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| Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy |
During the winter season at Indiantown Marina, Canadians probably outnumber Americans by a sizable margin. It's quite a popular place for Canadians to store their boats during hurricane season. Once the snow starts to fly, they make their way down south to Indiantown and get their boats ready to head out cruising or just hang out here at the marina for the season enjoying the sunshine and palm trees.
You've heard all of the stereotypes about Canadians before. They say "eh" a lot (true for some), they have unibrows (no comment), they say "a-boot" and not "about" (yes, and it's adorable), they live off a diet of maple syrup and Tim Horton's donuts (sounds good to me), they're all lumberjacks (uh, no) and they're super nice (very true).
I can't emphasize how much that last one is true. Canadians are some of the nicest, helpful and most generous people you'll ever meet. They're all around good eggs. Okay, maybe there's some bad Canadians out there, but you won't find them at Indiantown Marina.
Honestly, they've restored my faith in humanity. After a bruising and divisive election cycle (no matter what side you were on), I kind of started to lose hope in the basic goodness in humanity. You know, the "do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" way of approaching each other. It seemed like it was becoming more of a "who cares about you, it's all about me" kind of a place.
Then along came the Canadians with their help, support and "pay it forward" mentality. Don't get me wrong, the Americans here are wonderful too and we'd be lost without the support and help of our dear Yankee friends (not to mention their "tool shed" and acrylic expertise). That just goes without saying.
But this is about the Canadians and how much they've been instrumental in getting our boat ready to go cruising. (I should say "somewhat ready to go cruising" just in case I jinx things and more stuff breaks.) These guys might not be lumberjacks, but they sure are geniuses when it comes to electrical systems, engines, solar arrays, you name it. And they share their knowledge freely. They even come poke around in the murky depths of our engine room or in the confines of the lazarette to help us chase down issues and sort out problems.
And when you apologize for taking up so much of their time and pestering them with annoying questions, they just shrug their shoulders and say, "Don't worry. Just pay it forward."
I always knew I loved Canadians. But now I love them even more because they've reminded me that humans (at least most of them) are good at heart and genuinely want to do unto others as they would have them do unto them.
What's your favorite things about Canada or Canadians? And for a more controversial question - only 100% genuine maple syrup on your pancakes or will Mrs. Butterworth's do?
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Only genuine! How awesome to have such great neighbors.
ReplyDeleteThey're wonderful neighbors. We're really lucky. Although none of them has offered us a bottle of 100% genuine maple syrup yet :-(
DeleteWe could not agree more. We see a lot of Canadians cruising about the Bahamas. They are polite friendly and always willing to help fellow cruisers. They pay for moorings in state parks as apposed to other countrymen (who will remain nameless) who think they are above paying and skip the payment boxes altogether. But best of all, the Canadians still are artful in conversation. They listen as much as they speak. They don't brag "aboot" their kid's accomplishments, where they went to college or what they did/do for a living. They talk intelligently about other country's politics without disrespecting other's opinions. We like it when Canadians anchor near us because we know we are going to make new friends.
ReplyDeleteMark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
www.creampuff.us
That's a really good point about how they make conversation. Listening as much as speaking is a fantastic attribute.
DeleteOne of the greatest things about cruising British Columbia all these years has been the Canadians we've met and become friends with -- and the scenery's not too bad either!
ReplyDeleteStephanie @ SV CAMBRIA
I'd say you've lucked out with fantastic scenery and great Canadian friends.
DeleteWe once had a Canadian neighbor - a snowbird - who gave us some real maple syrup. I just loved the little container it came in! :)
ReplyDeleteWhy is that I have a craving for pancakes now?
DeleteI know many Canadians and they are indeed wonderful people. I'm glad you're getting much needed help from them on your boat.
ReplyDeleteI don't do pancakes. Having pancakes is like having dessert. I'll pass, so neither.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
They are like dessert and what could be better for breakfast than dessert :-)
DeleteGreat to hear! They are definitely becoming the country to follow.
ReplyDeleteThey're definitely a good role model.
DeleteAwesome. Sounds like wonderful people there!
ReplyDeleteThey are fantastic :-)
DeleteOne of my closest friends is Canadian so she's my favourite thing. Don't even understand the second question....
ReplyDeleteAw, that's so sweet that your close friend is your favorite thing :-)
DeleteAs Canadians, we agree that we are in fact great. However, in reality, we are no greater than the (in no particular order) British, American, Czech, Romanian, South African, Lesothan, Namibian, Spanish, Mexican, Colombian, Slovakian, and South Korean people that we have met in the last ten years of travel.
ReplyDeletewww.travelwithkevinandruth.com
Self-effacing - another lovely Canadian trait :-)
DeleteYes, Canadians are awesome!! Only 100% maple syrup, of course! And, I'm sure the Canadians agree. :-)
ReplyDeleteI have to confess to the fact that we have a bottle of Aunt Jemima on board.
DeleteSacrilege! But the real thing IS expensive.
DeleteMy maternal grandfather first settled in Fort Francis, Ontario when he came from Italy. My mother's oldest sister settled in Windsor, Ontario with her family. I have tons of Canadian cousins. Canada is also one of my favorite places to vacation. As for the syrup, no Mrs. B for me, the real thing all the way!
ReplyDeleteNeat that you have so many Canadian cousins and connections.
DeleteHah! I'm glad to hear my fellow Canadians are making a good impression. I love it dearly up here--snow and all. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
Your fellow Canadians are great ambassadors for Canada :-)
DeleteMy favorite thing about Canada/Canadians is ice hockey. And while I have been known to suffer through artificial syrups, I would always prefer the real thing.
ReplyDeleteI think my tastebuds have been warped through the years. I love Mrs. B and Aunt J syrup.
DeleteI was honoured to live on and off in Canada - north of Montreal and in Toronto - and I travelled right across Canada, even up to the Yukon. Great people and I wanted to be one. Of course, it has to be 100% even if it's not Quebecois. (Now that is proper French, like Charlebois sings it.}
ReplyDeleteTraveling to the Yukon would have been a fascinating trip!
DeleteAs a Canadian, this was a really nice post to see. I didn't realize there was a unibrow stereotype, though, and I've yet to hear anyone say "aboot." Someone once told me (a Brit) that we actually say "aboat" and THAT I can see. :) That's how I pronounce it.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear my fellow Canadians have been good ambassadors. I sometimes wonder if the Canadian way is partly because we've always been overshadowed by our neighbour. I do think that's where a lot of the humble, self-effacing, helping-the-underdog qualities come from. We've always been the underdogs ourselves.
When I started travelling, I had my eye out for the stereotypical "obnoxious American tourist," since I'd always been told Americans had a rep for being rude and demanding. To my relief, the opposite has been true. With the exception of one, all the Americans I've met have been wonderful, kind and generous. I don't know who's responsible for the "bad tourist" rep, but I hope it's changing, because from what I've seen, it's not deserved--at ALL.
Oops - maybe that unibrow stereotype was supposed to be our little secret here in the States :-)
DeleteWe try to be really conscious of not coming across as ugly Americans when we travel.
I have heard some of those stereotypes before, including kind Canadians. I must have come across one of the bad seeds. Since I live in Oklahoma, I have only known one Canadian in person. She was my college roommate for a semester and she was loud and obnoxious, always coming in late at night, and she broke my favorite Christmas snow globe (not on purpose, but by recklessness). I didn't lose hope for all Canadians and I have met a couple very nice Canadian bloggers. I'm glad to hear there are many kind ones out there. We all could definitely use more kind and pay it forward types of people around.
ReplyDeleteOh that's a shame to have been paired with her. She definitely sounds like the exception.
Delete