10 random mashup challenges to begin with

Challenge n° 10:

Take that: the speed limit on Canadian highways is 100 km/h. And they`re built so wide and spacey that in Italy you would fit five cars next to each other on one lane. Not that I exactly miss being passed on the right side, but being a criminal for going over a 100 km/h?

I can literally hear some of you sigh right now, thinking what a wonderful life it would be without any discussions about insane speeding with the beloved driver and ...oh no, dear speed-lovers, dont pale and worry, I haven't heard of any plans to introduce these limits in Europe any time soon! Relax, there's still the car industry to protect you...

 

Talking about driving habits: sooner or later I`ll for sure indulge in writing about my first experiences with a BIG truck in Canada. And parking it. Or driving a car with a German license plate on a mountain road in South Tyrol. Italian campers cramming Munich’s city streets around Oktoberfest time. Danish patience and toll-station-wack-outs.  Another time.

thought.

... because it almost fits the last post and is so funny:

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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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10 random mashup challenges to begin with

challenge n° 8: "You look like a gypsy."

Political correctness is a quite problematical theme in our lifes. While my husband really believes in fairness, transported through language, I maintain the position, that you should be allowed to call a spade a spade. He simply calls that "being rude". I know, there might be some ambigous sayings and idioms in my vocabulary or rather generally in the South Tyrolean vocabulary. I tell my daughter: "You look like a gypsy!" (yeah, I'm not proud of it but it happens), cause her undershirt is sticking out. Or the kids are playing that very popular game called "Who is afraid of the black man?" In those situations, my husband rolls his eyes and I look around, hoping, that none of the aforementioned ethnic groups are nearby.

10 random mashup challenges to begin with

    challenge n°6 and 7: cold breath & purple yams

   Who would’ve thought, that you tell people, asking about cultural differences, about your experiences in supermarkets? Seriously every time I come to Canada in the summer I catch a cold, because I forget to bring a sweater when I go shopping. It’s freeeeezing in the grocery stores! But then I return to Italy and get all grossed out when people behind me in the line literally stand so close, that I can feel their breath. And of course smell them. Ugh! Luckily all the fresh food and veggies make up for it..

   

   Which would be the next random difference between the cultures: fresh and home cooked food. Yes, you heard right, meals made from scratch! Once, when we were living in Denmark I made pasta and my man's Canadian buddy couldnt. freaking. believe. that I made it with real tomatoes and onions and all. In Italy you have a vast assortment of fresh fruit and veggies from early springtime to late fall and I`d say, 19 out of 20 people know, how to cook at least 5 meals with fresh ingredients. In Germany, most people take pride in theoretically being able to cook to some degree and not wasting too much time on it on workdays. In Canadian supermarkets you find EVERYTHING canned and ready to be popped in the microwave. That might be convenient on the one hand but on the other it’s a pity in terms of taste and health benefits. (I helped one of the Canadian wifes to make Thanksgiving dinner last year and on a sidemark: there's no canned pumpkin in any store around here and mashed yams is not supposed to be purple, even if it tastes the same. The guys won't eat it.)  Then again, great fresh and local produce are offered on the farmer’s markets and lots of Canadians are very health-conscious when it comes to nutrition.