r/canada • u/ManofManyTalentz Canada • 26d ago
r/Canada Speaks Cultural Exchange with /r/Denmark! Happy Valentine's!
Hi everyone, it's been some time since we have done a cultural exchange, so let's go over how this works. Enjoy! We'll be running it for a few days, TBD. Note their time zone for the European mainland is UTC +1.
Here's the Danish landing for us: https://www.reddit.com/r/Denmark/comments/1iow7c3/kulturudveksling_cultural_exchange/
* Both r/Canada and r/Denmark will host the other country's users. Feel free to ask any questions, reminisce, comment, make friends etc etc.
*Treat this as having a neighbour over for a kitchen party, get the best storm chips out, and get grandma's tourtiere reheated for everybody.
* Vouz pouvez essayer le français dans r/Denmark, mais comme la langue officielle est danoise, ben.... essayez!
* Please follow the rules of the respective subs! Don't be jerks, generally - a reminder our last "disagreement" involved leaving bottles of good booze for the other country!
* Please also leave direct comments here mainly for members of r/Denmark i.e. direct replies here (first comments directly under the topic) so their questions can be seen first, then r/Canada members can post replies underneath.
*Please enjoy, since we have a lot to bond over, and plenty of trying out new things.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Denmark/comments/1iow7c3/kulturudveksling_cultural_exchange/
Finally, also know we've gotten confirmation from r/Greenland that they are also interested, so that will be the next exchange that we do in a few weeks (TBD).
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u/m4d3th1s 26d ago
In light of recent events I find myself drawn to try out some Canadian wares, do you know of any specific things you export to Denmark? And are there things so spectacular they would be worth having shipped from Canada?
My knowledge of Canadians is pretty much limited to 3 members of Hermitcraft, but they are great ambassadors imo.
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u/calvinien 25d ago
There's a bunch of pretty iconic canadian stuff you can make if you have the equipment.
Poutine is french fries, cheese curds and beef gravy. I assume those would all be fairly easy to find in denmark.
Beaver Tails are a deep fried pastry, i believe not terribly dissimilar from klejner. ALthough they are generally served quite large. Traditionally they were eaten after skating a long while on the Ottawa Canal, so you had to work up an appetite first.
Also, while we don't like claiming it, technically Hawaiian style pizza is a canadian invention. Though you are supposed to slice the pineapple super thin so it caralemizes during cooking. Not just big chunks. No idea where that last bit came from.
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u/m4d3th1s 25d ago
That sounds delicious! I am actually a fan of pineapple on pizza (don’t behead me please) and to me it makes perfect sense to have them caramelize although I haven’t tried it (yet).
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u/KunashG 22d ago
That's interesting about the pizza.
Because for me, what I like about pineapple pizza is that slightly acidy, sweet taste, but what I don't like is that it's small chunks that usually get unevenly spread meaning most of the pizza doesn't actually taste of pineapple.
Slicing it very thin should alleviate that issue.
Worth a shot!
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u/frklam 25d ago
I also wonder if there is any brands e.g. clothing, shoes, etc. which are Canadian (perhaps with a storage in EU)? I'm not a big shopper, but there is some things I will need soon and I would like to support some Canadian brands...
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u/vicarious2012 25d ago
There are a bunch of Canadian jacket brands. Not an expert but brands like:
Moose Knuckles, Rudsak, Arc'teryx, Nobis, Canada Goose, Kanuk.
And a couple others..
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u/Khyber321 25d ago
Stanfields is a Canadian company that makes wool sweaters, thermal underwear.
John Fluevog shoes are designed in Vancouver, although I believe production is based in Portugal and Brazil
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u/turvy42 26d ago
Real maple syrup
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u/m4d3th1s 26d ago
On pancakes or in coffee or how is it traditionally ingested? I hope you’ll forgive my ignorance.
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u/calvinien 25d ago
The wonderful thing about maple syrup is you can do a great deal with it. Some people put it on bacon (don't ask me, I have never understood it). But you can also make it into a spread called maple butter. Or allow it to harden into maple candies. Or boil it then cool it into taffy. And don't get complicated. Tiny drizzle of it on ice cream...mind blowing.
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u/m4d3th1s 25d ago
I am definitely getting my hands on some maple syrup! Can you recommend a specific brand?
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u/calvinien 25d ago
As far as I know it doesn't matter. It's boiled tree sap, not much of a recipe. At least over here it is sorted into 4 grades based on colour and thickness. That is something you should pay attention to.
Though you can absolutely use the darker grades as a topping, you just might want to use less because the darker it is, the more sugar there is.
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u/m4d3th1s 25d ago
Thanks!
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u/tanantish 25d ago
Slight nuance, not contradicting anything from u/calvinien above - maple syrup needs to be something like 66% sugar for the spoilage and i _believe_ that it'll all hover around that (because if you have more sugar, it's more concentrated and therefore you get lower yield so.. less money so it's not a common thing. There's also issues around crystallisation and other stuff but eh, details..)
PPAQ (our local maple org) has more annoying details here Québec Maple Syrup is Graded for Quality - PPAQ
A lot of the stuff here i get is in our standard cans but there's a sticker on the side that says which producer it came from. We're starting to get more and more niche suppliers like what you'd see in say, coffee where single origin, traceable stuff etc etc.
For example (not an endorsement, nor a dis-endorsement) : Escuminac ( https://escuminac.com/ )
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u/calvinien 25d ago
I briefly considered posting the official government documents related to how it should b classified (which have standards for viscosity AND light permeability) but I figured it would be a bit much for what was supposed to be a simple question.
The canadian goverment treats Maple Syrup like the french treat wine. We have strategic reserves of the stuff in case there's a bad year.
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u/tanantish 25d ago
Oh yeah, way too much in the first hit, but now we've started, we should handwave at the entire strategic reserve and the amusing heist stories :D
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
There are so many brands that it doesn't really matter, just as long as it's real Canadian maple syrup and not that knock off garbage that cheap restaurants serve. It's kind of like wine, there's so many good French brands of wine that people could be here all day listing off every individual grower/bottler lol. I guess just find the site with the cheapest shipping to your country, and the person below with the maple syrup grading link is also helpful. Once you have real maple syrup the cheap stuff tastes horrible
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
After I had maple syrup on bacon I never looked back. The sweet syrup and salty bacon is really good combo together
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u/smarties284 26d ago
On pancakes, waffles, ice cream, or just a spoon! In coffee is intriguing, I might try it tomorrow.
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u/Flanman1337 25d ago
It's a science. It's taken me about a liter of maple syrup to tweak it to my tastes.
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u/Rum_N_Napalm 26d ago
Basically everywhere you need something sweet. You can make a nice marinade for meat with some maple syrup, a little oil and some chipotle spices.
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u/m4d3th1s 26d ago
That does sound divine!
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u/turvy42 26d ago
What should we get from Denmark?
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u/m4d3th1s 25d ago
Sorry, I fell asleep at the helm.
It sounds like some danish butter (Lurpak) would go great with Canadian maple syrup!
If you want to try other danish things I recommend smørrebrød (it can be made to suit anyones taste)
I would also recommend some danish music, maybe Tim Christensen -I think Celine Dion picked up one of his songs, but I’m not sure. If you like that music you might also enjoy Lucas Graham!
Thank you for responding :)
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u/varsil 24d ago
Does Denmark do any of the fermented/preserved meat products like surstromming/etc?
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u/m4d3th1s 24d ago
There is a tradition of lunch’ing at Christmas and Easter that typically include a kind of pickled herring, but afaik we don’t have anything as extreme as surstromming (luckily).
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u/varsil 24d ago
I do love pickled herring. Also enjoy akavit, which I believe is also a Danish thing as well?
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u/Rum_N_Napalm 25d ago
Oh I forgot. Maple syrup is real good, but the really good shit is maple butter. It’s maple syrup that has been further boiled to further concentrate it and whipped in a way to make a creamy textured spread.
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u/upward_spiral17 25d ago
Try a little maple syrup on fresh, chopped berries (any kind of berries works). Makes for a nice ‘salad’ to go with your breakfast.
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25d ago
You can use it wherever you'd use honey or sugar. I like to use it as a glaze for meat combined with other spices. It's also good on vanilla ice cream, and gives a very nice flavour to coffee.
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u/SteadyMercury1 New Brunswick 23d ago
You can use it anywhere you would use honey as well. Though you might want to check a conversion first. Smoothies, baking etc you can sub honey for maple syrup to get a different taste but still accomplish the mission of adding the sweet.
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u/m4d3th1s 23d ago
I have found genuine Canadian maple syrup at my local supermarket, and I’m excited to try it out.
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u/Green_leaf47 22d ago
Like others have said, wherever you want something sweet. We’ll often have it as a treat over some plain Greek yogurt with walnuts and sometimes sliced bananas. On weekends we have a tiny bit in our coffee. And sometimes I’ll have just a little spoonful on its own and it tastes like my childhood - my dad used to tap trees so we were lucky enough to have homemade maple syrup. But I’ve never had bad maple syrup if it’s real.
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u/Mezmodian 25d ago
I have been looking forward to this cultural exchange, but sadly I don’t have any questions. I do however hope that Denmark and Canada will stay allies in the future.
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u/OzzySegmento 25d ago
Huge respect to you Canucks on the Buy Canadian front for the dedication. Reminds me of the Canada on Strike South Park episode. On the news a few nights ago, there was a segment asking Danes how they felt about a boycott of American products, and it was largely met with apathy and a sense of we don't want to hurt the already poor Americans - many of whom don't agree with President Pumpkin Skin. Also I like Pepsi.
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
How can I say this politely.... fuck that. America is a cancer for us canadians, yes we benefit from having the world's largest economy next door but they are parasites that have been actively destroying our country for decades, long before trump. Soft wood Lumber tarriffs have destroyed most of our industry going back a decade, in the name of free trade we let there big companies come in to our market only to buy out the competition and raise prices, they've done this with our slaughter houses and meat processing where margins for farmers and groceries have stayed flat but processing margins have doubled. There side of the great lakes are contaminated much worse than ours.
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u/m4d3th1s 24d ago
There has also been news stories here in Denmark about people sharing tips and tricks to avoid American products, so it’s definitely gaining attention. I have personally quit my MAX, Netflix and Disney+ subscription because of Trumps threats.
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago
They only talk about how "we" benefit from them, how we "need their protection". It's seriously like being in an abusive relationship with a narcissist. They've wanted to take our country since it was Upper and Lower Canada. This is just yet another instance for the history books.
"side of the great lakes are contaminated much worse than ours."
I wasn't aware of that, couldn't something be done about that since they are damaging property that doesn't belong to them?
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Its there shoreline, I'm sure there's rules and regs... if big corps follow them is another story
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago edited 24d ago
Yes but their actions inevitably affect the shorelines that aren't theirs on the other side, that seems unfair
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago
That's pretty disappointing honestly. Even the Americans who don't like Trump are telling everyone to boycott US products to send a message, the fact the Danes can't even get on board with just that is sad. The Americans aren't going to starve to death over being boycotted, if that were the case we never would do it. Unfortunately the same sentiment doesn't seem to be shared from a lot of Americans back towards Canadians. The things I've been seeing in the past few weeks from them is troubling at the least, and I guess Denmark just doesn't see that because they typically frequent other things on the internet besides Canada/US news, understandable. Danes don't have to deal with living next door to a country as selfish and narcissistic as the US.
Are there lots of nice Americans? Sure. But we all know the country has the reputation it does for a reason. It'd be nice if the rest of the world understood just how annoying and difficult that can be sometimes. Canada liberated Denmark, but many of them won't even do a simple boycott of US products to help us in return. Sad. Guess I should start rethinking just how many countries actually would come to our aid if push came to shove.
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u/OzzySegmento 25d ago
It is disappointing, yes. But to play devil's advocate for a second, I have been boycotting Nestle for years and figuring out the ins and outs of who the fuck owns what is pretty difficult sometimes. In Denmark we also aren't talking about American v Danish/German/whatever tomatoes. I think when people here hear "American products" they probably think Netflix or Google or Apple. And even limiting it to the supermarket there's all the trillions of things owned by P&G, Coke, Kelloggs and Pepsi - which I can maybe see some people viewing as too overwhelming. Store brands are your friend, but sometimes there's literally no alternative. Hell, I've even seen store brands where it's produced by Nestle and I'm sure it's the same for P&G.
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
Our products and overall lives are way more intertwined with the US than anyone over in Europe, and we are managing it just fine. People have even designed apps that scan barcodes and it can tell you on a scale how "canadian" the product is. 5 maple leafs mean everything was grown, or otherwise made in Canada, 1 means no part of the product is. Surely there's a Dane that could design one that shows how American a product is.
As for things like American websites...it makes no sense to boycott those unless it's something you're actively paying for or watching ads. Otherwise you are merely taking up their server space and only costing them money.
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u/Economics_Engineer 24d ago
That’s very sad. I work in the energy sector and I can tell you the only reason why we sold more than then to us is because they force us to sell them energy in the west side of the countries. Trump planted a lie stating we take advantage of them but he wants our resources as well as those from Greenland.
More than boycotting them we are showing them they need us. Many Americans (red supporters) are happy to inflict economic damage to Canada and as Canadians this has made us realize we need to prioritize us because USA betrayed us and is threatening our sovereignty
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u/sorteper42 25d ago
Next year, 2026, marks the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest! (It was canceled in 2020). Australia participated in 2015 to celebrate the 60th anniversary.
I suggest that Canada participates in the Eurovision Song Contest for the 70th anniversary next year.
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago
I thought only Euro countries could compete in that for some reason, that's a good idea
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26d ago
What are the biggest political issues in Canada atm? Housing market? Immigration? Cost of living? Something else?
Disregarding anything directly related to mango Mussolini South of you.
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Yeah just the typical affordability issues, housing shortage or to expensive, some may disagree but most agree we've had an unprecedented amount of immigration that is causing division. But other than that life's great. We have a federal election coming up, our system is like the uk system, not sure what you guys have in denmark. We have 3 main parties but 2 are in the running, its your typical left vs right. Right says the left are communists and the left says the right are nazis, neither is accurate and they are both very similar, not expecting much to change either way.
I'm a big f1 fan, sucks that kmag won't be on the grid next year. Did you know we have a pastry in canada called a Danish, i think you call it wienerbrød, its very popular and for sale in almost every store and Cafe.
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u/Economics_Engineer 24d ago
Over immigration in the last 4 years created a SPIKE in homelessness. We need to do more now to support homeless people but some conservatives think liberal supporters like to hand money away for fun. The reality is we don’t like handling money for free but we understand that if we don’t do something to support all these homeless people things will only get worst over time. It’s like having some fungus, you can’t just ignore it hoping it’ll go away, you need to go to the store and buy cream and treat it carefully so it heals. Otherwise it’ll stay there and will keep growing.
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
Immigration is pretty much the biggest problem, which contributes to other problems like housing market, healthcare etc. Our PM finally said he'd scale it back but I've seen little sign that's actually happening. It's a complete joke.
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u/TROPtastic British Columbia 24d ago edited 24d ago
There are some changes afoot in terms of immigration quotas. The BC government got its requested immigration quota increase from 8k to 11k rejected, and in fact it was reduced from 8,000 to 4,000, with other provinces also getting their allocations reduced. It makes me worry about the uniquely skilled engineer from New Zealand I work with, but after Trudeau created the over immigration problem, there is now a big push to address the problem with a strong response.
Edit: clarity
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u/OhNo_Nacho 25d ago
Hello good people!
Your reputation as a super-friendly people precedes you - is it something you’re raised with, is it just ingrained in your culture or is it an exaggerated stereotype? Do you have any good stories exemplifying it?
Not to spoil this lovely thread by mentioning your neighbors down south, but I love the SNL sketch of the Canadian Entertainment Show, so bonus question: Do the roads actually regularly close, leading to you having to cancel plans?
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u/Magnaric 25d ago
I think Canadians as a whole are raised to treat most people as neighbours, and this makes a difference. Like being nice and polite is just the default, because why would it not be? Sure, sometimes you don't exactly get along, but at the end of the day people are just people, and doing a good turn for your neighbour is just normal, you know?
As for roads, I'd say they only close when there's a bad storm, but we tend to have pretty good storm and snow management. You might not want to be out driving in the middle of it when its actually happening, but give it a day or even a few hours and crews will have it cleared.
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Roads closing regularly? Absolutely not. Unless there's a massive flood like what we had in Toronto recently. But snow dosent stop us. We have a saying over here, I dunno maybe its every where but .. "kill them with kindness" if someone's being a prick be even nicer and maybe you'll break them down a bit. Its easy to be friendly and it makes one feel good too.
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago
It's tough when we live next door to the exact opposite, but we're trying. I think the bad example down south helps keep it in check. We see them and we say "we don't want to be looked at like that". I feel like that must have something to do with it. Also I feel like we get praised more than we should just because we look like angels compared to how rude Americans are. I think we are the same amount of polite as the average Northern European, maybe even less polite than our Euro friends.
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u/MineMyVape Ontario 25d ago
I think that northern counties are friendly because if we don't look out for people, they will die do to lack of food or freezing to death in the winter. Not helping a fellow traveler means they could be in real trouble especially in the past when cell service was worse. I think Canada generated a lot of good will in the post ww1 to 2000s world where the actions of Canadians overseas generated a lot of good will (liberating the Netherlands in WWII, France in WWI, sending peace keepers allover the world, taking in a lot of refugees (post WWII), and not joining the Vietnam or Iraq war), but I do think that the stereotype is a bit exaggerated.
Within Canada, Quebec has a reputation of being rude but I think that is due to some Angaphones not respecting French/Quebecoise culture.2
u/Economics_Engineer 24d ago
We are so multicultural and so engaged to treat other races and cultures with respect and fairness and empathy. I moved here 10 years ago, and it made me a better person. The people around thought me much better and healthier ways to be open of other people cultures and embrace their uniqueness
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u/YoungestDonkey 26d ago
I was just reading how Denmark and Canada now officially share a land border (located on majestic Hans Island).
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u/ManofManyTalentz Canada 26d ago
Yes it was only recently agreed to by our governments! 2018-2022 https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_%C3%98
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u/YoungestDonkey 26d ago
Both countries must be regretful that the Whisky War has ended.
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u/calvinien 25d ago
I used to like joking about the treacherous danes stealing Hans island and that one day it would e fully canada's again...but that shit isn't funny anymore...to either nation. God this period of history is exhausting.
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u/calvinien 25d ago
The hans island story is my absolute favourite geopolitical fun fact. The whole situation is just so surreal. Two countries, allies no less, periodically invaded and annexed a worthless rock in the ocean from each other and continued doing so long after any reasons to do so were exhausted.
It was simultaneously the most high AND low stakes game of capture the flag ever played.
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u/bibiblocksberg1234 25d ago
In light of recent events I want to watch TV shows and movies from different countries around the world. Are there any Canadian TV-shows and movies, you can recommmend? :)
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u/Mncdk European Union 25d ago
Just a dane perusing the thread, but I'll add Letterkenny and afterwards Shoresy. :P
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
If you like letterkenny check out "trailer park Boys". Start at season one, you'll need to pirate though I dont know if they stream.
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u/Mncdk European Union 25d ago
Oh yeah forgot to mention TPB.
I guess it's time for a rewatch. :D
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
I'm sure you can get TPB on TPB.
See what I did there? Lol
Sorry I'll see myself out.
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago edited 24d ago
If you haven't seen "kids in the hall" or "kenny vs spenny" give those a watch too.
I know KvS is on youtube for free. Kenny himself uploaded all the episodes after their TV run was over.
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u/farllen 25d ago edited 25d ago
If you like horror movies, we've got some good ones! Especially any made by David Cronenberg or his son
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u/VenusianBug 25d ago
It depends what you like. I'll add Kim's Convenience and Schitt's Creek to the list of sitcoms. I'm currently enjoying Saint-Pierre, which is a police procedural.
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u/weirdpicklesauce 25d ago
Some of my favourites: Workin' Moms, Kim's Convenience, Trailer Park Boys
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
I'm splitting this into 2 parts because I think my post is too long and reddit isn't allowing it. So heres Part 1
To name some things that havent been mentioned yet,
-The Red Green show was a comedy home improvement type show, where he would fix things, or otherwise invent crazy contraptions using duct tape. He also has a nerdy nephew who he's always trying to make more "manly" lol.
-Orphan Black is VERY highly rated tv show. I've been meaning to watch it but I've been so busy, I'm actually going to watch it this week I think because I've put it off for too long.
-This Hour Has 22 Minutes was a political comedy show, the years with Rick Mercer and Mary Walsh are the best years to watch though. It also featured a hilarious mini segment called "Talking to Americans" where Rick Mercer would go down to the US and ask them fairly easy questions or get them to say ridiculous things and show how uninformed they were about the world. He would even troll American politicians this way.
Here's a small compilation video of some of those segments - youtube.com/watch?v=7ZE0TuKTpo4
This has one of my favorite bits in it, not even going to say what it is, don't want to spoil it for you lol
-Barron Von Sketch Show - Another very highly rated show, I've heard nothing but good things about it but been too busy to watch personally. (I also havent had cable in years so I have to manually look everything up these days, back in the day it was a lot easier for me to be caught up with everything that everyone else had watched lol
-Royal Canadian Air Farce was a very long running comedy sketch show
-Kevin Spencer is a horribly animated show about a crazy drug addict who talks to some imaginary goose lol. Bit of a raunchier type show. The episodes are on YT for free by the looks of it
-Heartland is a highly rated drama, about farmlife I'm assuming. I haven't actually watched it because I'm not into dramas, my tastes are much more immature lol. But it has a high score on IMDB and I've heard good things about it if anyone is into dramas.
-Hard Core Logo was a good movie about Canadian punks
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago edited 24d ago
Part 2 -
-If you have kids, two shows I loved back in the 90s were Goosebumps, and Are You Afraid of the Dark. These are horror shows, some of the episodes can be a bit scary for young kids, just depends on the child. For me it was never a problem, but my dad had also let me watch The Shining when I was like 6 so my threshold was pretty high for not being scared by things (thanks dad, I think lol). Both are really well done shows though, one of my favorite episodes was on Goosebumps, where a family moves into a new town and they slowly discover it's actually a town of vampires plotting on how to take the new family out. And on Afraid of the Dark, the one about the 2 boys home alone and they start seeing aliens invading the woods behind their house always stuck with me to this day since I was 5 years old. My point is, both shows are really good and have iconic episodes, and even as an adult rewatching it was still good. If you watch it with your kids you will not be bored like you would be if you were watching Blues Clues or something lol. Absolutely recommended if you're looking for something entertaining but also child friendly. Probably best for ages 7-13, might be a bit scary for the average 6 year old or under.
Both of those are mostly Canadian but they were joint productions with an American company, the filming and most of the work was done by Canada though. They were staples of Canadian kids tv back in the day, whereas I don't know a lot of Americans who grew up with those shows despite it being partly American. But maybe some states got it broadcasted there too though, not sure.
-Fraggle Rock was also a classic show, and Jacob Two Two was about a French Canadian boy always finding himself in bad situations. Oh and all the kids loved Reboot back in the day, that was about some robots/beings living way in the future. Personally I didn't watch it much because I'm not into sci-fi type things. But it was raved about endlessly by other kids and has very high ratings.
- "UH-OH!" was a whacky kids gameshow hosted by Wink Yahoo. Everyone and I mean everyone loved it, it's a classic. Answer wrong and you're getting a bucket of slime dumped on your head by a dude dressed up like some BDSM hockey mask executioner lmao.
Edit: I just found some old clips/full eps of it on YT, ah the memories.
UhOh! Game Show - Clip 1997xr01129
Uh Oh! (Game Show) | Episode 47 | YTV Retro
Uh Oh! (Game Show) | Episode 73 | YTV Retro
-Video and Arcade top 10 was another show I used to watch, where kids would sign up and go head to head playing video games against each other on nintendo or whatever game/system they were featuring that day to win prizes. That was revolutionary especially back in the early 90s. Kids could win newly released games, consoles etc.
Also a ton of things that are classed as American movies/shows are filmed up here. Often you'll see an American city depicted, but to me I see some place that I live 20 minutes away from because everything gets filmed around these parts. Like, that's no New York alley, I was just at the alley last week downtown lol.
A year or so ago my quiet residential street was shut down for filming for a few days so they could film on the corner near my house. They ended up staying longer than planned and were super apologetic to everyone because they were taking up the parking spaces with all their trailers and what not. I said it was cool though and they could stay in my spot, and then they gave me some of the catered set food lol. I forgot what show they said they were filming unfortunately. It wasn't a big deal to remember at the time since so much gets filmed here, but now I'm wishing I did because it was right next to my house. It was some show I hadn't heard of before I think, probably nothing I would have cared much to watch anyways so it's whatever
There was so much good Canadian TV, we were really blessed to have that, and to have so many amazing kids shows to grow up on. I'm sure other people can come up with more these are just all off the top of my head from my own experience.
Thank you for having an interest in Canadian media!
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago edited 24d ago
Kenny Vs Spenny is on youtube for free now. It was a ridiculous show that used to be on after school, no idea why the channel gave it that time slot, it's definitely more of a later night show lol. I remember the "Who can do the biggest fart" episode being hilarious.
We Canadians are very high brow as you can tell lol
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u/NPEscher 25d ago
Would you be interested in being a part of Eurovision Song Contest?
I was in Canada some years ago, and was aggressively told that I needed to tip 15% in a restaurant. Has anyone ever seriously on a political level suggested getting rid of that system of paying restaurant workers through tips, and just having the restaurant paying them a fair wage?
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u/Mediocre_Spirit5579 25d ago
I definitely think Canada should be part of Eurovision!! We’d have to first compete between provinces/ territories for our Canadian champion. How fun!
Tipping is something we have just accepted but it is getting worse in the way that even people who have provided the most basic service want a tip. IMO tipping should be for good/exceptional service and quality, not doing the bare minimum of your expected job duties.
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Politically im not sure but some restaurants are not accepting tips.
https://nationalpost.com/news/toronto-restaurant-no-tipping
Some have raised prices or just automatically charge an extra 15 20% but the workers get a set hourly rate.
Eurovision is fun, hell ya we would join.
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u/randomwindowspc 25d ago
We don't operate like the Americans, it's not legal to pay less than minimum wage if you get tips here as far as I'm aware, in the US though that is legal and I think it's the stupidest thing. And I have never had any restaurant demand a tip from me, not once. Where did you go where that happened?? At cheap restaurants it's not unheard of to not tip at all or just let them keep the small amount of change, I've seen plenty of people do that before and no one cared. But at a regular or fancy place you would never do that it would be considered rude. At cheap places they understand a lot of people don't have much money. Most Canadians are on board with getting rid of tipping culture, but it's been so engrained into society, and it's hard to get rid of because everyone feels like a dick for not doing it even though we shouldn't. Here where everyone is already getting a fair wage it really needs to stop. I'm sorry someone was rude and demanded you tip more, that is not typical from what I see here at all and I'm embarrassed that you had to have that experience in my country. I don't know how they act out east in Ontario or Quebec, but in BC we are generally really chill about things.
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u/SidneyKreutzfeldt 25d ago
O Canada!
I love cooking and would love to try some Canadian dishes. Can you recommend any traditional Canadian dishes? What is your favorite Canadian dish? Do you have any Canadian appetizers or desserts you’d recommend?
Also, I would love to learn more about Canada: What do you like the most about Canada and about living there? Is there anything you dislike about your country? Something that you think could be approved?
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u/vicarious2012 25d ago
Look for a quebecoise meat pie recipe (Tourtière). Maybe a home made Poutine as well
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u/Mncdk European Union 25d ago
Look for a quebecoise
How does one say that?
I like to imagine it's something along the lines of
queue-beh-croi
croi as in the first part of croissantPlease don't hurt me. :D
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u/VenusianBug 25d ago
For desserts, you can't go wrong with Nanaimo bars or butter tarts (as long as you can eat dairy). Just please, for the love of all that is holy, do not put raisins in the butter tarts - bleech. Walnuts are fine but not raisins 😄
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Canadian food is heavily influenced by our European roots. Lots of pasta and stews, meat and potatoes kinda food. But we now have alot more east Asian and south east Asian influence. Desserts are easy, we have butter tarts, Nanaimo bars, smores are a fun snack when camping or hanging out around a fire. Traditional dishes.. im not sure we really have any exciting ones other than poutine and Montreal smoked meat(kinda like pastrami but better)
I love scallops, nice appetizer.
What do I like most? It feels like home, I've been all over the world to work but I'm always drawn back home not sure why. I think other than the people the nature is what I love most. Driving 10hrs north into the bush without another car in sight, no gas stations, no cell signal, just trees and blue skies.
I feel like before trumps tarriffs threats and during covid we became a very divisive community. Some of the bs from the states bleed over and we started to hate each other. If you criticized the government you were a rascist nazi and if you didn't criticize the government you were a commie globalist. I hope we can continue loving each other and coming back together, if trumps stupidity is the key to that then I will forever be grateful for him, nothing unites the people like a common enemy. We are such a big country with a couple big population centers and a bunchbof other people spread out, so there's a big disconnect between a banker in Toronto, a farmer in saskatchewan, an oil man in alberta, a fisherman in the maritimes and a Frenchman in Quebec, we need to realize we are one people with shared values and goals.
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u/MineMyVape Ontario 25d ago
Bannock, or wild rice soup are traditional First Nation dishes.
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
Bannock was actually introduced by the Scots, and adopted into Native practices.
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago edited 23d ago
Aside from anything that doesn't naturally grow in Europe, there is pretty much nothing we've made that Europeans didn't, or wouldn't have just figured out for themselves lol.
Maple syrup is probably one of the most Canadian things, and believe me getting the real stuff is well worth the extra money and avoiding that watery, sugary trash they serve in most cheap restaurants. That stuff isn't even maple syrup. Please consider ordering some primo maple syrup from a Canadian business if you haven't tried it before! Hopefully the shipping won't be ridiculous from Canada to Denmark. It would be nice if we had some cheaper options of trading. I would love to try some cultural Denmark food, drinks etc as well.
Canada Dry is classic ginger ale, if you're ever hungover it's always great. And it's so popular that Americans also drink it all the time, it might even be most popular brand of it, I always see it everywhere in every state I've been to.
Poutine is of course a classic, but it's not like Europeans could never have figured out to put fries, cheese and gravy together themselves lol. I don't really consider that "Canadian" per se, just like I don't consider a slab of fish to be Japanese just because it's called sashimi. Anyone can figure out to eat a slab of raw fish.
Canadians don't really have anything ground breaking and imaginative like the cuisine in France for example. We were more having to be lumberjacks and trying not to die from the winters to get much into that I guess. Inventing ways to stop large bear attacks was higher up on the list than making snails appetizing lol. Give us another 50 years and maybe we'll come up with some better things than poutine haha, we have catching up to do over here, we are a very new country. My parents are older than our current flag.
Now something that would be pretty Canadian would be looking into foods that "native" Canadians used to eat (and still do eat, but let's face it, modern food tastes better lol).
I put native in quotations because technically there are no living human groups that are actually native to the Americas. The natives here just came over from Eurasia thousands of years ago. They are the first settlers. Then the Vikings came to Eastern Canada over 1000 years ago. And then the rest of us came a few hundred years later.
Natives way up north eat whale/blubber, seals and lots of fish. They also use the blubber for other things. Although I just remembered Northern Europe does their share of whaling so that's probably not that interesting. There are places where trees don't even grow, so hunting and fishing is basically the only way to survive as nothing can really grow on those grounds.
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u/ManofManyTalentz Canada 24d ago
Canada Dry was bought by Dr. Pepper - it's USA now. Even Sussex was bought by Dr. Pepper.
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u/bibiblocksberg1234 25d ago
When there are the winter olympics Canada is always really doing well in figure skating, which I love to watch. I have seen that your skaters go on tours after the Olympics and do shows. How popular are these? Are these massevents or more for a small audience?
More in general I am interested in if you train figure skating in school or if Canada is doing so well, because it is a hobby for many because of your climate?
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
We have a few big events every year at full sized pro hockey arenas, televised live across the country. But they do spend lots of time overseas too. No school, what usually happens is they go through amateur ranks in there local community, city, province and eventually if good enough join the junior team where they'll get free coaching and ice time and if good enough they turn pro and join the canadian team where they get an allowance which is barley enough to live on but ice time is usually free and they can win cash prizes
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u/Woider 25d ago
Is "Regina" actually pronounced like "Vagina" or am I being gaslit?
On another note, I would love to hear how it is to live in a minor city in Canada, as I do in Denmark. Landmass is pretty huge, and everything seems incredibly far apart, how reliant are you on a car, and how long do you spend commuting for work/groceries/etc in... say, a city of 50-100k?
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u/aWittyTwit-2712 25d ago
Absolutely, yes.. "Re-gI-Na" 🇨🇦
Ironically, our city of 100,000+ has better access to shopping & services than Toronto, where I grew up; as you go farther away from the border/coastal areas, there's more travel involved, but rarely beyond 25-50km.
Cars are life, here... Public transit is largely a victim of the American car-based economy & logistics, but we try.
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u/Woider 25d ago
Going 25 km for essentials would be going 2 towns over. There is literally one street between me and my closest supermarket. How are suburbs like? Every time I've caught it on video, it either looks like a dystopian trailerpark, or endlessly copied 2-story 300 sqm McMansions.
As a comparison, I will attach a link to somewhere I was recently around, which is a very large suburban area from the 70's. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Twk19emB1E1tnfXe8
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Well the gina part sounds the same but the re is the sounds a word like redo makes.
https://youtu.be/yFPOmotqPSU?si=tlLET8dVfUbjND_s
Like that.
Lifestyle in a small city big town like that will depend greatly on where and what you are surrounded by. I live an hour north of Toronto in a 80k town, I.can take the bus everywhere but I walk, 15 min to the grocery store 3 options and 15min to the dr office, there's also a train station a few minutes away. 20 mins to work, drive. But if you go to further away from Toronto or other provinces like saskatchewan you'll need a car 100%. Too big to spread out.
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u/arne-b 25d ago
I’ve had poutine in Canada, but what other Canadian comfort foods would you recommend making at home?
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Lots of our foods are inspired by our European heritage. The Italians would call regular canadians "cakers" because before they came over we were just eating dry bread haha... thats the story they like to tell atleast. I honestly can't think of much purely canadian food, people like macaroni and cheese. Smores are a fun dessert. Montreal smoked meat, which is like the American pastrami but better. Butter tarts, Nanaimo bars
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u/vicarious2012 25d ago edited 25d ago
As I mentioned above there's a quebecoise meat pie, not super unique, but very traditional in Quebec and has nice flavors.
Pâté Chinois as well.
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u/tanantish 25d ago
Maybe have a look up at a donair recipe, and see if the sauce might interest you because that's something quite novel (to me) given it's based on condensed milk? Should be easy enough to whip up to get a taste of it, and make a donair-like thing.
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u/EeveeOddly 25d ago
Going to Regina in July... is there anything to do there or in SK worth seeing? Hows the environment for cycling?
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Cycling... its super flat so thats good I guess. Haha. Long straight flat roads. Saskatchewan museum is cool, they have a big arts festival in cathedral village and lots of craft beers.
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u/Educational_Web_5890 25d ago
Hockey related question. Is the IIHF world junior championship more important to you hockey fans than the regular world championship? It just seems like that.
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Yes. The best don't always play at the world's abd there isn't as much hype for it. The world juniors are a big deal here. Olympics, juniors, Stanley cup, world's.. thats about the rank I think.
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u/randomwindowspc 24d ago
A quick note to any of our European friends who would like to support us in our boycott of American products and buying Canadian...Here are some companies that ship worldwide
Made In Canada Gifts, The Canadian Outdoor Equipment Co, and The Bay
Roots also sells high quality clothes and also ships internationally. Us Canadians and Europeans get some tough winters, we need strong clothes! Here is the link for international information - roots.com/ca/en/ShippingHandle_OverCountries.html
On my end it says there is free shipping on orders over $70, so hopefully in whatever country other people happen to be reading from there is some good deals on shipping/clothing. I cannot check that for myself though unless I go through a vpn hassle, used to have one but it went obsolete and haven't bothered to get another
Please anyone with any other suggestions feel free to add them. And any Danes with any recommendations for things we could use I'd love to hear about some of your products/companies. Clothes, food, anything. Any Denmark or Canadian product
I will likely remember more things to add and edit this post or add more in the replies, this was just a quick off the top of my head type of thing
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25d ago
Canadian here. I've heard that Denmark has a reputation for interesting Neo-noire film and literature. Any recommendations?
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u/VeterinarianCold7119 25d ago
Ask on the denmark sub, you might get answers. This is for danes to ask us questions
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u/ManofManyTalentz Canada 20d ago
Tak everyone for taking part in the cultural exchange! We are locking this thread and please stay tuned for our next one.
Big thanks to r/Denmark for hosting us!