The Nelsons do Canadian Culture Shock

Being that I had managed to work in Alaska four seasons prior to this one, and never make the drive up or back from Bellingham (what can I say? I love the Alaska-ness of a 6 seater airplane), Cory and I decided early on this would be our form of transportation this summer.

We chose MY Focus (because yes, we do both drive the Ford Focus), for it's obvious superiority to his.  Sportier engine: check, sun roof: check, IPod hook up: check, automatic gear shifter thingy: check (yes, I still do not drive stick.)  I do lament leaving his Focus behind because no matter how dirty or unloved it is, it's white hatchback ('05 was a good year for the Focus) exterior always looks like it is fresh from a European car commercial.  For that...I love it.

So early the Saturday morning of April 3rd, we said our final goodbyes to my parents and the civilized world and headed north.  I was giddy to say the least.  We had the necessary mascots on the dashboard all set up for the trip.

1) A picture of our beloved nephew Dylan, giving his biggest big boy smile.
2) A little sand filled lizard of Cory's amazing cousin Jill.
3) A bigger and more life-like rubber lizard that Cory loves and brings everywhere to scare me.
4) A very stylish stuffed animal rabbit my sister Mary made me who wears a checkered vest and a blue bow in her hair, and has a big M for Mary sewn on her butt.

Now, with the companionship of these inanimate acquaintances, we eventually made it to Skagway...our motherland.  We stayed three nights in Canada, but our first day in particular struck me as odd.  This is a tale of stumbling upon the strange subtleties of Canadian culture shock.

The drive to our first stop that night was just phenomenal.  I wasn't expecting the jaw-dropping beauty to hit us right off the bat (the bat being the Sumas border crossing).  Blue skies, massive valleys and jagged rugged peaks guiding us ever forward toward the town of Prince George.  Did I take the opportunity to capture of these picture perfect views?  For some strange reason, no...I did not.  But I did capture the majesty our lunch break in a dusty, cold little town, of which I can not recall the name.

 

We pulled into this remarkably unremarkable town of Prince George, BC for the night and located the motel which we knew from much recessionista research, was by far the cheapest in this surprisingly pricey town.  It is so remote up there, that we quickly got the feeling we had just, in a day, arrived in a place that was not quite caught up to what I know as the norm of culture and society. The Econo-Lodge was not shockingly nothing to write home about, except it did provide us with our first experience with a person who indicated we weren't in Kansas (aka Northwest Washington State) anymore.  Under a glare of florescent lights, framed by pale blue wall paper, stood the apparent keeper of Econo-Lodge Prince George for the night.  She was a lovely older woman, who was nothing but helpful to us wandering souls. 

Nothing struck us as odd until the realization it was Friday crept into Cory's hungry head...and he could think of one thing and one thing only: Pizza Friday.  Pizza Friday is simply the shared belief between my husband and I that Pizza is just more fun on Friday's, therefore we tend to flock to the Pizza Pie with more frequency and fervor on Fridays.  Hence, Pizza Friday.  So, as we were bustling our bags up the stairs, Cory asks this woman if there was any great pizza she could recommend.  Without hesitation, and with as much passion I have ever seen a person muster when recommending a pizza joint, she stated,"You gotta go to Pizza Hut , have you HEARD OF IT?"  Now this last portion of her statement was not asked in a facetious or joking matter whatsoever.  She genuinely wanted to know if we had heard of Pizza Hut.  We nervously told her that, yes...we had heard of it.  She firmly insisted we go there, and out of confusion and an irrational guilt, and we told her we would.

We lied.  Instead of going to this fabled Pizza Hut, we decided to pursue a more cultural experience at the distinctly Canadian Boston's Pizza.  This seemed to be the hub of all social activity in P.G. which made us feel good about our decision to betray the front desk woman.  We ordered a Tuscan-style pizza which on the menu sounded pretty standard Tuscan.  If I recall there was goat cheese, olives. chicken and some other predicable and at the time delicious sounding toppings.  Upon receiving it, we realized that this may have been more of a cultural experience than we had anticipated, in that our Tuscan pizza was covered with a thick, almost impenetrable layer of Cheddar cheese.  Being that this wasn't mentioned on the menu, it led us to believe that this may just be a Canadian given.  There WILL be Cheddar.  Whether it's relevant to the dish it at all...there WILL be Cheddar.  This struck us as odd.

All this said, I've never met a pizza I wouldn't eat After devouring this more orange than expected pizza, our waitress came by to bring us our bill.  She asked us if we wanted to use our "Airmiles", and judging from our slack jaw, mouth breather response, she said, "Oh, not from around here, Eh?"  We nodded and looked at each other as she walked away mouthing to each other in udder confusion, "Airmiles?"  Upon her return, she asked us where we were from and we told her.  She then, with the utmost sincerity, asked us a question that would profoundly confuse us... "Are people the same everywhere?"  We said yes because you could tell that's what she wanted us to say, but after our night in this town we just didn't know anymore.  I don't think I'll ever know exactly what she meant by that question.  Had she never left Prince George?  This thought made me shutter.  Or was she just a waitress at the end of her shift at Boston's Pizza, who had run out of witty banter for the night, so she asked a silly question?  We will never know, but it was really the icing on the Canadian cake. 

We ran out to the car saying simultaneously, "WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!?!?!" Hopped in and both agreed we need to get back to the Econo-Lodge, stat.  I was getting a strong Twilight Zone vibe from this place. It was like we had entered a lapse in the time-space continuum, and we were trapped in a Canadian town which was left behind, as the rest of the world marched on.

Before I could get in the room and lock the door to keep out the weird, we had to pass by the Econo-Lodge gatekeeper.  I felt guilty about not going to the front desk lady's pizza recommendation, so I innocently recommended Cory not tell the truth if she ask.  He mocked me openly and said of course he would tell her the truth.  Although I hesitated to show our Econo-Hostess dissent in the ranks, I agreed to take the high road...but I knew she REALLY wanted us to try that new Pizza Hut everybody's talking about.

Upon returning to our sterile, yet somehow filthy feeling hotel, the woman excitedly asked us if we went to Pizza Hut.  Cory told her no, we went to Boston's Pizza instead.  She just hung her head and muttered "Oh.  Wasn't as good, I bet."  We said "probably not," fully realizing our betrayal, and jetted upstairs with our shame, heavy in tow.

What struck me strangest this whole evening, was how strange it struck me (<---unintentional tongue twister).  When I travel somewhere I know will be different, there is a certain amount of mental preparation that occurs for the anticipated culture shock.  However, when in one day's driving, I discover a land so subtly and unexpectedly different, it may induce more culture shock in me than say, traveling to a third world country where I am ready to be surprised.

The rest of the trip to Skagway, our home away from home, went well.  And now that I'm here, I realize that a stranger to this town I'm so familiar with and fond of, could easily interpret it's quirks and charm as strange as I deemed Prince George.  It just takes a little time to fully appreciate all of the oddities of this little town, and that's probably what a resident of P.G. would tell me about their home.  At the end of the day I suppose it's all about perspective...and Pizza Hut of course.