Canadians

As a relative newcomer to Canada, there are certain things that have struck me about Canadians - some of them sterotypical, some of them less so:

1. They actually do say 'eh', although not in exactly the same way as Kiwis say it. Canadians tend to tack it on to the end of a sentence as a statement such as "I know, eh", rather than using it to illicit a response, like Kiwis do: "That's your drink eh?"

2. I'm not sure if this is a Vancouver thing, but there seem to be a higher proportion of vegetarian and organic enthusiasts here. We have a vegetable garden at our place and I live with two vegetarians (one of which is a sometime vegan - depending on if there's cheese around) and my other housemate, although not a card carrying vegetarian, seems to eat an awful lot of tofu

3. If you say thank you for anything, Canadians always say "You're welcome". ALWAYS

4. Two of the most common words used by Canadians: "douche" and "awesome"

5. Although a Canadian friend once lamented to me that she "had never said ooot and aboot" in her life, after having her accent imitated by an Australian, I can see how people would make this, albeit exagerated, mockery - they sort of say "aoot and aboout"

6. Canadians are more offended than I am when they mistake me for an Australian. This happens every few days. They proudly ask me where in Australia I am from (props to them for picking up that I don't have a Canadian accent), I politely reply I am actually from New Zealand, and the look of mortification on their face is something akin to if they had just asked how my new puppy was doing and I had replied that he'd been run over by a car that morning - cue the "Oh my god, I am SO sorry!". Luckily, as I spent almost 3 years living in Australia, I assure them I am not offended. Well, not TOO offended.