What do Americans think of Canadians generally?

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Stef1966

Stef1966

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Quebec, Canada
I was just wondering what Americans generally think about Canadian people, and even French Canadian people, don't be afraid to speak your mind about this, im a French Canadian (Quebecer) but i don't mind raw opinions. :D

I just think it might be interesting to know about it.
 
Your mounties have nice hats.


And Shania Twain was hot!

35002_large.jpeg
 
I don't know that I think anything of Canadians, in general. However, every Canadian I have ever met (and I've met a bunch of them, from all over the country), have been very considerate people. They might be smart, dumb, attractive, ugly, tall, short, or whatever, but every single one has been among the most considerate people I have ever met.

Even the infamous attitude from Quebec is something that exists only in mythology, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it helps that I speak a bit of French (with a Cajun accent). Maybe it helps that I make clear early on what I think of such attitude, that I can dish it right back out, and that we'll all be good friends without it. I don't know, but it's never been an issue.

I tell you this much, though: I do not think Canadians are wimps. I do not think Canadians are watered-down Americans, or any of that other nonsense. I don't make fun of Canadians, and I don't like to hear people make fun of Canada. Frankly, there is a lot that we, south of the border, can learn.

So, what do you think of Texans? :D

ETA: I have seen very little of that low self-esteem, and I've worked with a good number of Canadians (programmers, too, for that matter)


TL
 
I have only ever really known 2 Canadians, both fit exactly into RC0032's remarks above.

I am, however, supremely jealous beautiful land you guys have up there. I have been backpacking up there a couple of times (once in Alberta and once in BC) and I can't wait to get back!
 
I thought we already made Canada the 51st state? Oh, and quit trying to get all fancy with talking French...
 
Before I met any Canadians I thought they were very mild mannered and prim and proper. After I met a few I found they were a pretty wild bunch, but hey maybe that's just the one's I met. Funny story, I was at a business conference and a chubby middle aged woman came up to the table I was standing by and pounded on it, she bellowed "all the women in Callgary are a bunch of bitches". I was like, OK, well I'm Janet and I'm from San Antonio Texas she promptly shot back, I'm Kathy & I'm from Callgary I burst out laughing then she burst out laughing. Turns out she was on the phone arguing with her daughter in law from Callgary.
Another thing I have noticed about the Candians I have met is that they are more trusting than most people from the States, wonder why?
 
I have only known a few Canadians, and they are some of my favorite people in the world.

Honestly though, I think about Canadians about as much as I think of Desmoinesians (people from Des Moines).... not very much.
 
All the Canadians I've spoke with fro work have been idots, BUT so have 98% of the Americans :D
I don't think nationaltiy has anything to do with. People in general are just dumb.
When I tihnk Canada, I think laid back. I also think that the 401 sucks.
 
Honestly, from all of my experience with canada (pretty limited) I do think that for the most part quebec and the rest of the country need to be catagorized differently. I have taken a few vacations to ontario and in general I absolutly love it. All of the people are extremely nice and polite. In fact I would love to have a vacation home up there. The only exception is French Canadians. In general I see them as I see most people from france from my experiences. They typically seem to be rude, uptight, and fairly arrogant. An example I have is that I was trying to get some directions and had a couple very simple questions. They acted like they did not speak english at all when I had heard them speaking PERFECT english 2 minutes before.
 
Like most large land masses, the coolest people are on the coasts or in the mountains surrounded by idiots and the french
 
I really enjoy the Canadians that I am on a personal basis with. I do have some concerns about the rest of you guys though (at least those on the west coast). I live just south of Vancouver and have made some observations;

Canadians have no regard for the rules of the road. (Very aggressive drivers)

Canadians love to buy our gas and will make pulling into a gas station on the weekend almost unbearable Can't say that I blame them though. I would like to see the number of gas containers being filled limited to 2 :D

I think for the most part that we (Americans and Canadians aren't much different) - I've been treated like crap as well as a king while on your soil. I'm sure the same can be said about here.
 
The first Canadian I ever met was at school. he was an exchange teacher. I remember him telling us that we did NOT have a bone in our penis, and that it was all to do with blood flow......I found that a bit odd from a geography teacher.

I think Canadians get a raw deal from comedians etc. But the American people are smart enough to know that this is just a comedy tool.
 
TexLaw said:
I don't know that I think anything of Canadians, in general. However, every Canadian I have ever met (and I've met a bunch of them, from all over the country), have been very considerate people. They might be smart, dumb, attractive, ugly, tall, short, or whatever, but every single one has been among the most considerate people I have ever met.

Even the infamous attitude from Quebec is something that exists only in mythology, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it helps that I speak a bit of French (with a Cajun accent). Maybe it helps that I make clear early on what I think of such attitude, that I can dish it right back out, and that we'll all be good friends without it. I don't know, but it's never been an issue.

I tell you this much, though: I do not think Canadians are wimps. I do not think Canadians are watered-down Americans, or any of that other nonsense. I don't make fun of Canadians, and I don't like to hear people make fun of Canada. Frankly, there is a lot that we, south of the border, can learn.

So, what do you think of Texans? :D

ETA: I have seen very little of that low self-esteem, and I've worked with a good number of Canadians (programmers, too, for that matter)


TL
Click to expand...

Wow this is an interesting bunch of responses, i didn't expect that much so it's great, thanks for that.


As what i think about Texans, i usually picture Texans as being bad ass cowboys that eat 3 inches raw Steak with pepper sauce for breakfast... *LOL*
(Thanks to the movie cliche we get around here).

I generally see Americans as being very confident people, unfortunately Americans generally seem to think they are the center of the universe and that all the other countries are a background for movies or something... which feels rather funny for me.

And with the recent so called "war on terror" from Dubya Bush, we tend to see Americans as being a war oriented nation, but with Mr.Obama in the white house, we have a feeling things are going to change a lot.

It's just different, we dont have guns in the house like in the US, (i may be dead wrong about this) there is gun control over here and we have to take a shooting class in order to have a license to own and use a gun.

One thing i also feel is that American people are really good hearted people and very welcoming as long as you don't step on their toes and just go along their line of thoughts so to speak.

There are just mere impressions here, keep in mind that it's just an external and very general point of view.
 
Sorry bro, but most Canadians don't even like Quebec (French). The rest of the country is cool.
 
Stef1966 said:
Wow this is an interesting bunch of responses, i didn't expect that much so it's great, thanks for that.


As what i think about Texans, i usually picture Texans as being bad ass cowboys that eat 3 inches raw Steak with pepper sauce for breakfast... *LOL*
(Thanks to the movie cliche we get around here).

I generally see Americans as being very confident people, unfortunately Americans generally seem to think they are the center of the universe and that all the other countries are a background for movies or something... which feels rather funny for me.

And with the recent so called "war on terror" from Dubya Bush, we tend to see Americans as being a war oriented nation, but with Mr.Obama in the white house, we have a feeling things are going to change a lot.

It's just different, we dont have guns in the house like in the US, (i may be dead wrong about this) there is gun control over here and we have to take a shooting class in order to have a license to own and use a gun.

One thing i also feel is that American people are really good hearted people and very welcoming as long as you don't step on their toes and just go along their line of thoughts so to speak.

There are just mere impressions here, keep in mind that it's just an external and very general point of view.
Click to expand...


I can't really disagree with any of that. Aside from the raw steaks in texas.
 
TexLaw said:
Even the infamous attitude from Quebec is something that exists only in mythology, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it helps that I speak a bit of French (with a Cajun accent). Maybe it helps that I make clear early on what I think of such attitude, that I can dish it right back out, and that we'll all be good friends without it. I don't know, but it's never been an issue.
Click to expand...

I have expierened it first hand multiple times. I used to think it was myth but not anymore. Of course I dont believe that to be true of everyone.
 
wildwest450 said:
Sorry bro, but most Canadians don't even like Quebec (French). The rest of the country is cool.
Click to expand...

Exactly, and the same thing can be said about us French Canadians not being very fond of the rest of Canadians, a sad fact but true.

This is simple to understand, French Quebecers people's ancestry comes from the French while the rest of Canada was an English colony just like the US was originally.

So there are huge difference in cultures because of that, i think we might even get along better if Quebec was finally separated from Canada.
 
Stef1966 said:
Exactly, and the same thing can be said about us French Canadians not being very fond of the rest of Canadians, a sad fact but true.
Click to expand...

Same as I don't generally like people from Texas and I'm sure they wouldn't be too fond of me, either. The cultures are almost completely different.

PS: PLEASE tell all your Canadian friends not all Americans are cowboys. I ****ing HATE that stereotype
 
Stef1966 said:
Exactly, and the same thing can be said about us French Canadians not being very fond of the rest of Canadians, a sad fact but true.

This is simple to understand, French Quebecers people's ancestry comes from the French while the rest of Canada was an English colony just like the US was originally.

So there are huge difference in cultures because of that, i think we might even get along better if Quebec was finally separated from Canada.
Click to expand...
I have been to Quebec a couple times. I speak passable French, though not quite what Quebecois believe to be French. I was treated like I was purposely assaulting the language. I tried and was given no credit for it.

I have to admit that my distaste (in general, not pointed to you Stef) of Quebecois is from childhood. They descended in droves on the beaches of Maine and acted as if they owned the place. It was off-putting, to say the least.
 
Stef1966 said:
unfortunately Americans generally seem to think they are the center of the universe and that all the other countries are a background for movies or something.

And we tend to see Americans as being a war oriented nation

American people are really good hearted people and very welcoming as long as you don't step on their toes and just go along their line of thoughts so to speak.
Click to expand...

I get into soooo much crap for saying these things!! :mug:


Good luck with it, tell me how it works out for you ;)
 
Canadians have no regard for the rules of the road. (Very aggressive drivers)
Click to expand...

That is so very true, the police officers here are very laid back on the speeding laws (at least here in Quebec) on the highways, on the other hand they are being sometimes overzealous on rural roads and in cities.

So people tend to drive fast on the highways here with a wild attitude.
We use the two lanes as described:
right lane: "used if you wanna drive slowly"
Left lane: "used to drive fast, if you wanna drive slow, get the f*ck outa the way cause youre blocking the fast drivers and this is considered an offense and people will flash their lights and honk at you".

Also, our restaurants and foods show both sides of the spectrum, we have fine cuisine like the French and Europe, and we also got Fast food like McDonald's Burger King and such...
 
Stef1966 said:
Also, our restaurants and foods show both sides of the spectrum, we have fine cuisine like the French and Europe, and we also got Fast food like McDonald's Burger King and such...
Click to expand...

We do have food other than McDonalds down here, you know
 
I have to admit that my distaste (in general, not pointed to you Stef) of Quebecois is from childhood. They descended in droves on the beaches of Maine and acted as if they owned the place. It was off-putting, to say the least.
Click to expand...

That is sad, probably just a bunch of retards that wanted to look tuff... :(

And you know, i have heard countless stories of people from the states crossing over and raiding the bars on our side, acting also.. as complete asses... *LOL*

Maybe it's a completely human thing to when being in a foreign country, to act like nobody will know you anyways... so it's like being anonymous in a way.

I think this could be a big part of such an attitude :)
 
Don't know many French Canadians but the Canadians I have met are generally very similar to Americans. Not saying Canada is an American state or mini-US but just that the cultures have more in common than they have different. In fact I think Midwesterners and the Canadians across the border are more similar in culture than Americans from areas like the South or the West coast.

What i don't understand is why there is still a movement to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada after all this time. I see the differences as more made up than real.

Craig
 

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