Oh Canada, I’ve Become Americanized
Mari
I’m Canadian by birth, 100% Scottish by genes. My parents both hail from bonnie Scotland and I lived in Edinburgh for 20 years before coming to California and meeting and marrying my local guy. 
(I joke about having “triple nationality”!)
As part of our journey towards Alaska, Ty and I spent the last three weeks meandering up through BC. We thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular scenery; the Province definitely lives up to her name of Beautiful British Columbia. (See my photo album on Facebook of the same name).
[pic: sunset at Prince Rupert; taken approx 10pm tonight after we watched Sex and the City at the movies!]
Tomorrow, we board the ferry for Ketchikan, Alaska. And… I have to confess, I’m looking forward to getting back to all things American.
First, when driving the roads of Canada, all signs are in kilometers. And, yes, it’s not too difficult to translate to miles or look down at the speedo and double check, or do a quick calc to see how many miles to the next stop. But the whole km vs. miles just makes the brain work harder.
[pic: Smithers, BC. Ty doing doubly duty with the squeegees. Those splattered bugs sure build up!]
Then there’s gas. Not only is it more expensive in Canada (!), it’s priced differently. You have to work out how many liters to the gallon and multiply, etc. Given we get approx. 7MPG in our lovely condo on wheels, every penny counts when filling ‘er up!! A typical visit to the gas station is $250 so it’s important to calculate accurately.
Next is the money. Ha, well the Canucks are finally getting their own back on the US, eh? (Maybe, but some industries have been hit hard up here, especially lumber). Ty and I did manage with just about no need to exchange American cash for Canadian. (FYI, US quarters work in Canadian laundromats, parking meters, and shopping carts). But a couple times we were stumped when some places took cash only (like the kids who offered to wash our RV. ha!).
Plus American debit cards (that also function as credit cards) do not swipe as debit cards in Canada. We’ve run into so many hiccups with that big difference… it’s almost embarrassing. “Oh, sorry - your card’s been declined.” Bah! Some places the debit/credit goes through, others it’s only credit. 
Okay, we better mention temperature… centigrade vs. fahrenheit. Not a biggee really, but still makes that brain work harder. LOL.
[pic: the entire drive from Terrace to Prince Rupert hugs the Skeena River and the scenery is breathtaking!]
And last, but by no means least, is our internet and cell connections. We have US-only plans for both, and had a near-expensive learning experience with Verizon EVDO (aircard for internet connection):
During our first three days in BC (attending a seminar in Vancouver), I was surprised to see I could get a signal on my laptop with the card. I didn’t think Verizon had service in Canada (they didn’t when we first signed up last summer; only Sprint did). I couldn’t see any warning or indication that we might be roaming. (oops). Three days into our BC trip, I got a call from Verizon fraud department. They were concerned about the excess usage and had put a block on our access… I’d run up a bill of a whopping $1,115. GAK!
Turns out the *only* indicator is a small black triangle on the control panel. (Oh, and we’re supposed to just know that means roaming?!) Anyway, thankfully, I managed to persuade Verizon it was a genuine error and please could they credit my account. They did. w00t!!
[pic: check out this cute VW hybrid (weld job) - this is at North Pacific Cannery a historic fishing village close to Port Edwards where we stayed for the past week]
And for my cell phone use, we checked out many pay-as-you go plans but it was just as cheap to go roaming on my US T-Mobile phone. But then I was delighted to find a non-contract affordable month-to-month plan from Koodo … only available to Canadians. Aha! Fortunately, I carry my SIN (Social Insurance Number) card with me, even though it’s been about 16 years since I worked in Canada. I’ve used the Koodo phone almost non-stop for the past couple weeks, racking up over 26 hours of interviews and teleseminars!
So, bye for now my lovely Canada. We’ll be back in the fall on our return from Alaska. Meantime, hello again good ol’ US of A!!
What say you fellow transplants and visitors? What do you love about Canada? and the US?
Posted on: Friday, May 30, 2008 at 9:26 pm 
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You could always try campaigning the US gov’t to catch up with the rest of the world and switch to metric, then you wouldn’t have to worry about converting anything.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:54 pmY’know, Dave - that’s a very good point! ‘cuz Europe is all switched over to the metric system too, eh. Just the US that are holdouts. LOL!
…oh, wait, Ty says the US Government did attempt to go metric in the 1970’s… but it didn’t stick. hm.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:15 pmthanks for the honest post. So many have a cavalier attitude about RVing in Canada. Myself, I may never go. Lot’s of places in the U.S. Although, I would like to take the Airstream to Alaska…
May 31st, 2008 at 4:21 pmI like the beer.
Looking forward to my next trip home to Newfoundland to have some.
And yes, I’m with Dave. Switch to metric.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:58 pmAnother difference to manage with day-to-day life: grocery shopping and buying items by weight! Such as cold meats, fruit and veg.
Maybe it’s just Ty and me, but we like to purchase goods knowing we’re getting a reasonable price. A good deal on bananas is 39 cents per pound (yay Costco!); but at $1.09 per pound I expect them to be gold-plated (A&P in Ketchikan). LOL …
And with cold meats - you gotta stand there figuring out what $2.37 per 100 grams is in pounds. (I know, 100g is roughly a quarter pound so multiply by four and you got your approx per pound rate.)
June 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am@rambn yep, you’re right about plenty to see in the US… I’m so excited for the day I get to “color in” all 49 states to show we’ve visited them in our RV (5 down, 44 to go. lol). We’ll just have to fly to Hawaii. hehe
@Rick oooh, the beer! I’m not much of a beer person, but I do know from my step-dad in the Kootenays, BC they do make fab brew in Canada!!
June 1st, 2008 at 11:44 amA Canuck here who (dating myself here!) learned imperial measurement and still converts everything from temperature, mileage & MPH to feet, inches, pounds and ounces. Drives my honey nuts but there you go. Talk about stranger in a strange land: I live here!
As for good deal/bad deal price comparisons, checking out the cost of gas or Bananas in Paris helps adjust the noodle on that one! Ooo la la…
Though I have to say that ever since watching http://www.thestoryofstuff.com we’re approach cheap imports now - foodstuffs or otherwise - very differently. Puts a whole new sping on the idea of ‘cost’!
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 amI had a similar Verizon experience… only I never left the country. I was in San Diego and my signal was bouncing off a tower in Mexico. After MANY hours working on the internet I too got a call from Verizon. They quickly cleared it up and took the $500 off my bill. WHEW!!
Nice job Verizon! You just don’t see service like that too often these days.
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:26 am