‘eh’ I thought I should first fill you in on some of the more popular Canadian jargon…(some of this may be more prevalent among university students, so bear with me as I jot down some of the wacky terms)

Beauty: another term for great, awesome, cool

“Aw man, did you see that? That was a beauty play!”

Muck: to go at something with great intensity

“I’m starving! Let’s go muck some ‘za’”

translation: I am terribly hungry. We should grab some pizza and eat it with great enthusiasm”

Snip: to shoot, to snag, to see, (often a sports related term…frequently used in hockey)

“Blake had a sweet goal today, snipped it top cheddar from the blue line”

translation: “Blake scored a stupendous goal from the blue line today, the puck went in the top corner of the net”

No Worries: phrase meaning, don’t worry about it, it isn’t a problem etc.

“You can’t grab a coffee right now? No worries then, ill c’ya ‘round.”

Translation: That is not a problem that you are unable to have a cup of coffee with me at the moment, I shall see you at a more convenient time

Pardon Me?: a phrase used  when something is unclear or misunderstood

“Pardon Me? What did ya say?”

Washroom: this one in particular I get made fun of for saying ALL the time but I personally think that this one makes more sense then saying “bathroom” because you “wash” your hands in a washroom but you don’t “bathe” in a bathroom

“Pardon me, but would you be able to tell me where the washroom is?”

Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 11 etc. :used to describe a grade in school, (instead of 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd grade)—I had to memorize “freshman, sophomore, junior, senior” before coming to school here!

“This one time in grade 11…”

translation: “this one time in junior year”

Wheelin’: in the process of courting someone, trying to “pick someone up”

“He’s been wheelin’ that bid’ for the past week”

translation: “he has been trying to court the young lady for the past week”

Other terms include: hundy, bittie, buck, celly, chate, dangles, flow, pound, micky, dealin….and the list goes on.

As the weekend continued, I came to the realization that even though my friend was clearly speaking  what appeared to be English…if I wasn’t born in Canada, I would have zero clue as to what he was talking about. And oh…the amount of times this boy said the infamous ‘eh’

“That movie was great eh?”

“Oh man, it’s cold out eh?”

“Kelly, you’re like the most awesome person ever eh?” (didn’t actually say that…but I’m certain he was thinking it)

After he left, I was left in quite the pickle as I realized that I hadn’t really learned any “American” vocabulary. I mean all I could think of was “sorry I’m not sorry” and “sucks to suck”.

I guess I still have the rest of the semester to compile a final list of all of the phrases I have learned and teach them to my Canadian friends. But, considering that I have 4 weeks left of school and most of them have less than two weeks, they can definitely tell me that it “sucks to suck.”

Best Toronto Attraction?

In light of the fact that I gave my very first official tour today, (woo!), I have been thinking a lot lately about what I would show my American friends if they ever are brave enough to cross the border. What best represents Canada? More specifically, what best represents Toronto? After a little thinking, all I could really come up with was the CN tower.

Now we all know that the CN tower is a great Canadian landmark and really tall blah blah blah—but I’m a little hesitant for the CN tower to be the staple attraction for visitors.

Not that I don’t recommend going, (I mean I myself have been 5 or 6 times), I just feel that our proud, young nation has much more to offer than a really tall tower that has a really fast elevator.  

First off, the CN tower isn’t even the tallest building in the world. It is in fact the second tallest, falling behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa—so that in itself is a little disheartening.

Activities offered at the CN tower include: standing on a 4x4 section of glass floor—usually snuggly with a dozen other visitors, eating at the rotating restaurant and the edgewalk.

What is the edgewalk you might ask? Well, the edgewalk is exactly what it sounds like. For a nominal fee, you get a harness, a helmet and the opportunity to walk around the outside of the CN tower. I don’t know about you, but my hands get sweaty just thinking about it!

I went to the restaurant located at the top of the tower for the first time this year for my mom’s 50^th birthday…. (but she doesn’t look a day over 25!).  Anyways, the restaurant spins and makes one full rotation every 72 minutes. If dining in motion doesn’t make your tummy a little upset—just wait. Through my brother’s dinner selection, I learned that the restaurant offers not one, but two choices of a 20oz prime rib. Just so we’re all on the same page here—that’s 1.25 pounds of meat.

Basically, I guess I feel like the CN tower is a creative and pricey way to make newcomers feel uneasy, queasy and stuffed.

I still have to admit that the view of the Toronto skyline from the top of the tower is absolutely magnificent. I highly recommend seeing at least once in your lifetime.

Despite this, as an Ontario native I would tell you that if you don’t mind the bad hair day—skip the elevator and fancy beef and visit the Niagara Falls. 

p.s. for an even more in depth look at the edge walk, check out this vid!

Canuck O' the Week: Justin Bieber

In addition to jotting down the little differences between the US and Canada, I thought that there are a lot of pretty cool Canadians that I should recognize for being well…er….pretty cool Canadians. With this being said, the award for the very first “Canuck O’ the Week” goes to none other than Sir Justin Bieber!

Before you moan and groan about my choice of this pint-sized teen pop sensation, I actually have many valid reasons for giving this blonde kid some serious props.

First off, it is safe to say that even years after rumors started that a certain Justin Bieber would be attending my high school in Oakville, Ontario...I am still a “belieber”.

With his GF Selena, G-rated reputation and his new hit single “boyfriend”, (which I’ve listened to an embarrassingly high number of times), it seems that we just can’t get enough of this Stratford, Ontario native.

Having watched his E True Hollywood Story on more than one dreary Saturday afternoon, I have learned that the Biebs grew up in rural southern Ontario. During most of his childhood, Justin and his single mother barely made ends meet. All it took to jumpstart his career was a few YouTube videos showcasing his uh-mazing voice and one very interested R&B singer by the name of Usher—and the rest is history.

Enough about his life story, what I find most impressive is that the kid is still in the limelight and has yet to turn wacky. Also very impressive is that fact that Justin supports a whopping nine charities and foundations.

Now I’m not just jumping on the Bieber bandwagon, I have always been a loyal fan from the get-go. I mean…I did get my dog Jake from Justin’s hometown. So, in a way, Justin and I have quite the personal connection with one another.

 Anyways, congrats Justin! I salute you and your g-rated rockin’!

Signed,

Forever a “belieber”