Can'tada

One of the things that has been most interesting about having moved to Australia is that I discovered that I was wrong.  Being wrong isn't really the interesting part, because with Spencer and Nicole in the house I often am, so I'm used to it.  But it is what I was wrong about that's interesting, and also that so many other people are wrong about the very same thing as well.

Canada and Australia are really quite similar.  A shared Commonwealth fraternity.  Similar resource based economies, supporting a relatively small population and a relatively enormous landmass and most of said landmass being either uninhabitable or not pleasantly inhabitable.  Nearly everyone, Canadians and Aussies alike, seem to share the view that the two countries are really quite similar.  I did.  I was wrong and so is everyone else.  In fact, the only way that they might be similar is as described or perhaps in reflection.  Maybe this is again an antipodal function of being on the opposite end of the world.  Perhaps this is it after all.  Australia is a southern hemisphere Canada.  An opposite.  So if there is something that you can achieve in Canada, perhaps you can't in Australia, or as Australia is known in Cree, Can'tada.  

We're still loving the weather, the beaches, the water, the beaches, the weather, the cheap wine, the fresh produce, the weather... really.  I can't see a return to Canada anytime soon, but there are some things that really set this experience apart.  

Like what?  Well here goes.

In Can’tada you:

• Can’t own a firearm, legally;
• Can’t exercise your right not to vote;
• Can’t leave your cat outside at night;
• Can’t leave your recycling bins on the curb more than the evening before scheduled collection or the evening after;
• Can’t allow your dog to be off a leash;
•  Can’t own a pet without a microchip in it’s ear;
• Can’t walk your dog, leash or not, without having a plastic bag in plain visible sight (in Texas the same applies to handguns, which seems to make more sense to me);
•  Can’t sell your vehicle privately without getting a permit and government road worthy inspection;
• Can’t open a bank account without an inordinate amount of State ID;·
•  Can’t close a residential real estate transaction on a Tenancy At Will basis;
•  Can’t freeze to death in most parts of the country on most ;
• Can’t pronounce place names unless you were raised near;
•  Can’t think of something that won’t be ok on a BBQ; 
•  Can’t smoke a cigar in a cigar bar, even if you purchased the cigar there, unless specific criteria are observed, but you can smoke cigarettes outside the doors of Spencer’s daycare;
• Can’t find a coffee for less than $3; and
•  Can’t have a campfire.  Not at all.  Not at night.  Not on a beach.  Did they lose a war?  How is that possible?  Even I’m considered a low fire hazard on a sand beach and adjacent to the Coral Sea.

Really, we're still loving the weather, the beaches, the water, the beaches, the weather, the cheap wine, the fresh produce, the weather... really.  Really, really.  But strangely the difference between our two homes is more vast than we would have ever guessed.  We miss the enterprising nature of Alberta, which doesn’t seem to exist to the same degree in Brisbane.  We miss Stampede Week, sort of, we miss the familiarity that comes with growing up somewhere and being in on the jokes and we miss the mountains, our family and our friends. 

All the same, we’ve made a pretty good trade.  I was wrong about the similarities, but that’s ok too. 


We hope that everyone had a great Stampede Week and is enjoying a summer that is comparable to our winter.