CANADA DAY

For about a week now, the topic of July 1st has become a running joke around the office. I had told my coworkers that Canada has a national holiday similar to America's Independence celebration, but half of them refused to believe that there was actually such a thing as "Canada Day".

Once I convinced them that Canada Day indeed exists, they became very curious; most of them wanted to know more about what we do (i.e. what are the typical customs and traditions). Well, as us Canadians know, we don't really do a lot. Suppose there's fireworks. And food. And drinking. But yup, that's about it.

The New Yorkers weren't very satisfied with the truth. "Don't the Mounties ride around on their horses?" some asked. "Or don't you drink Molsen and have hockey tournaments or something?"
"Well yes," I answered. "But that's sort of every day".

Disappointed with the lackluster truth, the co-workers convinced me that we should throw our own cool Canada Day party. So today, the festivities went a little something like this...

Almost everyone wore white and red. I brought in a 40-Pack of Tim Bits, and one girl surprised us with a tray of gourmet Red Velvet cupcakes from Magnolia. Before everyone got there, my Manager printed out a dozen colorful Canadian flags and stuck them around our hallway, and, since the visuals couldn't get any tackier, I upped the ante by finding YouTube videos of "O Canada" and "God Save the Queen", playing them on repeat as everyone arrived over the first half hour. A few people shared funny Canada stories, others told Canada jokes, and, in-between, I got to enlighten the masses about poutine and block-heaters.

Personally, I think the party represented Canada pretty well. It was friendly and peaceful. A little lame and a little unhealthy, sure, but having someone from Saskatchewan (coolest province) with universal health care (best perk) balanced it out.

After work, myself, someone from Toronto, someone from Vancouver, and someone from Texas (basically Alberta anyway), discovered a pub called Canada Cabin. It was THE place for us to be on July 1st -- I fiiiiinally got the great, greasy taste of poutine back on my taste-buds! Hazaa!

So mucho thanks to all the Americans and Canadians who helped make this Canada Day one of the most Canadian Canada Days I've ever had. Can't wait to return the favor and help USA celebrate July 4th this Sunday :^)