Last week for the first time in my life, I used a passport to cross a foreign border out of the United States. Granted, it was only Canada, our English-speaking neighbor to the north probably more like us than any other nation. Yet it was still interesting to see the cultural differences and similarities.
Here are 11 observations by a Mississippian in the Great White North:
1. Upon first crossing the border some 60 miles north of Detroit, I was shocked to see the landscape looked a lot like the Mississippi Delta. A dead-straight highway laid down through vast farms growing mostly corn.
2. But there was a difference in their brand of agriculture: Hundreds of huge windmills lined the roads. I assume they have little affect on the crops being grown around them, and I’m sure it’s extra money for the farmers to sell the electricity they generate. Of course, there’s a matter of paying back the initial capital expense. I would guess Canada has tax incentives to encourage that. I’d expect Mississippi farmers to be quick to jump on that if Congress did something similar here.
3. Another difference: No billboards along highways. It makes for a more peaceful drive (and takes away another advertising competitor for newspapers). So here’s to the “Eliminate Highway Signage Act” I’ll be submitting to the state legislature.
4. The rural vibe ended as we neared Toronto. It’s the most bustling city I’ve ever been to, with New York being perhaps the lone exception. Traffic crawled to a standstill, even on a weekend, miles outside downtown, and 50-story or more residential skyscrapers, built in the last few years, soared in both the suburbs and city center. It was something to behold.
5. It’s so big that Mississauga, a suburb 17 miles west of Toronto, is the sixth-biggest city in Canada with a population of more than 720,000. Much of it is fueled by Canada’s friendly immigration policy, and many of the residents come from South Asian countries like Bangladesh. It’s an interesting mix of peoples there, but they all seemed to be prospering as there were huge factories all along the roads.
6. We stayed in Mississauga, drove our rental car to a subway stop and then rode into Toronto. Public transportation worked well throughout our trip, which also included stops in Detroit and Cleveland, where we didn’t have a car for most of the journey.
7. When we couldn’t get somewhere via subway or bus, Uber filled the gap nicely. Just pull up the app on your smartphone, tell it where you want to go and within a few minutes a driver in their private car will pull up and take you there. The price is much cheaper than taxis. The lone problem I had was finding the pickup point, and a few of the vehicles were in lamentable condition. But what did I care really? They got me where I wanted to go.
8. During the singing of “O Canada,” their national anthem, at a Toronto Blue Jays game, the crowd joined in with the words. I’ve never heard that here. Give credit to Canadians for their patriotism — and vocal abilities.
9. The weather in Canada during the summer is just about perfect: 80 degrees at most. It was funny to hear the locals complain about the humidity; I wanted to invite them to Mississippi to learn what real humidity is. I’m sure they would counter with an invitation to visit them during January.
10. One issue with the weather (and distances): They use the metric system. Never before have I been so grateful for those little kilometer conversions on the speedometer. The metric system will always be a nuisance to me, even if it probably is the better way.
11. I thought of my colleague, half-Canadian and foodie Mark Rogers when biting into a peameal bacon sandwich, a Toronto speciality. It’s a thick slice of what I would call pork more than crispy bacon on a handmade bread. Upon devouring it, I realized we’ve finally found what unites all people regardless of nationality: Fatty, tasty foods.
Reach Editor/Publisher Charlie Smith at csmith@columbianprogress.com.
