Neither my home, nor my native land
Oh, man. It's been awhile.
But I have excuses, because I have been Out of the Country and I just got back today.
I was in Canada, which I was going to say is the bizarro USA, but really, technically, that's not the case. Nothing is the OPPOSITE, it's all just a little bit off. Dollars--but they're all pretty colors. Cars--but the speedometers go to 220 because they measure speed differently. Products on which the copy is all bilingual (French/English) and they're not totally the same--Orbit gum was non-existent, and the candy bars were all weird.
And let's talk about the football. Up until about a month ago, I had no idea there was a even a team called the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but on Saturday night I found myself at a Roughriders game. This is the CFL--and it's weird to see a field full of African-American players when I hadn't seen one black person since I'd arrived. But these are all the American college players who couldn't make it in the NFL.
My brother dragged in half a six-pack of Pepsi--right out in the open with no one stopping him. Everyone brought snacks and drinks and beer from the outside, and we all squeezed onto hard benches.
This was a tough crowd. They were all draped in green (kelly green) and screamed and yelled for most of the game. The guy next to me had used a drill or table saw to create an air horn which he blew regularly. And when an opposing player got hurt and lay on the field, the crowd chanted "Pussy! Pussy!" in derision.
One of my major complaints (irrational, but whatever) with football is when an offensive player runs right into a pile of defensive players for a gain of about a yard. Or less. It seems so fruitless and stupid. BUT the joy of CFL football is that there are only three downs--which means that there's no time to waste with stupid running that gets nowhere. Three downs makes everything move much faster and crazier.
Yet another thing in Canada that's just a little off.
But my trip was fun and relaxing and all those good vacation things, and we hatched a plan to get the entire family of cousins there next summer. Hooray!
But I have excuses, because I have been Out of the Country and I just got back today.
I was in Canada, which I was going to say is the bizarro USA, but really, technically, that's not the case. Nothing is the OPPOSITE, it's all just a little bit off. Dollars--but they're all pretty colors. Cars--but the speedometers go to 220 because they measure speed differently. Products on which the copy is all bilingual (French/English) and they're not totally the same--Orbit gum was non-existent, and the candy bars were all weird.
And let's talk about the football. Up until about a month ago, I had no idea there was a even a team called the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but on Saturday night I found myself at a Roughriders game. This is the CFL--and it's weird to see a field full of African-American players when I hadn't seen one black person since I'd arrived. But these are all the American college players who couldn't make it in the NFL.
My brother dragged in half a six-pack of Pepsi--right out in the open with no one stopping him. Everyone brought snacks and drinks and beer from the outside, and we all squeezed onto hard benches.
This was a tough crowd. They were all draped in green (kelly green) and screamed and yelled for most of the game. The guy next to me had used a drill or table saw to create an air horn which he blew regularly. And when an opposing player got hurt and lay on the field, the crowd chanted "Pussy! Pussy!" in derision.
One of my major complaints (irrational, but whatever) with football is when an offensive player runs right into a pile of defensive players for a gain of about a yard. Or less. It seems so fruitless and stupid. BUT the joy of CFL football is that there are only three downs--which means that there's no time to waste with stupid running that gets nowhere. Three downs makes everything move much faster and crazier.
Yet another thing in Canada that's just a little off.
But my trip was fun and relaxing and all those good vacation things, and we hatched a plan to get the entire family of cousins there next summer. Hooray!
Labels: Family, Good Times
posted by Melanie at 10:09 PM
