ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: Paranoia during the "wait"

[amikety]

I think I would put one of those in my mouth.

Oh. I just remembered. Mr. Freeze. Canadian freezies are vastly superior to US freezies. Canadian chocolate syrup is, however, inferior to US chocolate syrup. And WHY can't I get broccoli and cheese soup here?!? Adding cheese to cream of broccoli soup does NOT make it broccoli and cheese soup.

Campbells sells a cheddar cheese base. You can add cream, broccoli and other ingredients as needed

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

I think I would put one of those in my mouth.

Oh. I just remembered. Mr. Freeze. Canadian freezies are vastly superior to US freezies. Canadian chocolate syrup is, however, inferior to US chocolate syrup. And WHY can't I get broccoli and cheese soup here?!? Adding cheese to cream of broccoli soup does NOT make it broccoli and cheese soup.

I think whatever flavours we have are better than in the US. Those people will eat anything from a box, can or tube. I remember an interview clip from CNN back in the days of Katrina. A relief worker was astonished when people who hadn't eaten for days arrived at the food tents and complained that ther wasn't any Macca's or KFC.
So if a Yank complains about the flavour of anything it is meaningless. What the US is great for is variety. The food is crap but you can get it in any possible variation.

Broccoli/cheese soup is pretty easy and inexpensive to make.

 

[QuebecOkie]

I don't really make soup. I cook a lot, but soup isn't a happy effort for result exchange for me. I've not seen the cheddar soup, but I'll keep an eye out for it. I've been pleasantly surprised that most of my "usual" stuff (hair products, etc.) is available up here. I had no clue what to expect.

Oh, 'Murica, there's nothing you won't put in a box! 'Murica isn't the king of variety, though. That would have to be Japan. Have you seen the variety of kit kat flavours they have?? http://japanesekat.com/archive/kitkat/

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

I don't really make soup. I cook a lot, but soup isn't a happy effort for result exchange for me. I've not seen the cheddar soup, but I'll keep an eye out for it. I've been pleasantly surprised that most of my "usual" stuff (hair products, etc.) is available up here. I had no clue what to expect.

Oh, 'Murica, there's nothing you won't put in a box! 'Murica isn't the king of variety, though. That would have to be Japan. Have you seen the variety of kit kat flavours they have?? http://japanesekat.com/archive/kitkat/

Japan is the King of the public washroom. Its like a trip to NASA. My last trip to the Philippines included a change of planes in Japan. Just having a poo there was worth the trip. It was like a mini vacation in my other vacation. If there is anyone out there that is short of things to add to their bucket list they must add "Have a poo in Japan" because that my friends was an awesome experience. Just one more reason to love our Japanese neighbours.
I had a Japanese Snickers on the trip back. I thought the wasabi was a little overboard.

 

[Steph C]

Japan is the King of the public washroom. Its like a trip to NASA. My last trip to the Philippines included a change of planes in Japan. Just having a poo there was worth the trip. It was like a mini vacation in my other vacation. If there is anyone out there that is short of things to add to their bucket list they must add "Have a poo in Japan" because that my friends was an awesome experience. Just one more reason to love our Japanese neighbours.
I had a Japanese Snickers on the trip back. I thought the wasabi was a little overboard.

LMAO!!! I used to have a friend whose goal it was to poo in every country he could. I think he was a drummer. The Philippines, on the other hand, going poo is a 3 bucket system in the convenience room. Like the opposite of USPH. I remember when I came out of the washroom and announced to the extended family - I went poo, and then I realized there was no water running! They were like 'OMG then what did you do?' Me: 'I used toilet paper.'

 

[Steph C]

They're a dessert bar from BC.

http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/visitors/NanaimoBars.html

My husband keeps trying to buy them for me at the grocery.

OH, I just had one of those today for my 2pm snack ;D

 

[Steph C]

*sigh* If CIC monitors these forums, what I'm about to say may derail my PR application completely. I prefer fake syrup to real maple syrup. *covers face in shame* Fake syrup is thicker and...I don't know, syrupier to me. My Canadian mother-in-law is on my side.

Me too! As a 5th generation BC-er I don't even know what to do with the stuff. I don't even really like pancakes, but if I put the real syrup on them it seems to soak it up like a sponge. And that stuff is expensive. I'm supposed to be all 'yay maple syrup' but the only real use I can think of for it is to put a nice glaze on my homemade smoked salmon.

Don't let them brainwash you into thinking the 'back east' stuff if the only way to be real Canadians! Snow, Tim Hortons, Maple Syrup, I don't have much to do with those things and I'm Canadian too - our west coast culture is sadly under represented in Canadian stereotypes.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

LMAO!!! I used to have a friend whose goal it was to poo in every country he could. I think he was a drummer. The Philippines, on the other hand, going poo is a 3 bucket system in the convenience room. Like the opposite of USPH. I remember when I came out of the washroom and announced to the extended family - I went poo, and then I realized there was no water running! They were like 'OMG then what did you do?' Me: 'I used toilet paper.'

Drummers are lazy. How do you not poo in any country you are in? Now that would have been a goal...."I was playing gigs in England for 3 weeks and never poo'd once." That is an effort worthy of respect....

I love the Philippines but I hate their disregard for complete toilets. No seats and no toilet paper. I am too big and clumsy to squat and make like I'm bombing Berlin in 1945. Some of the public washrooms have attendants but they do not have supplies. WTF? I asked one attendant if he had toilet paper and he gave me a funny look that said "I'm the washroom attendant. Why would I have toilet paper?"
I have since learned to be far more logistic with the schedule of my bodily functions. My wife carries toilet paper with us wherever we go just in case. That is why she is awesome.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Me too! As a 5th generation BC-er I don't even know what to do with the stuff. I don't even really like pancakes, but if I put the real syrup on them it seems to soak it up like a sponge. And that stuff is expensive. I'm supposed to be all 'yay maple syrup' but the only real use I can think of for it is to put a nice glaze on my homemade smoked salmon.

Don't let them brainwash you into thinking the 'back east' stuff if the only way to be real Canadians! Snow, Tim Hortons, Maple Syrup, I don't have much to do with those things and I'm Canadian too - our west coast culture is sadly under represented in Canadian stereotypes.

There are ways to cheat. I add the fake syrup to the real syrup and make it go that much farther. Tim's is good for road trips at home I'm attached to my Keurig. Snow defines us rain does not. What part of BC culture is represented is pot and Nanaimo bars.

 

[QuebecOkie]

I've never been out west. Hell, I never visited Canada until our house-hunting trip. And now...well, we live in Quebec, so I feel like I only "visit" Canada, just to visit my in-laws in ON. The husband will be in Cold Lake (on course...again! gotta love the military) for my b-day this summer. He said, "Well, maybe you can fly out?" I told him I wasn't at all sure Cold Lake was worth a $1000 visit. But I'd like to go to BC sometime.

Tomorrow is four hours of driving (to Quebec City and back) and $400 to prove I have no communicable diseases. (Finally doing my medical.) A good reminder (as if the language barrier wasn't!) that I'm still a dirty foreigner.

 

[Steph C]

Drummers are lazy. How do you not poo in any country you are in? Now that would have been a goal...."I was playing gigs in England for 3 weeks and never poo'd once." That is an effort worthy of respect....

I love the Philippines but I hate their disregard for complete toilets. No seats and no toilet paper. I am too big and clumsy to squat and make like I'm bombing Berlin in 1945. Some of the public washrooms have attendants but they do not have supplies. WTF? I asked one attendant if he had toilet paper and he gave me a funny look that said "I'm the washroom attendant. Why would I have toilet paper?"
I have since learned to be far more logistic with the schedule of my bodily functions. My wife carries toilet paper with us wherever we go just in case. That is why she is awesome.

I get the cleanliness of washing yourself with water.. it feels nice and clean but I hate that the bathroom becomes a water world. And in my imagination it's always @ss water from other people splashing. Getting my behind and feet wet in that water every time I have to pee.. it's not very fun. No wonder the guys like to water the coconut tree outside.

Another funny thing is you can have a complete toilet with a tank on the back, but nobody hooks it up to the water line. You get so used to it that one day you will end up doing the bucket flush on the most sophisticated of toilets without realizing they will flush with the handle.

I like public washrooms because they seem cleaner then ours in the house. Gas station washrooms are fantastic. Sometimes they will even flush with the handle and have soap at a real sink. I once used a toilet in the country house of a friend, it was kind of an incomplete toilet with a curtain and it was really funny because my friend's mother was actually trying to carry on a conversation with me while I was doing my business. She was kind of peeking over the side at me as if everything was normal and I was like... um....

I find mall washrooms annoying for another reason, it's because all the women will pile up at the mirror to gaze at themself or fuss over where to put a particular strand of hair. You can't even wash your hands! I always secretly wonder if they don't have mirrors at home? I will never figure that out.. I asked my guy and he just laughs and says 'well, that's Filipinas for you.' I guess that's why they all have such great hair

I'm always the carrier and dispenser of lou roll.. somehow the wife's purse gets to hold everything the man doesn't want to carry in his pockets. : Sure enough we will get to the mall and he will ask for a roll of tissue. That's why I have to carry a big purse

 

[Steph C]

I've never been out west. Hell, I never visited Canada until our house-hunting trip. And now...well, we live in Quebec, so I feel like I only "visit" Canada, just to visit my in-laws in ON. The husband will be in Cold Lake (on course...again! gotta love the military) for my b-day this summer. He said, "Well, maybe you can fly out?" I told him I wasn't at all sure Cold Lake was worth a $1000 visit. But I'd like to go to BC sometime.

Tomorrow is four hours of driving (to Quebec City and back) and $400 to prove I have no communicable diseases. (Finally doing my medical.) A good reminder (as if the language barrier wasn't!) that I'm still a dirty foreigner.

I thought Cold Lake was in Alberta! Oh well, maybe one day you will be posted in BC. There's a good chance of it!

 

[QuebecOkie]

Cold Lake is in Alberta (I just typed that in a confusing way). I don't have much desire to visit Alberta. Too much like Oklahoma. I had a good life there, but the whole cowboys and plains thing...been there, done that.

No clue where we'll be posted next. It's years in the future (no telling when, even, with budget cuts). Gotta work on making a life here, while we're here. Once I get AIP, I can get into a full-time french course, which will help. I'm learning now, but with only 5 hours of disorganized class per week (plus an hour of private tutoring), it's sloooooow going for me.

 

[cempjwi]

I bet you cannot remember what you did with your time before you incessantly read posts on this forum, checked your application status on the CIC website and had your nails for a snack thinking about the processing of your application.

 

[amikety]

I bet you cannot remember what you did with your time before you incessantly read posts on this forum, checked your application status on the CIC website and had your nails for a snack thinking about the processing of your application.

I played the Sims 3 and cursed at Mount Royal University a lot!