After watching Canadian Bacon last semester in Civics class, I have decided that there are clearly many misconceptions about Canadian culture, and that it is my duty to educate others (you readers) about them! So, here are the most frequent ones I have heard:

1. Canadian children ride polar bears to school: This is completely false. Canadian children have several ways of transporting themselves to school:
a. Biking
b. Rollerblading
c. Getting a ride with parents/friends
d. Walking
e. Moose carriage
f. Taking the public transit or the school bus

We think that polar bears are cute, but like the rest of the world, believe them to be deadly and would not get near them.

2. Canadians keep polar bears as pets: Psshhh, try beavers dogs and cats instead. We may be a bit nuts, but we're not completely insane!

3. Canada is frozen all year round: As cold as Canadian winters are, it would be impossible for cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal to be frozen all year round.

4. Canadians all live in igloos: We live in solidly built houses, thank you very much. I assure you, mine is quite good-looking as well. ;)

5. Canadians don't have plumbing: Err, what? A friend told me this, and she so did not help me in pummeling this myth into the ground in Chicago. She walked into a public bathroom and started saying "OH MY GOD! They have plumbing here! Come here guys, look at all these pipes!"

6. Canadians don't get the same movies as Americans: Actually, the same movies are released at the exact same time. Oh, and our censorship is less severe.

7. Everyone in Quebec speaks French fluently: This depends largely on what area of Quebec you live in. I have relatives that live in Montreal, and they've never had to speak French once.

So I hope that cleared up some things, and just for the record, our cops aren't the Mounties, and they don't usually ride horses. ;)