5 things I love about Canada

1. People are nice

Some might call it the typical North American shallowness but I always prefer a smiling face to a grumpy one. No matter how heartfelt it is. And who expects a deep conversation about true feelings or politics in a store or with a one-time-acquaintance anyways?

2. Canadian things are pretty

I mean just look at the flag, the national anthem, Canadian symbols like the beaver, maple leaf and tree, the moose (less pretty but very much loved), the loony coin…

 

loonie

 

3. Canadians take their sports serious

They do, playing it themselves and following their favorite teams. Again I think it’s friendlier. More fans, fewer hooligans.

4. The cultural variety

Natives, French, Scottish, Irish, British, German, Italian… – you find the traces of these cultures in architecture, language, names of towns and people, food and festivities. Yet in a very special “Canadianized” way.

    

Canadian hockey

5. Nature

Huge lakes, high mountains, endless forests, icy landscapes with polar bears, rivers, coasts, waterfalls, national parks… and all of them are exceptionally beautiful. There are 7 cultural and 9 natural properties inscribed in the UNESCO world heritage list.

Niagara Falls

  

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10 random mashup challenges to begin with

Challenge n° 9: Ending up in smoke

Europe is quite a bit more liberal than Canada and the US in several ways. Smoking restrictions is one obvious example for that. In Italy, smoking in bars and restaurants was banned only a few years ago - Thank God! Finally, no stench while you're eating and you can actually bring your kids into cafés and go to pubs and bars without smelling like a piece of smoked meat after. In Canada on the other hand, smoking is forbidden not only in bars, public buildings, airports, but also outside of them. No smoking on patios. No smoking in front of the airport. No smoking besides the door of a restaurant, smokers actually have to stand about 10 meters away from it.

As much as I appreciate the downtrend of smoking, especially among youngsters, the restrictive Canadian laws concerning this matter feel a little freedom limiting to me.  Everybody has their own head to decide if they wanna slowly kill themselves or not. Their problem, I'd say. And most of the smokers I know are very respectful around nonsmokers anyways. They step away from you while smoking, they don't smoke in closed rooms, they don't smoke around kids and pregnant women, in short: they try not to bother anyone with their second-hand smoke.

A little more brains wouldn't harm anyone, a few exaggerated laws less neither.


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