No, no, the French thing is too annoying. It means some of the things I used in England - like my favourite multi-vitamins - I can't buy here because they don't have French labels so the Canadian government won't let them be imported. When you have these discussions in stores - if you ask if they sell X, and they say "no, we're not allowed to because of the lack of French labels" - the store assistants just spit it out, and then start going on about how there are NO French speakers in Saskatchewan, and how ABSURD it is, and how everyone can't WAIT until Chretien resigns etc etc etc. ;-) (Not that it's his fault.)
We have a very dry cold here and I think it makes some difference compared to England which is a soggy-wet cold, so I think the temperature there does feel lower. Before I came to Canada, I was living in Broadstairs in England, which is on the coast, and my house was about a minute's walk from the beach -- I used to wake up there in winter, in the middle of the night, and MY PILLOW WOULD BE DAMP, with the wet air, which is a horrible feeling. It would feel unbearably cold, whereas in fact it was only zero or thereabouts. But yes, you're right: cold is cold once you get into the minus 20s etc, dry or wet, makes no difference. People here start their cars in the morning with a remote starter you can use through windows, so the car starts up 15 minutes before they leave the house so it's warm for them. You couldn't do that in England, what with Kyoto - people would think it was very anti-social. We had one night last winter of minus 40 WITHOUT wind chill. We even have joggers who go out running in minus 25. There are stories in the newspapers about how you can have a heart attack at minus 25 with even the smallest exertion, and yet they're out running with only normal running clothes - although long pants - and with ear muffs, hats, and things covering their mouths. And sunglasses, because the sun is very bright. I don't see how it can be so sunny and yet so cold. We're all getting skin cancer and we don't even get to lie on the beach. I caught myself saying "eh" for the first time last week. It was a poignant moment. . . ;-) Sarah PS what is canuckian alien shiksa Magsula? Mags is a Canadian woman living abroad? The only use of the word shiksa I know is a Jewish term for a non-Jewish girl who is after your son. Mags is a Canadian woman who is after people's foreign sons? At 10:11 AM -0800 01/24/2003, Mags N Brei wrote: >Sarah wrote in response to francais on labels in Canada: > ><<<The most annoying thing is that all labels have to be in French and >English, even in areas where there are virtually no French people >living. >>> > Sarah, that is one of the things I miss the most!!! C'est dommage, c'est triste...no more francais on the labels or signage here. . . .when I lived in Winterpeg for two years....the cold there was like nothing I had ever felt before. . . .editor's note: i never say 'eh'
