How to Tell If You Grew Up in Canada

After four months of being in Hong Kong and China, I have become more aware of what it is to be Canadian.

Especially after mixing around with people from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Denmark, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, South America, and the UK, I found some distinctly Canadian things that only other Canadians can recognize: a knowing look shared between Canucks says it all.

So here is a short list of stuff I have found that will inform you if you have indeed grown up in Canada:

1. You know who Joey Jeremiah is.
2. You can identify a "Cruller", a "two-four", and a "slap shot".
3. You know what it is to be a "Hal Johnson and Joanne Macloud".
4. The word "Hork" is both a noun and a verb.
5. You can't exactly say how Canadians are different from Americans, but we know it is a BIG difference.
6. You are surprised that outside of Canada, a $5 price, means a $5 price; NOT something closer to $6 because of the damn tax.
7. We say "sorry" waaaaaay too much.
8. We know what "Winter Conditions" are , and that "black ice" isn't just a shitty highschool beer.
9. We "hang out" together.
10. Having a Slurpee in -20 degree winter is perfectly normal. In fact at some point in your life, you've used a slurpee as mix for your hard liquor.
11. You know someone who says he/she is going to "the Safeways", "the Canadian Tires", or "the Superstores". Doesn't matter that they are going to just one place, it is always plural.
12. When you were a kid and learned to sing "Oh Canada", you wondered who "Gloria" was and who "sent her free"?

The other thing I found out was that no matter where you are from, there is no place like home. For all my friends out there who have gone back to their home countries, I hope it is everything you missed. Too bad it probably isn't as nice as Canada though.